Each year on the 4th Sunday of Easter we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday.


Shepherds are less familiar to us today, while they are still abundant around the world in less industrialized areas. Many of us only associate shepherds with Christmas stories and pageants. It is a comforting image. And I think our reading from John today offers much more comfort.


In the first Century, there were shepherds who worked in big areas along with other shepherds. A single pen might hold several flocks. The sheep knew their shepherd’s voice amidst many other shepherds.
And, a Good Shepherd knows a sheep’s voice. Like a child in a group of others - or crying out from a nursery: the parent recognizes their individual child’s voice. It was a kinship relationship.


This is why we relate Jesus to the shepherd who knows your individual voice; hears you - and is looking out for you.


We may not always feel that in our moments of panic or pain… but you are known individually.


Good Shepherd Sunday is a reminder that Psalm 23 (while we often recite at funerals is not about death) but it is about Life.


It is about eternal life!
This Sunday is placed in Easter Season, because we are looking forward to the ascension. We believe that Jesus laid down his life for us as a shepherd does for his sheep- and something very significant happened.


The World was forever changed.


In our passage Jesus says that like a good shepherd he lays down his life for the sheep: His soul and his spirit, not simply this earthly life, but he lays it all down: his eternal life.


And eternity has no bounds. Jesus’ love for humankind has no bounds.




Before Jesus is risen… We have this tradition that he descended to the dead (as we say in the creed) and broke the chains of hell - and closed the gates of hell - and raised everyone up from the depths who had not yet seen his revelation - raised them up to be brought into the flock. It is called the Harrowing of Hell.


Personally as a child I found this very comforting: that you wouldn’t be going to hell, because Jesus had gone down to close it up - and raised those who there out of that separation from God… pulling them all into the fold; To be named; to be healed; and brought into the abundance of communal life!


This was helpful - very comforting for me, and it still is to this day…


This idea - there is a God who searches for me  - even when I am lost - unable to even find myself…And that I belong through him (along with many others) in an abundant life. It is a life that transcends death - and connects us across the ages.


A second very important and comforting piece of John’s Gospel, is that Jesus tells us that he has the power to lay down his life and pick it back up again….by his own mastery. John uses the word “authority” - which also translates into power and skill and mastery.


Jesus establishes his life for the sheep. The sheep are his purpose. We are his very purpose. In the Greek to “lay down” - is also translated as “established." He created a new foundation; a new relationship between God and humans.


Often we only think of laying down his life in terms of the sacrifice of the crucifixion, rather than in terms of this new foundation that he is establishing…


And we may have wondered and cringed at the words of the Eucharistic Prayer…why would God ask him to suffer upon a Cross??


I don’t think that’s what was asked of Jesus. I believe he was asked to lay down his life for humanity; to establish a new foundation. What transpired in these efforts was that Jesus was crucified.  Do you see the difference? I think it is very important and also comforting.


He has accepted, what he been commissioned to do by God - Yes, he offered himself in obedience to God’s will… but this is not simply about martyrdom.
This is about a new foundation for the World of love and healing which Jesus comes to establish in this life.


And in the horror of the crucifixion we see the new foundation play out because this new foundation is affirmed in the resurrection and ascension.


It is God receiving and also forgiving all human trespasses willingly. The crucifixion was human will and Jesus’ offering freely given, as he in God knows that God will not lay down retribution, but will establish reconciliation.


To be seated at the right hand of God, means that Jesus brought humanity into heaven.




Our outline of faith affirms that Jesus (fully Human and fully God) was not only bringing God to live among us as flesh and blood, but through his ascension he brought humanity to God in this realm we refer to as heaven; To co-exist; In intimate familial kinship.


These spaces in eternity do not occupy different time. They co-exist. This was not simple martyrdom, but a cosmic act that changed the shape of the universe.


A new foundation:


The Lord of your life knows you and loves you. God is alive and God is present. Hear the call of the shepherd who calls you to kinship in a kingdom of love.


You belong with this flock. Christianity is about belonging. It is not about membership. To me these differences are very clear. We may be an organization that calls people to be members of our flock… but our community is open. We are not exclusive. We are members - members of the body of Christ, which is vast and eternal and cosmic in scope.


