Online Bible Meditation: Including St. Mark the Evangelist

Icon of St. Mark
Emmanuel Tzanes, 1657

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of April 24, 2016

April 24 - Mark 4: 21 - 25

April 25 - St, Mark The Evangelist - John 6: 16 - 21

April 26 - Acts 9: 36 - 42

April 27 - Psalm 33: 18 - 22

April 28 - 1 Thessalonians 1: 2 - 10

April 29 - Matthew 6: 7 - `5

April 30 - Revelation 7: 9 - 12

From Malcolm Guite, honouring St. Mark, a sonnet:

A wingèd lion, swift, immediate
Mark is the gospel of the sudden shift 
From first to last, from grand to intimate, 
From strength  to weakness, and from debt to gift, 
From a wide deserts haunted emptiness 
To a close city’s fervid atmosphere,
From a voice crying in the wilderness 
To angels in an empty sepulcher. 
And Christ makes the most sudden shift of all; 
From swift action as a strong Messiah 
Casting the very demons back to hell 
To slow pain, and death as a pariah. 
We see our Saviour’s life and death unmade 
And flee his tomb dumbfounded and afraid.

(Click on the link above and scroll down to hear the author reading his poem.)

Some Thoughts at Passover

Passover (Pesach, Pesah) begins this evening at sundown.  For the Jewish people, it is a celebration that remembers their liberation from slavery in Egypt (see Exodus 3-12).  The image above of unleavened bread (matzah or matzoh) and wine in a silver chalice, though, undoubtedly looks familiar to Christians...and so it should, for the Seder meal -- served on the first two nights of Passover -- was the last celebrated by Jesus with his disciples, the meal in which He equated His body with the bread and His blood with the wine.

Passover is a celebration of liberation from slavery...literally, for the Jewish people...and also for Christians.  Redemption.  Freedom.

Jesus, the Christ, is our Paschal Lamb...the one whose blood was shed to cleanse us all from sin.  His victory for us was over our slavery to sin.  Redemption. Freedom.

So...some blessings for you for Passover...for our redemption...for our freedom from sin, bought for us by our Lord.  You might consider these prayers before your meal this evening.

First, include a candle or two on the table.  Before lighting the candle(s), you might say...

Today we gather to thank God for all the goodness in our lives, for the beauty of nature, for the love we feel for one another, for the Passover tradition we share.  May our celebration increase our awareness of your ongoing gifts, O God.*

And after lighting the candle(s) but before dining, you might lift a glass of wine (or your favourite beverage) and say...

We praise God with this symbol of fullness, and give thanks for the opportunities we have to share life's blessings.*

Thanks be to God!  Hallelujah!

*adapted from Seasons for Celebration: A Contemporary Guide to the Joys, Practices and Traditions of the Jewish Holidays - Rabbi Karen L. Fox and Phyllis Zimbler Miller, Perigee Books, The Putnam Publishing Group, New York, N.Y., 1992.

Online Bible Meditation: Good Shepherd Sunday Edition

The Good Shepherd
Bernhard Plockhorst (1825 - 1907)

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of April 17, 2016

April 17 - Philippians 3: 7 - 14

April 18 - Psalm 30

April 19 - Acts 6: 1 - 7

April 20 - John 6: 1 - 15

April 21 - Psalm 33: 1 - 5

April 22 - 1 Peter 4: 7 - 11

April 23 - Matthew 6: 1 - 6

And now... 

a thoughtful and different arrangement of  Psalm 23

by Bobby McFerrin -- dedicated to his mother.

Audio Divina: Encountering Jesus in the Ordinary

Betty's Diner - Carrie Newcomer (2003)

Saul met Jesus on the way to Damascus for business.

The disciples found Him waiting for them on the beach,

with breakfast.

What if...just what if...Jesus was a server at a diner?

Maybe...just maybe...we could think about how

every Sunday we meet Him at His table, 

at St. Cyprian's Diner.

***

Betty's Diner - Carrie Newcomer, 2003

Miranda words the late night counter

 In a joint called Betty’s Diner 

Chrome and checkered tablecloths, one steamy windowpane 

She got the job that shaky fall,

And after hours she’ll write til dawn.

 With a nod and smile she serves them all.

Here we are all in one place:

 The wants and wounds of the human race.

 Despair and hope sit face to face

 When you come in from the cold.

 Let her fill your cup with something kind --

 Eggs and toast like bread and wine.

 She’s heard it all so she don’t mind.

 Arthur lets his earl grey steep;

 Since April it’s been hard to sleep.

 You know they tried most everything,

 Yet it took her in the end.

 Kevin tests new saxophones,

 But swears he’s leaving quality control

 For the Chicago scene, or New Orleans,

 Where they still play righteous horns.

 Jack studies here after work;

 To get past high school he’s the first --

 And his large hands seem just as comfortable 

With a hammer or a pen.

 Emma leaned and kissed his cheek, 

And when she did his knees got weak.

 Miranda smiles at Em and winks.

You never know who’ll be your witness;

 You never know who grants forgiveness.

Look to heaven or sit with us.

 Deidra bites her lip and frowns;

 She works the Stop and Go downtown.

 She’s pretty good at the crossword page, and

She paints her eyes blue black.

 Tristan come along sometimes -- 

Small for his age and barely five --

 But she loves him like a mamma lion.

 Veda used to drink a lot --

 Almost lost it all before she stopped. 

 Comes in at night with her friend Mike, 

Who runs the crisis line.

 Michael toured Saigon and back -- 

 Hair the color of smoke and ash.

 Heads are bowed and hands are clasped;

One more storm has passed.

 Here we are all in one place:

 The wants and wounds of the human race.

 Despair and hope sit face to face

 When you come in from the cold.

 Let her fill your cup with something kind --

 Eggs and toast like bread and wine.

 She’s heard it all so she don’t mind.

Online Bible Meditation: Encounter Edition

James Tissot, Christ Sharing Breakfast with the Apostles in Galilee
French, 1886-1894
New York, Brooklyn Museum

How have you encountered Jesus?

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of April 10, 2016

April 10 - 1 Kings 17: 8 - 16

April 11 - John 20: 24 - 29

April 12 - Acts 9: 1 - 6

April 13 - Psalm 147: 1 - 11

April 14 - John 14: 1 - 7

April 15 - Revelation 5: 11 - 14

April 16 - 1 John 2: 7 - 17

Online Bible Meditation: Welcome Spring Edition

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of April 3, 2016

April 3 - John 21: 1 - 14

April 4 - Acts 5: 27 - 32

April 5 - Revelation 1: 4 - 8

April 6 - John 20: 19 - 31

April 7 - Psalm 146

April 8 - 1 John 1: 5 - 10

April 9 - Ezekiel 37: 1 - 14

Spring is the Period

Express from God.

Among the other seasons

Himself abide,

But during March and April

None stir abroad

Without a cordial interview

With God. 

- Poem 844 - Emily Dickinson