Easter Letter
Trinity Anglican Church 929 11th St, Marysville, CA
Alleluia, Christ is Risen!
This is a feasting time!
REJOICE! Our Lord is Risen,
As I said in our Announcements (sermon is here today, you have homework for this week:
Celebrate and have (good) fun! Be mindful of moments which seek to steal your joy, do not let them take hold; remember that our Lord has conquered (Christus Victor)—The Grave, Sin, the power of the Devil—and he has done so because he is good and loves mankind. Indeed, for God so loved the world—not just mankind—that he gave us his son, and this victory has cosmic implications: “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Cor 5:19)
As Christ has freed us, let us also convey—share—his message of peace, joy, and forgiveness to the world; the reality of which we participate in and enjoy and through which he is already working to make new. Celebrate, and invite your neighbor to celebrate with you!
Alleliua, Christ is Risen!
He is risen indeed; Alleluia!
Reading:
From a 1694 Easter sermon by Bishop Richard Kidder:
And if the Head [Christ] be risen, the Members shall not stay behind. He is the head of the body the Church. As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Our Lord is our Head, and in Him is our Nature exalted and raised up: And as he partakes of our Flesh, so do we of his Spirit, and have a pledge and argument on each side of our Resurrection.
If the spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you; He that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you, (Romans 8:11)
We receive great assurance of our Resurrection; Christ hath left us (says Tertullian) the “Earnest of the Spirit;" and he hath taken from us the “Earnest of the Flesh,” and carried with him into Heaven, “Part of our humane Nature,” a pledge that inferrs the Resurrection of the rest. The Holy Sacrament we receive (if we receive as we should) is a token of our Resurrection.
Who so eateth my flesh, and drinketh my bloud, hath Eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day, (John 5:54) ...
Hence we may be comforted against the fear of Death. Our Lord hath disarm'd it, and now we can discern Life and Immortality beyond it. We can look into our Graves with comfort, for Christ is risen, and we shall therefore rise.
Blessings,
Fr Jonah+
Note: I will be at a clergy event this week, but available by phone & email; I will be available Monday and Saturday this week, if anyone desires to schedule a meeting.
Upcoming:
Notes for the First Sunday after Easter:
Readings April 27: Acts 2:41–47 ; 1 John 5:4–12 ; John 20:19–23)