January 2010

 

February 2010

"Action and contemplation now grow together into one life and one unity. They become two aspects of the same thing. Action is charity looking outward to other [people], and contemplation is charity drawn inward to its own divine source. Action is the stream, and contemplation is the spring. The spring remains more important than the stream, for the only thing that really matters is for love to spring up inexhaustibly from the infinite abyss of Christ and of God...the [person] of simple intention works in an atmosphere of prayer: that is to say [s]he is recollected. His [her] spiritual reserves are not all poured out into his [her] work, but stored where they belong, in the depths of his [her] being in God. [S]he is detached from his [her] work and from its results. Only a [person] who works purely for God can at the same time do a very good job and leave the results of the job to God alone."

(No Man Is an Island, Thomas Merton)

For years, these words of Thomas Merton's have shaped much of what I believe about ministry. We are effective Christians only to the extent that we actively live a unity of action and contemplation. If we are going to reach out to others, our lives must first be grounded in the source of all Life—that is, God Himself. If we do not first ground ourselves, then our actions will be selfishly motivated and may in fact cause harm, instead of the good we intend.

The image of the spring as the source of all life and recollection in God with the stream being our action which flows from that is a good one. If the stream is cut off from the spring, however, it dries up and no longer gives life. What can you do to make sure that you remain connected to the Source?

February 17 is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Season of Lent...that penitential time of year wherein we reflect on our mortality...our imperfections...and ultimately our need for the source of Life...the spring which is God. During the Season of Lent, the Adult Education Forum will be meeting in small groups in individual parishioner homes. We will be studying Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline. A sign-up sheet is available in the back of the church if you would like to sign up for a small group. We will begin meeting on Wednesday, February 24; meeting times will be from about 7:00 to 8:30 although individual groups may adjust the times as they wish. The books are available for order from Amazon.com. Additionally a link will be available on our website should you prefer to read the book on line. We look forward to seeing you there.

Meanwhile, also make your plans to attend one of two Ash Wednesday services, a wonderful, liturgical way to begin the season. The services are scheduled for February 17 at 7 AM and 7 PM.

God's Peace to All-

Mother Susan+

 

March 2010

 

O Be Joyful, Jerusalem!

If you are looking for an excuse to have a slight reprieve from your Lenten discipline, then this letter is for you. Sunday, March 14 is Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent—the halfway point to Easter. The Latin, laetare, is from the introit of the Mass on that Sunday which begins “O be joyful, Jerusalem!” This particular Sunday is known also as Mid-Lent Sunday, Refreshment Sunday, Simnel Sunday or Mothering Sunday. On this day, priests are given the option of wearing rose colored vestments, and the whole congregation is reminded and encouraged that we are making progress toward the end of this penitential season.

“Mothering Sunday,” or “Simnel Sunday” is a Christian festival celebrated throughout Europe. During the 16^th century, on this Sunday, people returned to their mother church for a service. This was either a local church, or the nearest cathedral. Those who went “a-mothering” were inclined to gather with their entire families. A popular food to be served was Simnel Cake, a rich cake made of fruit and almond paste. Such cake was eaten to remind Christians that on this particular Sunday, families could gather and there could be a gentle lightening of the Lenten fast or discipline.

So, this year, on Sunday, March 14, we are going to celebrate Laetare Sunday with simnel cake. On Saturday, March 13, we will gather for what I am calling a Lenten Semi-Quiet Day. We will gather around 9:00 for Morning Prayer, Lectio Divina and meditation. Then we will move to the kitchen where we will bake enough simnel cake to serve in coffee hour the next day. At noon, we will have lunch together before cleaning up the kitchen to go home. Please bring your spring-form pan and something to share for lunch.

Please consider joining us on this day to strengthen your own Lenten discipline and to prepare for Laetare Sunday.

 

January 2009

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God. (Ephesians 2:19-22)

The summer before my 4th or 5th grade year, Apollo 11 was the first manned mission that landed on the moon. The rocket ship that was part of that expedition, upon its return to Earth, actually went on tour in the United States. For one evening only, it was going to be on display on the grounds of the State Capitol in Columbia, SC where I lived. My family went down to see it. We were able to get close enough to touch it. I remember rubbing my hand across a kind of cork ring that went all the way around the bottom. A tiny sliver of cork fell off into my hand. I carefully wrapped it in a piece of chewing gum foil that I had in my pocket and took it home to place in my jewelry box. There was something about being able to touch that rocket and have a piece of it in my possession that made me feel as if I had been to the moon myself.

