First Reading – Genesis 1:1-2:2 ©
Psalm 103(104):1-2, 5-6, 10, 12-14, 24,35
©
Second Reading – Genesis 22:1-18 ©
Psalm 15(16):5, 8-11 ©
Third
Reading - Exodus 14:15 – 15:1 ©
Canticle
- Exodus 15 ©
Fourth
Reading – Isaiah 54:5-14 ©
Psalm
29(30):2, 4-6, 11-13 ©
Fifth
Reading - Isaiah 55:1-11 ©
Canticle
- Isaiah 12 ©
Sixth Reading – Baruch 3:9-15, 32-4:4
©
Psalm 18(19):8-11 ©
Seventh Reading – Ezekiel 36:16-17, 18-28
©
Psalm 41(42):2-3, 5, 42:3-4 ©
Epistle – Romans 6:3-11 ©
Psalm
117(118):1-2, 16-17, 22-23 ©
The
Gospel According to Mark 16:1 – 8 ©
(NJB)
Listen!
God created the Earth and everything in it, and God
saw that it was good; from the beginning to the end God saw that it was good.
These are the takeaway from the creation myth.
God created human beings in God’s own image, as
rational creatures God created us, we were made to be in relationship with God,
who made it so and saw that it was good.
God saw the whole of it, God saw all of us, and God
saw that we were good.
Remember this!
The eternal God is the first source and center of
all things, engendering all potentialities while interfering with none. The
universe God created was made free from divine coercion, and yet the entirety
of what is moves according to God’s eternal purpose.
Know this:
God did not interact with Abraham in the way God is
depicted as doing in this tale from The Book of Genesis.
God never ordered the sacrifice of Isaac, but the
culture Abraham came from did demand such a thing. His culture demanded that he
make a sacrifice of his firstborn son and Abraham rejected that demand, demonstrating
to his people that God would accept something else in return; he put a lamb in
the place of a human child, demanding in return that his culture accept this
change in custom…and it was so.
Be mindful.
It is not that God wanted the sacrifice of the lamb,
or any blood sacrifice, God did not. Blood does not serve for the expiation of
guilt, only mercy can achieves that…mercy, freely given and the acceptance of
it freely received.
God did not desire the lamb, but God did desire a
reform in the cult of sacrifice as practiced by Abraham’s people, reforms in keeping
with the demands of divine justice, God desired that the people move away from
the horrors of human sacrifice, and the substitution of the lamb was a move in
the right direction.
Abraham gave God what God wanted; the same impetus was
at work 1,400 years later when Jesus gave his life, not as a sacrifice, but so
that others would be spared.
God did not want Jesus’ blood, but God loved what
Jesus did in the final hours before his death, God loved him for his
fearlessness, for the compassion he showed his people and the mercy he showed
to his persecutors on his way to the cross.
Know this.
Jesus’ death was not a cosmic event, it was an all-together
ordinary political murder. There is nothing more to it than that, and there is
no good reason to celebrate it. Paul and the Gospel writers did a disservice to
Jesus’ memory, and the Church founded in his name, when they depicted his death
in this way.
By translating the story of his death into a
substitutionary sacrifice for the expiation of sin they deviated from the
way. Jesus was not a goat or lamb, and God has never desired blood from the
flock, or craved the smell of burning fat for anything…Jesus’ death was never
that.
Understand
this.
God
is good, all that is good flows from the creator, as everything does, flowing
from and existing within the divine. Look for the good in all creation, in
everything that unfolds before you witness and find the good in you.
Be
mindful.
There
are no alien gods, there is only one. But there are trillions upon trillions of
misconceptions regarding God, including our own.
All
images of God are the stuff of idols, whether they are made of metal, of stone,
of wood or of words, whether they are painted on canvass, or merely drawn and colored
in the mind.
Know
this.
God
calls all of Gods children to God’s self, no one is left out, none are
abandoned, not one of us is lost…and know that it is shameful to portray God as
a murderer. It is shameful to praise the death and destruction of human beings,
even those with whom you are fighting.
It
is shameful to spread partisan propaganda about the divine, even through myth,
fable and song, it is shameful to tell lies about the divine nature and God’s
plan for the human family.
