Good Shepherd : Fourth Sunday of Easter
Happy Resurrection Day, friends! Easter Sunday kicks off a week in the liturgical calendar known as the Easter Octave and a seven-week festival called Eastertide or The Great Fifty Days. I'll be posting little bits of beauty each day of the Easter Octave and each Sunday following that. May you know new life, peace, and hope today, tomorrow, and forever.
Read all the way to the end of the post for a way you can help us practice resurrection!
Look: Mural Pasterz, Bielsko-Biała, Poland - Source
Listen: Mizmor L'Dovid, Composed by Ben Zion Shenker, performed by Itzhak Perlman and Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot - Text & Translation | YouTube | Spotify
Read: Acts 4:32-37; Psalm 23; 1 John 3:1-10; John 10:11-16
Daily readings for the fourth week of Eastertide
Sunday (4/25) Psalm 63, 98; Psalm 103; Wisdom 1:1-15; 1 Peter 5:1-11; Matthew 7:15-29
Monday (4/26) Psalm 41, 52; Psalm 44; Wisdom 1:16--2:11, 21-24; Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 6:1-11
Tuesday (4/27) Psalm 45; Psalm 47-48; Wisdom 3:1-9; Colossians 1:15-23; Luke 6:12-26
Wednesday (4/28) Psalm 119:49-72; Psalm 49; Wisdom 4:16--5:8; Colossians 1:24--2:7; Luke 6:27-38
Thursday (4/29) Psalm 50; Psalm 114-115; Wisdom 5:9-23; Colossians 2:8-23; Luke 6:39-49
Friday (4/30) Psalm 40, 54; Psalm 51; Wisdom 6:12-23; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 7:1-17
Saturday (5/1) Psalm 55; Psalm 138-139; Wisdom 7:1-14; Colossians 3:12-17; Luke 7:18-35
Pray: Book of Common Prayer, Collect for Third Sunday in Easter
O God, whose Son Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd of your people: Grant that, when we hear his voice, we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Do: Send me a photo and caption of yourself practicing resurrection. If you need inspiration, here’s a list of 50 ways to celebrate all 50 days! Choose 1 idea or 50, but whatever you do, do it with gusto!
Here are a few photo stories you shared on Instagram from our photo-a-day fun for the first week of Eastertide.
Still
Spring fights through
Stubborn
Like the God who
Whispers her out of winter
Only a stubborn God
Would crack the frozen earth
To force hope upon us
Until our eyes can almost see
What we will someday be
Small, but for beauty
Weak, but for winds
Spring sneaks in
And breaks out
Like a prisoner
The eternal middle child
Vying for our attention
A God who will not beg
Nor leave us be
Until have truly seen Spring
She is a salve
Soothing our winter-chapped spirits
She is a folk singer
Carrying stories through generations
Like the hydrangea bush in our yard
Even weeds
In their attempt to choke her
Unwittingly add to her glory
Carrying our wishes
To the inventor of dreams
How bright must she be?
How sweet must she smell?
How glorious must she gleam?
Before we notice her
No wonder she has given up
On merely bleating
No wonder
She learned to roar
- Natalie Murphy, Austin, TX
(all photos taken in my neighborhood)
You might also enjoy: A Sacramental Life Community - IN PERSON
During Eastertide, A Sacramental Life Community members will gather every other Thursday from 1-1:45 (Eastern) to celebrate and to consider the spiritual, physical, emotional, and relational practices of Eastertide. Members also enjoy exclusive access to downloadable resources, including a 47-page guidebook to help you practice resurrection for Eastertide, recorded conversation, and guided spiritual practices. created a Practice Resurrection page for the Sacramental Life Community members.
I’d love for you to join us! Subscribe to A Sacramental Life Community - IN PERSON with this coupon code for $5 off their your first month: NEWCOMMUNITYMEMBER