Liturgy

The sun peeks around the cover of darkness.
When doom thickens the air, its light seeps through,
a constant unwavering force in the tumult of time.
“All is not lost,” the sun’s steadiness soothes us.

The cool, damp tomb is empty.
The devoted, unable to carry out their faithful duty.
Like a doe hearing the snap of a twig from a hunter’s step,
confusion and fear consumes them.

Though disheveled and distraught, God sees them.
When we face the unimaginable, God is with us.

The Resurrected Hope gives voice to
forgiveness and rage towards injustice.
It is not a valiant fanfare or declaration
of war, but it is tenacious.

Hope aligns us away from the devastation of today
toward the beloved community of tomorrow.

The sun rises, then sets, so that it may rise again.
Renew us each day with this same hope.

We pray all this in the name of our
Peace-minded God,
Resurrected Christ,
and Steady Spirit.
Amen.

(Elise Bjork)

Scripture Reading

We invite you to hear from the Gospel of Luke 24: 1-5, 8-11.

24 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb,
taking the spices that they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled
away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in, they did not find the body.

4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling
clothes stood beside them. 5 The women were terrified and bowed their
faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the
living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.

8 Then they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb,
they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was
Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other
women with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But these words
seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.

The Good News of the Lord. Thanks be to God!

The grass withers and the flower fades,
but the Word of the Lord endures forever. Amen.

Homily and Reflection

Homily Podcast – Fits and Starts 04.17.2022

Where is Christ inviting you to shift perspectives to find life in death?

How might forgiveness, righteous anger, and nonviolent resistance call you toward hopeful action?

Benediction

Surprising Son of God you revealed the truth to women
who were not believed by men. You are in the voices
of the unbelieved and the ignored. So bring us towards
each other. Bring us towards the truest truth.

Because here, if anywhere, will we find you.

When systems crumble, let us pick up the pieces together.
When we’re drowned out by noise, let us return to the sound
of the breath. Let us listen, let us redeem ourselves, let us
be grounded in this earth.

May we allow ourselves to succumb to a sense of awe.

We bear witness to our faith knowing that we are called
to lives lives of courage, love, and reconciliation in the
ordinary and extraordinary moments of our day.
We bear witness, too, to our failures and our complicity
in the fractures of our world.

May we be courageous today.
May we learn today.
May we love today.

We pray all this in the
Hope of God,
Strength of Christ,
And Power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

(Adapted from “A Prayer”, “A Prayer of Approach”, and “Prayer for Courage” by Pádraig Ó Tuama)

Go in peace, Vox, and live the church.
May you find belonging and community this week.
Happy Easter!

[Photo by Jeremy Bishop]