God
is the parent of us all.
God
is not a king, God does not lead armies, God is not a general or the lord of
hosts, God does not favor one person, one family, one tribe or one nation above
another…God is not sectarian, and God does not intervene in human affairs,
except to say this: love one another, be merciful to each other, forgive one
another, including those who have done
you wrong and hurt you most.
Be mindful.
The blessings of God are often depicted with images of
great wealth and ostentatious power; this is not the way.
We may not always be able to discern the presence of
God, but nevertheless God is with us, God will never leave us and the peace of
God restores the shaken.
Even when we are disconsolate, unhappy, even when we
feel as if we are lost at sea, God is there, experiencing our tribulations with
us; God will deliver us from them in the end.
Consider the words of the prophet, knowing that God
will neither lift you up, nor strike you down. God will not be angry with you,
because God understands you and God does love…the divine love endures forever.
Know this.
The grace of God is free, and all the good things
God has in store for us are things God promises to deliver to everyone…in the
freedom of God’s grace. The covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
the covenant God made with Moses, Joshua and David, is the same covenant God
made with all the prophets, including Jesus, Muhammad and Martin Luther King, and
that covenant is meant to be a blessing for all people, wherever they are…no
matter how near or how far.
God promises to deliver everyone to a state of
blessedness, the stranger and the sinner alike, both the dutiful child and the
profligate prodigal. This is the grace of God, this is the way which Jesus
proclaimed, it is the path to paradise.
Be
patient; salvation flows from the wellspring of God, it flows from this life
into the next world, everyone is called to drink from it, and find it bubbling
up in their hearts.
Understand
this.
For
some folks the experience of life is nasty, brutish and short. Some are born
into suffering, suffer and die suffering; without ever experiencing a moment of
relief.
For
most folks the experience of life a mixture of sorrow and joy, of grief and
delight, of pleasure and pain. How the world apportions these to the individual
does not conform to any divine plan.
God
made us free and does not intervene in our affairs. There is no magic key,
there is nothing we can do to bring the favor of the world to us, except insofar
as we walk humbly, serve justice and do good throughout our lives…therefore, be
courteous, kind and loving to one another.
We
can prepare for famine and prepare against the onset of war. We can treat each
other fairly and grow strong in our relationships to one another and the world.
If we do this, blessings will flow from there. However, we cannot prepare for
the lightning bolt, it strikes without thought of who might be standing in its
path, but we can show compassion to those it consumes.
When
the scriptures tell us of the plight that the children of Israel endured, of their
expulsion from their homeland, of how their exile and suffering were brought
about by God in order to punish them for their sins, you must understand that
the structure of this narrative is like that of a fable, with only vague
similarities to actual historical realities…this is the nature of myth.
We
suffer what we suffer because of the choices we make, and due to our
shortsightedness; we suffer on account of the choices other people make
concerning us, on account of a cruelty that all too often fills the human heart,
and sometimes we suffer for no reason at all.
God
does not intervene in the lives of human beings, in our politics, in our wars
or any of our conflicts. We do not suffer, or flourish on account of God…no one
does.
When
we pray for deliverance, we are praying for spiritual freedom and the grace to
transcend our attachment to the world. The story of God coming to rescue of the
people of Israel is a metaphor. It is meant to inform us that no matter how
sinful and deviant we may become, God still loves us, and though we may not
feel as if we deserve it, God will save us, in the world to come we all be made
well…God will save us in spite of ourselves.
Take
comfort and joy in the presence of God, the divine spirit is always with you.
Know
this.
When
you are persecuted it is not because God has forgotten or abandoned you, rather
it is your persecutors who have forgotten that you, like they themselves, are
children of God; they have forgotten that God loves you as much as God loves them,
and upon this forgetfulness they justify the crimes they commit against you.
Remember
this when, or if, you are in a position of power over others. Remember to look
for the divine in those under your authority, and you will see the face of God
shining in the faces of everyone.
Be mindful.
Jesus was not raised to new life for an
extraordinary reason, but for this all-together ordinary reason: God intends to raise all people, and does so out
of the superabundance of God’s love.
