TRUE MEANING OF THE 50 DAYS

 

SO JESUS AND THE EASTER BUNNY WALK INTO A BAR

 

From nakedpastor.

ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN!

GIOTTO di Bondone - Scenes from the Life of Christ: Resurrection (Noli me tangere)
Fresco, 1304-06
 Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” ’ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

(John 20:11-18)

Alleluia. Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast, 

Not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Alleluia. 

Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 

The death that he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 

So also consider yourselves dead to sin, and alive to God in Jesus Christ our Lord. Alleluia. 

Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 

For since by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. Alleluia.

(Book of Common Prayer)

A Blessed and Happy Easter!

THE MORNING OF THE ROLLING STONE

Delightful.

Thanks to Fr Kirstin via Kelvin Holdsworth.

PERSECUTION! PERSECUTION!

Fraser: "It is an insult to Christians in genuine persecution."

Yes! To say that Christians in England, or the US are persecuted is nonsense. Let those who think so go live in certain countries in the Middle East, such as Iran or Pakistan, for a while, and they'd know what it is to fear for their lives in the practice of their Christian faith. I'm thoroughly sick and tired of the whining. Good for Giles.

The Roman Catholic hierarchy tried to pull the same persecution stunt over rules that require health insurance companies to provide coverage for contraceptives for their employees.  You'd think the bishops themselves were being forced to hand out condoms and birth control pills.

What Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, in England and the RC hierarchy here in the US want is for everyone in the respective countries to live according to their rules.

CHRIST IN THE TOMB

HOLBEIN, Hans the Younger
The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb
1521

O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer)

Image from the Web Gallery of Art. 

CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST

GIOTTO di Bondone
Scenes from the Life of Christ: Crucifixion
Fresco 1304-06
Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua

We glory in your cross, O Lord,

and praise and glorify your holy resurrection; for by virtue of your cross joy has come to the whole world.

May God be merciful to us and bless us, show us the light of his countenance, and come to us.

Let your ways be known upon earth, your saving health among all nations.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

We glory in your cross, O Lord, and praise and glorify your holy resurrection; for by virtue of your cross joy has come to the whole world.

(Book of Common Prayer)

 Image from the Web Gallery of Art.

JESUS WASHES THE FEET OF HIS DISCIPLES

GIOTTO di Bondone
Scenes from the Life of Christ: Washing of Feet
Fresco 1304-06
Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua

The Lord Jesus, after he had supped with his disciples and had washed their feet, said to them, “Do you know what I, your Lord and Master, have done to you? I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done.”
Peace is my last gift to you, my own peace I now leave with you; peace which the world cannot give, I give to you.

I give you a new commandment: Love one another as I have loved you.
Peace is my last gift to you, my own peace I now leave with you; peace which the world cannot give, I give to you.

By this shall the world know that you are my disciples: That you have love for one another.

(Book of Common Prayer)

Image from the Web Gallery of Art.

ON THE HOME FRONT IN LOUISIANA

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration quietly released a new financial analysis that estimates the state could save as much as $368 million over 10 years by expanding Louisiana’s Medicaid program under the federal health care law.

The analysis was posted on the state Department of Health and Hospitals’ website this week with no fanfare. The department hasn’t touted the findings, and they were mentioned only briefly — and with little detail — during a budget hearing in which lawmakers pushed for more information about the expansion and Jindal’s refusal to participate in it.
....

The new DHH estimates say Louisiana could save anywhere from $197 million to $368 million over 10 years while covering more than 577,000 additional people through Medicaid. The savings can be attributed to lessening existing state costs for providing health care to the uninsured, largely through the public hospital system.

Oops!  Note the quiet correction.  Let's not blow up this teensy-weensy mistake way out of proportion.  Now the only barrier to implementing the Medicaid expansion is the governor's ideology.

Jindal opposes the expansion as inappropriate growth of what he says is an inefficient government entitlement program.

And I'm sure the people in Louisiana who are denied health insurance coverage will understand perfectly that Jindal cannot violate his principles.  He and his family are comfortably covered, but the rest of the citizens in Louisiana, especially the families struggling on low wages, are not entitled to health insurance coverage from "an inefficient government entitlement program".   Damn those entitlements!

And about the governor's proposed tax plan to eliminate income taxes for individuals and businesses and replace the revenue with a sales tax, which will give Louisiana the highest sales taxes in the country:

The state’s largest business lobbying group warned Gov. Bobby Jindal on Wednesday that his tax proposal is unacceptable to the business community.

Dan Juneau, president of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, blamed problems with the plan on the Jindal administration drawing up the proposal in a very short period of time, resulting in a simple shift in tax burden.

“There’s got to be winners and there’s got to be losers,” Juneau said. “The business community has become the designated loser.”

Oops again!  I welcome any and all allies to stop the stinking pile of compost aka known as Jindal's tax plan or anything like it from making its way into law.  Those who have the means and live within a reasonable distance of a bordering state will leave Louisiana to shop for goods and services.  Those who do not have transportation will suffer.  Of course, the governor says the poor will be exempt from sales taxes, but, as the demand for exemptions pile up, the math will not work, if it ever did.  (See above on the costs of the Medicaid expansion.)  The Jindal administration is not known for superior math skills.  

MOONSTRUCK

 

The picture above shows the nearly-full moon in daylight the other evening.

Seldom-seen sighting
Daylight and moon together
Viewers delighting

Below is the full moon last night.

 

Great ball shining bright
Rolling on dark night's ceiling
Sun's light brings to earth

Not great pictures by any stretch of the imagination, but I post them because I am moonstruck. I should buy a better quality camera, if I want to take moon pictures.