Estelle Rowles, of St. Mary’s Anglican Church in Edgerton,
celebrated 99 years on Monday, April 27.
Estelle has been a long time member of both St. Mary’s and
Edgerton. Generally, the community gathers
for coffee and cake at the local Oasis.
This year that could not happen.
Estelle’s daughter, Darnell Symington, arranged with the local mayor,
Wendy Belik, for a drive-by tribute to celebrate this milestone. The line of traffic was blocks long. Fire trucks and and a RCMP car brought up the rear with lights
flashing and sirens going. Estelle stood at the end of
her driveway (she still lives in her own home) with friend and
helper, Lee Perkins. Lee took pictures
of each vehicle as it drove by with birthday wishes for Estelle.
But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his
voice and addressed them: Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with
certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you
crucified.’
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the
heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what should we
do?’ Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name
of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for
all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.’ And he
testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, ‘Save yourselves
from this corrupt generation.’ So those who welcomed his message were baptized,
and that day about three thousand persons were added.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
Thanks be to God.
The Responsory
Death is swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your sting?
Christ is risen from the dead,
the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Death is swallowed up in victory.
The trumpet will sound and the dead shall be raised.
Where, O death, is your sting?
We shall not all sleep,
but we shall be changed.
Death is swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your sting?
1 Peter 1.17-23
If you invoke as Father the one who judges all
people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the
time of your exile. You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways
inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold,
but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or
blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed
at the end of the ages for your sake. Through him you have come to trust in
God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and
hope are set on God.
Now that you have purified your souls by your
obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another
deeply from the heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable but of
imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church
Thanks be to God.
A Song of the New Creation(Isaiah 43.15, 16, 18, 19, 20c, 21)
‘I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your Sovereign.’
Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
‘Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
the people whom I formed for myself,
that they might declare my praise.’
Glory to the holy
and undivided Trinity, one God:
as it was in the
beginning,
is now and will be
for ever. Amen.
Gospel
The Holy Gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ
according to Luke.
Glory to you, Lord
Jesus Christ.
Luke 24.13-35
Now on that same
day two of them 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.
The Gospel of
Christ.
Praise to you,
Lord Jesus Christ.
Sermon
Hear, O Israel
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is
one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
This is the first and the great commandment.
The second is like it:
Love your neighbour as yourself.
There is no commandment greater than these.
The
Prayers of the Community
Anglican Communion
Pray for
the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem & The Middle East