Eternal life is not the reward a Christian should
seek, as if it were payment for having lived a just life, or as an exchange for
the grace and mercy we have shown to others. The blessed life is ours when we share
the blessings of the divine with those around us and we live our lives well; death
is defeated when we stop fearing death.
We come to live our authentic lives when we free
ourselves from the fear of death; it is then that we allow ourselves to live for what is good and
beautiful and true, this is the way that Jesus followed while instructing
us to do the same.
Remember this.
God is kind, loving and merciful, even when God is
exercising judgment and administering justice.
God has no enemies, and does not dwell in a fortress
behind a walled city; there are no gates barring access to the divine, because the
divine spirit dwells in all places, at all times and is active in the hearts of
all people.
God, the creator of the universe brings life, and death
is but a curtain we pass through to the great beyond.
Consider
the Gospel reading for today and the narrative of the empty tomb, read them with
the understanding that the mythological tropes presented in the story are not instructive
of the way.
The tales
of an earthquake, the conversation had with the “Angel of the Lord,” whose face
was “like lightning” and whose robes were “white as snow,” these images do not
elucidate the way, or teach us anything useful at all.
Forget them
and take this away with you:
It was not
the twelve men who we know of as Jesus’ disciples who heard the Gospel first or
who first proclaimed it, it was two women: Mary of Magdala and the other Mary, sister
to Martha and Lazarus.
This
history could not be unwritten, it tells us that the earliest leaders of the
Church were these brave women who stood with Jesus through the long night, from
his arrest and trial to the crucifixion, they stayed with him until his last
breath.
It is these
women who bore witness to his final prayers.
These are
the matriarchs of the Church; today we should lift them up in celebration of
their faith; it is only through their faith that we hear the good news.
First
Reading – Genesis 1:1-2:2 ©
God Saw All that He Had Made, and Indeed
it was Very Good
In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth. Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep, and
God’s spirit hovered over the water.
God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light.
God saw that light was good, and God divided light from darkness. God called
light ‘day’, and darkness he called ‘night.’ Evening came and morning came: the
first day.
God said, ‘Let there be a vault in the waters to
divide the waters in two.’ And so it was. God made the vault, and it divided
the waters above the vault from the waters under the vault. God called the
vault ‘heaven.’ Evening came and morning came: the second day.
God said, ‘Let the waters under heaven come together
into a single mass, and let dry land appear.’ And so it was. God called the dry
land ‘earth’ and the mass of waters ‘seas’, and God saw that it was good.
God said, ‘Let the earth produce vegetation:
seed-bearing plants, and fruit trees bearing fruit with their seed inside, on
the earth.’ And so it was. The earth produced vegetation: plants bearing seed
in their several kinds, and trees bearing fruit with their seed inside in their
several kinds. God saw that it was good. Evening came and morning came: the
third day.
God said, ‘Let there be lights in the vault of
heaven to divide day from night, and let them indicate festivals, days and
years. Let them be lights in the vault of heaven to shine on the earth.’ And so
it was. God made the two great lights: the greater light to govern the day, the
smaller light to govern the night, and the stars. God set them in the vault of
heaven to shine on the earth, to govern the day and the night and to divide
light from darkness. God saw that it was good. Evening came and morning came:
the fourth day.
God said, ‘Let the waters teem with living
creatures, and let birds fly above the earth within the vault of heaven.’ And
so it was. God created great sea-serpents and every kind of living creature
with which the waters teem, and every kind of winged creature. God saw that it
was good. God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters
of the seas; and let the birds multiply upon the earth.’ Evening came and
morning came: the fifth day.
God said, ‘Let the earth produce every kind of
living creature: cattle, reptiles, and every kind of wild beast.’ And so it
was. God made every kind of wild beast, every kind of cattle, and every kind of
land reptile. God saw that it was good.
God said, ‘Let us make man in our own image, in the
likeness of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish of the sea, the
birds of heaven, the cattle, all the wild beasts and all the reptiles that
crawl upon the earth.’
God created man in the image of himself, in the
image of God he created him, male and female he created them.
