"Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight." (Luke 24:31)

Prime Timers is a Christian Education group at St. Martin's for Episcopalians aged fifty and above. We are following a course of study based on the Revised Common Lectionary, the three year cycle of Bible readings used throughout the Anglican Communion and by many Protestant denominations worldwide. Next week's readings are right here, at the bottom of the page! You are invited to join us in the Parlor near the church offices, Sunday after the 9:00am service, 10:15am to 11:00.

The Light of the World, by William Holman Hunt, Oil on Canvas, 1851-53 at Keble College, Oxford.

Prime Timers Good News

The Prime Timers hear members Good News each week at the start of class. We charge a dollar and currently donate the money collected to the Amistad Mission in Bolivia. Lynda gave thanks for the completion of her cataract surgeries!

Peace Be With You

George Laigle conducted class while our leader Carol is getting a knee replaced. Our prayers are with her and Larry for a complete recovery. As Rev. Fields said today, this is Low Sunday, the week after Easter when attendance is generally low in church. It is also when we read the story of "Doubting Thomas" in the lectionary, but remember Thomas is the first to accept Jesus as the risen Lord!

The eleven are huddled in a locked room, afraid of repercussions from the Jews, but Thomas is out and about when Jesus appears. On the second time around Thomas sees and could very well be a stand in for us as he accepts Jesus as the risen Christ. John 20:29 "Jesus said to him, 'Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.' "

The events leading up to Easter are the most fantastic in our Christian canon, who hasn't doubted at one time or another if it indeed took place. Perhaps this is why all the lectionary readings speak of witnessing and believing. Even the Psalm reminds us (Psalm 16:2) "'You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.'" One of our guests this morning spoke of the "Western Mindset" that keeps us from fulfilling our spiritual needs. We depend on ourselves, only asking God's help when we are at the end of our ropes! George reminded us of one of his favorite passages from Henry David Thoreau, that "most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go the grave with the song still in them." Another class member spoke of the portrait at the top of the page, sometimes called Jesus knocking, where we have to invite Jesus into our lives.

Men can move mountains, George told us, but if we ask God for help don't be surprised if He hands you a shovel!

Rev. H. King Oehmig is Vicar of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church and founder and editor-in-Chief of Synthesis Publications. He wrote:

"The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead stands as the premier sign that God's love cannot ultimately be defeated. Nothing that happens to humanity—not even the heinous evil of Christ crucified— can finally thwart the love of God. Jesus standing before the disciples breathing the 'shalom' of the Spirit on them represents the essence of Christian hope. Terrorist bombings will not win out. Neither will cancer, or racism, or poverty, or malnutrition reign. God's 'ultimate will' in the Resurrection heals all woundedness, all pain. God's 'ultimate will' might be 'not yet,' but it will never be frustrated forever. The Commendation in the Burial of the Dead (p. 499, BCP) sums up God's 'ultimate will' being accomplished in the end: 'All of us go down to the dust; yet even at the grave we make our song: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.'"

George concluded class with a short prayer.

Lectionary readings

The Readings for Sunday, May 8th are from Lectionary Year One, Easter 3-A, "Their Eyes Were Opened": Acts 2:14a, 36-41; Psalm 116:1-3, 10-17;1 Peter 1:17-23 and Luke 24:13-35. The text this week is from the New Revised Standard Version.

Acts 2:14a, 36-41

¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them:

³⁶Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.'

³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, 'Brothers, what should we do?' ³⁸Peter said to them, 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.' ⁴⁰And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, 'Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.' ⁴¹So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.

Psalm 116:1-3, 10-17

¹ I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my supplications.
² Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
³ The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.

¹⁰ I kept my faith, even when I said,
'I am greatly afflicted';
¹¹ I said in my consternation,
'Everyone is a liar.'

¹² What shall I return to the Lord
for all his bounty to me?
¹³ I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord,
¹⁴ I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
¹⁵ Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.
¹⁶ O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving-maid.
You have loosed my bonds.
¹⁷ I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the Lord.

1 Peter 1:17-23

¹⁷ If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. ¹⁸You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, ¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. ²⁰He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. ²¹Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.

²² Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. ²³You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

Luke 24:13-35

¹³ Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁴and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, ¹⁶but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷And he said to them, 'What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?' They stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, 'Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?' ¹⁹He asked them, 'What things?' They replied, 'The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. ²¹But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. ²²Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, ²³and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. ²⁴Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.' ²⁵Then he said to them, 'Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! ²⁶Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?' ²⁷Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

²⁸ As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. ²⁹But they urged him strongly, saying, 'Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.' So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. ³¹Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. ³²They said to each other, 'Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?' ³³That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. ³⁴They were saying, 'The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!' ³⁵Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

NRSV