The Badlands.
St. John's Church, a rural parish near Oglala, South Dakota, where where we worshiped yesterday.
An image from a pow-wow near Red Shirt Table.
Monday, July 28, 2014
Pine Ridge
I won't be blogging this week, because I am with a group of youth from my congregation at the Pine Ridge Reservation, the home of the Oglala Lakota. Stories about Pine Ridge usually focus on poverty and alcoholism, but so far, I've noticed the strong family bonds, a deep respect for elders, as well as the efforts to instill in the youth a sense of pride in Lakota traditions. I may write more about the experience later, but for now, I'll just leave you with a few images from our experience so far:
St. John's Church, a rural parish near Oglala, South Dakota, where where we worshiped yesterday.
An image from a pow-wow near Red Shirt Table.
St. John's Church, a rural parish near Oglala, South Dakota, where where we worshiped yesterday.
An image from a pow-wow near Red Shirt Table.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Daily Prayer (Monday Morning in the Desert)
While I have written about the Rule of St. Benedict lately, it has been awhile since I have quoted directly from the Rule, so I thought today's "Monday Morning in the Desert" post could come from the Rule. Here is the portion of the Rule which speaks directly to the times of daily prayer:
"Let us give 'praise' to our Creator for his 'deeds of justice' [Ps 118(119):164] at the following times: Matins, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline. And 'Let us rise at night to praise him.' [Ps 118(119):62].
(From Chapter 16.5 of the Rule, quoted at p. 144 in "Day by Day with Saint Benedict" by Terrence G. Kardong, OSB).
Why is it important to pray throughout the day as the Benedictines do? Father Kardong writes: "Life on planet earth requires that some time be given to tasks like eating, working, sleeping, and so forth. So the monks try to space their prayer periods throughout the day. What should we pray for? Benedict wants us to praise God for his deeds of justice." (From p. 144 of "Day by Day with Saint Benedict).
Sometimes, people who are interested in daily prayer ask me what books they have to buy, or resources they have to have to pray such a daily pattern. With the advent of online daily prayer sites and phone apps, finding resources for daily prayer is easy these days. For me, though, while I enjoy praying online (I just tweeted Morning Prayer @Virtual_Abbey), I still like using books more often than not. For Lutherans, Anglicans, and others who have a common prayerbook or hymnbook, the resources for daily prayer are right at our finger tips. Lutheran hymnbooks, such as the Lutheran Book of Worship and Evangelical Lutheran Worship, have specific texts for Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline, and also "Responsive Prayer", which contains the prayers for mid-morning, noon, and mid-afternoon.
Having said all of that, I still fall into slumps where I don't pray as often as I should. But, fortunately, God is "merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." (Psalm 86:15).
"Let us give 'praise' to our Creator for his 'deeds of justice' [Ps 118(119):164] at the following times: Matins, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline. And 'Let us rise at night to praise him.' [Ps 118(119):62].
(From Chapter 16.5 of the Rule, quoted at p. 144 in "Day by Day with Saint Benedict" by Terrence G. Kardong, OSB).
Why is it important to pray throughout the day as the Benedictines do? Father Kardong writes: "Life on planet earth requires that some time be given to tasks like eating, working, sleeping, and so forth. So the monks try to space their prayer periods throughout the day. What should we pray for? Benedict wants us to praise God for his deeds of justice." (From p. 144 of "Day by Day with Saint Benedict).
Sometimes, people who are interested in daily prayer ask me what books they have to buy, or resources they have to have to pray such a daily pattern. With the advent of online daily prayer sites and phone apps, finding resources for daily prayer is easy these days. For me, though, while I enjoy praying online (I just tweeted Morning Prayer @Virtual_Abbey), I still like using books more often than not. For Lutherans, Anglicans, and others who have a common prayerbook or hymnbook, the resources for daily prayer are right at our finger tips. Lutheran hymnbooks, such as the Lutheran Book of Worship and Evangelical Lutheran Worship, have specific texts for Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline, and also "Responsive Prayer", which contains the prayers for mid-morning, noon, and mid-afternoon.
Having said all of that, I still fall into slumps where I don't pray as often as I should. But, fortunately, God is "merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." (Psalm 86:15).