God blessed them, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful,
multiply, fill the earth and conquer it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the
birds of heaven and all living animals on the earth.’ God said, ‘See, I give
you all the seed-bearing plants that are upon the whole earth, and all the
trees with seed-bearing fruit; this shall be your food. To all wild beasts, all
birds of heaven and all living reptiles on the earth I give all the foliage of
plants for food.’ And so it was. God saw all he had made, and indeed it was
very good. Evening came and morning came: the sixth day.
Thus heaven and earth were completed with all their
array. On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing. He rested
on the seventh day after all the work he had been doing.
Psalm 103(104):1-2, 5-6, 10, 12-14, 24,35
©
Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the face
of the earth.
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord God,
how great you are,
clothed in majesty and glory,
wrapped in
light as in a robe!
Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the face
of the earth.
You founded the earth on its base,
to stand
firm from age to age.
You wrapped it with the ocean like a cloak:
the waters
stood higher than the mountains.
Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the face
of the earth.
You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow in
between the hills.
On their banks dwell the birds of heaven;
from the
branches they sing their song.
Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the face
of the earth.
From your dwelling you water the hills;
earth drinks
its fill of your gift.
You make the grass grow for the cattle
and the
plants to serve man’s needs.
Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the face
of the earth.
How many are your works, O Lord!
In wisdom
you have made them all.
The earth is
full of your riches.
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the face
of the earth.
Second Reading – Genesis 22:1-18 ©
The Sacrifice of Abraham, Our Father
in Faith
God put Abraham to the test. ‘Abraham, Abraham’ he
called. ‘Here I am’ he replied. ‘Take your son,’ God said ‘your only child
Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him
as a burnt offering, on a mountain I will point out to you.’
Rising early next morning Abraham saddled his ass
and took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. He chopped wood for
the burnt offering and started on his journey to the place God had pointed out
to him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.
Then Abraham said to his servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I
will go over there; we will worship and come back to you.’
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering, loaded
it on Isaac, and carried in his own hands the fire and the knife. Then the two
of them set out together. Isaac spoke to his father Abraham, ‘Father’ he said.
‘Yes, my son’ he replied. ‘Look,’ he said ‘here are the fire and the wood, but
where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’ Abraham answered, ‘My son, God
himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.’ Then the two of them
went on together.
When they arrived at the place God had pointed out
to him, Abraham built an altar there, and arranged the wood. Then he bound his
son Isaac and put him on the altar on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out
his hand and seized the knife to kill his son.
But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven.
‘Abraham, Abraham’ he said. ‘I am here’ he replied. ‘Do not raise your hand
against the boy’ the angel said. ‘Do not harm him, for now I know you fear God.
You have not refused me your son, your only son.’ Then looking up, Abraham saw
a ram caught by its horns in a bush. Abraham took the ram and offered it as a
burnt-offering in place of his son.
Abraham called this place ‘The Lord Provides’, and
hence the saying today: On the mountain the Lord provides.
The angel of the Lord called Abraham a second time
from heaven. ‘I swear by my own self – it is the Lord who speaks – because you
have done this, because you have not refused me your son, your only son, I will
shower blessings on you, I will make your descendants as many as the stars of
heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants shall gain
possession of the gates of their enemies. All the nations of the earth shall
bless themselves by your descendants, as a reward for your obedience.’
Psalm
15(16):5, 8-11 ©
Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you.
O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup;
it is you
yourself who are my prize.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight:
since he is
at my right hand, I shall stand firm.
Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you.
And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad;
even my body
shall rest in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead,
nor let your
beloved know decay.
Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you.
You will show me the path of life,
the fullness
of joy in your presence,
at your
right hand happiness for ever.
Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you.
Third
Reading - Exodus 14:15 – 15:1 ©
The Sons of Israel Went on Dry Ground
Right into the Sea
The Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to me so?
Tell the sons of Israel to march on. For yourself, raise your staff and stretch
out your hand over the sea and part it for the sons of Israel to walk through
the sea on dry ground. I for my part will make the heart of the Egyptians so
stubborn that they will follow them. So shall I win myself glory at the expense
of Pharaoh, of all his army, his chariots, his horsemen. And when I have won
glory for myself, at the expense of Pharaoh and his chariots and his army, the
Egyptians will learn that I am the Lord.’
