Claimed, gathered and sent

Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi, quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum. Qui passus es pro nobis, Domine, miserere nobis. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world. O Lord, who suffered for us, have mercy on us. 1. How will you pray and worship today ? I had planned on joining the seminary community in the stations of the cross this afternoon, but I took a tumble the other day and am very sore. Today, weather permitting, they will be done outside, going to various stations around the campus. But tonight I will be at Rural Lutheran assisting with the Good Friday liturgy. 2. Share a powerful memory or memories of Good Friday past. One year when I lived in the Holy Land, an ecumenical group gathered and did a prayer walk to the various places Christ went prior to the crucifixion. We completed our walk at the Church of All Nations . What made this such a profound experience is that it hammered home to me the reality of...

As Bob Dylan wrote, “The times they are a changin.’ This Sunday is one of those changing, transitional times in our church year. The end of Lent is near as we move through Holy Week towards Easter. Today, we’ve heard and participated in the celebratory parade with Palms, singing “All Glory Laud and Honor,” walking down the Mt. of Olives with Jesus during his triumphal entry into Jerusalem . Did you hear the hosannas? This crowd was excited. They wanted to crown Jesus as king! When I lived in the Holy Land in the 1980s, on Palm Sunday, Christians of all denominations and languages would gather on the Mt. of Olives . We would sing, pray, and joyfully walk down the Mt. into Jerusalem . We were Christians of all nationalities and languages singing and shouting, “Hosanna!” It was like being transported back in time to Jesus ’ time. Can you imagine what it must have been like on that first Palm Sunday? This morning our readings take us to other place...

Holy Week is almost upon us, I suspect that ordained or not, other revgal /pals calendars look a bit like mine, FULL, FULL, FULL..... Jesus was great at teaching us to take time out, even in that last week, right up to Maunday Thursday he withdrew, John 's gospel tells us he hid! He hid not because he was afraid, but because he knew that he needed physical, mental and spiritual strength to get through... So faced with a busy week: 1. What restores you physically? An afternoon nap. Usually my dog will join me. 2. What strengthens you emotionally/ mentally? Going out for supper Friday night with friends. This grew into a ritual after having Greek till 4:45 in the fall semester. We were so drained and this helped to rejuvenate us. It is now a tradition. 3. What encourages you spiritually? Gathering with the community for prayer, whether it’s chapel, lectio divina , or compline. 4. Share a favourite poem or piece of music from the coming week. O Sacred Head Now Wounded. 5.There may b...

Every two weeks, a small group of us who are older seminarians (second career or third, fourth whatever) get together for lunch on Friday at one of the local restaurants (that has good food cheap). We did this yesterday, much to my husband's delight since the refectory was serving fish and chips for lunch and Ray is not a fish aficionado. We had been there a while eating and talking. Each of us was quite relaxed because although there was lots to be done this weekend for teaching parish and classes, we were finished with classes for the week and could let our hair down. Friday after classes is sacrosanct for this group. We do not do schoolwork on Fridays after class. That's what Saturday is for! After a while, a gentleman approached us and asked if he had heard correctly that we are involved with church and faith. We responded in the affirmative. He proceeded to ask prayer for someone he knew of that just had a baby and was in critical condition. We assured him she would be ad...

Being Irish, yesterday was a special day for me. We had a wonderful chapel service led by a second year student. Being St. Patrick's Day, we commemorated St. Patrick. I have never before sung or heard one of the hymns we sang, I Bind unto Myself Today, Some parts were a bit difficult for me musically, but the words are phenomenal. You'll find them in the link to the hymn. Also on our bulletin was the following from the Confession of Patrick: I give unceasing thanks to my God, who kept me faithful in the day of my testing. Today I can offer him sacrifice with confidence, giving myself as a living victim to Christ, who kept me safe through all my trials. I can say now, Who am I, Lord, and what is my calling, that you worked through me with such divine power? You did all this so that today among the Gentiles I might constantly rejoice and glorify your name wherever I may be, both in prosperity and adversity. You did it so that, whatever happened to me, I might accept good and evi...

I was afraid that if I joined Facebook, it would take away lots of time because it would be difficult for me to restrain myself. So, I've been dragged in kicking and screaming. I do like it however. I've connected with people I haven't heard from in years. But as one classmate wrote, "Welcome to the black hole." So, we'll see how restrained I can be...so far not very, especially since we had reading days earlier in the week and I didn't feel much pressure to get work done.

Sophia wrote: The pastor of my grad school parish once gave a fascinating reflection, at about this mid-point in the season, called "How to Survive the Mid-Lent Crisis"! As I recall, his main point was that by halfway through the season we have often found it very challenging to live up to our original plans....But, he suggested--on the analogy of the healing and reframing of our life plans that can happen during a mid-*life* crisis--that that can be even more fruitful. So here's an invitation to check in on the state of your spirit midway through "this joyful season where we prepare to celebrate the paschal mystery with mind and heart renewed" (Roman Missal). Hopefully there's a good deal of grace, and not too much crisis, in your mid-Lenten experience! 1. Did you give up, or take on, anything special for Lent this year? I took on something, increased attentiveness to hear God's voice, to quiet myself to listen, especially through lectio divina . A grou...