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Religious Life and the Revival of the Church
I came across an excellent blog post today from an Episcopal priest (Fr. Robert Hendrickson) which says what I have been trying to say from the inception of this blog, albeit from a Lutheran perspective. Here are some of the key statements, relating to the renewal of the Church via a reinvigorated diaconate and neo-monastic movement:
First, he explains the issue and the goal: "[T]here are many, many people looking to have their faith be not something apart from the rest of their life or a distraction amidst a panoply of distractions. They are seeking a way for their faith to form their life and for their life to matter in the deepest ways possible..... It seems to me that we might be entering a cultural moment in which we should consider the Religious life (monastic vocations) and the diaconate as the ideal means to form leaders equipped to engage the realities of contemporary society..... I firmly believe that intentional Religious Communities and a robust Diaconate are key to the rejuvenation of a vibrant Christian presence all across the country. The need is for missionary communities of prayer, service, and sacrificial giving."
Next, Fr. Hendrickson sets forth why a robust religious life is needed for the renewal of the Church: "This work begins with daily prayer and the Sacraments – but the churches that serve as the heart of this kind of disciplined approach to engaging the Holy would not be the final destination but the launching point for those trained and equipped to be the presence of Christ for those they meet and serve. I imagine local Churches serving as a sort of mother ship where people are fed and trained for missionary service...... These deacons would serve at the heart of local communities of those taking religious vows. Whether full-time, professed monastics or part of neo-monastic communities we should also be looking for those in our communities who are yearning for a deeper connection to other faithful people and are longing for their faith to ground their approach to work, relationship, and service. These kinds of communities could then become the heart of congregations longing for connection to the communities around them but fearful or unsure of taking the next step."
And then, he states his conclusion: "Ultimately, it will be these servant-leaders who are creatively making Christ known in the communities around us who will re-center the Church and draw others to come and see."
(The rest of the article can be read here - http://thesubdeansstall.org/2014/07/16/the-diaconate-and-lay-religious-orders-the-shape-of-future-ministry/)
I agree 100% with Fr. Hendrickson's recommendations. The perplexing thing for me, as a part of the ELCA, is that I am not quite sure how we can fit those recommendations into our existing paradigm for ministry. As for the diaconate, our existing diaconal ministries are somewhat jumbled between three different lay orders (Diaconal Ministers, Associates in Ministry, and Deaconesses - I understand that there is a movement afoot to reform this, but I am not sure when this might take place, or what the result will be). But, at least we have an existing diaconal ministry which can be reformed and used to further the revival of the Church.
As to the religious life, though, as I have long lamented, Lutherans have a long way to go. Yes, there are some Lutheran religious communities around the world, which I have tried to promote (http://benedictinelutheran.blogspot.com/search/label/Lutheran%20Monastery%20Virtual%20Tour). There are also other movements which offer intriguing possibilities for the restoration of the religious life in American Lutheranism, such as the Order of Lutheran Franciscans (http://www.lutheranfranciscans.org/), but as of yet, these movements are not widely known among rank-and-file Lutherans.
Those of us in Lutheranism who believe that a renewal of the religious life will be an important part of proclaiming the Gospel in a post-Christendom world are swimming against the tide of nearly 500 years of sentiment which is wary of (if not outright antagonistic to) the religious life. Unlike Catholics, Orthodox, and Anglicans (at least since the 19th Century Oxford Movement), intentional communities of daily prayer are outside of the framework of reference of what institutional Lutheranism thinks "church" should look like.
I am often reminded of how many Lutherans are unfamiliar with daily corporate prayer and the religious life when I am on Twitter, where I try to promote those things through my personal account (@PastorJayDenne) and through praying some of the daily offices via @Virtual_Abbey. While some fellow Lutherans (both clergy and laity) follow and interact with those accounts, sometimes it seems as if I interact more with Catholics, Orthodox, and Anglicans than with Lutherans. I saw a glaring example of this the other day, when I noticed that at the Virtual Abbey, Archbishop Kurtz (of the Archdiocese of Louisville, and the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) "retweeted" my morning prayers, but I have yet to see any Lutheran bishops follow or respond. (A caveat - my own Synod Bishop has been highly supportive, but I don't see him much on Twitter).