Then the angel of God, who marched at the front of
the army of Israel, changed station and moved to their rear. The pillar of
cloud changed station from the front to the rear of them, and remained there.
It came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. The cloud was
dark, and the night passed without the armies drawing any closer the whole
night long.
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord
drove back the sea with a strong easterly wind all night, and he made dry land
of the sea. The waters parted and the sons of Israel went on dry ground right
into the sea, walls of water to right and to left of them. The Egyptians gave
chase: after them they went, right into the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his
chariots, and his horsemen.
In the morning watch, the Lord looked down on the
army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and of cloud, and threw the army
into confusion. He so clogged their chariot wheels that they could scarcely
make headway. ‘Let us flee from the Israelites,’ the Egyptians cried. ‘The Lord
is fighting for them against the Egyptians!’
‘Stretch out your hand over the sea,’ the Lord said
to Moses, ‘that the waters may flow back on the Egyptians and their chariots
and their horsemen.’
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and, as
day broke, the sea returned to its bed. The fleeing Egyptians marched right
into it, and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the very middle of the sea.
The returning waters overwhelmed the chariots and the horsemen of Pharaoh’s
whole army, which had followed the Israelites into the sea; not a single one of
them was left. But the sons of Israel had marched through the sea on dry
ground, walls of water to right and to left of them.
That day, the Lord rescued Israel from the
Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. Israel
witnessed the great act that the Lord had performed against the Egyptians, and
the people venerated the Lord; they put their faith in the Lord and in Moses,
his servant.
It was then that Moses and the sons of Israel sang
this song in honour of the Lord:
Canticle
- Exodus 15 ©
Hymn of Victory After Crossing the
Red Sea
I will sing to the Lord, glorious his triumph!
I will sing to the Lord, glorious his triumph!
Horse and
rider he has thrown into the sea!
The Lord is my strength, my song, my salvation.
This is my
God and I extol him,
my father’s
God and I give him praise.
I will sing to the Lord, glorious his triumph!
The Lord is a warrior! ‘The Lord’ is his name.
The chariots
of Pharaoh he hurled into the sea,
the flower of his army is drowned in the sea.
The deeps
hide them; they sank like a stone.
I will sing to the Lord, glorious his triumph!
Your right hand, Lord, glorious in its power,
your right
hand, Lord, has shattered the enemy.
In the
greatness of your glory you crushed the foe.
I will sing to the Lord, glorious his triumph!
You will lead your people and plant them on your
mountain,
the place, O
Lord, where you have made your home,
the sanctuary, Lord, which your hands have made.
The Lord
will reign for ever and ever.
I will sing to the Lord, glorious his triumph!
Fourth
Reading – Isaiah 54:5-14 ©
With Everlasting Love the Lord Your Redeemer
Has Taken Pity on You
Thus says the Lord:
Now your creator will be your husband, his name, the
Lord of Hosts; your redeemer will be the Holy One of Israel, he is called the
God of the whole earth.
Yes, like a forsaken wife, distressed in spirit, the
Lord calls you back.
Does a man cast off the wife of his youth? says your
God.
I did forsake you for a brief moment, but with great
love will I take you back. In excess of anger, for a moment I hid my face from
you. But with everlasting love I have taken pity on you, says the Lord, your
redeemer.
I am now as I was in the days of Noah when I swore
that Noah’s waters should never flood the world again. So now I swear
concerning my anger with you and the threats I made against you.
For the mountains may depart, the hills be shaken, but
my love for you will never leave you and my covenant of peace with you will
never be shaken, says the Lord who takes pity on you.
Unhappy creature, storm-tossed, disconsolate, see, I
will set your stones on carbuncles and your foundations on sapphires. I will
make rubies your battlements, your gates crystal, and your entire wall precious
stones. Your sons will all be taught by the Lord. The prosperity of your sons
will be great. You will be founded on integrity; remote from oppression, you
will have nothing to fear; remote from terror, it will not approach you.
Psalm
29(30):2, 4-6, 11-13 ©
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me
and have not
let my enemies rejoice over me.
O Lord, you have raised my soul from the dead,
restored me
to life from those who sink into the grave.
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
Sing psalms to the Lord, you who love him,
give thanks
to his holy name.
