"Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, 'Follow me!'" (John 21:19)

He is risen! The Prime Timers are following a course of study based on the Revised Common Lectionary. You are invited to join us in the Parlor near the church offices, Sunday after the 9:00am service, 10:15am to 11:00.

Prime Timers is an Adult Bible Fellowship at St. Martin's for Episcopalians aged fifty and above, but don't let that stop you! A warm welcome, with coffee and donuts, are available to all.

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1601-1602)
Oil on canvas. Sanssouci of Potsdam, Germany.

Prime Timers Celebrate Good News

We celebrate our members Good News at Prime Timers with a $1 contribution to Henny Penny, our Good News chicken. Periodically Henny donates the money she collects to a charity, currently the Amistad Mission in Bolivia. Today Marty gave thanks for the Texas Bluebonnets, currently in full bloom along Texas highways. Marty went to Brenham in search of bluebonnets with his Mom and both had a wonderful time. They found a family type restaurant, the On Deck, just off highway 290 at the 389 exit, right across from the big police station. It didn't look like much but the food was terrific! Carol gave a dollar to Henny for the slowly returning real estate market. Carol is a realtor. And while Lynn did not mention it, it was her birthday yesterday!

Check your calendar!

The Prime Timers monthly get-together will be at Fadi's Grill, on Westheimer just east of Dunvale. Dinner organizer Lynn was looking for "Jesus food" to celebrate Jesus and Easter, and Fadi's specialty is Mediterranean food! Dinner is Tuesday, April 27 at 6:30pm. Let Lynn know if you are coming by calling her at (281) 495-3832.

So I Send You

Carol Hartland led the Prime Timers today through the familiar story of Thomas and his doubts about Jesus resurrection. The theme is that Thomas gets a bad rap! Who hasn't doubted the fantastic events around Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection at some time or another? Thomas just gives voice to these feelings. Carol read some material from Rev. Fields, but this passage from Catholic author Mike Aquilina sums it up as well: "As much as any of the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus Christ — as much as Peter, as much as Paul — Thomas has captivated the imagination of modern western Christians. They tend to identify with a doubter. They want to know him better. In modern religious art he is often depicted moving his hand (sometimes tentatively, sometimes boldly) toward the wound in Christ’s side. In the far east, however, and especially in India, Thomas has always been revered as the great apostle, the man who did for the orient what Peter and Paul did for the occident."

Contrasting the old and new made Marty think of the controversy surrounding "The daVinci Code" by Dan Brown. His speculation about Jesus having a child led to many sermons! Marty recalled a lecture where a point was made that there are more people joining the Christian church than ever, but many of them for the wrong reasons! People becoming Christians because of the miracles may miss the spirituality. Lynn added that Jesus being flogged AND crucified was against Jewish law, which allowed one or the other but not both! Our guest for the day, Rev. Katherine Picot, suggested that this was likely a result of the mob overruling the law. Marty mentioned how early Biblical scholarship assumed that all the answers to any questions were in the Bible, so if something was inconsistent it must mean that further study was necessary. In the late 1800's as the science of archaeology began to find artifacts from the events described in the Bible this led to modern scholars' quest to put the Bible in the context of it's times, and also the quest for the historical Jesus.

In our notes from Rev. Fields he suggests that we don't judge Jesus by the Bible, rather that we judge the Bible by Jesus!

Lynn also mentioned that Pontius Pilate commits suicide! This is a subject of some controversy, here is some information from Wikipedia:

Little enough is known about Pilate, but tradition has tried to fill the gap. A body of legend grew up around the dramatic figure of Pontius Pilate, about whom the Christian faithful hungered to learn more than the canonical Gospels revealed. Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiae ii: 7) quotes some early apocryphal accounts that he does not name, which already relate that Pilate fell under misfortunes in the reign of Caligula (AD 37–41), was exiled to Gaul and eventually committed suicide there in Vienne.

