Dear friends,
My Echoes Blog post this week consists of three links.
The first, for any reader who might be interested, is of two links to my Easter sermon at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church. One is to a video of our whole service, including the sermon. The second there is to an audio podcast of just the sermon. That podcast is also available on iTunes. The sermon comes from Mark 16: 1-8.
pinnaclepres.org/streaming-videos
pinnaclepres.org/sermon-podcasts
In that sermon, I quote extensively from a letter written by a physician at the center of treating COVID-19 patients, in the ICU of the Luigi Sacco Hospital in Milan, Italy. I interlace quotes from his letter with my own interpretation, commentary, and application to Easter. I've been asked about the letter itself, so my second link is to its English translation. It was originally published as a letter to the editor in the Italian newspaper Il Foglio on March 18, 2020. The translation by Renzo Canetta and Letizia Mariani also appeared in the CL Newsletter of the Movement of Communion and Liberation.
Amedeo Capetti, "Grateful for Each Breath: Nothing can any longer be taken for granted," Plough (online), April 1, 2020. https://www.plough.com/en/topics/faith/prayer/grateful-for-each-breath
My third link is to Pope Francis' Urbi-et-Orbi Easter Message, from April 12, 2020. In the traditional Easter Mass from the Vatican, the Pope offers an Easter homily. Then, after the service, he gives what is called the Urbi-et-Orbi Message. This is a blessing and message to the city of Rome and to the World (Ubri-et-Orbi, City and World). Such a message is only given twice each year, at Christmas and at Easter. This year, however, the Pope made an exception and offered another, at the end of March, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. He extends that in this year's Easter Urbi-et-Orbi. It is a powerful statement, not shying away from political and cultural appeals alongside religious ones. In Catholic parlance, it's a seamless garment of faith/culture/economics/politics. It's also an important word in a conversation I think we should all be a part of. You can find reporting on the message and its full text in several places. Here is one link to the full text.
https://angelusnews.com/news/vatican/full-text-pope-francis-easter-urbi-et-orbi-message-2020/
I look forward to all we will discuss, and pray over, both through and beyond our current situation.
God Bless you all, and Blessed Easter week to you,
Wes Avram
