Resurrection Morning
April 4, 2021

Opening
Open our hearts Resurrected One to all the places within us and around us longing for life.

Reflection
This last week and year we have known so much grief.
In this pandemic time with so many lives having been lost,
we have been touched by death in a pervasive way.
It has hung over us like a fog that hovers and clings to us.
Jesus entered that deep place of grief and death for us,
to bring us to today, to speak life and healing
into all the grieving and broken places within us.
He emerges from the tomb to offer life and hope
and Divine Companionship in ways we couldn’t imagine.
Hear the Good News.

Invitation
Scripture: Mark 16:1-8
Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. On the way they were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside. When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.” The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened.

Prayer of Response
Dear Resurrected One,
Thank You for the light that shatters the darkness
and permeates every corner where death and loss are found.
Thank you for the gift of life that is a resurrected one
and not a resuscitated one,
a life that is new and moves us beyond everything we have known.
For although this world still knows dark and broken places,
the life we know in you is like the sun’s beams
breaking through the clouds and shining its light as a healing balm within.
You shed your loving, healing, light into every space and place.
Thank you for your love that did not and does not stop.
Your love and light reach to us covering us
in a beautiful display that will not let us go.
May we be healed by it.
Grant us strength and hope through this unfathomable gift.
And shine that healing and permeating light
through us into the world around us.
Glory. Hallelujah, Amen.

Rev. Eva Sullivan-Knoff,
Founder and Executive Director

Holy Saturday
April 3, 2021

Opening
My heart is humbled and drawn to silence as I meditate on the events of this week.

Reflection
Holy Saturday, often overlooked, is a holy day, the day Jesus lies in the tomb.
Darkness and grief, doubts and questions, wailing and mourning fill this day for Jesus’ followers. Let us not rush past it. Let us meditate on and worship the One whose love permeates every place, even the tomb.

Invitation
Prayerfully imagine that you are there as the story in scripture unfolds.
Enter the story slowly. Take it in through your senses.
What sounds capture your attention?
Can you smell the perfumed ointment and myrrh? What sights draw you in?
Gently, as you are able, try to take it in. Notice the grief around you and within.

Scripture: John 19:38-42
“Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away. With him came Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes. Following Jewish burial custom, they wrapped Jesus’ body with the spices in long sheets of linen cloth. The place of crucifixion was near a garden, where there was a new tomb, never used before. And so, because it was the day of preparation for the Jewish Passover and since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.”

Prayer of Response
Loving, Compassionate One,
This day is filled with grief and such deep mourning!
Broken hearts, questions, and lost dreams,
fill and swirl around those who loved and followed you.
They did not yet know the life being born in darkness,
for Your love enters every place and space,
even the darkness of the tomb.
You know intimately the depth of grief and heartbreak
as you entered the grave for us.
There is nothing of our experience
you do not know, not even death.
You entered all the places we mourn,
as our tears were found on Your face.
As hard as this day is,
we need this day
to realize the expansiveness of your love
which reaches everywhere.
Let us keep vigil
even as we praise You most merciful God.

Rev. Eva Sullivan-Knoff,
Founder and Executive Director

Good Friday
April 2, 2021

Opening
Holy God, quiet us this day and deepen us that we may be present to you in it.

Reflection
Oh Lord, how do we begin to take in the day’s events? Make us like the women who journeyed with you to the cross and remained there with you.

Invitation
Read the scripture through slowly, pausing where you are drawn. Take as long as you need. Imagine you are there as one of the women who journey with Him there. As you read, keep your eyes on Jesus. Listen to His words. Imagine His face as He speaks. What do you see in His eyes? Watch His actions. How does He respond? Stay focused on Him as you read. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in your prayerful reading.

Scripture: Read John 19:1-6, 14-19, 28-30
“Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face. Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him…Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.” Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews… After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

Prayer of Response
Oh God to whom we belong,
our hearts are full and heavy within.
Your heart, your eyes were ever on us.
Even in your darkest hour
Your eyes, your love took us in.
Our tears were on your face.
Oh such love we cannot comprehend.
We sit in silence, and gratitude for all of it.

Rev. Eva Sullivan-Knoff
Founder and Executive Director

Holy Thursday/Maundy Thursday
April 1, 2021

Opening
Lord, as we accompany You in these last days, make us evermore present to you.

Reflection
As we walk through these Holiest of days, may we be drawn ever closer to the One who loves without limit.

Invitation
Read the scripture slowly. Through prayerful imagination, put yourself in the story as an observer or as one of the disciples. Stay close to watch Jesus, his actions, his words, his responses.

Scripture: John 13:1- 5, 12,-15, 34, 35
“It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him… When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you… “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Prayer of Response
Compassionate One, It is hard to fathom these words, “Having loved his own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” Are there such moving words anywhere other than these?
You know us in our very depths, our innermost secrets, our deepest thoughts, the ways we fail You, ourselves, and others, and yet, You love us to the end. Beyond our fears, beyond our doubts, You love us to the end. These words heal and transform. They inspire and encourage. They instill in us the desire to be more. They free us because we know Your love is without limits. It forgives and restores. Your love holds us always on both our darker days and our brighter ones like a child tenderly held by his/her parent. So let us come freely to You knowing nothing can separate us from your love for us. Glory be to God, Amen.

Rev. Eva Sullivan-Knoff, Founder and Executive Director

March 28, 2021
Holy Invitation

Opening
Lord, as we enter Holy Week, slow our steps and quiet our minds. Help us to be more present to you as we journey with you through this week.

Reflection
As we walk through this Holiest of weeks, may we be drawn ever closer to the One who loves without limit. May our faith be deepened and our lives be changed.

Invitation Read the scripture through slowly. The second time, enter the story through prayerful imagination. Take in the scene through all of your senses. Hear the hustle and bustle of the crowd. Feel the dust on your feet. Notice the dynamic in the air. The third time you read it, notice who you are in the story. What do you notice about Jesus? How do you experience Him? Is there an invitation that you sense from Him? Stay there to converse with Him, or just to be with Him.

Scripture: John 12:12-16
“The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!” Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said: “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.” His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into his glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about him.”

Prayer of Response
Holy One, Your entry signifies all is changing. Let not our eyes be closed or our ears be stopped. It is not always comfortable where you lead, but it is life changing. Deepen our awareness of You Open us to your invitation to join you on this journey. It is indeed life-giving beyond all that we can fathom. Thank you from the depth of our hearts for walking this journey for us. May we accompany You. Amen.

Rev. Eva Sullivan-Knoff, Founder and Executive Director

Fifth Week of Lent
March 21, 2021

Opening
Lord, as we draw close to you in these moments, quiet us within that we may hear You. Transform us through our time with you.

Reflection
As we continue on this Lenten journey, may we be drawn ever closer to the One who loves without limit.

Invitation
Read the scripture through slowly a few times. The second time, notice the word or phrase to which where you are drawn. The third time, reflect on how this word or phrase speaks to your life right now.

Scripture: John 12: 23-28, 32,33
Jesus replied, “Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me. “Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came! Father, bring glory to your name.” Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again… And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” He said this to indicate how he was going to die.

Prayer of Response
Compassionate One, You saw what we did not. You knew what would bring life to us even though it would cost You so much. You never lost sight of this You kept it ever before You. You showed us the way so we could follow in your footsteps, serving as we have been served by You, loving, as we have been loved by You. Your way is totally different than ours. Thank you for your sacrificial love which gave all so we could know the joy of life with and in You. Jesus, Divine Beloved One, keep us near to you, whispering in our ears, so that we follow you always. Amen.

Rev. Eva Sullivan-Knoff, Founder and Executive Director