Jesus says, I am the gate. And there is no better comfort than to know that we are welcomed in - and free to roam in these pastures - of eternal love.


Amen.

Jesus is risen!


And I love that Luke’s gospel tells us that all of the disciples were afraid… instead of just singling out Thomas!
It is more believable. Because most of us would probably be afraid - most of us would be doubtful -


What you don’t hear in our Gospel passage today, is that the disciples have already claimed, “It is true! The Lord has risen!” But even as they are proclaiming it, they are in shock and disbelief and afraid.


If you notice our Gospel has broken the first sentence in half. -
What proceeds this section is the story of “The Road to Emmaus” in which Jesus meets two disciples on their way, and reveals himself to them in the breaking of the bread.


Afterward, it says,
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. 36 While they were still talking about this/ While they were still talking about this Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”


They are terrified that he actually appears. All of the disciples are afraid. They think they are seeing a ghost. But Jesus says to them, Don't be afraid. Touch me.




Last week Fr. Mac spoke about our culture's general disbelief in the resurrection, as we fail to believe what we cannot understand - even as science continually demonstrates to us that there is much we cannot understand or see that makes our bodies, our world, and our universe animate. In fact we cannot see or understand most of it! 


Jesus's invitation to "touch me" is a direct call to our humanity.


Among all of the things that God has created "seen and unseen" (as we say in our outline of faith) we as humans know touch as the most intimate way to know - to connect. Scientists and Doctors tell us that Touch is necessary for us to thrive. Jesus says "Touch me." 


Jesus said: ”I have come so that you may have life.
and have it abundantly [to thrive]. " (John 10:10-11)


Jesus brings us his Peace
That is what the resurrection is about - how it animates our lives now.


The resurrection is about power over death… but sometimes we stop there… we fail to continue to move in that direction - into the reality of it. This is not a one time event. It is about life! It is present.


The resurrection is about Thriving. This morning in Acts, Peter refers to Jesus as the “Author of life!”


…This daily concept of an ever-present resurrection written into the fabric of our lives. The Word made flesh…


Resurrection is something that is helpful for us in defining what we are doing - and where we are going - how we participate in “life giving” activities for ourself -and for others.


To remain open to this ever-present reality offers us the Peace that Jesus gives.
We all need peace in our hearts - and peace in our minds. If we are open to this outlook on life - take this stance… then we will thrive.
I don’t mean to “tune out” to have peace. That is not the stance.


We need to remember this gift of Peace and attempt to bring an openness to the turbulence in our lives; in those we love who create grief; And even to those we may consider our enemies.


There is peace in prayer. There is power in prayer - not that we always get the outcome we hope for in a World that offers us so much to worry about… but prayer brings consolation. The hope of the resurrection is around us to glean, if we take this stance.


To know something is to participate in it. 
And at this moment in our Gospel, the Disciples have heard about the resurrection, but they also need time to participate in it. Hence the doubt and fear.


But what they do - do (which is why we are gathered here together today) is to act on it - to live into it; to participate in it through their own embodiment.


Because of them, we come together to touch the “Author of life” each Sunday. Our Eucharistic language refers to this as the holy mystery made known to us in the spiritual food of the Sacrament.


We reenact our union with God and one another each time we do this. What -we- come -to -know about the resurrection is embodied. It becomes very real even as we may not fully understand the mysteries of life.


Those who do not participate in faith community may still wrestle with this "lack of assurance.”
Fear and Doubt is almost always a fallback stance when we are confronted with something we don’t understand, or cannot see, or have not experienced.


...But to know the Love and Peace of God is to participate with God.


We take the stance. As James Finley writes:
To do this, “I will not play the cynic. I will not break faith with my awakened heart. I know… that I am graced by what transcends and permeates every moment of my life.”
                                
The resurrection is embodied through this stance through us. It wasn’t only the mission for the first disciples to claim…


It’s also for us to do…


Why don't we invite those friends and family, the PV community to participate:


to “Touch and See.”


And then they will also know.
Amen.

Alleluia! The Lord is Risen!


Mary Magdalene exclaims this to the disciples and to the World, saying indeed,
“I have seen the Lord.”


