Easter, according to the gospels, is not only about the empty tomb ...

22 abr. 2012 - today's story, he goes on to help the disciples catch a huge load of fish, and then tells them to bring out the grill. Why so much eating? Because ...
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April 22, 2012 Saint Paul’s Episcopal Parish The Rev. Dr. Paul J. Carling & The Rev. Judith L. Rhodes Food Fest Acts 3: 12-19; Luke 24: 36b-48

Easter, according to the gospels, is not only about the empty tomb, it’s also about food. Jesus spends Easter Day at a kind of moveable feast, and his friends celebrate, not at that tomb, but around the table. Overcoming time and space is no problem for our risen Lord, who shows up at Emmaus for the bread course, and then walks through a locked door in Jerusalem to see what else there is to eat – all in the company of his beloved friends. In John’s version of today’s story, he goes on to help the disciples catch a huge load of fish, and then tells them to bring out the grill. Why so much eating? Because Jesus, ever practical, is trying to show his friends he’s alive, he’s real, that apparitions don’t dine… Beyond that, however, it seems to me that this is particularly consistent with his three year public ministry as Jesus provides us with plenty of examples of sharing food and friendship around tables, on mountainsides, and at beachside picnics, inviting every person, including those considered outcasts and sinners in his own time, to share the bread of life and cup of salvation. So it doesn’t seem strange at all that he would continue that same ministry of extravagant welcome after his resurrection!



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Según los evangelios, en la historia de La Pascua hay mucho más que una tumba vacía, también es una historia de comida, de alimento. Jesús esta ese domingo de la resurrección con sus amigos celebrando, no en una tumba vacía pero alrededor de la mesa. El Señor resucitado no tiene ningún problema en aparecer en Emaús para compartir pan, sino que también se hace manifiesto en Jerusalén en una habitación cerrada para visitar a sus discipulos y ver qué hay de comer. Hoy en el evangelio según San Juan vemos como Jesús se aparece a los discípulos no solo para ayudar a pescar sino también para encender la parilla para cocinar. Estas historias hablan mucho de comer, porque Jesús quiere compartir con sus amigos la realidad que él vive, el está vivo – es como decir miren como yo como – los fantasmas no comen. Jesús durante su ministerio siempre busco la manera de compartir el pan y la amistad alrededor de la mesa, invitando a todos a la mesa incluyendo a los rechazados y a los pecadores a comer del pan de la vida y del cáliz de salvación.

Isn’t it true that all this eating helps us connect the dots between the meal in the Upper Room, the meal at Emmaus, our celebration of the Lord’s Supper, and our prayer at the end of the Eucharist, that we be sent out into the world to serve each other at all kinds of tables, tables where Jesus becomes just as present as he is in these gospel stories?



Tables where we eat our family dinners, and business lunches, and snacks between classes, tables set not just with eating utensils, but with the hope that Jesus might show up, at any moment, in the breaking of the bread.

It’s at tables like these that Jesus invites us to bring our hopes and fears; to open our hearts to our common humanity; to satisfy the deep hunger we have to be learn from each other; to be changed by each other; and so, through us, to bring the Kingdom of God on earth, right here, right now.

This is what we call Easter living, believing that Jesus wants to join us at each of our tables, so he can bring us the gift of new life; believing that if we make those tables larger and larger, they might come to include more and more of the Body of Christ; that if we draw those tables closer and closer together, we just might bridge whatever gaps separate us from any of God’s beloved children. La verdad es que el comer nos une y nos ayuda crear relaciones – hay una relación en el aposento alto, en la cena en Emaús, nuestra celebración de la Cena del Señor y nuestra oración al terminar la Eucaristía que nos habla de una relación y nos envía al mundo para servir en tantas mesas, en las mesas donde Jesús está presente.