Does this mean that I am tilting at proverbial windmills a la Don Quixote? Only time (and the Holy Spirit, of course) will tell. But, I will keep trying, as I firmly believe in what Fr. Hendrickson said:
"We need passionate and powerful advocates for Christ in the communities around us – we need deacons and lay religious equipped for holy living. They can be, in our communities, the kinds of Christians that people never knew existed whose concern is not institutional maintenance or Church membership but is a faith lived so eloquently and authentically that their very being is evangelical.....They could be an inspiration for the congregation’s deepening sense of their own vocation as evangelists and servants."
First, he explains the issue and the goal: "[T]here are many, many people looking to have their faith be not something apart from the rest of their life or a distraction amidst a panoply of distractions. They are seeking a way for their faith to form their life and for their life to matter in the deepest ways possible..... It seems to me that we might be entering a cultural moment in which we should consider the Religious life (monastic vocations) and the diaconate as the ideal means to form leaders equipped to engage the realities of contemporary society..... I firmly believe that intentional Religious Communities and a robust Diaconate are key to the rejuvenation of a vibrant Christian presence all across the country. The need is for missionary communities of prayer, service, and sacrificial giving."
Next, Fr. Hendrickson sets forth why a robust religious life is needed for the renewal of the Church: "This work begins with daily prayer and the Sacraments – but the churches that serve as the heart of this kind of disciplined approach to engaging the Holy would not be the final destination but the launching point for those trained and equipped to be the presence of Christ for those they meet and serve. I imagine local Churches serving as a sort of mother ship where people are fed and trained for missionary service...... These deacons would serve at the heart of local communities of those taking religious vows. Whether full-time, professed monastics or part of neo-monastic communities we should also be looking for those in our communities who are yearning for a deeper connection to other faithful people and are longing for their faith to ground their approach to work, relationship, and service. These kinds of communities could then become the heart of congregations longing for connection to the communities around them but fearful or unsure of taking the next step."
And then, he states his conclusion: "Ultimately, it will be these servant-leaders who are creatively making Christ known in the communities around us who will re-center the Church and draw others to come and see."
(The rest of the article can be read here - http://thesubdeansstall.org/2014/07/16/the-diaconate-and-lay-religious-orders-the-shape-of-future-ministry/)
I agree 100% with Fr. Hendrickson's recommendations. The perplexing thing for me, as a part of the ELCA, is that I am not quite sure how we can fit those recommendations into our existing paradigm for ministry. As for the diaconate, our existing diaconal ministries are somewhat jumbled between three different lay orders (Diaconal Ministers, Associates in Ministry, and Deaconesses - I understand that there is a movement afoot to reform this, but I am not sure when this might take place, or what the result will be). But, at least we have an existing diaconal ministry which can be reformed and used to further the revival of the Church.
As to the religious life, though, as I have long lamented, Lutherans have a long way to go. Yes, there are some Lutheran religious communities around the world, which I have tried to promote (http://benedictinelutheran.blogspot.com/search/label/Lutheran%20Monastery%20Virtual%20Tour). There are also other movements which offer intriguing possibilities for the restoration of the religious life in American Lutheranism, such as the Order of Lutheran Franciscans (http://www.lutheranfranciscans.org/), but as of yet, these movements are not widely known among rank-and-file Lutherans.
Those of us in Lutheranism who believe that a renewal of the religious life will be an important part of proclaiming the Gospel in a post-Christendom world are swimming against the tide of nearly 500 years of sentiment which is wary of (if not outright antagonistic to) the religious life. Unlike Catholics, Orthodox, and Anglicans (at least since the 19th Century Oxford Movement), intentional communities of daily prayer are outside of the framework of reference of what institutional Lutheranism thinks "church" should look like.
I am often reminded of how many Lutherans are unfamiliar with daily corporate prayer and the religious life when I am on Twitter, where I try to promote those things through my personal account (@PastorJayDenne) and through praying some of the daily offices via @Virtual_Abbey. While some fellow Lutherans (both clergy and laity) follow and interact with those accounts, sometimes it seems as if I interact more with Catholics, Orthodox, and Anglicans than with Lutherans. I saw a glaring example of this the other day, when I noticed that at the Virtual Abbey, Archbishop Kurtz (of the Archdiocese of Louisville, and the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) "retweeted" my morning prayers, but I have yet to see any Lutheran bishops follow or respond. (A caveat - my own Synod Bishop has been highly supportive, but I don't see him much on Twitter).