His anger lasts a moment; his favour all through
life.
At night
there are tears, but joy comes with dawn.
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
The Lord listened and had pity.
The Lord
came to my help.
For me you have changed my mourning into dancing:
O Lord my
God, I will thank you for ever.
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
Fifth
Reading - Isaiah 55:1-11 ©
Come to Me and Your Soul Will Live,
and I Will Make an Everlasting Covenant with You
Thus says the Lord:
Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty; though
you have no money, come! Buy corn without money, and eat, and, at no cost, wine
and milk. Why spend money on what is not bread, your wages on what fails to
satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and you will have good things to eat
and rich food to enjoy. Pay attention, come to me; listen,
and your soul will live.
With you I will make an everlasting covenant out of
the favours promised to David. See, I have made of you a witness to the
peoples, a leader and a master of the nations. See, you will summon a nation
you never knew, those unknown will come hurrying to you, for the sake of the
Lord your God, of the Holy One of Israel who will glorify you.
Seek the Lord while he is still to be found, call to
him while he is still near. Let the wicked man abandon his way, the evil man
his thoughts. Let him turn back to the Lord who will take pity on him, to our
God who is rich in forgiving; for my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways
not your ways – it is the Lord who speaks. Yes, the heavens are as high above
earth as my ways are above your ways, my thoughts above your thoughts.
Yes, as the rain and the snow come down from the
heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and
giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the
word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty, without carrying out
my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.
Canticle
- Isaiah 12 ©
The Rejoicing of a Redeemed People
With joy you will draw water from the wells of
salvation.
Truly, God is my salvation,
I trust, I
shall not fear.
For the Lord is my strength, my song,
he became my
saviour.
With joy you will draw water
from the
wells of salvation.
With joy you will draw water from the wells of
salvation.
Give thanks to the Lord, give praise to his name!
Make his
mighty deeds known to the peoples!
Declare the
greatness of his name.
With joy you will draw water from the wells of
salvation.
Sing a psalm to the Lord
for he has
done glorious deeds;
make them
known to all the earth!
People of Zion, sing and shout for joy,
for great in
your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
With joy you will draw water from the wells of
salvation.
Sixth
Reading – Baruch 3:9-15, 32-4:4 ©
In the Radiance of the Lord, Make Your
Way to Light
Listen, Israel, to commands that
bring life; hear, and learn what knowledge means. Why, Israel, why are you in
the country of your enemies, growing older and older in an alien land, sharing
defilement with the dead, reckoned with those who go to Sheol? Because you have
forsaken the fountain of wisdom. Had you walked in the way of God, you would
have lived in peace for ever. Learn where knowledge is, where strength, where
understanding, and so learn where length of days is, where life, where the
light of the eyes and where peace. But who has found out where she lives, who
has entered her treasure house?
But the One who knows all knows her, he
has grasped her with his own intellect, he has set the earth firm for ever and
filled it with four-footed beasts. He sends the light – and it goes, he recalls
it – and trembling it obeys; the stars shine joyfully at their set times: when
he calls them, they answer, ‘Here we are’; they gladly shine for their creator.
It is he who is our God, no other can compare with him. He has grasped the
whole way of knowledge, and confided it to his servant Jacob, to Israel his
well-beloved; so causing her to appear on earth and move among men.
This is the book of the commandments
of God, the Law that stands for ever; those who keep her live, those who desert
her die. Turn back, Jacob, seize her, in her radiance make your way to light: do
not yield your glory to another, your privilege to a people not your own.
Israel, blessed are we: what pleases
God has been revealed to us.
Psalm 18(19):8-11 ©
You have the message of eternal life,
O Lord.
The law of the Lord is perfect,
it revives the soul.
The rule of the Lord is to be
trusted,
it gives wisdom to the simple.
You have the message of eternal life,
O Lord.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
they gladden the heart.
The command of the Lord is clear,
it gives light to the eyes.
You have the message of eternal life,
O Lord.
The fear of the Lord is holy,
abiding for ever.
The decrees of the Lord are truth
and all of them just.
You have the message of eternal life,
O Lord.
They are more to be desired than
gold,
than the purest of gold
and sweeter are they than honey,
than honey from the comb.
