Frontpage, April 12, 2020

Holy Week and Easter at St. Peter’s over the years.

April 12, 2020 – Easter Sunday

As Bishop Curry preached on Easter:

“It’s Easter Sunday.
It doesn’t look like it. It doesn’t smell like it. It doesn’t really feel like it.
But it’s Easter anyway.
Churches are empty.
There’s no sight or smell of lilies.
But it’s Easter anyway!
And trusting that, we can make it.”

We made the most of our ZoomChurch Easter!

The request – “Please come to ZoomChurch tomorrow to celebrate Easter Sunday. Bring with you if you can a candle to light, and also a simple agape meal to have blessed and to share with the others in your house during our worship service.” Some people brought objects to share. We had over 40 in our ZoomChurch service!

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The Week Ahead…

April 15 – 10:00am – Ecumenical Bible Study through Zoom

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April 19 – 10:00am – Online Church Service through Zoom

April 19 – 11:15am – National Cathedral church service online. Earth Day In honor of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the Cathedral celebrates creation with special prayers and music.

April 19 – 2:00pm – National Cathedral church service online – Earth Day The Cathedral and Interfaith Power & Light are co-hosting this online service focused on our shared call to climate action. Leaders from Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Latter-Day Saints, Muslim, Sikh, Unitarian Universalist and other spiritual communities share their traditions’ gifts through sacred text, commentary, and song, and call us to collective action.

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 We are in Eastertide until Pentecost, May 31

Eastertide is the period of fifty days, seven Sundays from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday. Easter is not a day but a season and it is one to examine the Resurrection, more broadly and deeply.  There are a number of questions.

Is Resurrection just about death has been swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54-56) ? Is Resurrection of Jesus is a precursor to your own resurrection (1 Corinthians 15) ? Does it say something about our own ability to expect to see Jesus (Luke 24) ? How does the new Christian community begin to function making Christ the central part of daily life ? (Acts 2)  

Jesus physically appears in Easter 2 and 3 making the Resurection tangible. The shepherding part of his ministry is explored in Easter 4. From Easter 5-7, Jesus must prepare the disciples for his departure. He is going to leave them. Jesus prepares his disciples for continuing his ministry without his physical presence.  Themes explored include the holy spirit, the Prayer of Jesus and God’s glory through His Son and the church.

Christ ascends on the 40th day with his disciples watching (Thursday, May 5th). The weekdays after the Ascension until the Saturday before Pentecost inclusive are a preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit.This fifty days comes to an end on Pentecost Sunday, which commemorates the giving of the Holy Spirit to the apostles, the beginnings of the Church and its mission to all  peoples and nation.  Note that the Old Testament lessons are replaced by selections from the Book of Acts, recognizing the important of the growth of the church.  

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Earth Day, 2020 – April 22 – 50th Anniversary

Earth Day was founded in 1970 and included environmental teach-ins that educated  Americans about environmental and species conservation issues, and connected those issues to their health and well-being.

On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to call for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and  universities organized demonstrations and teach-ins against the deterioration of the environment.

Earth Day 1970 activated a bipartisan spirit that motivated the passing of the Clean Air,  Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.  2020 is the 50^th anniversary Earth Day

The theme for Earth Day 2020 is climate action. The enormous challenge — but also the vast opportunities — of action on climate change have distinguished the issue as the most pressing topic for the 50th anniversary.

Read more…

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What is your Carbon Footprint?

Whether we agree on the effects of Climate change, there are things we can do to both conserve and save money. However, you first need to understand your energy usage as defined in your carbon footprint .

What’s your carbon footprint ? A carbon footprint is defined here http://timeforchange.org/what-is-a-carbon-footprint-definition/ as:

“The total amount of greenhouse gases produced to directly and indirectly support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2).

“In other words: When you drive a car, the engine burns fuel which creates a certain amount of CO2, depending on its fuel consumption and the driving distance. (CO2 is the chemical symbol for carbon dioxide). When you heat your house with oil, gas or coal, then you also generate CO2. Even if you heat your house with electricity, the generation of the electrical power may also have emitted a certain amount of CO2. When you buy food and goods, the production of the food and goods also emitted some quantities of CO2.

