Sunday, April 16, 2017

Happy Easter :)

One of my favorite parts of the film, The Gospel of John, is at the very end, where the post-resurrection Jesus meets the dispirited disciples on the shore, cooking for them. It's also one of the most intriguing parts of that gospel ... why does Jesus ask Peter three times if he loves him, is he foretelling John's immortality when he says he wants John to live until he returns, and where does he take the disciples when he tells them to follow him? ...

12 comments:

  1. Happy Easter to you and everybody, Crystal! We had two husbands processed into the Church at last night's vigil, but our backsliding rate among men is nearly 100 percent. Please pray for all the newly converted and all those whose faith flags in parishes where indifference and apathy reigns. Pray that they remember that Christ lives even among the tepid. Pray that our converts (and yours) find ways to let their lights shine in their new home in Christ. Pray that all of us seek to serve rather than to be served.

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    1. I'll pray for them, Jean. We didn't have anybody joining this year, which is unusual. Keeping both the newbies and the oldies engaged would be a good blog topic for another day. I think there's a niche for everybody, just not the same niche. The problem is that what engages some people is a turn-off for others.

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  2. Jean, we had 17 received into our large parish last night including nine baptisms. Several of the receptions were people who were baptized Catholic but never raised Catholic. Among the baptisms was the husband and newborn of one of our choir members (perfect timing on that).

    It was a long vigil service; didn't get home until after midnight (skipped the reception). They need to begin the vigil earlier like 8pm rather than 9pm. Maybe next year I will skip that vigil service and just sing in the choir at the 9:30 Mass, can't do both.

    On Holy Thursday we learned from a third grader that one of the important events of that day was that Jesus and his disciples went to the Olive Garden.

    Crystal, on Palm Sunday the couple in front of me,(whom I had never met) told me I had a beautiful voice. I told them I have a loud but not very accurate voice, and that I usually sing in the choir where, of course I have to try to blend in with everyone in four part harmony. Every once in a while, I just like to sing out with the people.

    "Christ is risen" to all!

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    1. Our vigil ran from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. used to start at 10 p.m., which was a nightmare the year The Boy was baptized. He was 4 and said YUCK really loud when he got the chrism oil, even though we practiced it all at home. I was yanked aside by the church ladies afterwards and told I needed to start cracking down. Welcome to Catholic motherhood. There needs to be an after-mass baptism for infants and children under 7.

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  3. Happy Easter to all.
    The three questions to Peter traditionally have been explained as giving him three chances to apologize for the three denials. A deacon friend points out that John didn't write until he knew all the others were safely dead. But Mark is the evangelist who insulted one and all among the Twelve, regularly.
    We were in overflow mode for everything again, inluding two extra Masses outdoors. The pastor promised complainers that if they come back next week he can find nice seats for them.
    One year I claimed the rights of age and attended, rather than ushered at, the Easter Vigil. It was wonderful. But usually I endure Easter with a jacket and an usher's badge, and it is not wonderful. As usual, I was not edified today, but it has been worse.

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  4. Happy Easter, everyone. Hope you are all having a nice day. We had a good crowd for all three Masses, with some overflow into the social hall. The choir I am in always does the late one at 10:30. Everything went pretty well except I messed up the accompaniment for the sequence. We didn't know until 2 days ago that we were going to do the sequence, usually we just sing "Ye Sons an Daughters". But oh well. Nobody complained. Older son and daughter in law came for dinner, and we had a good time with them. Lots of leftover key lime cake. Now they went home and I'm kicking back for the rest of the day.

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    1. Hoping everyone had a good day! Ours was bittersweet. The Boy and Girlfriend did their own thing, which likely did not involve church.

      My mother has been sick, so we were up there with chicken soup to check on her. She was feeling better physically (a relief), but that meant she was also well enough to sneer at the whole notion of Jesus coming to life again. I wish I knew why she felt the need to make such an issue of our differences on religious holidays.

      BUT, we managed to leave her relatively happy and well stocked until her helper comes in later in the week. Got home just as the rain blow out. Turned out to be a lovely day. We had spare ribs and fresh asparagus.

      Raber is doing kitchen clean-up, and then we'll break out the cheesecake and the first episode of the new season of "Better Call Saul."

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  5. Thanks for all the responses. I don't go to church anymore but I still remember when it was my turn to go up in front of everyone and answer the questions and get water poured on my head :)

    I spent the early hours of Easter watching a movie I thought might be inspiring - Scorsese's 'Silence;. But I didn't like it at all (wrote about it at the other blog).

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    1. Crystal, I really liked the video clip you shared of the Gospel of John. I'm going to have to go back and watch the whole thing.

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    2. I have not seen the movie. The novel is pretty grim.

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  6. Katherine, I liked it too. It was hard to get used to at first because it had a narrator some of the time (Christopher Plumber) but after a while you don't notice that. The interesting thing is that every word of the gospel of John is in the movie, so it's a helpful way to learn all of that gospel. The actor who plays Jesus was one of my favorite actors in Lost :)

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