Celebrating 2nd Sunday of Easter from Home
In these worship resources,
we continue our journey through Easter Week and further into Eastertide,
following the Lord’s betrayal, suffering, death and resurrection.
“We walk by faith and not by sight.”
Reflection on Eastertide and ideas for celebrating this season from home
we walk by faith, not by sight.
fidem enim ambulamus, et non per speciem.
2 Corinthians 5: 7
The Liturgy of the Word
1 We walk by faith, and not by sight,
no gracious words we hear
of him who spoke as none e’er spoke,
but we believe him near.2 We may not touch his hands and side
nor follow where he trod;
yet in his promise we rejoice,
and cry, ‘My Lord and God!’3 Help then, O Lord, our unbelief,
and may our faith abound
to call on you when you are near
and seek where you are found.4 That when our life of faith is done
in realms of clearer light
we may behold you as you are
in full and endless sight.5 We walk by faith, and not by sight,
no gracious words we hear
of him who spoke as none e’er spoke,
but we believe him near.
Henry Alford, alt.
The reprise of the opening verse at the end is no mere repetition; we are changed by the journey we’ve travelled so far.
As TS Eliot wrote,
What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from……We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always—
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowded knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.
from Little Gidding, V
Music for reflection
Christ lay in death’s bonds handed over for our sins,
he is risen again and has brought us life.
For this we should be joyful,
praise God and be thankful to him
and sing Alleluia.
1 The glory of the cross we sing,
the cross of Jesus Christ our Lord,
who died and rose to set us free,
our way from death to life secured.
2 As once God’s people rested safe,
protected by a lamb’s own blood,
so we acclaim the sacrifice
of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God.
3 As once the Chosen People passed
from pain to freedom through the sea,
so now baptismal water saves
the chosen, called to liberty.
4 At Passover, before he died,
Christ Jesus took the bread and wine:
‘This is my body, this my blood,
do this as my memorial sign.’
5 What once by Jesus was achieved
we celebrate with heart and soul,
recalling and effecting now
the saving work that makes us whole.
tune: Wareham LM
words: John Ainslie
The Lord’s Prayer
Almighty and everlasting God,
who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation:
grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body
may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Alleluia!
In these strange times, we are called to trust
Other resources
The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.
The Collects, Psalms and Canticles are from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979.
The excerpt from Little Gidding from ‘Four Quartets’ by TS Eliot, is copyright Valerie Eliot 1968.