Other details come from less creditable sources. His body, says the Mors Pilati ("Death of Pilate"), was thrown first into the Tiber, but the waters were so disturbed by evil spirits that the body was taken to Vienne and sunk in the Rhône: a monument at Vienne, called Pilate's tomb, is still to be seen. As the waters of the Rhone likewise rejected Pilate's corpse, it was again removed and sunk in the lake at Lausanne. The sequence was a simple way to harmonise conflicting local traditions.

The corpse's final disposition was in a deep and lonely mountain tarn, which, according to later tradition, was on a mountain, still called Pilatus (actually pileatus or "cloud capped"), overlooking Lucerne. Every Good Friday, the body is said to reemerge from the waters and wash its hands.

There are many other legends about Pilate in the folklore of Germany, particularly about his birth, according to which Pilate was born in the Franconian city of Forchheim or the small village of Hausen only 5 km away from it. His death was (unusually) dramatised in a medieval mystery play cycle from Cornwall, the Cornish Ordinalia.

Pilate's role in the events leading to the crucifixion lent themselves to melodrama, even tragedy, and Pilate often has a role in medieval mystery plays.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Claudia Procula is commemorated as a saint,[26] but not Pilate, because in the Gospel accounts Claudia urged Pilate not to have anything to do with Jesus. In some Eastern Orthodox traditions, Pilate committed suicide out of remorse for having sentenced Jesus to death.

Since this was "doubting sunday" Lynn brought up the Shroud of Turin. The Shroud is currently on display in Turin for the first time in ten years, since a restoration. The Pope will visit the Shroud later this year. The Catholic church's position on the shroud is that it's an important tool for faith regardless of its authenticity. Lynn was taken by a documentary "The Real Face of Jesus" on the History Channel. A DVD is available on the History Channel website. A lot of technology went to attempt to reconstruct the face of Jesus from the face on the Shroud. Judge for yourself!

Carol concluded class by asking Rev. Picot to offer a prayer, which of course she did.

The Readings for Sunday, April 18th are from Lectionary Year Three, Easter 3-C, "An Abundant Catch of Fish"

The Readings for this week are Acts 9:1-6, (7-20); Revelation 5:11-14; Psalm 30 and John 21:1-19. The text is from the New International Version.

Acts 9:1-6, (7-20)

¹Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest ²and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. ³As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

⁵"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.

"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. ⁶"Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

⁷The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. ⁸Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. ⁹For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

¹⁰In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!"
"Yes, Lord," he answered.

¹¹The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. ¹²In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."

¹³"Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. ¹⁴And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name."

¹⁵But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. ¹⁶I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."

¹⁷Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." ¹⁸Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, ¹⁹and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. ²⁰At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.

Revelation 5:11-14

¹¹Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. ¹²In a loud voice they sang:

"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"

¹³Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:

"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" ¹⁴The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Psalm 30

¹ I will exalt you, O LORD,
for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.

² O LORD my God, I called to you for help
and you healed me.

³ O LORD, you brought me up from the grave;
you spared me from going down into the pit.

⁴ Sing to the LORD, you saints of his;
praise his holy name.

⁵ For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.

⁶ When I felt secure, I said,
"I will never be shaken."

⁷ O LORD, when you favored me,
you made my mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
I was dismayed.

⁸ To you, O LORD, I called;
to the Lord I cried for mercy:

⁹ "What gain is there in my destruction,
in my going down into the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your faithfulness?

¹⁰ Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me;
O LORD, be my help."

¹¹ You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

¹² that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

John 21:1-19

¹Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: ²Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ³"I'm going out to fish," Simon Peter told them, and they said, "We'll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

⁴Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

⁵He called out to them, "Friends, haven't you any fish?"
"No," they answered.

⁶He said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

⁷Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, "It is the Lord," he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. ⁸The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. ⁹When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

¹⁰Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught."

¹¹Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. ¹²Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Jesus Reinstates Peter

¹⁵When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."

¹⁶Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."

¹⁷ The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."

Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. ¹⁸ I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." ¹⁹Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"

NIV