Calvary Episcopal Church
Memphis, Tennessee
THE CHRONICLE
Easter Sunday
April 15, 2001
Volume 46, No.15

Alleluia
Alleluia is a Hebrew word. It is more of a celebration than an assertion. It is more a shout of unbridled joy than a word for worship. In Judaism's liturgy, Alleluia is the fundamental expression of a person's delirious delight in God. Alleluia is a song more than an statement. More of a dance than a response. To sing and dance and live Alleluia is to taste and become the glory of God.

Never let Alleluia pass your lips without it being loaded with joy and confidence and delirious delight in God's glory and grace.

Amen
Amen is a Hebrew word. It is often translated: "Let it be." It usually concludes prayers, grace, sermons, etc. (on occasion, some sermons are filled with it). The Hebrew (amen) literally means "certainty, truth." In the Hebrew Bible Amen is an expression of "ratification," or "watch us in action; we will perform what we have prayed or heard."

Thus, Amen is as much a beginning for prayer or sermon as an ending. It is doing faith as well as reciting faith. Amen is as much living out God's "truth" in the week ahead as a statement at the end of a sacrament.

Never let Amen pass your lips without it being loaded with bold truth and daring action.

Easter, the Festival of Christ's Resurrection, is our deepest and most profound expression and experience of Alleluia and Amen. Come, People of God celebrate the song and sacrament of Easter's Alleluia. Live the bold truth and daily action of Easter's Amen.

~ Doug Bailey, Rector