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Rector's Study
We Proclaim the Mystery of Faith
 Fr.
Timothy Perkins, SSC
Vth Rector
“Christ is risen”
The Easter Mystery
In
the Invitatory Canticle of Easter in Morning Prayer,
verses 9 through 11 of the sixth chapter of the letter
to the Romans are quoted. As an outpouring of praise,
Holy Church invites us to sing: “Christ being raised
from the dead will never die again;” and further, “So
also consider yourselves dead to sin, and alive to God
in Jesus Christ our Lord. Alleluia.” (BCP, p. 83).
We are empowered thus to consider ourselves by the
“inward and spiritual grace” of Holy Baptism. In the
meditation for Lent in this issue of The Lion’s Tale,
the fourth verse of the same chapter of Romans was
cited, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism
into death.” In our Easter celebration, we come to
realize that this entry into death is not the whole
story. Indeed, the Apostle’s teaching leads our
thinking further as the verse continues, “… so that as
Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
Alleluia! In Christ we are dead to our sins and they
are forgiven, “washed in the blood of the Lamb,” as I
often sang in my childhood (See Revelation 7:9-17).
This blessed cleansing allows us to embrace a
resurrection way of being, “newness of life” in the
service of Christ in this world and in perpetual
adoration of God in the age to come. We no longer bear
the consequence of our sin, the wages of which is death;
because through our Lord’s overcoming of death in his
resurrection, we are raised with him and receive the
free gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23).
The
Great Fifty Days of the Easter Season are meant to be a
time in which we rejoice in this new and eternal life.
What might it be like if we gave us much attention and
effort to celebration in this season as we do to
discipline and acts of devotion during Lent? Would our
Christian lives be more joyful, our spiritual attitudes
more positive, and our witness to the truth of the
Gospel more inspiring? This Easter, let us make time
for celebration of the new life Christ has one for us,
celebrating in worship, rejoicing in fellowship, and
encouraging one another in faith through every moment we
have to share.
Previous Issues:
Lent 2009
Winter 2009
Advent 2008
Summer 2008
Pentecost
2008
Easter 2008
Lent 2008
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
Summer 2006
June 2006
Lent 2006
Advent 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
Summer 2004
Easter 2004
Lent 2004
February 2004
Epiphany 2004
Advent 2003
Easter 2003
Lent 2003
February 2003
Epiphany 2003
October 2002
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