In her prophetic exclamation - we hear centuries of tradition, hope, and faith fulfilled in the anticipated messiah…the unlikely and almighty messiah:


“I will give thanks to you, for you answered me *
and have become my salvation.
The same stone which the builders rejected *
has become the chief cornerstone.…


(And today like then….)  On this day the Lord has acted,
we will rejoice and be glad in it!”
The prophetic voice of Mary rings out to us today calling us, the community, to awaken to this eternal reality that is always with us.


The resurrection is not simply pointing to Springtime as, the relief and blessing that life is renewed; that nature has its cycle. (Although it is - and it does.)


The resurrection is about human nature - the human spirit renewed.


This renewal doesn’t just arrive in Springtime in a natural cycle. It is a path - a spiritual that requires attention, discernment, the search for wisdom, and knowledge.


It asks us to develop a mind that is aligned with the heart.


This is what it means to grow into the stature of Christ.
The resurrection
wasn’t meant for Jesus alone. The resurrection is about community. It is about how we create new patterns for a world based in mercy, justice and truth.


Jesus shows us through his ministry how forgiveness transforms hearts, and communities. And his resurrection is the ultimate statement that God forgives.




“I have seen the Lord” is part of the prophetic tradition: a tradition that always signifies a divine message intended for the community.


The prophetic tradition is part of our tradition. In our outline of faith we say in the very first section on human nature…that God revealed himself through nature and “especially through the prophets of Israel.”
Mary is one of them.
Mary’s visionary experiences at the tomb in all four gospels identifies her as participating in this prophetic tradition.


Jesus tells her ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ This is a direct reference to the prophet Elijah. The Jewish community believed that Elijah would return at the coming of the messiah. It also speaks to the relationship between Elijah and Elisha as his direct disciple.. Here - it is Mary who receives the direct message from Jesus before his ascension…


It is Mary who receives - but importantly she is not meant as the sole receptacle. She is to go tell her brothers that they all share in this special kinship with God the Father.


This is a call to community.
My God and your God.
Prophets relay the voice of God to the community. They act as conduits for what we call Divine pathos. God’s pathos is concern for the world. In fact anguish for the World.


These prophets call us back into relationship with God. The breach we call sin as Paul describes in his letter to the Corinthians…that word for sin here translated means “to not share a part of.” To be separated.


Throughout scripture, the separation between us and divinity is always remedied by the mutual returning of humans to God in love - and for God’s return through loving forgiveness.


Jesus’ resurrection is a proclamation to us that God Forgives: God identifies with the victim, the poor, the hungry, the marginalized. God identifies with all of us! And forgives us, “for [too often] we know not what we do.”
God Forgives in the Risen Christ.


As a Christian community we are living into this reality each day - it is not just something we commemorate on Sunday.


We are made in the image of God.


As we grow into that true identity along this spiritual path - I believe there is also a prophetic voice of our spiritual direction growing within each one of us.


How will it be revealed through us in our individual identities? - and in our communal identity?


Listen and discern the voices moving us forward in our journeys.




Paul in his letter to Corinthians mentions that Christ first appeared to Cephas (another name for Peter) - although every single account in the Gospels clearly convey that Christ first appeared to Mary Magdalene (and in some versions along with the Mother Mary, Salome and the mother of James, Mary of Clopas, and Joanna and Mary of Jacob).


Part of our discernment has to do with listening for   where God is being revealed in people we don’t expect.


Today we still may have set ideas about who is the proper conveyer of God’s wisdom, truth, and love.


Every society has its scapegoats.
The Resurrection turns this scapegoat mechanism on its head.
The stone the builder’s rejected has become the Chief cornerstone!


Listen to the voices that have been silenced and rejected in our community, in our culture, and in our world.
Let us to stand with those unexpected voices who are seated at the table with Jesus….
Because
Jesus sat with everyone in order that he could raise us all up!


As Jesus told his disciples at the Last Supper…
Unless you let me wash your feet you will not share a part in me. And you are to do this for one another. Essentially you are to be servants of humanity.


Because we are all called to share in God’s great renewal of life.


The Resurrection of Jesus takes away the sin of the World…exposes and demonstrates that we do share a part … we are not separated.


