Hosted by the Faith To Go team in the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, David Tremaine and Charlette Preslar, and joined the each week by a special guest, the Faith To Go Podcast highlights themes from the Sunday Gospel reading for you to take into your faith discussions and reflections throughout the week.
Feast and Faith: Easter Sunrise Breakfast
Getting up before dawn to watch the sunrise is a special treasure that is not easily forgotten in life. This Easter morning tradition of a sunrise breakfast creates a sacred space in which memories are cultivated for life. Some families already have this tradition and gather together in community for a sunrise service. For those who don’t, however, why not do it at home? Breakfast can be as simple or elaborate as you wish. The most important element is simply gathering together as a family and enjoying the time together. How To Do It: 1. The night before, set the table. If possible, consider setting up outside on a balcony or deck, or near a window to see the sunrise. Also, prepare as much of breakfast ahead of time as possible. Breakfast can be as simple or elaborate as you like. 2. Plan to wake everyone in time to be ready at the table about 10-15 minutes before sunrise. Here’s a website to figure out what time that will be where you are.
3. Gather first at your home altar with all of the items now returned that you collected throughout the week and have been put away since Maundy Thursday. Light your Paschal Candle, and take time to go through the items on the altar and remember when and why we put them there. When you are done, make your way to the breakfast table, and bring your Paschal Candle with you to set in the center of your meal. 4. Serve breakfast and have everyone seated. Begin with a prayer of your own or use this one:
“God of darkness and light, we give you thanks for this Easter morning. As we sit here in the dark, we are excited to experience the resurrection in a new way as the sun rises and light fills the sky. Help us to have a meaningful breakfast together as a family. Amen.”
5. Begin to eat breakfast together and have someone read the passage slowly and deliberately.
John 20:1-18 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her. 6. Read the first line again:
“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark…” (20:1a, NRSV)
Questions:
1) Is it still dark outside? This is the time of day when Mary went to the tomb.
2) How do you think Mary felt when she went to the tomb in the dark? What would it be like for you at this time of day to be surprised by something so unbelievable? Are you still sleepy? Have your eyes adjusted to the light yet?
3) What does it sounds like outside at this early hour? Is it quiet? Is it noisy?
7. Enjoy breakfast together and notice as it gets brighter and day breaks. Share any thoughts and experiences that come to mind. Ask questions that occur to you or use one (or more) of the following:
Questions: 1) What part of the Gospel reading is most interesting to you or sticks out the most? 2) Does the light happen all at once, or does it seem to get light outside gradually? What does this tell us about the resurrection? 3) In the reading, Mary calls Jesus ‘teacher.’ What did Jesus teach Mary? How is Jesus a teacher to you? 4) How do you think people felt when they realized that Jesus was alive? Did different people feel differently? 5) ‘Resurrection’ means coming back to life. What are some things that remind you of resurrection in the world?
6) Have you ever found something that you thought was gone forever? What did that feel like?
8. Close your time together with a prayer of your own or use this one:
“Thank you, God, for this resurrection breakfast, a time to focus on you and the mystery of resurrection. Help us to celebrate Easter and to share its message of hope and promise. Amen.”
Notes And Variations: The beauty of this tradition is that it starts Easter morning with a spiritual focus and centers the day in family and faith. This tradition is a great foundation on which to build other traditions as the years go by. Option 1: Add your own special recipes and surprises at breakfast. Option 2: Use different scriptures and prayers in different years. Option 3: Add songs or other readings that are meaningful in your family.
by NPR
Questions:
1) What were your favorite pieces of "Good News" from the video?
2) How do you see people responding to the challenges of the coronavirus?
3) Where do you see God in the way people are responding?
4) How has this unexpected suffering and challenge led to unexpected new ways of doing things?
5) If resurrection means "coming back to life" where do you see resurrection in these stories?
Views and Qs: He is Risen
Watch this video together and then use the discussion questions below to reflect as a family (watch from 11:09 to end).
Discussion Questions:
1) How do you think Mary felt when she saw the empty tomb? What about the disciples?
2) Why do you think the cloth that was covering Jesus’ face was folded up separate from the cloth that had been covering his body?
3) Why didn’t Mary recognize Jesus? What do you think he looked like?
4) What did it mean to the disciples and to Mary that Jesus was alive?
5) What do you think it would feel like if someone we loved who has died suddenly reappeared? How would this change the way we understood life? What new kind of hope might it give us?
Stay and Pray: A Devotion for Families at the Close of the Day Each week we feature a way for your family to reflect and pray together. For families with older children this is an at home liturgy for your family to participate in together. It is a daily devotion for families adapted from The Book of Common Prayer.
Before you begin, take a few moments to decide who will read the scripture reading and who will read the collect and closing.
Read the Psalm and Lord's Prayer in unison.
After a moment of silence, begin with the Psalm.
Psalm 114
(read in unison)
1 Hallelujah! When Israel came out of Egypt, * the house of Jacob from a people of strange speech, 2 Judah became God's sanctuary * and Israel his dominion. 3 The sea beheld it and fled; * Jordan turned and went back. 4 The mountains skipped like rams, * and the little hills like young sheep. 5 What ailed you, O sea, that you fled? * O Jordan, that you turned back? 6 You mountains, that you skipped like rams? * you little hills like young sheep? 7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, * at the presence of the God of Jacob, 8 Who turned the hard rock into a pool of water * and flint-stone into a flowing spring.
Gospel
(read by assigned person)
Luke 24: 13-49
Now on that same day, the first day of the week, two of the disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him." Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."
Prayers for Ourselves and For Others (take this time to each offer one person/event that you would like to hold in prayer as well as one thing you are thankful for)
Dear God, tonight I ask your prayers for.......
and I give you thanks for ..........
Amen
The Lord’s Prayer
(read in unison)
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen
The Collect
(read by assigned person)
Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord's resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Share some of your conversations in the comments below: