Abiding and Bearing Fruit

Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year B)

Acts 8.26-40; 1 John 4.7-21; John 15.1-8

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

I have a confession to make. Today’s Gospel reading always makes me feel a little inadequate. But not for the reason you might think.

You see, I come from a long line of “green thumbs.” All my grandparent had wonderful gardens. They all had beautiful beds of flowers and lush green plants in front of their homes. And in the summer, they always had vegetable gardens with delicious tomatoes and other assorted veggies. My mother inherited their abilities. She has roses in her back yard, flowers in the front yard, and lots of potted plants throughout her house. She likes plants so much that for years I have sent her some sort of plant for Mother’s Day. A number of years ago I sent her a Ficus benjamina, no more than six inches tall. Now, years later, that ficus is taller than I am and fills a corner in Mom’s family room. Such is her gift with plants. And my sister is the same. Every summer she plants all sorts of vegetables in her back yard and has fresh herbs pretty much all year round.

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Called to be Good Shepherds

Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year B)

Acts 4.5-12; 1 John 3.16-24; John 10.11-18

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Here at the mid-point of Eastertide, we shift our attention, although not our primary focus. In the first half of the Easter season, we heard accounts of several of Jesus’ post-Resurrection appearances. We examined what these direct experiences of the Risen Lord meant for the disciples, and what they continue to mean for us as Easter people. Now we are done with those accounts. For the remainder of this season we look at various well-known images that Jesus uses to describe himself. Images that he offered prior to his death. Images in which he attempted to give the disciples, and us, a foretaste of how we are to live in light of what was to – or for us, has already – come. Images that provide more depth to what it means to live the resurrected life than can be gleaned from the post-Resurrection appearances themselves. Images that, in hindsight, we see are lessons for our lives of faith.

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Seeking to be in Relationship

Third Sunday of Easter (Year B)

Luke 24.36b-48

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

On Easter, we celebrate the glorious mystery that is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Throughout the remainder of Eastertide – the great 50 days of Easter – we, along with the disciples, struggle with sorting out exactly what this means for those of us who follow the Risen Lord. For the first couple of weeks of Eastertide, we take a look at various post-resurrection appearances of Jesus in an attempt to answer this question. The disciples struggle with determining how their relationship with Jesus has changed in light of the Resurrection. And with them, we seek to discern how we faithfully live into the resurrected life that we have inherited.

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Moving Forward in Faith

Second Sunday of Easter (Year B)

John 20.19-31

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

During the Great 50 Days of Easter, our scripture readings focus on the meaning of the Resurrection that we witnessed on Easter Day. They focus on what it means to live into new relationship with the resurrected Lord. They focus on what it means for us to live into the resurrected life as followers of Jesus Christ. So what does it mean, then, that on this second Sunday of Easter, the icon for our relationship with and life in the Resurrected Lord is none other than Doubting Thomas?

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God's April Fools' Joke

Easter Sunday (Year B)

Acts 10.34-43; 1 Corinthians 15.1-11; John 20.1-18

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

For the past year, there has been excited conversations among clergy, both in real life and on-line, about the fact that, this year, Easter falls on April 1^st – on April Fools’ Day. Obviously, Easter does not come on April 1^st every year. It is just a chance convergence of our solar-based secular calendar and the intricate formula for calculating the date of Easter using the ancient lunar-based Jewish calendar. But clergy have been giddy with anticipation of the opportunity to peach about this confluence of Easter and April Fools’ Day. Because, from a theological perspective, nothing could be more appropriate.

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