The Sunday After Easter • April 11, 2021

After his resurrection, Jesus is confronted by his disciple Thomas—who cannot believe his master and teacher has arisen from the dead. In the days, weeks and months to come, all of the disciples will have to adjust to a crazy world they had not expected. What will they do without their leader?

Today’s worship table decorations include a black vase that conjures up images of the torturous nails used on Jesus’s cross.

Unlike those shown during Lent and Easter, the cross is not solid but ornamental, ethereal. The cross is from now on to be symbol of life everlasting, not of death. It is propped against an ocean-smoothed rock, the same rock that appeared each week on the table during Lent. It is well-worn and solid. The disciples will have to be the same.

The chalice is anchored on a woven cloth whose threads are starting to unravel … just as the apostles feared for the future of their new life without Jesus.