Happy Easter!!!!!
May you recognize and discover, live and share new life, resurrected life in the Lord this Easter!!! On behalf of our entire parish community we welcome, guests, friends, and visitors who proclaim resurrection with parishioners of St. Mary's on Easter day! Know that you are always welcome to grow in faith at our parish.
Resurrection changes everything on both sides of the grave. May we be disturbed enough to grow along with our Resurrected Lord and may we be humble enough to be patient with others this Easter season.
Prayer
Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.
- Attributed to Sir Francis Drake
I found this poem in a book from one of my favorite authors, Robert Wicks,
NIGHT CALL: Embracing Compassion and Hope in a Troubled World
. May it put some Easter joy in your heart this day.
I had a dream that death came the other night,
And Heaven's gate swung wide open.
With kindly grace an angel ushered me inside:
And there to my astonishment stood folks I had known on earth.
Some I had judged and labeled unfit and of little worth.
Indignant words rose to my lips, but never were set free;
For every face show stunned surprise, no one expected
me.
God be with you with a heart rejoicing in the Lord this Easter!