Does this mean that I am tilting at proverbial windmills a la Don Quixote? Only time (and the Holy Spirit, of course) will tell. But, I will keep trying, as I firmly believe in what Fr. Hendrickson said:
"We need passionate and powerful advocates for Christ in the communities around us – we need deacons and lay religious equipped for holy living. They can be, in our communities, the kinds of Christians that people never knew existed whose concern is not institutional maintenance or Church membership but is a faith lived so eloquently and authentically that their very being is evangelical.....They could be an inspiration for the congregation’s deepening sense of their own vocation as evangelists and servants."
Monday, July 14, 2014
Patterns (Monday Morning in the Desert)
As my 44th birthday rolls around next month, the thought has occurred to me that I am almost halfway through the "regular" working years of my life - I finished law school and started practicing law when I was still 24 years old, so assuming that I work until my mid-60s, I have completed approximately half of my work life.
As I look toward the second half of my work life, the patterns that have developed during the first half will shape the future of my vocational path. In my law practice, I have always preferred resolving disputes through reconciliation as opposed to the lengthy and sometimes soul-killing process of litigation. I still litigate on behalf of a client when necessary, but upon recognizing the pattern of preferring reconciliation to litigation, I have sought out training in mediation, and have served as a mediator in certain cases.
My life as an ordained pastor (3 1/2 years) is much shorter than my career as a lawyer, but I have been doing it long enough to recognize certain patterns there as well - this blog has documented the development of my thoughts on how to incorporate the Benedictine way into my personal spiritual life, as well as into ministry in the context of a small Lutheran congregation. The next step on this path will begin this fall, when I enroll in a two-year course on spiritual direction taught at a nearby Benedictine monastery.
In other words, it took me approximately two decades - half of my work life - to finally figure out what I want to do when I grow up!
It is through the patterns that have occurred in our lives that we can get a sense of where God is calling us to go. Many times, we cannot see those patterns in our own lives, so we rely on others to identify those patterns for us.
St. Seraphim of Sarov was a hermit monk who lived in nineteenth century Russia, who had the gift of seeing patterns in the lives of people who sought his counsel. He had these words to say about discerning God's will for our lives through recognizing those patterns:
"The visible pattern of every single life is of God's choosing. We only have to become conscious of it, follow it courageously, and see that we don't distort God's intention. No two leaves on a tree are perfectly alike. Neither are any two lives. Everyone must strive to fill this unique life of his own with a love of God so constant and so great that it flares up into a luminous love of man. Listen, my joy, we... must learn to feel, discern and understand. This only comes through years of reflecting on good and evil. Then we see things good and bad, in the light of God's wisdom: and then we develop the gift of true discrimination without which no one dare guide others...... Try to see how the pattern behind the events of today is transformed into the pattern behind the events of tomorrow."
(Quoted at p. 51 of "A Simplified Life" by Verena Schiller).
As I look toward the second half of my work life, the patterns that have developed during the first half will shape the future of my vocational path. In my law practice, I have always preferred resolving disputes through reconciliation as opposed to the lengthy and sometimes soul-killing process of litigation. I still litigate on behalf of a client when necessary, but upon recognizing the pattern of preferring reconciliation to litigation, I have sought out training in mediation, and have served as a mediator in certain cases.
My life as an ordained pastor (3 1/2 years) is much shorter than my career as a lawyer, but I have been doing it long enough to recognize certain patterns there as well - this blog has documented the development of my thoughts on how to incorporate the Benedictine way into my personal spiritual life, as well as into ministry in the context of a small Lutheran congregation. The next step on this path will begin this fall, when I enroll in a two-year course on spiritual direction taught at a nearby Benedictine monastery.
In other words, it took me approximately two decades - half of my work life - to finally figure out what I want to do when I grow up!
It is through the patterns that have occurred in our lives that we can get a sense of where God is calling us to go. Many times, we cannot see those patterns in our own lives, so we rely on others to identify those patterns for us.
