I Have Seen the Lord April 18

Prayer
God, we praise you and thank you for the gifts of your creation that give us life and food and protection.

Bless us for whenever we have failed to care for the land as wise stewards which you entrusted it to our care.

Help us see you in this gift of creation and life around us and in the eyes of our sisters and brothers of all genders, religions, races and ancestry. By our witness, may we emulate Paul and the disciples and bring more and more people into the Church and into close moments with you by the examples of our piety, study and action. Amen.

Study “I have seen the Lord”

Read, reflect and study the Easter Tuesday scriptures: http://www.usccb.org/nab/041806.shtml

Today we see the close encounters with Christ continue. We hear another evangelist -- John today -- recount the experience of Mary at the tomb. Mary is rewarded for her persistence. She was the first to see the empty tomb. SHe ran to spread teh good news and returned with Peter and John. After their inspection, they left but she stayed there in prayer privately experiencing her grief. This time, she sees the Risen Lord but at first does not recognize Him. This is a common experience that we will see repeated again and again throughout this Easter season -- the close moment that people at first do not realize is an encounter with the Risen Lord. But Mary realizes the gift and give Jesus praise. He speaks to her and propels her to action.

Psalm 33 holds the clue: “The Earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” Let’s come to recognize Jesus in the gifts He has given to us – His word, His works, those with hope and those who work to make that hope a reality by serving the least among us. Then, let us do the work that He has commanded us to accomplish.

It is so easy to see the beauty of the works of the Lord in the spring life sprouting up around us and in the smiling eyes of our sisters and brothers. Then, like Mary, let's get to work.

Action

How was your Lent? Care to share that experience? Let me know if you would like to offer a reflection on the daily scriptures as we continue Your Daily Tripod beyond its Lenten origin and support the teams in formation and the Fourth Day of Cursillistas throughout the Arlington Diocese and beyond.

What do the daily scriptures (posted here http://www.usccb.org/nab/ for the upcoming month or two) say to you? How do they move you to prayer? What do you learn when you read and study them? What action or actions are you propelled to consider?

Send me your reflection and I will post it to http://www.yourdailytripod.blogspot.com/ giving you full attribution. You can pick any day you would like and let me know. We will add a sign-up list to the Arlington Cursillo web site in the coming days.

Happy Easter!