You have the message of eternal life,
O Lord.
Seventh Reading – Ezekiel 36:16-17, 18-28
©
I
Shall Pour Clean Water Over You and I Shall Give You a New Heart
The
word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows: ‘Son of man, the members of
the House of Israel used to live in their own land, but they defiled it by
their conduct and actions. I then discharged my fury at them because of the
blood they shed in their land and the idols with which they defiled it. I
scattered them among the nations and dispersed them in foreign countries. I
sentenced them as their conduct and actions deserved. And now they have
profaned my holy name among the nations where they have gone, so that people
say of them, “These are the people of the Lord; they have been exiled from his
land.”
‘But
I have been concerned about my holy name, which the House of Israel has
profaned among the nations where they have gone.
‘And
so, say to the House of Israel, “The Lord says this: I am not doing this for
your sake, House of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have
profaned among the nations where you have gone. I mean to display the holiness
of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have
profaned among them. And the nations will learn that I am the Lord – it is the
Lord who speaks – when I display my holiness for your sake before their eyes.
Then I am going to take you from among the nations and gather you together from
all the foreign countries, and bring you home to your own land.
‘“I
shall pour clean water over you and you will be cleansed; I shall cleanse you
of all your defilement and all your idols. I shall give you a new heart, and
put a new spirit in you; I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and
give you a heart of flesh instead. I shall put my spirit in you, and make you
keep my laws and sincerely respect my observances. You will live in the land
which I gave your ancestors. You shall be my people and I will be your God.”’
Psalm 41(42):2-3, 5, 42:3-4 ©
Like
the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my
God.
My
soul is thirsting for God,
the God of my life;
when
can I enter and see
the face of God?
Like
the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my
God.
These
things will I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how
I would lead the rejoicing crowd
into the house of God,
amid
cries of gladness and thanksgiving,
the throng wild with joy.
Like
the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my
God.
O
send forth your light and your truth;
let these be my guide.
Let
them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.
Like
the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my
God.
And
I will come to the altar of God,
the God of my joy.
My
redeemer, I will thank you on the harp,
O God, my God.
Like
the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my
God.
Epistle
– Romans 6:3-11 ©
Christ,
Having Been Raised from the Dead, Will Never Die Again
When
we were baptised in Christ Jesus we were baptised in his death; in other words,
when we were baptised we went into the tomb with him and joined him in death,
so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, we too might
live a new life.
If
in union with Christ we have imitated his death, we shall also imitate him in
his resurrection. We must realise that our former selves have been crucified
with him to destroy this sinful body and to free us from the slavery of sin.
When a Christian dies, of course, he has finished with sin.
But
we believe that having died with Christ we shall return to life with him:
Christ, as we know, having been raised from the dead will never die again.
Death has no power over him any more. When he died, he died, once for all, to
sin, so his life now is life with God; and in that way, you too must consider
yourselves to be dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus.
Psalm 117(118):1-2, 16-17, 22-23 ©
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
for his love
has no end.
Let the sons of Israel say:
‘His love
has no end.’
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord’s right hand has triumphed;
his right
hand raised me up.
I shall not die, I shall live
and recount
his deeds.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
The stone which the builders rejected
has become
the corner stone.
This is the work of the Lord,
a marvel in
our eyes.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
The Gospel According to Mark 16:1 – 8
©
He Has Risen from the Dead and Now He
is Going Before You into Galilee
Jesus of Nazareth, Who Was Crucified,
Has Risen
When the sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala, Mary the
mother of James, and Salome, bought spices with which to go and anoint him. And
very early in the morning on the first day of the week they went to the tomb,
just as the sun was rising.
They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll
away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ But when they looked they
could see that the stone – which was very big – had already been rolled back.
On entering the tomb they saw a young man in a white robe seated on the
right-hand side, and they were struck with amazement. But he said to them,
‘There is no need for alarm. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was
crucified: he has risen, he is not here. See, here is the place where they laid
him. But you must go and tell his disciples and Peter, “He is going before you
to Galilee; it is there you will see him, just as he told you.”’
Holy Week, Holy Saturday (Year C) A
Holy Day of Obligation