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En la mesa del hogar, en la mesa de la escuela, en la mesa del trabajo, en la mesa del “picnic” en el parque - ahí es donde tenemos la esperanza que Jesús aparezca en cualquier momento para compartir el pan con nosotros. Es esas mesas donde podemos satisfacer el hambre, donde nos conocemos y somos transformados para adelantar el reino de Dios aquí, ahora mismo. A esto llamamos la vida de la Pascua, la vida de la resurrección, el creer que Jesús nos trae vida nueva, el creer que el Señor siempre está buscando en cómo hacer la mesa más grande para incluir a más gente, para incluir a más pueblo de Dios. Most Christian churches have succeeded in attracting only the smallest fraction of the Body of Christ to our table. Partly, that’s because it’s hard to make the table larger, to overcome our own fears, and to invite others, knowing full well that each of us can count on being changed. Let’s be honest, change feels risky and we do not always welcome change, even when we know it’s for the better. It’s hard, but as Jesus makes clear, it’s also necessary. Not out of political correctness, or some burdensome Christian duty, not even out of kindness or charity, but simply because we need each other to be complete. Our differences, personal, cultural, theological, can be viewed as barriers to relationship. However, Jesus invites us to celebrate the blessing and richness that difference brings to every relationship, most especially in the Body of Christ, the Church.



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La mayoría de las Iglesias Cristianas solo han podido traer un pequeño grupo del cuerpo de Cristo a la mesa. A veces es duro invitar a otros a la mesa pues se corre el riesgo de hacer un cambio en mi vida para aceptar a los demás. Es difícil aceptar cambios y nuevas ideas; pero hay que hacerlo – lo hacemos no porque sea nuestro deber cristiano, ni tampoco por caridad, lo hacemos porque nos hacemos falta y cuando respondemos a los demás es cuando más somos completo. Jesús nos invita a celebrar nuestra diversidad y riqueza al cuerpo de Cristo, la Iglesia.

Today, we celebrate that something important and life giving is happening in Fairfield and in Bridgeport. For over 30 years we have had a wonderful partnership between St. Paul’s and San Lucas y San Pablo. It’s the one partnership that our parishioners are most familiar with. When we invited folks from St. Paul’s to help celebrate Tres Reyes in February, 38 of our members showed up at San Lucas y San Pablo. So when Paul and I met with Padre Jose and Deacon Jose to say that we wanted to deepen our relationships, and that we might start with what was most important to all of us – worshipping together, they were enthusiastic.



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And when Paul approached the families in our parish who are bilingual, every one of them stepped up and said they wanted to be involved. As one of our parishioners put it, “It really feels like the Holy Spirit is at work here!”… among all of us! Hoy celebramos la importancia que hay en la vida abundante de Fairfield y Bridgeport. Por 30 años hemos tenido una relación maravillosa entre St. Paul’s en Fairfield y San Lucas Y San Pablo en Bridgeport. Es una relación que disfrutamos. La disfrutamos en la fiesta de los Tres Reyes, la disfrutamos el mes pasado cuando fuimos a Bridgeport. ¡Nos pareció ese día que el Espíritu Santo estaba entre nosotros! Disfrutamos que podemos adorar juntos a Dios.

So when we approach this table, let us give thanks for those friends we have in our lives – new and old. When we sit down for a delicious Spanish meal in the Parish Hall, let us remember that what God is serving today is simply an appetizer. The real meal is yet to come – in the abundant feast God has prepared for us as we fully embrace our membership in the Body of Christ. Isn’t this amazing – a new beginning built upon a firm and faithful foundation!

Who can imagine the tables we will gather around over the next 30 years?!!!!



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Así que cuando vengamos a esta mesa, demos gracias por nuestras amistades, los amigos nuevos y viejos. Cuando nos sentemos a la mesa para comer esa rica comida latina, recordemos que Dios solo está sirviendo los entremeses. La verdadera comida, la cena verdadera todavía está por venir. Sabrá Dios cuantas mesas habrá servidas en los próximos treinta años.

Aleluya!