On the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.
Let us Pray: Let us commend ourselves and all God’s children to his unfailing love, and pray for the grace of a holy life, that, with all who have died in the peace of Christ, we may come to the fullness of eternal life and the joy of the resurrection.
This Easter Sunday is now Joyful with in person services and the sounds of Alleluia fill the churches. The return to in person services has been a blessing and our communities of worship are again becoming united. One thing we cannot forget is that Easter Like Christmas is not over after the day of Christmas or Easter. They are celebrations that go on according to the church calendar, 12 days for Christmas and 50 days for Easter. But just because that is what the calendars say do we or should we stop our celebrations at a prescribed time. Every Sunday is a celebration of Easter, and everyday should be a celebration of Christmas.
On Easter Sunday we see a lot of new faces in church. Some are neighbors or maybe strangers we don’t know. How do we respond? Do we accept the strangers and welcome them to join us, or do we ignore them and not pay them any attention? The strangers could be messengers from God or maybe one could be Jesus himself. So, will we be like Mary and talk and listen to the strangers? So, who were the two men in dazzling white at the grave of Jesus that morning? It appears that they were angels from God that had come to roll the stone back so they could peer into the empty tomb and to ensure that the visitors that morning knew that the tomb was empty and that they realized that Jesus had been raised from the dead. That He was among the living. As to who the two were, we can speculate and make our own minds up but what really matters is that we believe that the tomb was empty, and Jesus was no longer trapped by death. When this was realized they left to spread the word to the disciples. The disciples were reluctant to accept this. but Peter got up and ran to the tomb and was amazed at what he saw. Are we prepared to be awed by what had occurred? That Jesus had overcome death on this morning. Jesus had risen from the dead! Alleluia!
Let us Pray: Faithful God as we go out into the world, we pray that we may reflect your love in our families, our church and our community; so that the world can witness that we are followers of Christ and draw others into his loving care. This we pray in the Name of the Risen Lord. Amen
Reflections by Bob 