“Your carbon footprint is the sum of all emissions of CO2 (carbon dioxide), which were induced by your activities in a given time frame. Usually a carbon footprint is calculated for the time period of a year.”

Calculate it using Berkley’s Cool Climate Calculator

How to reduce your footprint? – Drive less, change to a more vegetable diet particularly with local vegetables, plant a garden, unplug your devices, line-dry your clothes, set up a compost system, reuse items to keep them out of landfills

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 Lectionary, April 23, Easter 2

I.Theme –   "Peace Be With You" 

 "Incredulity of Thomas" –  Duccio, di Buoninsegna (1308-1311)

The lectionary readings are here  or individually: 

First Reading – Acts 2:14a,22-32
Psalm – Psalm 16 Page 599, BCP
Epistle –1 Peter 1:3-9
Gospel – John 20:19-31

Jesus came back from the realm of the dead after only three days. He left the tomb behind, empty. The Apostles are still in their tomb, their emotional tomb, behind the locked doors of the house, after eight days. Their is fear of the Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus and thus have no peace. Would they come after them? (Jn 15:18, 19). Would be accused of having stolen his body in some resurrection scam? The reality of Jesus execution has just hit them.  Jesus comes back and shows them his wounds. The fear appears real!

Jesus visits them and twice says “Peace be with you.” Then he says it a third time a week later. Eventually they do unlock the doors and know that they are sent. There is the Gospel story this week of the Apostle Thomas ("Doubting Thomas") who wanted physical proof of Christ’s wounds before he would believe. 

Alyce McKenzie writes that "peace be with you" was not just written in the New Testament by quoting the Psalms. "Peace is God’s gift of inner serenity to those who place their trust in God (Ps 4:8; Is 26:3, 12). Peace is both the goal (Ps 34:14) and the reward of righteousness (Is 32:17). Its presence will be a sign of God’s reign (Ps 85:10). Peace results when one loves and follows God’s law (Ps 119:165."

"This isn’t the first time Jesus has uttered this greeting. "Peace be with you," is the fulfillment of a promise Jesus made to his disciples in chapter 14 of John’s Gospel (Jn 14:18-28). The disciples were afraid that they would be "orphaned" (14:18). Jesus assured them that the Father, in his name, would send the Holy Spirit to both "teach and remind" them of Jesus’ message (14:26). He then promises them peace."

Their subsequent lives were not free of conflict, not even from conflict among themselves. He doesn’t give them a traditional peace -It is rather an inner calm in the midst of strife. Peace is calmly living on the edge, betwixt and between the ups and downs of life with Jesus walking by our side. As  Alyce McKenzie writes "It is a statement of fact, of present reality." The emphasis is that Jesus lives in all of us with the resurrection in our difficult circumstances.

Jesus called us not for a quiet, leisurely life, but for an active mission that faces challenges, problems, and various trials. He gives us first of all His Peace to carry out the mission. A true peace over and against fear, and doubt.  It is a mission to preach the good news of the Kingdom

He gives us His strength, His power, the Holy Spirit. The mission can be accomplished only through His Spirit. Jesus knew very well Thomas will not be able to fulfil the calling on his own, so He came back for him, to empower him also as He empowered the other disciples. So what is our mission ?

Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop writes this mission – forgiveness. "The resurrection was an experience of forgiveness. The disciples had all abandoned Jesus, becoming complicit with his murderers. The fact that the resurrection was happening to them was an experience of forgiveness for them. "  So he gives them another chance to them extend forgiveness into the world.  Jesus demonstrated it by calling Saul (Paul) even though he was guilty of killing some of his followers.

Read more from the lectionary 

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Who was Thomas ?

Thomas’ name has come down to us as "Doubting Thomas. "  He’s been labeled a "doubter" for his inability to understand Christ’s resurrection from the dead following his crucifixion.  It’s not so much that he doubted the resurrection but that he needed a personal encounter with Jesus to make the resurrection real. His request that he see the wounds on Jesus’s hand left by the nails before he would actually believe that he was speaking to the risen Christ, has provided us with the phrase "Doubting Thomas."   That makes it appear to doubt is not a part of faith which it is. 