And that if God can overcome death, then God can overcome the cast systems, the divisiveness, the discord in our communities and through us. The human Jesus and the risen Christ show no partiality. God can - and will renew us.


The promise of the resurrection - is always with us …
Mary standing in the garden - in that juncture with the resurrected Jesus stands where we are all called to be: united in the share; recognized - called by name.


We commemorate this when we come to the altar to share in the bread and the wine.




We are raised through him who calls us to himself.


Let us participate in this eternal reality everyday (in the psalmists words):


“I shall not die, but live, *
and declare the works of the Lord.”       Amen. Alleluia!

The earliest recording of a Palm Sunday parade (besides the Gospels of course) is from a Spanish woman named Egeria, who journaled about her pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the 4th Century.


This journal speaks of the liturgical traditions, and her travels, and importantly about a woman traveling in the 300s.


Making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem was an important part of Christian custom (and continues to be for the Jewish community as well.) She was a representative from her community, as so many could not - and still cannot afford to make such a trip.


The Labyrinth walk that you may have heard of, which looks somewhat like a maze is a circular walk designed to imitate the pilgrimage. Labyrinths are found in Cathedral floors - and now much more commonly in retreat centers.


When you walk the labyrinth, rather than finding oneself at a possible dead-end like a maze, the labyrinth is a circle that spirals around to the center. It is designed to wind one into center, at one time to the center of God, initially to Jerusalem, and to the center of self; the heart of a spiritual journey where we connect to God.


On Palm Sunday, Jesus was spiraling into the center of God in his parade. It was taking him directly into the heart of Jerusalem. It was the festival of the passover and the city was jam packed with a population five times its normal size with pilgrims flooding the streets, living in camps. It was chaotic.

• His ride in was celebratory. He had gathered many followers. Palms were traditionally waved for victory!

• It was ritualistic: His ride in on a donkey was fulfilling scripture from Isaiah and Zechariah: That the Messiah would ride in upon a donkey bringing a Spirit of humility and peace: The era of a new kingdom. The Kingdom of God.

At the same time Jesus was making that pilgrimage through the midst of fear and into a certain fate that he knew awaited him.
Jesus had said earlier to [his disciples], “You will all become deserters; for it is written,
‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered.’

• It was dangerous - in direct opposition of the Roman military parade arriving in Jerusalem on the other side of town.

Jesus had been raising the “good” kind of trouble for some time, turning over tables in the Temple, preaching in synagogues, healing people - and asserting that God did not require payment for the forgiveness of sins…


Saying things like the Sabbath was made for the people…not the other way around. Healing may happen seven days a week.


Today the Litany of the Palms reminds us of the Glory of God: Our hope in a the reign of God, our hope in a peaceful transfer of power, in a kingdom of justice and truth, in a messiah full of wisdom and humility.


--
The Gospel reading feels like whiplash to our celebration in so many ways winding us through the awful events of Good Friday.


It is read as a great juxtaposition to this Hope that fueled the hearts of Jesus’ followers.


The Passion is incredibly painful to read. It is devastating all around. Jesus is utterly abandoned by his friends. They fall sleep instead of keeping watch, they run to escape (even to the point of losing their shirts), they deny instead of ally.


It shows us what Fear does to us - and to the World…
It shows us all of our human trespasses… 
Where Greed and jealousy take us -
Where indifference - and desire for control lead us.


The story shows us these temptations in all echelons of society (even in a servant girl) - in both the Roman and Jewish population - even in Jesus’ closest friends.




The Passion is in all four gospels… And the crowd that rise up to shout “crucify him” is not very well defined in any of them. I wonder why? We cannot point the finger directly at any one person or group for the atrocities of this day.


It asks us to look closely at our Christian identity. Not to point fingers, but to consider how we individually
act out these patterns - of both trespasses
and healing.


The spiritual journey asks us to make this pilgrimage to God in our hearts - and often we find that also requires moving through fear, into the chaos of the unknown.


It is a path of surrender to something much greater than ourselves. The spiritual journey is a surrender to Love.
Cynthia Bourgeault writes:


“When the attitude of prompt surrender has become permanently engrained in a person… that person becomes a powerful servant of humanity—a saint, in the language of the Christian West—whose very being radiates blessing and spiritual strength.”