By the time you read this article, I will either be in the Holy Land or will have just returned from my visit there. Many have told me that I will be a changed person by virture of walking the land where Jesus walked. I suspect I will be changed. Even now as I prepare to go, I cannot possibly imagine what it will be like to have the opportunity to wade into the Jordan River, to swim in the Dead Sea, to have the Eucharist on the shores of Lake Galilee, to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane or on the Mount of the Olives…to stand at the Place of the Skull…to walk the streets of Bethlehem. Something about being able to stand physically in the place where my Lord stood physically is at once incomprehensible and overwhelming. Will I feel more connected to Him? I suspect I will.

At the same time, my mind and heart know that Jesus is so much more than the physical place where He lived. Through the gift of his Holy Spirit, he gave us a way to grasp Him even in the absence of his physical body. Jesus dwells in more places than the physical land of Israel. Over the past five months, as I have gotten to know you, I have come to love you very much. I have also come to recognize you as the dwelling place of Jesus. I will be excited about my trip to the Holy Land and will probably speak of it ad nauseum upon my return. But rest assured, I will be equally excited to return to you, to recognize the Christ in you and to join with you as we do the work of our Lord.

February 1 is the date of our Annual Parish Meeting. At this time, we will begin the dreaming process of how we can better be the presence of Christ in our community. Many of us have some great and exciting ideas. I look forward to seeing those come to fruition as we work together to become even more deeply the dwelling place of Jesus.

Yours in Christ,

Mother Susan+

February 2009

 

March 2009

REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE DUST, AND TO DUST YOU SHALL RETURN

My daughter, Rebecca, woke up on Shrove Tuesday and asked at breakfast, “Am I going to be able to get my forehead ‘ashed’ this Lent?” Startled, I looked at her and suddenly remembered that for the last few Ash Wednesdays, I had been commuting to the Cathedral in South Bend from Culver and had been unable to take the girls out of school to bring them to Ash Wednesday services. For the last couple of years, my husband’s schedule had been such that he too had not been able to get the girls to Ash Wednesday services. Touched, I asked Rebecca if it was important to her to receive the sign of the cross on her forehead. She replied that it was and that she would even give up TV and computer time on Wednesday evening to come to the service. And so she did, and on our return home, she thanked me for having brought her to the service.

Children can teach us so much about spiritual life. The fact that a ten year-old understands that being reminded of her mortality is an important spiritual discipline (even if she wouldn’t use those words) is remarkable. Her insistence on receiving the Imposition of the Ashes was a reminder not to take the ritual lightly myself. What is it about receiving a smudgy black cross-shaped mark on our forehead year after year that is so important? We are reminded of our mortality…of our dependence on God. Sometimes humans don’t want to be reminded of that, do they? Who really wants to understand that we are made of the dust of the earth and that in the end, it is to that dust that we shall return – and that our existence depends on the grace and love of God?

Paradoxically, our head can understand that the sign of the cross is a mark of freedom. We understand that the very transient nature of our presence in this physical realm sets us up for the ultimate freedom of eternal presence in the arms of God. Sometimes it’s hard, however, for our heart to get to that understanding. As a consequence, engaging in this simple, ritual act of humility seems mundane and out of place in a culture that embraces and encourages being in control.

I invite you during this holy season of Lent to look for those places in your life where your desire to be in control impedes your life in God. Is there some place within the recesses of your spiritual heart that you can begin to let go and let God gain control? Perhaps there are a few minutes each day that you can surrender yourself to Him in prayer. As you brandish the mark of the cross on your forehead, can you also carry it in your heart…a sign of the knowledge that we are mortal…that we need God…that we are humble enough to let Him be in charge?

Did you get your forehead “ashed” this Lent? Was it the beginning of your journey to freedom? I pray for you a good and Holy Lent.

April 2009

May 2009

June 2009

She loved butterflies. That was one of the things we learned about little Shayla Aston whose Memorial Service St. Paul's recently hosted. As you know, Shayla (age 4) and her six year-old sister, Shianna, were struck by a car on May 8. Shayla was declared brain dead within hours and gave organs to save the lives of eight other children. Shianna remains critical and unresponsive. Because the family had no place to gather to celebrate Shayla's life, St. Paul's opened its doors, not only to Shayla's family, but to an entire community struggling to grapple with the grief of this tragedy.

A couple of seemingly inconsequential things happened on the day of Shayla's Memorial Service – things on which I now seem led to reflect and pray. The first thing that happened is that people dressed in butterflies. Not on purpose, either. Well, yes, there were some things we did do deliberately. We asked Jan Frieden to decorate the church with purple and yellow flowers and with butterflies – our attempt to honor Shayla's memory. But we didn't tell people how to dress. I was amazed at the number of people who came to me during the luncheon to tell me that they felt led to put on clothing that either had butterflies stamped on them, embroidered, or sequined. They didn't understand why at the time, but after Shayla's service, they suddenly understood. Even Shelly, Shayla's mother, recognized and commented on the powerful message of rebirth that butterflies represent. And in the face of tragedy, we need to be reminded of rebirth, don't we?

