Opening Words by Molly Gordon
You can crush Love down,
bury it,
cover it over,
but it will rise.
It will reach for the sun, and we will reach for each other.
Love will have the final word, even if that word is just a question, a wild possibility, a whisper to rise and follow wherever it may lead.
Prayer
O God of Resurrection Life and Light
We praise and thank you for this day.
This day on which you created light and saw that it was good.
This day in whose early morning light we discovered the tomb of life was empty
and encountered Christ, the world's true light.
This day in which we celebrate the triumph of life over death
and the victory of that Light that darkness can never overcome.
This is the day that you have made, we shall rejoice and be glad in it.
Reading John 20:1-2 & 11-16a
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
Reflection
In the Easter narrative recorded in John’s Gospel, when the Risen Christ meets Mary, he asks her: Why are you crying?
And on Easter Sunday, it is a question that we are all invited to reflect on. What are the tears and the fears that you carry with you today? Perhaps they go back years and years. Perhaps they are more recent? What are the tears and the fears that you carry with you today?
And on Easter Sunday, we are invited to imagine the Risen One coming to each us in the garden of our lives and speaking our name. He is indeed the gardener, the one who comes to plant seeds of life and love in the pools of our tears. And to remind us that death and fear are not how the story ends, because Life is eternal and Love can never die!
Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed. Amen.
Prayers of Intercession
In the midst of celebrating Christ risen
and in giving thanks for the resurrection life that is within us and all around us
we bring these our gifts and with them our prayers.
We pray also for the things in our lives
and in the lives of people everywhere
that are trapped in the tombs of death:
For those trapped despair in the midst of loss or confusion
For those trapped in bitterness as a result of hurt or disloyalty
For those experiencing violence of heart and hand in the face of conflict and opposition.
Silence
Wherever death is found
whether in our minds and souls
or in the matter and relationships of our bodies and corporate lives
lead us O God
by your messengers of light
to look for new life,
not among the dead
but through the pangs of death and beyond it
to the One who is alive forever and ever.
And in the hope and assurance of the Resurrection, we pause to remember with love, those who have passed from this world into God’s nearer presence.
AMEN.
You can crush Love down,
bury it,
cover it over,
but it will rise.
It will reach for the sun, and we will reach for each other.
Love will have the final word, even if that word is just a question, a wild possibility, a whisper to rise and follow wherever it may lead.
Prayer
O God of Resurrection Life and Light
We praise and thank you for this day.
This day on which you created light and saw that it was good.
This day in whose early morning light we discovered the tomb of life was empty
and encountered Christ, the world's true light.
This day in which we celebrate the triumph of life over death
and the victory of that Light that darkness can never overcome.
This is the day that you have made, we shall rejoice and be glad in it.
Reading John 20:1-2 & 11-16a
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
Reflection
In the Easter narrative recorded in John’s Gospel, when the Risen Christ meets Mary, he asks her: Why are you crying?
And on Easter Sunday, it is a question that we are all invited to reflect on. What are the tears and the fears that you carry with you today? Perhaps they go back years and years. Perhaps they are more recent? What are the tears and the fears that you carry with you today?
And on Easter Sunday, we are invited to imagine the Risen One coming to each us in the garden of our lives and speaking our name. He is indeed the gardener, the one who comes to plant seeds of life and love in the pools of our tears. And to remind us that death and fear are not how the story ends, because Life is eternal and Love can never die!
Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed. Amen.
Prayers of Intercession
In the midst of celebrating Christ risen
and in giving thanks for the resurrection life that is within us and all around us
we bring these our gifts and with them our prayers.
We pray also for the things in our lives
and in the lives of people everywhere
that are trapped in the tombs of death:
For those trapped despair in the midst of loss or confusion
For those trapped in bitterness as a result of hurt or disloyalty
For those experiencing violence of heart and hand in the face of conflict and opposition.
Silence
Wherever death is found
whether in our minds and souls
or in the matter and relationships of our bodies and corporate lives
lead us O God
by your messengers of light
to look for new life,
not among the dead
but through the pangs of death and beyond it
to the One who is alive forever and ever.
And in the hope and assurance of the Resurrection, we pause to remember with love, those who have passed from this world into God’s nearer presence.
AMEN.
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