How do we follow Jesus into this way of powerful spiritual surrender?


Paradoxically the path of surrender to God - (to something so much bigger than ourselves) in order to be transformed - means to surrender to quite little things for the sake of others.


And this is when we actually realize how little some of our hang ups really are, how trivial… and when we practice becoming softer and more open - we are not being weak - we are glorifying the presence of one another and God.


As Iraneous of Lyons said, “the Glory of God is the person fully alive.” Meaning: The Glory of God gives life.


It is an attention we are gathering when we attempt to do this for God, for one another, and ourselves. We are pilgrimaging to that center of God in our hearts.


Jesus models for us in his triumphant entry that it requires holding that space for both celebration and humility in order for something new to come forth.


John the Baptist said about Jesus…. “I must decrease so that he may increase.”


Jesus in his surrender was actively glorifying God in his decrease.


This decrease is so counter-cultural. But the end of our Gospel passion shows us that God identifies with the victim, the poor, and the marginalized: the scapegoat.
The centurion exclaims: He really was the “Son of God.”
__


As Christians we follow Christ into this message by surrendering to God’s truth -
that the Spirit of healing and Love is alive in us as “servants of humanity.”


The passion asks us to lay down our lives for this healing message seven days a week.           Amen.

While last week we were wrestling with snakes, it is fitting that this week we celebrate St. Patrick’s feast day who is famously said to have driven all of the snakes out of Ireland.


(Actually, scientists believe snakes disappeared from the island during the Ice Age.)


Nevertheless, we like the image of St. Patrick driving them out - and conquering those evil “heel biters”….


I don’t know how many of you know his story: Patrick was  actually an Englishman born in 390. His father was a deacon in the church. His grandfather was a priest. They lived on the NW Coast of England…. And Patrick was captured as a teenager and enslaved in Ireland. He was sold to a chieftain and tended sheep. He escaped about six years later when he was twenty-one - and was able to get back home to England.


Patrick wrote about his captivity in his memoir The Confession. While Patrick had considered himself more of an atheist growing up (even with the Christian upbringing)  his prayer life in captivity grew strong.


Patrick came to know God and Jesus during that time of struggle. He had the types of divine encounters that mystics experience. Hearing the voice of God. St. Theresa of Avila called these locutions…


In one account he spoke about how in a dream he was trying to pray, but seemed unable to - and then he heard a voice coming from inside of him which he realizes is the voice of God praying for him.


Like God says in Jeremiah, “…I will put my law within them; and will write it on their hearts.” That will be the new covenant.


And the Psalmist says:


With my whole heart I seek you; *
let me not stray from your commandments.
I treasure your promise in my heart, *



Patrick experienced that promise of God within.


Now, what is even more special about Patrick, is that even after all of that suffering, he returns to Ireland as a missionary to bring the Irish the good news of Christ. Patrick is said to have baptized over 120,000 Irishmen and planted 300 churches.


In fact Ireland is the only country that basically had a full on conversion to Christianity - as a Peaceful conversion…Christianity didn’t supersede their pagan beliefs, rather it embellished, and improved upon the story that they already knew in nature.


Christianity was a fulfillment of the Glorification of Creation through the Son of God; And through this idea of One God who loves us all.

__

The Glorification of God is mentioned in our Gospel passage today - and John writes about the glorification of God throughout his Gospel.


When Jesus says, let me glorify your name. God responds, “it has been glorified and it will be again.” Jesus had through his life, his work and his struggle glorified God continually in his love.
We tend to focus only on this rising up - this glorification through the Crucifixion… but that certainly is not all that John meant in his Gospel.


John emphasizes the ascension. Jesus is raised up…
and it is the raising up that is promised to all of us.
…And not simply through the promise of resurrection at death..


but being raised up through a life in Christ as we listen for our God within; as we recognize the beauty of our God without (all around us); the glory of God in the abiding promise that no more will we be alone. We are God’s people. God is written in our hearts.




In recent chapters, Jesus is speaking about losing our lives to save them. Again he speaks of this through the metaphor of the grain of wheat.
The grain, is a simple grain of wheat -until it falls, is broken open, buried…fertilized…then it bears fruit.


