3 Easter; April 26, 2009

Print this and read a different passage each day and think about it. Some questions are offered to help stimulate your reflection. You'll find your experience of worship on Sunday will be intensified.We use the Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary.


Collect

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.


The Scriptures

Acts 3:12-19
Psalm 4
1 John 3:1-7
Luke 24:36b-48

Acts (3:12-19)

When Peter saw the astonishment of those who had seen the lame man healed, he addressed the people, "You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you. "

And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out."

__________________

Peter makes grave accusations to the people, but then offers a path of reconciliation. How does honest conversation like this help create healthy relationships?
________________

Psalm 4 Cum in vacarem

Answer me when I call, O God, defender of my cause;*
you set me free when I am hard-pressed;
have mercy on me and hear my prayer. "

You mortals, how long will you dishonor my glory; *
how long will you worship dumb idols
and run after false gods?"

Know that God does wonders for the faithful; *
when I call, God will hear me.

Tremble, then, and do not sin; *
speak to your heart in silence upon your bed.

Offer the appointed sacrifices *
and put your trust in the Most High.

St. Helena Psalter

_________________

What is your prayer practice? How do you call on God? In what way do you "speak to your heart in silence upon your bed"? In what way to you "offer the appointed sacrifices"? In what way do you put your trust in the Most High"?
_________________

1 John (3:1-7)

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

_________________________

Let yourself dwell for a while in your identity as God's child. Let yourself imagine being seeing God as he is and being like God.Now go, and abide with God.
_________________________

Luke (24:36b-48)

While the disciples were telling how they had seen Jesus risen from the dead, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you -- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."

_____________

What does it mean to you that the resurrected Jesus shows his disciples the wounds from his hands and his feet?Why was it important to the early church to emphasize the physicality of the resurrection? Is that emphasis a help or a hinderance to your faith?What would universal repentance and forgiveness of sins accomplish for humanity?_________________________________________________________

For a way to Pray with these scriptures, go to the following link for instructions about how to use Lectio Divina with the Sunday readings: Praying the Scriptures with Lectio Divina (http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id272.html)Click here for "Praying the Scriptures with Lectio Divina"