*A message from your Interim Rector 7/15

We are all in this together...

We find ourselves in a season marked by changes too numerous to count.  I realize that since I arrived just before Holy Week, that there have been many changes in your lives.  Some of you have lost jobs in the last year and some of you have changed jobs.  Some of you have lost friends and family to health crises and death.  As a nation we have been engaged in a war, watched other nations battle one another; and some of you have experienced the trauma of war first-hand simply being in a place where conflict is occurring.  Personally, some of you are experiencing significant health issues and changes in the health of family and friends - this too is stressful and we need to acknowledge all these losses.  Natural disasters also plague us with earthquakes of unimaginable destruction in Venezuela, wild fires in the West, and heat waves in Europe and around the globe.  If you want to send a gift to Episcopal Relief and Development as a response to these global disasters, simply go on-line and donate or if you prefer, make a donation to St. Catherine’s and put ERD in the memo line and we will forward your gift to Episcopal Relief and Development.

Yet there is another side to the season we are in.  God’s love and presence are unchanged.  The community of faith is still strong and connected, even if we miss some people who are traveling or those who might be unable to attend worship.  We are resurrection people and we have passed through Holy Week and Good Friday to encounter the Easter promise and Easter joy.  At times we may personally feel disconnected from one another and even from God; but I can assure you that God is still in charge and that God’s powerful Holy Spirit is still at work connecting us one to another in ways we can’t describe.  Change is a sign of God’s “re-creation” making each day new.    Each of us remains in God’s care and grace - that is unchanged and unchanging.

I offer this story for your meditation and reflection this week.  The story is told of Mayor Laguardia of New York.  It was 1935 and he showed up at a night-time courtroom to replace the judge for that night.  Apparently at that time mayors could substitute for judges.  An older woman was on trial for stealing a loaf of bread.  The woman explained that she stole the food because her unemployed daughter (a single mother) and children were hungry, presumably victims of the Great Depression.  The woman admitted her guilt.  The Mayor sentenced her to a $10 fine or 10 days in prison.  The woman told the Mayor, that if she had $10 she wouldn't have stolen bread.  She agreed to be imprisoned, but wondered who would care for her family.  The Mayor pulled out $10 and paid her fine.  Then he addressed the whole group gathered in the courtroom.  He said that he was charging everyone in the room 50 cents for living in a city where an old woman has to steal bread to feed her family.  They collected almost $500 and gave it to the woman.

We are in a time unlike any other and still we are all connected one to another.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.  Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. 

I know that change no matter how small, impacts our lives in a myriad of ways.  If you need to talk, the clergy and pastoral care team are here to listen.  If you need assistance with food, housing or utilities, please let the clergy know and the discretionary fund can help.  We are the family of God and it is in times like these that we form tight bonds and support each other.  Connect with parish ministries that need your help to continue their work.

What can you do?  First offer prayers for those you know and for those whom you don’t know.  Second, give help where you can.  That may be dropping-off a can of food at the parish or sending money to the parish for outreach efforts.  It may be bringing items to the church that the Domestic Violence Shelter, Family Promise, MUST ministries, or Church of the Common Ground  needs like toothbrushes (adult and child), toothpaste, bath soap, towels, shampoo and conditioner, items for children to wear, pillows and women’s nightwear and even underwear for men, women and children.  Diapers, wipes, paper towels, hand sanitizer - anything that you need everyday these homeless individuals and families in the shelters need too.  Just put your gifts in the collection bins in the narthex and we will make sure they are blessed and delivered.  Lastly, trust that God’s love is sufficient to support us and to unite us in ways that we never expected.  We are, through the grace of God, always inescapably connected to each other and mutually dependent on each other.  Call or e-mail someone in the parish that you have been thinking about and praying for - just let them know that you care for them.

Now is the time to act with compassion and touch others in ways which will impact them for the rest of their lives.  Be the presence of Christ in whatever ways you can.  Remember to take care of yourself so that you can care for others; and reach out, as the Holy Spirit leads you, to touch the lives of those in our communities.  Prayer is a powerful tool which equips us for action in the world.

God’s peace and joy, Mother Pat+