Kindness

Dear friends,

Late last year, my friend Laura’s dog was hit by a car.  Laura and her husband Jon rushed their beloved pet to an emergency vet even though they could see that she wasn’t going to make it.  Because of COVID, they had to hand Daisy off at the door, and eventually Jon was called inside.  Laura stayed in the parking lot, leaning against the side of her car and crying.

After a few minutes, a woman appeared out of nowhere and walked up to Laura.  The woman said, “I know there’s a pandemic, and I can’t give you a hug, but you shouldn’t be all by yourself right now, so I’m going to stand here with you until your husband comes back.”  And she did.

That woman didn’t know Laura.  All she knew was that Laura was suffering.  And that’s all she needed to know.  She saw a fellow human in distress and came to stand beside her.  She couldn’t fix the situation; she didn’t try.  She just stood there.  Her silent solidarity was a great gift to Laura.

That woman’s kindness gives me hope.  She saw suffering and she moved toward it.  That’s what God does.  May it be what we do, too.

Blessings,
Anne

A Letter of Thanks

 Dear Parishioners at St. Andrew’s Church,

This year, despite the pandemic, we were fortunate to provide Christmas gifts to 51 families and 40 homeless guests at our backdoor for a total of 278 people.  We had to do things differently this year to ensure safety, but it allowed more of an opportunity to individualize gifts to meet the family’s needs.  Each family received clothes, toys, toiletries, new coats, hats, scarves and gloves or mittens.  Each homeless guest received a sleeping bag if needed, clothes, a new coat, hats, gloves, and a bag of toiletries.

Thank you for your amazing contribution of gloves, mittens, and scarves.  They will help keep so many warm this winter.  We had some left over which will be given out over this cold winter.  We appreciate your willingness to adjust to the new event conditions and we hope and pray that next year will be back to normal.

Praying you all will be safe and have a blessed and healthy new year.

In gratitude,

Ellen Williams, Downtown Christmas Coordinator
St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church

Healing Prayer

Dear friends,

Since the start of the pandemic, we have not been able to offer the ministry of healing in the ways that we did prior to March.  Of course, all of us are praying for God’s help and healing for our whole suffering world, and every Sunday we offer prayers for those in any need or trouble.  But we have not been able to hold Wednesday healing services, nor have we been able to set up our prayer stations on Sunday mornings to offer individual prayer and anointing.  I miss those ministries, and I’m guessing many of you do, too.  It is both ironic and poignant that in this time when so much healing is needed, we haven’t been able to offer the sacramental rite of the Unction of the Sick. 

The staff and I talked about this situation today and decided on some ways to offer healing prayer even now while we are still worshiping from afar.  I hope you will find them helpful:

·     Inclusion of a healing prayer in the weekly Prayers of the People:  As noted above, our Sunday prayers always include prayers for God’s healing, but my guess is that many people do not include prayer for their own healing in their petitions.  Our Sunday Prayers of the People every week will now include a prayer from the healing service that specifically asks for God’s healing for us and others.

·     Monthly Sunday use of the healing litany:  One Sunday a month, our Prayers of the People will be the Litany for Healing.

·     Individual healing prayer: Beginning in February, on the first Sunday of the month, a member of the healing prayer team will be available at the Main Street door from noon to 1 PM to offer individual healing prayer so that parishioners can receive communion and also healing prayer with one trip to the church. Because of the pandemic, the prayer team member will not be using oil for anointing and will maintain social distancing, but God of course is not limited by those changes! Meanwhile, Marc and I are always glad to offer individual prayers for healing for you and or loved ones, either in person or by phone.  Please don’t hesitate to call, email, or text us at any time if you would like us to pray with you.

God yearns for our healing and wholeness.  All of us are imperfect, broken people; all of us need God’s healing in one way or another.  Through the tender compassion of our God, may you experience Jesus the healer at work in your life and in the lives of those whom you hold dear. 

Blessings,

Anne

Baptism

 From hymn 116:

 “I come,” the great Redeemer cries, “To do thy will, O Lord!”
At Jordan’s stream, behold!  He seals the sure prophetic word.

Jesus, the sinless One, participated in baptism.  A large part of what baptism’s about is the ceremonial washing away of sin: anything that puts a wall between us and God.  Another idea in baptism, maybe Jesus’ motivation that day, is that of inclusion, being part of something larger than ourselves.  In the miracle of The Incarnation, God, through Jesus, experienced what it is to be us with its attendant joys, sorrows, and vulnerabilities.

Vulnerability.  Now that’s something 2020-21 has put a spotlight on.  God can identify with that state – he, by choice, was included in the human race long ago.  In our prayers, may we trust that God will take our vulnerabilities and transform them into something that only he can envision.

Brad Norris, Minister of Music

Epiphany

Epiphany, which we celebrate on January 6, marking the beginning of the Epiphany season, is a day and season in which we emphasize light, or more specifically, Jesus, the light of the world. The Epiphany season lasts until the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday, which is in February this year. As the beginning of John’s gospel tells us: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. In him was life and that life was the light of all humankind. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. And the Word became flesh and dwelled among us.

A few favored quotes might shed a little light on the subject:

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.  

~Chinese Proverb

Light gives of itself freely, filling all available space. It does not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or foe. It gives of itself and is not thereby diminished. 

~Michael Strassfeld  

The hero is the one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by. The saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of the world, himself a light. 

 ~Felix Adler   

An age is called "dark," not because the light fails to shine but because people refuse to see it.  

~James Michener

Not only do you become what you think about, but the world also becomes what you think about. Those who think that the world is a dark place are blind to the light that might illuminate their lives. Those who see the light of the world view the dark spots as merely potential light.

~Wayne W. Dyer

Ring the bells that can still ring. Forget your perfect offering. There’s a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.

~Leonard Cohen

Part of my daily prayer comes from the baptismal service: to “bear the light of Christ”. Like the prayer attributed to St. Frances (see BCP p. 833), "…where there is darkness, let us sow light," where do you see darkness and where light - in the world, in yourself? In reflecting the light of Jesus, in bearing the light of Christ, where someone is dehumanized, treat them as if they, just like you, are made in the image and likeness of God; treat them as if they are Christ, himself. Where there is the darkness of contempt, be the light of compassion. Where there is the darkness of isolation, be the light of companionship and community. Where there is the darkness of hate and cruelty, be the light of the love of Christ. On the day and in the season in which we emphasize Jesus, the light of the world, bear the light of Christ: the light that shines in the darkness that the darkness will not overcome.

 

Marc+