St. Seraphim of Sarov was a hermit monk who lived in nineteenth century Russia, who had the gift of seeing patterns in the lives of people who sought his counsel. He had these words to say about discerning God's will for our lives through recognizing those patterns:
"The visible pattern of every single life is of God's choosing. We only have to become conscious of it, follow it courageously, and see that we don't distort God's intention. No two leaves on a tree are perfectly alike. Neither are any two lives. Everyone must strive to fill this unique life of his own with a love of God so constant and so great that it flares up into a luminous love of man. Listen, my joy, we... must learn to feel, discern and understand. This only comes through years of reflecting on good and evil. Then we see things good and bad, in the light of God's wisdom: and then we develop the gift of true discrimination without which no one dare guide others...... Try to see how the pattern behind the events of today is transformed into the pattern behind the events of tomorrow."
(Quoted at p. 51 of "A Simplified Life" by Verena Schiller).
Friday, July 11, 2014
Why the Benedictine Way?
On July 11th each year, Christians around the world celebrate the Feast of St. Benedict. Despite declining numbers of Benedictine monks and nuns living in monasteries, there has been a surge of interest in the Rule of St. Benedict during recent decades. Just go to Amazon, type the word "Benedictine" in the search box, and well over 5,000 items (5,647 as of today, to be exact) for sale show up (the number of items for sale relating to St. Benedict is probably even higher, but when you search "Benedict", numerous other Benedicts show up, including Pope Benedict, Benedict Arnold, and Benedict Cumberbatch).
What is it about the Rule of St. Benedict that draws thousands (if not millions) of people like myself to become interested in Benedictine spirituality, even though we have no intention of living in a monastery? There are probably many different answers to that question. For some, the Benedictine way of daily prayer may be the primary draw. For others, it may be the way the Rule leads them to meditate and pray with scripture, using the method of lectio divina. Still others are drawn to one of the many aspects of the Benedictine way, such as hospitality, stability, humility, or conversion of life.
The Rule, despite its relative brevity, offers a deep and broad perspective on Christian spirituality which has not been surpassed since it was written approximately 1,500 years ago. Benedictine monk Gregory Collins put it this way:
"(The Rule's) basic structures and fundamental ethos - the following of Christ in humility through obedience, stability, and conversion of life, constant recourse to scripture in lectio divina as the source of wisdom, the need for prayer of the heart and the centrality of liturgical prayer - are the fundamental ideals which inform Benedictine life..... The Rule is like a base camp for trekking in the mountains - it is a place from which one starts and to which one returns, a secure reference point for whatever adventures lie on the way in one's spiritual journey."
(From pp. 10-11 of "Meeting Christ in His Mysteries: A Benedictine Vision of the Spiritual Life").
What is it about the Rule of St. Benedict that draws thousands (if not millions) of people like myself to become interested in Benedictine spirituality, even though we have no intention of living in a monastery? There are probably many different answers to that question. For some, the Benedictine way of daily prayer may be the primary draw. For others, it may be the way the Rule leads them to meditate and pray with scripture, using the method of lectio divina. Still others are drawn to one of the many aspects of the Benedictine way, such as hospitality, stability, humility, or conversion of life.
The Rule, despite its relative brevity, offers a deep and broad perspective on Christian spirituality which has not been surpassed since it was written approximately 1,500 years ago. Benedictine monk Gregory Collins put it this way:
"(The Rule's) basic structures and fundamental ethos - the following of Christ in humility through obedience, stability, and conversion of life, constant recourse to scripture in lectio divina as the source of wisdom, the need for prayer of the heart and the centrality of liturgical prayer - are the fundamental ideals which inform Benedictine life..... The Rule is like a base camp for trekking in the mountains - it is a place from which one starts and to which one returns, a secure reference point for whatever adventures lie on the way in one's spiritual journey."
(From pp. 10-11 of "Meeting Christ in His Mysteries: A Benedictine Vision of the Spiritual Life").
Monday, July 7, 2014
A Timeless Liturgy
Today, I'm going to take a break from my normal Monday musings on the sayings of ancient and modern Desert Fathers and Mothers, and write about an experience from yesterday that gave me joy.
