Easter Day

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Collect for Easter Day:

"ALMIGHTY God, who through thine only-begotten Son Jesus Christ hast overcome death, and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life; We humbly beseech thee that, as by thy special grace preventing us thou dost put into our minds good desires, so by thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without end. Amen."

Our priest made the point today that the Gospel story has been faithfully told for two millennia. That may seem like a "no duh" assertion. I was glad that he said it. Everyone knows that there are a lot of visitors on Easter. There are too many voices, both among those who profess Christianity and those who don't, claiming that the Church lost the message of Christ at some point or never had it at all. A simple reminder that this is not the case is a good thing. How wearying is all the talk about recapturing, rediscovering and reimagining (?) the Gospel?

Along similar lines, our rector said a few words about love. He mentioned that it is constantly misunderstood and abused. Then he said that Christians are the ones who know what love is. No apology. No qualification. Simply stated as a fact. He went on to talk about the elements of sacrifice and other-orientation that are essential in love in the world.

You know when you are listening to something but are hearing it from someone's else's perspective. That was what I was experiencing this morning. I could hear people scoffing in my head about the rector's confidence in the Church as the messenger of the Gospel and expression of Christ's love. I was glad that he was bold.