The second thing happened when I visited Shayla's sister at Hospice House in Elkhart. As I walked up the sidewalk to the front door, I noticed that I had to walk carefully in order to avoid stepping on caterpillars crawling all over the place. I smiled, knowing that very soon these caterpillars would be disappearing into cocoons and beginning their transformations into butterflies. It was a little early in the year to be seeing butterflies, I knew, but the changes were going to begin happening soon. As I stood outside the door, waiting for the staff to buzz me in, I looked up at the brick wall of the building and saw something quite startling. There was a caterpillar on the wall, standing very still. Next to the caterpillar was a cocoon, attached to the corner of a brick. And next to the cocoon was a tiny light yellow butterfly, with its wings spread out across the brick to catch the warmth of the sun. How odd, I thought, to be seeing all forms of this transformation at the same time. And yet there they were, caterpillar, cocoon, and butterfly side by side,,,three manifestations of the same reality. Normally, we would see these things consequentially as they occurred, but here I was being permitted a glimpse of their reality simultaneously.

Suddenly I was reminded of those words we say in the funeral liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer: “For to your faithful people, O Lord, life is changed, not ended.” I give thanks to the people of St. Paul's for stepping up to respond to this tragedy. The Gospel was certainly proclaimed not only in word, but very powerfully in deed and witness. This is a tragedy, yes, but our response enables us, once again, even at the grave to make our song: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Mother Susan

July/August 2009

 

"Action and contemplation now grow together into one life and one unity. They become two aspects of the same thing. Action is charity looking outward to other men, and contemplation is charity drawn inward to its own divine source. Action is the stream, and contemplation is the spring. The spring remains more important than the stream, for the only thing that really matters is for love to spring up inexhaustibly from the infinite abyss of Christ and of God….the man of simple intention works in an atmosphere of prayer: that is to say he is recollected. His spiritual reserves are not all poured out into his work, but stored where they belong, in the depths of his being, with his God. He is detached from his work and from its results. Only a man who works purely for God can at the same time do a very good job and leave the results of the job to God alone" (Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island, pp 70-72) [Italics mine].

The other day, I stumbled across this quotation from Thomas Merton that I had inscribed in an old prayer journal of mine. The words have as much meaning today as they did when I wrote them five years ago. In my spiritual journey, I have learned many times, that God calls me to work; but he does not necessarily call me to experience the results of that work. He calls me to action but only to action that is grounded in my own firm presence in His heart.

Summer is a time of slowing down in the lives of most churches. It is a bit of Sabbath in the midst of busy Christian lives. The calendar is sparse, some groups do not meet and attendance at Sunday services can slow down. This is not a bad thing. We need to experience the rhythm of work and Sabbath in our corporate lives. Sabbath time is a time for rejuvenation, rest and a new realization of our dependence on God.

Rejuvenation comes through resting in God. We talk about resting in God all the time, but what does that really mean? Merton suggests that we truly rest in God when we are able to abandon any manifestation of an outcome of our works. We are resting in God when we are able to leave the results of our work in God’s hands…when we don’t necessarily have to see those results. If we are resting in God, then we can step back and let God bring about the outcome. If we are resting in God, then we will always have the spiritual reserves necessary to do any kind of work to which God might call us.

This is exciting news for us as we head to the fall and to the anticipated launching of our new outreach effort with Mishawaka High School students (see article elsewhere in this newsletter). We have discerned that God is calling us to this work, and so we must be faithful. We must also be prepared to make sure that we are taking the necessary steps to remain in the heart of God. To this end, at the same time, we have decided that our Adult Education Forum should focus on the discipline of prayer. If we are grounded in a solid life of prayer, I think we will find that resting in God will come more easily for us. Watch next month’s newsletter for a more detailed explanation of this upcoming Adult Education Forum.

