Easter Sunday

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

The opening prayer is "God our Father, by raising Christ your Son you conquered the power of death and opened for us the way to eternal life. Let our celebration today raise us up and renew our lives by the Spirit that is within us. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Gospel this year for Easter Sunday morning seems to be from Luke 24: 13-35 and is the account of the two disciples who had left Jerusalem to walk to Emmaus, a village seven miles from Jerusalem. They are conversing together; Jesus draws near and walked with them. He asks them, "What are you discussing as you walk along?" Jesus stays with them; he listens to their discouragement and then chides them for not believing all that the prophets spoke. He then interprets for them what referred to him in all the scriptures. As they near the village, Jesus seems to be going on but they beg him, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over." So Jesus went in to supper with them and they recognized him when "He took bread, said the blessing, broke it and gave it to them." Jesus vanishes and they say to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us?" Then they set out once more and returned to Jerusalem to tell the eleven.

I love this story and think that Jesus often likes to approach us the same way. He comes as we are just walking along and waits for us to invite him to stay with us. He wants to know what we are thinking, and he certainly does not want us to be discouraged or go about with long faces. He is risen and wants us to share in his joy. Alleluia, alleluia!!
How will I share in the joy of Jesus today?