Over the July 4th weekend, we stayed at a hotel in Omaha, Nebraska, and just a few blocks away was Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, sitting among the downtown skyscrapers.
I noticed they offer a Rite I Eucharist on Sunday mornings at 8:30 a.m., so I decided to attend that service (one of the rare occasions when I am able to worship somewhere else on a Sunday morning). For those of you who aren't familiar with Episcopal-ese, Rite I is the worship setting in the current Book of Common Prayer which maintains the "ye olde English" liturgy, complete with language such as this post-Communion prayer:
"Almighty and everliving God, we most heartily thank thee for that though dost feed us in these holy mysteries, with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ; and dost assure us thereby of thy favor and goodness towards us; and that we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy Son, the blessed company of all faithful people; and are also heirs, through hope, of thy everlasting kingdom. And we humbly beseech thee, O heavenly Father; so to assist us with thy grace, that we may continue in that holy fellowship, and do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honor and glory, world without end. Amen."
Use of that language is decidedly counter-cultural in 2014 - most churches these days stay as far away as possible from the type of language found in a Rite I Eucharist. But, there is something about that language which reminds us that worship is a gathering of ordinary humans to experience something extraordinary. Worship is not intended to be a gathering to learn about self-help methods, or listen to music with a religious sheen, but about an encounter with the divine "other" revealed to us as the Trinity - the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Since I would be attending a worship service at 8:30 a.m. on a holiday weekend, I was fearful that I would be the only one there to worship that morning. Fortunately, I was wrong! It was not a huge crowd, but there were several others of various ages (from young couples with small children on up) there that morning.
Why were they there at 8:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning during a holiday weekend? Each worshiper would have their own unique reasons, of course. But, regardless of their individual reasons, they came together as a community where there was a tangible presence of God, communicated to us through a timeless form of the liturgy, the hearing of the Word, and the reception of the Sacrament at the altar. Those means of grace renew, strengthen, and nourish us, so that we can go out into the world with the following exhortation (spoken by the priest during each Rite I Eucharist service) in mind:
"It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O Lord, holy Father, almighty everlasting God."
Over the July 4th weekend, we stayed at a hotel in Omaha, Nebraska, and just a few blocks away was Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, sitting among the downtown skyscrapers.
I noticed they offer a Rite I Eucharist on Sunday mornings at 8:30 a.m., so I decided to attend that service (one of the rare occasions when I am able to worship somewhere else on a Sunday morning). For those of you who aren't familiar with Episcopal-ese, Rite I is the worship setting in the current Book of Common Prayer which maintains the "ye olde English" liturgy, complete with language such as this post-Communion prayer:
"Almighty and everliving God, we most heartily thank thee for that though dost feed us in these holy mysteries, with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ; and dost assure us thereby of thy favor and goodness towards us; and that we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy Son, the blessed company of all faithful people; and are also heirs, through hope, of thy everlasting kingdom. And we humbly beseech thee, O heavenly Father; so to assist us with thy grace, that we may continue in that holy fellowship, and do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honor and glory, world without end. Amen."
Use of that language is decidedly counter-cultural in 2014 - most churches these days stay as far away as possible from the type of language found in a Rite I Eucharist. But, there is something about that language which reminds us that worship is a gathering of ordinary humans to experience something extraordinary. Worship is not intended to be a gathering to learn about self-help methods, or listen to music with a religious sheen, but about an encounter with the divine "other" revealed to us as the Trinity - the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Since I would be attending a worship service at 8:30 a.m. on a holiday weekend, I was fearful that I would be the only one there to worship that morning. Fortunately, I was wrong! It was not a huge crowd, but there were several others of various ages (from young couples with small children on up) there that morning.
Why were they there at 8:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning during a holiday weekend? Each worshiper would have their own unique reasons, of course. But, regardless of their individual reasons, they came together as a community where there was a tangible presence of God, communicated to us through a timeless form of the liturgy, the hearing of the Word, and the reception of the Sacrament at the altar. Those means of grace renew, strengthen, and nourish us, so that we can go out into the world with the following exhortation (spoken by the priest during each Rite I Eucharist service) in mind:
"It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O Lord, holy Father, almighty everlasting God."
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