We are a small Episcopal Church on the banks of the Rappahannock in Port Royal, Virginia. We acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Port Royal, the Nandtaughtacund, and we respect and honor with gratitude the land itself, the legacy of the ancestors, and the life of the Rappahannock Tribe. Our mission statement is to do God’s Will in all that we do.

2024 Sun March 31

Easter Commentary

Easter Sunday, the culmination of Holy Week!

Easter celebrates the reality of Jesus’ resurrection in all its many aspects. Hope, Transformation, Evangelism and a new life.

“The miracle of the resurrection is that time itself has started over. The new time has begun! Just as it was in the beginning, when the word was with God, the Word will be with God again. Jesus is ascending to the Father.

“In other words, in this new time that has begun with Jesus’ death and resurrection, the family relationship that was broken in the Garden of Eden has now been restored and healed.

From the sermon in 2018:

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Rev. Tom Hughes’ sermon, Sunrise service, March 31, 2024

“Happiness comes from in here. We live from the inside out not from the outside in”.

Video

Transcribed

I’m Tom, I’m from over here at St Peters and what a joy to be doing this and to hear that beautiful reading of that scripture again. You never get tired of that do you, that story over and over again.

What a wonderful gift that is, and on top of that, the perfect setting for being here together for the sunrise the Lord has provided for us so beautifully. And if you appreciate it, the symbolism here is everywhere. You’ve got spring, new beginning, new life coming up, you got the river of God flowing by out here and it just goes on and on, new life, new light into the world, the light of Christ – we’re celebrating it right now so it’s just everywhere. If you’re not already half dead you can see it around you, the presence and power and the love of God.

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Easter Videos, March 31, 2024

Special segments this Sunday included :
#2 Dedication of the Paschal Candle
#3 Alleluis comes back, a project of the children
#10. Farewell Helmut Linne von Berg
#11. Birthday – Larry Saylor

1. Opening Hymn – “Jesus Christ is risen today”

2. Dedication of Paschal Candle

3. Alleluia comes back

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Sermon, Easter, March 31, 2024

“Noli me tangere” Antonio Correggio (CA. 1525)

In the beginning, the Lord God formed a man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into that man’s nostrils the breath of life, and so the man became a human being.  And then, the Lord God planted a garden in Eden. And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, a river to water the garden, and God put the man there to till the garden and to care for it.  The Garden of Eden was so inviting that God would walk there in the cool of the evening breeze, reveling in the beauty of the garden.    

Since the beginning of time, gardens have provided sustenance, beauty and inspiration. 

Those blessed enough to have a garden witness the ways in which the garden changes through the seasons. 

They’ve tilled the ground, watched with an amazement the new growth springing up from the seeds they have planted.   Gardeners harvest,  and then when the plants are spent and dead, they put the garden to bed to rest for the winter.  And then the gardener waits, the seasons change, and it’s time to till and to plant again. 

Gardens have always been places of death and resurrection. 

That first man, blessed to live in the Garden of Eden, could not simply live there, reveling in its blessings and beauty, but ended up putting himself above God, and sin came into the garden.  God sent the man and the woman out of the Garden so that they would not eat from the Tree of Life and live forever. 

And so death came into the world. 

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Holy Week Introduction

Various Holy Week links

Holy Week Summary

Holy Week between Palm Sunday and Easter is the most sacred time of year.. The purpose of Holy Week is to reenact, relive, and participate in the passion of Jesus Christ, his triumph, suffering and resurrection. Ultimately it’s about ours. From our Baptism liturgy- “We thank you, Father, for the water of Baptism. In it we are buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in his resurrection. Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.” Every Sunday is an Easter.

From early times, Christians have observed the week before Easter as a time of special prayer and devotion. As the pilgrim Egeria recorded in the late fourth century, numerous pilgrims to the holy city of Jerusalem followed the path of Jesus in his last days. They formed processions, worshipped where Christ suffered and died, and venerated sacred sites and relics. The pilgrims took the customs home with them. Holy week observances spread to Spain by the fifth century, to Gaul and England by the early seventh century. They didn’t spread to Rome until the twelfth century. From this beginning evolved the practices we observe today on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.

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Holy Week – Day by Day

Choose day: Palm Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Maundy Thursday Good Friday Holy Saturday Easter Sunday

Best of Holy Week, 2024 – Words

We dwell so much in images today that the words often get forgotten or glossed over.

This is a limited look considering based on excerpts sermons and blogs for this year’s Holy Week, mostly from our services at St. Peter’s without considering hymns or prayers. That’s another story.

Here are 9 selections – totally subjective in choosing them!

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Sermon, Good Friday, March 29, 2024

Before his crucifixion and death, Jesus shared a last supper with the disciples. 

“After supper he took the cup of wine; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and said, “Drink this, all of you; This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.” 

Blood is essential to life.  Blood carries oxygen and  nutrients throughout our bodies and helps to regulate our body temperatures.   Blood carries waste materials to the organs that rid the body of that waste.  Blood also fights off infections.  Without blood, we cannot live. 

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