A Vespers Lectio for the Second Sunday of Easter
Kaleidoscope Text Sharing / Lectio Reflection John 20:19–31
By Sarah Skinner, Kaleidoscope Institute, April 2025
An Invitation to Lectio Divina and Text Sharing
One of the ways we learn to listen — to ourselves, to others, to the Holy One — is through the ancient practice of lectio divina: sacred reading, reflection, and response.
At Kaleidoscope, we weave this tradition into a shared practice we call Text Sharing — a rhythm of listening for a word, an echo, an invitation — and offering our reflections back into beloved community.
We offer this Vespers Lectio as an invitation into presence: Presence with yourself.
Presence with the sacred breath moving through community.
Presence with the Holy One.
Each week, we will offer a new reflection grounded in the Revised Common Lectionary — not as doctrine, but as a living call and response with the Spirit.
These reflections may be practiced individually or in groups.
(You can learn more about Kaleidoscope Text Sharing in our free toolkit. )
Come — breathe with us.
Listen. Respond. Rise.
Sacred Reading (NRSV)
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the authorities, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."
After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."
When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit."
(John 20:19–22, NRSV)
Sacred Echo (Spirit-Breathed Re-Weaving)
Before we continue:
Sometimes fresh language helps us hear ancient words anew. The Sacred Echo offered below is not a replacement for the scripture above, but a doorway — an invitation to encounter the Spirit still breathing through the text today.
We also honor that some may prefer to stay with the traditional translation, and that is good too.
Here we offer John 20:19–22 as adapted from The First Nations Version (An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament by Terry M. Wildman, 2021):
Later that evening, the followers of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) were gathered together behind locked doors, afraid they would be captured.
Creator Sets Free suddenly appeared and stood among them. “Peace be with you,” he said.
He showed them the scars in his hands and his side. The ones who had seen him lifted up on the tree of shame were filled with joy to see him alive again.
Once again he said, “Peace be with you. In the same way that Father of Nations (Creator) sent me to you, I now send you to others.”
He then drew close to them and breathed Great Spirit into them, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
First Reading: Unlocking the Door and Receiving
Begin by reading the scripture slowly.
Let the words wash over you.
Notice what calls to you.
What word, phrase, or image stirs in you?
(Examples: "locked doors" / "He breathed Great Spirit into them" / "Peace be with you.")
Sarah’s reflection:
Ruha.
This is my word, even though it was not included in the scripture above.
Recently, I became curious about hearing scripture in Aramaic.
Ruha (Aramaic) and Ruach (Hebrew) both mean breath, spirit, and wind—
and Aramaic was likely the everyday language Jesus and his disciples spoke.
Hearing the breath behind the words helps me hear the tenderness that still moves through them.The Holy One breathed Ruha into them.
Second Reading: Listening for the Spirit’s Invitation
Read the passage again.
Where might you be hiding behind locked doors in your life or community?
Where is the Spirit breathing peace into places of fear?
Sarah’s reflection:
If I listen while holding Ruha in my heart, this passage might flow like this:
"Peace be to your hearts. My breath I give to you. As I was sent, so I send you. Receive the Spirit-Wind that moves between all things."I hear these questions asked in so many hearts:
Where are the leaders? Who will come and fix this?The answer is Ruha.
The Spirit-Wind steps out of the tomb and into those who would receive it.
We are being called.
We are the ones sent.
We are the movement of the Spirit into the world.
Third Reading: Offering Your Voice
Read the text a third time.
Sit with it.
Breathe with it.
What are you being called to do, be, or change after hearing this today?
Sarah’s reflection:
I hear the call to carry the breath of peace into the world.
But Ruha is not stillness. Ruha is not something placed in your hands like a trophy.
Ruha is movement.
Ruha is life-force.He breathed Great Spirit into them.
We are the vehicles of the Spirit-Wind.
We are the tidal wave of Holy Love already beginning to rise.
Closing Prayer: Let the Doors Unlock
The Holy One says:
"Peace!"
"As I have been sent, so now I send you."
Let us rise with voices like water over stone, singing:
"Peace to your hearts."
Let the Spirit-Wind move through the locked doors.
Let Love fill our lungs.
Let Great Spirit pour out in song.
Let the fear that binds us be unbound in holy trembling—
the trembling of new life in its first steps.
Let the wounds breathe, not hidden, not denied—
let us press our hands to the ache,
to bandage with tenderness,
to kiss the seeds broken open in spring rain.
We do not whisper to the seed, "Stay silent, stay small."
We hear instead the voice of the Holy One:
"Peace be with you.
As I was sent, so now I send you.
Breathe deep.
Break open.
Rise free."
Amen.
A note from the author,
I acknowledge that I live and work on the ancestral lands of the Catawba (Iswa), Cherokee (Aniyvwiya), Miccosukee (Mikasuki), and Yuchi (Tsoyaha) peoples—nations who have stewarded this land with wisdom and reverence for countless generations.
This land carries their stories, their songs, their prayers. It holds the memory of lives uprooted, the resilience of cultures that endure, and the sacred connection between people and place.
I recognize the ongoing impacts of colonization and displacement, and I honor the sovereignty, wisdom, and continuing contributions of Indigenous peoples today.
To honor this truth is not an end but a beginning—a commitment to listen, learn, and walk in solidarity. I invite you to do the same: to learn the history of the land beneath your feet, to support Indigenous-led initiatives, and to be part of the work of repair.
For truth is not just spoken—it must be carried forward.
-Sarah Skinner
Refreshing, Sarah.