Easter's Meditation

The power of Christ's blood

"If we wish to understand the power of Christ’s blood, we should go back to the ancient account of its prefiguration in Egypt. 'Sacrifice a lamb without blemish,' commanded Moses, 'and sprinkle its blood on your doors.'

"If we were to ask him what he meant, and how the blood of an irrational beast could possibly save men endowed with reason, his answer would be that the saving power lies not in the blood itself, but in the fact that it is a sign of the Lord’s blood.

"In those days, when the destroying angel saw the blood on the doors he did not dare to enter, so how much less will the devil approach now when he sees, not that figurative blood on the doors, but the true blood on the lips of believers, the doors of the temple of Christ.

"If you desire further proof of the power of this blood, remember where it came from, how it ran down from the cross, flowing from the Master’s side.

"The gospel records that when Christ was dead, but still hung on the cross, a soldier came and pierced his side with a lance and immediately there poured out water and blood. Now the water was a symbol of baptism and the blood, of the holy Eucharist.

"The soldier pierced the Lord’s side, he breached the wall of the sacred temple, and I have found the treasure and made it my own. So also with the lamb: the Jews sacrificed the victim and I have been saved by it.

“'There flowed from his side water and blood.' Beloved, do not pass over this mystery without thought; it has yet another hidden meaning, which I will explain to you. I said that water and blood symbolised baptism and the holy Eucharist.

From these two sacraments the Church is born: from baptism, 'the cleansing water that gives rebirth and renewal through the Holy Spirit,' and from the holy Eucharist.

'Since the symbols of baptism and the Eucharist flowed from his side, it was from his side that Christ fashioned the Church, as he had fashioned Eve from the side of Adam Moses gives a hint of this when he tells the story of the first man and makes him exclaim: 'Bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh!'

'As God then took a rib from Adam’s side to fashion a woman, so Christ has given us blood and water from his side to fashion the Church. God took the rib when Adam was in a deep sleep, and in the same way Christ gave us the blood and the water after his own death.

"Do you understand, then, how Christ has united his bride to himself and what food he gives us all to eat? By one and the same food we are both brought into being and nourished. As a woman nourishes her child with her own blood and milk, so does Christ unceasingly nourish with his own blood those to whom he himself has given life."

- St John Chrysostom

"What's up" Holy Week & Easter?

If you want to know about what's happening this week and on Sunday, check out the Holy Week/Easter Day Newsletter. (PDF)

There's articles on everything from visitors to Easter lilies, and even an Easter homily for the 2nd Century bishop, Melito of Sardis.

Good "stuff" for godly people!!!

Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest, and we'll see you Sunday!

Easter's Flowering of the Cross

Each Easter Day we bring flowers with us to Church in order to adorn the courtyard cross.

Most churches use a smaller cross, and actually "cover" the cross with flowers that are usually inserted into chicken wire; however, as we have a wonderful courtyard cross, we've revised the event to simply bringing flowers and laying them at the foot of the Cross.

It's a great event on a joyous day, so be sure to bring a bouquet and participate in this Easter "liturgy" here at your parish Church, Saint Luke's!

Portico Hanging Flower Baskets

Want to memorialize someone, or give a special gift of thanksgiving for an event or loved one?

A new batch of hanging flower baskets are now available.

There are only six of them; however, if you are interested in giving a memorialization or thanksgiving in this way, call the Church office this week and let us know.

We will reserve a basket in your name, and your memorialization/thanksgiving will be noted in the Easter bulletin.

The baskets are the most lasting flower memorials we have - save the Rose Bushes, of course! - as they adorn the portico and church throughout the Summer and Fall seasons!

The Mixtures of Holy Week

Here's the new meditation for Palm Sunday...

Four Things To Do This Week

From Passion Sunday's Video meditation ...

1. Get a Crucifix and put it somewhere in your home where you will see it every day, as a visible reminder of what it is to love as Christ loves.

2. Simplify your lifestyle. Accept the fact that you cannot do it all, so re-prioritize and do godly things first and foremost, and then if there's time, the other things.

3. Find a church that is unlocked during the week, and spend time in God's House, alone with the Alone. You don't have to talk to anybody. Just talk to God, and let God talk to you.

4. Pray daily and ask God to give you a more full and personal understanding of Christ's Passion, His suffer, and how His Passion becomes yours.

To love is to suffer. For now. To suffer for the sake of Christ is to take on His Passion and make it ours, in His Name.