Thursday morning

He 

rescued 

me 

because

 he 

delighted

 in me. 

Easter Antiphon on Psalm 18
"Hell is a point not in space but in the soul. It is a place where God is not. (And yet God is everywhere!) If Christ truly "descended into hell" that means that he descended into the depths of the absence of God.  Totally, unreservedly, he identifies himself with all our anguish and alienation. He assumed it into himself, and by assuming it, he healed it. There was no other way he could heal it except by making it his own." 
                          From The Orthodox Way by Bishop Kallistos Ware 
                                          "What s unsassumed is unhealed." 

Wednesday

Lord, open 

our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.  

And so has begun Morning Prayer in monasteries and parish churches, on airplanes and cruise ships, in homes and backyards and in front of computers, alone and in physical community  with one another, in every part of the globe,  for centuries.... "As o'er each continent and island, the dawn leads on another day, the voice of prayer is never silent, nor dies the strain of praise away." (Hymn #24)

Tuesday Evening Prayer

Be of good cheer, 

I have overcome

 the world, 

hallelujah. 

Easter antiphon: 

Psalm 11

St Philip and St James, transferred from May 1 because of Easter Week

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; 

early in the morning 

I make my appeal and watch for you. 

                 I make my appeal and watch

The Feast of St Mark, transferred from April 25 because of Easter week

Deliverance 

belongs to 

the Lord, 

hallelujah. 

Easter antiphon on Psalm 3

        As I sat with this verse I was struck by the choice of words: it's not "comes from" but "belongs to." Deliverance is the utter and sole possession of God and hard won at that as hinted by the wounds and empty tomb...

Second Sunday of Easter, Vespers

Do not let your hearts be troubled 

    Believe in God, believe also in me. 

The Second Sunday of Easter

Do 

not 

doubt 

but 

believe. 

John 20:27

The third step of AA is ”Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.” Like the folks in the Gospel story today,  the community has had an experience of God’s saving power. Thomas, who was not there the first time Jesus appeared after his resurrection, is now present (underlining again the importance of suiting up and showing up.) Being there, he has the experience himself, after  which, the Lord says: "Do not doubt but believe.”  Although the decision is not made in a vacuum, nevertheless a decision must be made and on it rests “the success of the whole rest of the AA program.” It is the “triumphal arch to which we walk to freedom. “