The retreat for the end of the Via Media program will be tomorrow, Saturday April 16th at St Columba. Fr. Ted and Mark will serve a light breakfast at 9:00 AM, with the final program to follow. There will be a mid-day Eucharist and the retreat will end around 12:40 PM or so.
The readings for next Sunday, April 17: Fourth Sunday of Easter
The readings include Psalm 23, which is probably one of the best-known and most frequently quoted passages from the Bible.
Psalm 23 Page 612, BCP
Dominus regit me1
The LORD is my shepherd; *
I shall not be in want.2
He makes me lie down in green pastures *
and leads me beside still waters.3
He revives my soul *
and guides me along right pathways for his Name’s sake.4
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil; *
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.5
You spread a table before me in the presence of those
who trouble me; *
you have anointed my head with oil,
and my cup is running over.6
Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days
of my life, *
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
The readings for last Sunday, April 10: Third Sunday of Easter
The Gospel reading concerned the walk to Emmaus – how Jesus appeared to two disciples as they traveled to the nearby village of Emmaus, but they did not recognize him until they invited him to stay with them and share their meal:
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Fr. Ted’s sermon enlarged on this theme; it is sometimes difficult for us to recognize Jesus in others, or to invite Him into our busy lives. We must take the time to listen to others and be present to them, or we might miss an opportunity to “walk the walk,” and not just “talk the talk.”