Part 1 of 2
Daily Office Readings for Sunday of the 3rd Week of Easter: Year 1
Morning, Psalms 148, 149, 150; Evening, Psalms 114 and 115:
Daniel 4:1 to 18; 1st Peter 4:7 to 11; John 21:15 to 25
Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.” (1st Peter 4:10)
God gifts each of us with what we all need. We are to share for the good of all. This is communal living and it is God’s design for our lives together. We believe our God lives in a Communal Trinitarian Relationship. God is Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. As we are created in God’s Image, we too must live in communal relationship. We need and must have, and should love, one another. This togetherness has been the message of the Bible from time immemorial. We can’t be at peace in total isolation. We need as much to share our gifts as we need to receive from others.
Part 2 of 2
Eucharistic Readings for the 3rd Sunday of Easter: Year B
Acts 3:12-19 Psalm 4 1 John 3:1-7 Luke 24:36b-48
“Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.” (Luke 24:45)
It is the Resurrected Jesus who opens our minds to understand the scriptures. This is the Jesus whom we have with us today. Jesus came to them as they were assembled, spreading His peace among them and communing with them. This happens today as we come to Church and are assembled.
Such Divine Presence happens whenever 2 or 3 are gathered in His Name. However, there are some protocols that must be remembered. When we come together, we must offer our gathering to God and invite the Lord to be among us. In the gatherings that I am currently a part of; that is Education for Ministry, the Brotherhood of St Andrew, Women’s Bible Study, and even the Lodge practices that I frequent, all open with prayer. We are all aware of the need to have God be among us.
It is when God is with us, Emanuel, that our minds are opened. Such an invitation should not be limited to formal assemblies only. Families too, should establish and maintain the invitation to God to be present, not just at meals, but even in family talks. In this way, our minds are opened.
Let us live to love, more than we just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
onewhoponders 