National Geographic – "Thomas’s moment of incredulity has proved a two-edged sword in the history of Christian thought. On the one hand, some theologians are quick to point out that his doubt is only natural, echoing the uncertainty, if not the deep skepticism, felt by millions in regard to metaphysical matters. How can we know? That Thomas challenged the risen Christ, probed the wounds, and then believed, some say, lends deeper significance to his subsequent faith. On the other hand, his crisis of doubt, shared by none of the other Apostles, is seen by many as a spiritual failure, as a need to know something literally that one simply cannot know. In the Gospel of John, 20:29, Christ himself chastises Thomas, saying, "Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Loyalty was closer to his character. As one of the disciples, when Jesus announced His intention of going to the Jerusalem area, brushing aside the protests of His disciples that His life was in danger there, at which Thomas said to the others: "Let us also go, that we may die with him." (John 11:7,8,16) If Thomas was pessimistic, he was also sturdily loyal and determined. He wanted to get it right

Before the Doubting Thomas episode, he was honest and sincere. At the Last Supper, Jesus said: "I go to prepare a place for you…. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." Thomas replied: "Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way?" To this Jesus answered: "I am the way, the truth and the life." (John 14:1-6)

Thomas is mentioned again (John 21) as one of the seven disciples who were fishing on the Sea of Galilee (Sea of Tiberias) when the Risen Lord appeared to them. Aside from this he appears in the New Testament only as a name on lists of the Apostles. A couple of centuries later a story was circulating in the Mediterranean world that he had gone to preach in India; and there is a Christian community in India (the Kerala district) that claims descent from Christians converted by the the preaching of Thomas.

Following Christ’s ascensio, the apostles divided the world for missionary purposes. Thomas was assigned to travel to India to spread Christianity. He objected to this group decision. He said he wasn’tt healthy enough to travel. But he couldn’t possibly be successful there, he told the others, contending that a Hebrew couldn’t possibly teach the Indians. It’s even said that Christ appeared to him in a vision encouraging him to travel to India. Thomas remained unmoved by this revelation as well.

A merchant eventually sold Thomas into slavery in India. It was then, when he was freed from bondage that this saint began to form Christian parishes and building churches. It’s not surprising that to this day, St. Thomas is especially venerated as The Apostle in India. According to legend, Thomas built a total of seven churches in India, as well as being martyred during a prayer session with a spear near Madras around the year 72 C.E.  

He is often pictured holding a spear. Paintings of martyrs often show them holding or accompanied by the instruments with which they were put to death. 

A recently discovered work called the Gospel of Thomas is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus,

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The Legacy of Thomas in India

The National Geographic -"He traveled farther than even the indefatigable Paul, whose journeys encompassed much of the Mediterranean. Of all the Apostles, Thomas represents most profoundly the missionary zeal associated with the rise of Christianity—the drive to travel to the ends of the known world to preach a new creed."

"Thomas is said to have raised the first cross in India and performed one of his earliest miracles: When he encountered a group of Brahmans throwing water into the air as part of a ritual, he asked why the water fell back to Earth if it was pleasing to their deity. My God, Thomas said, would accept such an offering. He then flung a great spray into the air, and the droplets hung there in the form of glistening white blossoms. Most onlookers converted on the spot; the rest fled."

"St. Thomas still stands as the direct link between his converts in Kerala and the founding Christian story on the shores of the Mediterranean, clear across the known world of the first century. Unlike later Christian groups in Asia who were converted by missionaries, Thomas Christians believe their church was founded by one of Christ’s closest followers, and this is central to their spiritual identity. "They are an apostolic church," Stewart said, "and that’s the ultimate seal of approval for a Christian group."

"The community was historically united in leadership and liturgy, but since the 17th century have been split into several different church denominations and traditions. 

"Historically the Saint Thomas Christian community was part of the Church of the East, centred in Persia.They are a distinct community, both in terms of culture and religion. Though their liturgy and theology remained that of East-Syrian Christians of Persia, their life-style customs and traditions were basically Indian.  

"In the 16th century the overtures of the Portuguese padroado to bring the Saint Thomas Christians into the Catholic Church led to the first of several rifts in the community and the establishment of Syrian Catholic and Malankara Church factions. Since that time further splits have occurred, and the Saint Thomas Christians are now divided into several different Eastern Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, and independent bodies, each with their own liturgies and traditions." 

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