Meanwhile, God’s blessings and peace during this Sabbath time,

Mother Susan+

September 2008

Letter of Introduction to the Congregation of St. Paul's

To my brothers and sisters in Christ at St. Paul’s Church,

            With joy I greet you in the name of our Lord!  Words cannot describe the pride and excitement I feel when I tell others that I have been called to be the new Rector of St. Paul’s Church.  God has indeed called us both to be pastor and people, and I am confident that he has amazing things in store for us.
            Eugene Peterson in The Contemplative Pastor says that a priest, as he or she begins a new pastorate, should be mindful of one very important thing:  The new rector needs to remember that God is already present in that church and has been at work there for a long time, long before he or she has ever been called.  The priest’s task, therefore, is not to rush in and change things, as if it is his or her job to unpack God out of a suitcase and introduce Him to a congregation for the first time.  Instead the new priest’s job is to immerse him or herself deeply into the life of the parish in order to discern where and how God is working and what He is trying to do in that parish – then to look for ways that he or she can cooperate with what God is seeking to accomplish.  So…discerning God’s presence and movement among you, and then joining in and cooperating with that movement…that is going to be my first endeavor.  To some extent, I have already discerned how God is moving among you, particularly in your love for and commitment to worship and outreach.  My heart cries, “Yes!” when I hear God’s invitation to join that!  I also have heard your longings for a more systematic approach to Christian Education and Formation as well as to congregational development – again, I say, “Yes!” to that call.
            And I do want to know you better.  In order to do that, I will be calling on you in the next few weeks and months to meet with me, both individually and in groups.  When I call, I hope you will say, “Yes!”  Meanwhile, I hold you in my daily prayers, and hope you are doing the same for me.  My husband (Tom) and I, our two daughters, Sarah (13) and Rebecca (9), along with our dog (Poly) and cat (Jaboo) are making the move to South Bend, and moving one’s lives and possessions is often trying to say the least.  With joy and excitement, I anticipate seeing you in September.

Yours faithfully in Christ,

 

Mother Susan
(Or, if you prefer – Pastor Susan)

Read more about Mother Susan...

October 2008

Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?

Questions have I! Two in fact! I’m not going to tell you ahead of time what they are. But, in order to ask them, I’m going to invite you to my home one evening for dessert and coffee. Then, while we’re “breaking bread” together, and continuing in fellowship, I’m going to ask my questions; then I’m going to sit back, munch on cheese cake (or something equally yummy) and listen to what you have to say.
So, when I call your home to extend the invitation to come to mine, please say yes. I will be calling everyone in the parish, including those who are only peripherally associated with the parish as friends. I anticipate that this may take a while, so be patient if you do not hear from me right away. But when I do call, I hope you will come because the more you participate, the more successful my questions will be.

As I have said before, God has been at work here at St. Paul’s for a long time, accomplishing extraordinary things for His Kingdom. I am impressed with what a “well-tended garden” it is, full of thriving plants of all kind. I want to be a good steward of what has been entrusted to me, so it is important that I spend some time getting to know exactly what is planted in the garden. I hope you will help me. So when the phone rings, say YES!

Mother Susan

No letter in November.

December 2008

Suddenly across the airport, I saw his face among the bustling crowd; but I was not prepared for the tumultuous feeling of joy that would wash over me when I recognized him.  All of the worry, anxiety and moments of longing and loneliness suddenly melted away from their frozen crevices within my soul.  While we were dating, my husband and I attended the freshman year of college in different universities.  I especially struggled with not having the person I had identified as my soul-mate around to experience the “day-to-day-ness” of our lives together: and so, on a lark we had pooled our money to buy me a plane ticket to visit him.  In the days prior to my trip, my anticipation grew.  During the hours and moment of my flight time, I was giddy with excitement.  I was so immersed in expectation that I couldn’t imagine that actually arriving and seeing my boyfriend could possibly be as exciting as this expectant jubilation.  As I deboarded the plane and scanned the crowd, my heart was in my throat, and when I saw his face, my heart and voice cried out together, “Yes!”
            Advent is like that.  It's a time when our anticipation mounts and grows as we imagine what it will be like when we are suddenly reunited with Jesus at His coming.  As time passes, we envision that reunion and how complete and whole we will be when it takes place.  No such reunion takes place, however, without some deliberate, intentional preparation.  Advent is that time when we prepare...when we plan the trip, so to speak.  We want to be ready so that when we see His face, we will recognize Him.
            What can you do to prepare?  Here are some suggestions.  First, make sure you are spending time with Him.  Even if it's just five minutes in the morning, invite Jesus to join you for your cup of coffee and talk to Him.  If you are already doing that, why don't you try adding the reading of Morning Prayer from the Daily Office in the Book of Common Prayer?  This will give you a good healthy dose of Scripture.  Next, select a good spiritual book with which to spend some of your free time.  If you don't know where to begin, find someone whose spiritual path you admire and ask that person what books have influenced him or her.  Talk to a spiritual friend about what is going on in your walk with the Lord.  And then, find a charitable project to which you can give some time and energy.  When you do all of these things in your life, you are on your way.
            This journey will lead you during Advent to the place where Jesus is, both in your heart and incarnate.  When you recognize Him, your heart and soul will together cry, “Yes!”
May you have a blessed Advent,

Susan+