Online Bible Meditation: Easter Week Edition - with Poetry

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of March 27, 2016

March 27 - Easter Sunday - Psalm 102: 12 - 27

March 28 - 1 Timothy 6: 11 - 14

March 29 -  Proverbs 10: 20

March 30 - Jeremiah 33: 14 - 16

March 31 -  Psalm 3

April 1 - Acts 4: 1 - 12

April 2 - Psalm 116: 1 - 8

This morning in her sermon, Rev. Lee posed the question, 

the same one asked by the angels of the women

gathered at Jesus' tomb 'on the first day of the week:

Why do you seek the living among the dead?

In one last poem for Holy Week, poet Malcolm Guite expresses similar sentiments in this villanelle...

As though some heavy stone were rolled away,

You find an open door where all was closed,

Wide as an empty tomb on Easter Day.

Lost in your own dark wood, alone, astray,

You pause, as though some secret were disclosed,

As though some heavy stone were rolled away.

You glimpse the sky above you, wan and grey,

Wide through these shadowed branches interposed,

Wide as an empty tomb on Easter Day.

Perhaps there’s light enough to find your way,

For now the tangled wood feels less enclosed,

As though some heavy stone were rolled away.

You lift your feet out of the miry clay

And seek the light in which you once reposed,

Wide as an empty tomb on Easter Day.

And then Love calls your name, you hear Him say:

The way is open, death has been deposed,

As though some heavy stone were rolled away,

And you are free at last on Easter Day.

 -- On Easter Day - Malcolm Guite,

To hear the poem read this aloud, click HERE.

Poetry for Holy Week - III - Good Friday

Continuing to contemplate this week in the company of poet Malcolm Guite...

For Good Friday, the first of the twelve Stations of the Cross:

The 12th Station of the Cross
found in
St. Raphael's Cathedral,
Dubuque, Iowa, USA
Used with permission.

I - Jesus is Condemned to Death

The very air that Pilate breathes, the voice

With which he speaks in judgment, all his powers

Of perception and discrimination, choice,

Decision, all his years, his days and hours,

His consciousness of self, his every sense,

Are given by this prisoner, freely given.

The man who stands there making no defence,

Is God. His hands are tied, His heart is open.

And he bears Pilate’s heart in his and feels

That crushing weight of wasted life. He lifts

It up in silent love. He lifts and heals.

He gives himself again with all his gifts

Into our hands. As Pilate turns away

A door swings open. This is judgment day.

- Malcolm Guite, from 

The Word in the Wilderness:

A Poem a Day for Lent & Easter

SCM/Canterbury Press, 2014

To listen to the poet read this aloud, click HERE.

Poetry for Holy Week - II

This offering from poet Malcolm Guite reflects on what he calls 'The Anointing at Bethany'...when Mary, in extravagant love, pours perfumed oil on Jesus' feet...(John 12: 1 - 8)

Source: scripturehandmaidens.blogspot.com

The Anointing at Bethany

Come close with Mary, Martha , Lazarus

So close the candles stir with their soft breath

And kindle heart and soul to flame within us

Lit by these mysteries of life and death.

For beauty now begins the final movement

In quietness and intimate encounter

The alabaster jar of precious ointment

Is broken open for the world’s true lover,

The whole room richly fills to feast the senses

With all the yearning such a fragrance brings,

The heart is mourning but the spirit dances,

Here at the very centre of all things,

Here at the meeting place of love and loss

We all foresee, and see beyond the cross.

-- Malcolm Guite*, from

Sounding the Seasons:

Seventy Sonnets for the Church Year

Canterbury Press, UK, 2013

*To listen to the poet reading this piece, click HERE.

Holy Week Services

Maundy Thursday

The Last Supper
Simon Ushakov (1626 - 1686)

March 24, 2016

Footwashing

& 

Stripping of the Altar

7:30 p.m.

Good Friday

A Stabat Mater Depiction
Gabriel Wuger (1829 - 1892)

March 25, 2016

Service: 3:00 p.m.

Guest Preacher: Rev. Gary Sinclair

Holy Saturday - The Great Vigil of Easter

March 26, 2016

The Service of Light

The Liturgy of the Word

The Celebration of the Eucharist

7:30 p.m.

Easter Sunday

Icon of the Resurrection
Surgun 100 (2009)

March 27, 2016

Holy Eucharist

10:00 a.m.

Easter Egg Hunt to follow!

Online Bible Meditation: Holy Week, 2016

Entry of Christ into Jerusalem
Pietro Lorenzetti (1320)

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of March 20, 2016

March 20 - Palm Sunday - Psalm 2

March 21 - Jeremiah 18: 1-4

March 22 -  Luke 19: 45 - 48

March 23- Ephesians 4: 25 - 32

March 24 -  Psalm 77: 1 - 6

March 25 -  Good Friday - 1 Peter 1: 13 - 16

March 26 - Easter Vigil - Matthew 5: 13 - 16

Poetry for Holy Week - I

Palm Sunday - Malcolm Guite

Now to the gate of my Jerusalem,

The seething holy city of my heart,

The saviour comes. But will I welcome him?

Oh crowds of easy feelings make a start;

They raise their hands, get caught up in the singing,

And think the battle won. Too soon they’ll find

The challenge, the reversal he is bringing

Changes their tune. I know what lies behind

The surface flourish that so quickly fades;

Self-interest, and fearful guardedness,

The hardness of the heart, its barricades,

And at the core, the dreadful emptiness

Of a perverted temple. Jesus  come

Break my resistance and make me your home.

An Invitation

to a 'thin place'...

'Draw near to God and he will draw near to you...' - James 4: 8a (ESV)

An Evening of Taize-style worship

Song

Reflection

Prayer

Quiet your heart

Ease your mind

Still your soul

Open your spirit

Friday, March 18, 2016

7:00 p.m.

Online Bible Meditation, Week of Lent 5

Photo Credit: Steven Kurtz

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of March 13, 2016

March 13- Fifth Sunday of Lent - Hebrews 13: 1 - 6

March 14 -  Ephesians 4: 1 - 16

March 15 -  Proverbs 10: 15

March 16 - Psalm 1

March 17 -  Patrick, Missionary Bishop to Ireland - Matthew 5: 1 - 12

March 18 - Ephesians 4: 17 - 24

March 19 - St. Joseph of Nazareth - Luke 17: 20 - 31

The Anointing at Bethany

Come close with Mary, Martha ,  Lazarus

So close the candles stir with their soft breath

And kindle heart and soul to flame within us

Lit by these mysteries of life and death.

For beauty now begins the final movement

In quietness and  intimate encounter

The alabaster jar of precious ointment

Is broken open for the world’s true lover,

The whole room richly fills to feast the senses

With all the  yearning such a fragrance brings,

The heart is mourning but the spirit dances,

Here at the very centre of all things,

Here at the meeting place of love and loss

We all foresee, and see beyond the cross.

- Malcolm Guite

Click HERE to listen to the poet read his poem.

Online Bible Meditation: The Week of Lent 4

Return of the Prodigal Son
Rembrandt van Rijn - ca. 1661 - 1669

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of March 6, 2016

March 6- Fourth Sunday of Lent - Luke 13: 6 - 9

March 7 -  Proverbs 11: 22

March 8 -  Psalm 34: 1 - 8

March 9 - Isaiah 55: 6 - 9

March 10 -  Psalm 54: 4 - 7

March 11 - Ephesians 13: 14 - 21

March 12 - Luke 16: 19 - 31

The Parable of the Prodigal Son...