- Acts 10: 34a, 37-43
- Psalms Psalms 118: 1-2, 16-17, 22-23
- Colossians 3: 1-4
- John 20: 1-9
- I think I lost my comfort zone
- The reading from Acts comes from Peter's address to Cornelius and his family. Cornelius was a Gentile, and at this early point in the Church's trajectory, including the Gentiles in God's plan of salvation was a novel concept.
- Fr. Al Scott used to seek out ex convicts, befriend them, and work with them to reintroduce them to being human. He did this by taking them to plays, concerts, Church, and helping them realize that they still had a place on the "outside". You could always tell one of them when they showed up at Church, there were definitely things about them that were different from the typical St. Cyprian attendee.
- Who are we excluding from our midst today?
- Would Jesus be seen with such a person?
- Would He have taken a meal with them?
- Why is it that we feel so threatened by someone who is different from us?
- I'm still here!
- I'm beginning to realize that after a certain age, it comes as a mild surprise to wake up in the morning and realize that you're still alive. It seems to me that that stage in life offers some opportunities for a different perspective, one that we could benefit from throughout life.
- Do you think that you are in some way entitled to things as a child of God? That might be "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness", or simply something as basic as living in a culture that conducts itself in a lawful manner, or free education for your children ...
- Do you think that being a Christian somehow makes you privileged?
- Do you ever take the time to give God thanks for the basics in life, like breathing?
- What might change about your perspective if you started?
- It's over my head
- What do you think will be the single biggest difference between our life here on Earth, and our life in heaven?
- Does that aspect of heaven really have to wait until you die?
- Why?
- I see
- It's easy to look back on those early disciples and feel a little smug. We think that we have arrived in our understanding of the Resurrection.
- What are some things that have died in your life? That might be a relationship, a job, maybe your youngest child has grown up & moved out and suddenly you wonder what your purpose is in life.
- How has that loss transformed you?
- Would you term that loss and transformation a resurrection?
- Remember, Jesus still bore the wounds of the cross in His resurrected body.
- Preparation for Reconciliation:
- Where is God calling me forward beyond my comfort zone?
- What do I have to be grateful for that maybe I'm missing?
- Where can I make heaven on Earth?
- What in my life needs to die?
The Shrine of the Broken Urn
Let me take you to a little-known place that hardly any tourists bother with these days.
You see, Mary of Magdala had precious spices to anoint her friend Jesus for His burial.
She even thought to put them into a special urn for this solemn occasion.
One last act of love and affection that she could give Him. One last touch between them.
Maybe a futile gesture, maybe not.
But when she saw that His tomb had been violated, His resting place overthrown,
The grief was so consuming, the urn slipped from her numb fingers to the ground.
She scarce heard the sound of it shattering. Her whole world crumbling around her.
The details of this one final act had consumed her until now. And now He was gone.
Where to go, who to tell?
Stumbling through the town through torrents of tears, back toward His friends,
She marveled at the casual indifference of everyone else along the way.
Did His life mean so little that no one shared her grief?
Would her agony always cut her off from the rest of humanity?
Would she ever feel whole again?
Friends of Mary later came and picked up the shards of that urn.
Glued them back together and built a little ramshackle hut to cover it.
As a reminder to all of us that expressions of love come in many forms.
That often the greatest transformations overtake us when we least expect it.
Exchanges of real love hardly ever go according to plan.
I'll leave you alone here to pray.
Don't worry about the time, hardly anyone knows to come here anymore.
But you look like the sort of person who might appreciate this memory,
Someone who has loved, and lost, and found again.
Shalom!You see, Mary of Magdala had precious spices to anoint her friend Jesus for His burial.
She even thought to put them into a special urn for this solemn occasion.
One last act of love and affection that she could give Him. One last touch between them.
Maybe a futile gesture, maybe not.
But when she saw that His tomb had been violated, His resting place overthrown,
The grief was so consuming, the urn slipped from her numb fingers to the ground.
She scarce heard the sound of it shattering. Her whole world crumbling around her.
The details of this one final act had consumed her until now. And now He was gone.
Where to go, who to tell?
Stumbling through the town through torrents of tears, back toward His friends,
She marveled at the casual indifference of everyone else along the way.
Did His life mean so little that no one shared her grief?
Would her agony always cut her off from the rest of humanity?
Would she ever feel whole again?
Friends of Mary later came and picked up the shards of that urn.
Glued them back together and built a little ramshackle hut to cover it.
As a reminder to all of us that expressions of love come in many forms.
That often the greatest transformations overtake us when we least expect it.
Exchanges of real love hardly ever go according to plan.
I'll leave you alone here to pray.
Don't worry about the time, hardly anyone knows to come here anymore.
But you look like the sort of person who might appreciate this memory,
Someone who has loved, and lost, and found again.
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