Jesus is talking about the Kingdom of God… he is not only speaking about his death, which will bear the fruit of God’s love known in the World. He is speaking about how we glorify God too.


The Greek term “life” in this Gospel is related to psyche.
How do we let go of our small egos - how do we learn to let go of resentments, clinging, and self-righteousness? In this type of dying to the small self - in this dying to self and rising to Christ, we help fertilize a field for others to grow in God’s love. We plant seeds that bear fruit.


At the end of our passage, Jesus say, “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say - ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.”


Perhaps that is what Patrick realized through his suffering; That the Word had become flesh - and that even the people that enslaved him were meant to be part of the fruit of God’s great creation.


The term “he had come to his hour”…is not only about death. A pregnant woman about to give birth, was also said to have “come to her hour.” The fruit of Jesus is about to be born for the world in us.


What enslaves you -and how might you rise to the challenge of the Glory of your life in God?


How have others around you been enslaved?


How can you participate in the rising of others -
-your loved ones, your community, even so called strangers?


The missionary work that Patrick brought to Ireland was reconciling work. It was the healing work of God. Patrick understood that Christ belongs to the whole world.


While we may not be adventuring into what we traditionally think of as missionary work like Patrick; we are called to be missionaries of God’s healing in this community. Heart to Heart. This is the field where we will be raised up. And God’s name will be glorified again through us.


As our collect says today:


“Grant your people grace to…desire what you promise;
among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found…”

Have you ever heard of homeopathy? It is an alternative medicine with the theory that “like cures like.” Most homeopathic remedies include a portion of the ailment - or something that mimics the ailment to stimulate the bodies natural defense systems.


Both Craig and I have used it at different times over the years. I’m not advocating trying it per se, but our passage from Numbers brought it to mind.


The people are plagued by serpents and God gives them a serpent on a pole to cure their malady…


God purposely gives them a symbol of their ailment as the healing property…


The true ailment of the people is their grumbling. “They spoke against God and against Moses.” They detest the miserable food, the manna that God has provided. They forget their blessings. They turn away from Moses and God.


Putting up a Serpent as the antidote for the serpent bite is brilliant.


God has a biting sense of humor.


It’s as if God is saying, Look you’ve made an idol out of your bitterness…


Look closely at what ails you
And it will help to aid in your healing….


A great phrase I learned for Lent (and pretty good for anytime is to think about what you..


Nurse
Curse
And then Rehearse


What are the grumblings of our lives… the metaphorical idols that have gotten in the way of true healing?


God is saying turn to me for what ails you.


It is quite telling that the American Medical Association logo is the serpent on the pole.
They are saying,
“Come to us for what ails you.”


The story of Numbers is not about snakes. It is about healing.


What are the things you want to look at - to bring into the light and transform?


What are the things that you wish to bring God for healing?


What is it that keeps us from participating in the light with everything we’ve got?


This light is not simply daylight - but the light of Christ. The Gospel of John equates Jesus with the Light from the very beginning. “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.”


In our Gospel Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus. Nicodemus is a Pharisee who came to him at night, wanting to know and understand more. He recognized Jesus as a great teacher. Jesus is speaking to him about being born again, born into everlasting life. (And perhaps about not seeking him out in the dark of night - sneaking around… but bringing his curiosity to the light of day.)


Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.


Jesus says come to me for what ails you. Your humanity is difficult: Your feelings, your bodies, your vulnerabilities - lift them up to me.


Jesus as the antidote for our human frailty was lifted onto the cross with open arms to embrace us all. He shows us his vulnerable humanity…


but he started with that embrace from the very beginning of his ministry ….to all those he encountered. He showed us the light.


He embraced us with the truth and with Love. He embraced us to show the bridge between humanity and God. To overcome that separation: the sin that we speak of.


God was with the people in their suffering. They forgot this. God provided manna. God provided leadership. God provided community. God forgives the people in the wilderness for their grumbling, for their impatience (even if it is in a curious way with a serpent on a poll).


God is always showing us ways into redemption: Ways into relationship and forgiveness…


God is always with us.
God is the light that shines in the darkness of our darkest hours.


Bring it - all of it to God.


For God is the great physician, your antidote: Jesus the suffering servant who gives you a piece of himself to show you your light.


In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcomea it.”




Amen.