A reflection on how and why we might observe Lent

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e’re quickly moving up to the season of Lent, so it is time to do a little reflecting on the nature of this liturgical season, and why we’d bother worrying about it in the first place.  In case you were wondering, the season starts on Ash Wednesday, February 17, which we mark with a liturgy at the church at 7:00pm.

What exactly is Lent?

Lent is the forty day liturgical season stretching from Ash Wednesday through to Easter Eve. This year Ash Wednesday falls on February 17, with Easter Day coming on April 4. The forty days, however, are interrupted by the six Sundays that come within this period, because Sundays are always resurrection days or “little Easters.”  Still, in our Sunday worship during Lent, we actually “fast” from singing or saying the word “Alleluia,” as a steady reminder of the larger season in which those Sundays fall.

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News from El-Shaddai Church in Haiti

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e’ve got a bit of a connection to El-Shaddai Church in Haiti, through our support of the annual medical mission team spear-headed by saint ben’s member Dr Pierre Plourde… and, in various ways, ably assisted by the rest of his family! What follows is a recent report of the shape of things in and around El-Shaddai, as well as an update on plans for the next mission team visit.  This report was issued January 30.

Damage report

• Seventeen days have passed since the initial 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti.  Denis now reports that it may be possible to repair some of the homes that they feared would be lost.  However, they continue to sleep out on the streets until the tremors have stopped and these buildings can be better inspected.
• We’ve been told that there are enough medical personnel in Port-au-Prince, the issue is a lack of access to medicines and supplies.  In the north, where many have fled to, there are working hospitals with the necessary supplies that are able to perform surgeries on those who could make the journey.
• We have heard that Vicky (medical student) is safe but her stepfather is suffering from severe crush injuries to both legs.
• Growing hunger is fueling violence.  Denis says it is no longer possible to manage the crowds.  If aid does arrive, there is no one to ‘keep order’ as the nearest police station is a pile of rubble filled with the bodies of dead officers.

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G athered in Faith, uplifted in Hope, united in Love, let us pray to the Living God.

You are the God of Agape-Love. We confess that we still have much to learn on that subject. We tend to be self-serving. We tend to gluttony. We tend to judge based on appearances (isn’t that the carpenter’s son?) We are slow learners, so please show us again: your patient, kind, humble, respectful, tolerant, forgiving, honest, trusting, persevering love. Remind us again of your far-reaching, far-ranging love that invites us all to climb over the fence and step into the wide-open fields of your grace. You accept outcasts and fools—you have accepted us!—show us how to pay it forward, opening our arms and lives to those we encounter on the road. When love gets messy, sticky, and irritating, take us back to that dim mirror: I, too, am broken. I, too, am awkward. I, too, am messy. But that is only part of the story. Tonight, we submit ourselves to your love lessons once again. Please forgive us when we respond to your curriculum by trying to push you off a cliff. O God of love, in your mercy,

Hear our prayer.

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Our first round of doing theology in the dark…

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hile racial segregation in South Africa had its roots firmly planted in colonial times it wasn’t until the general election of 1948 that the outgrowth was fully felt as Apartheid (where the rights of the majority blacks were dismissed and minority rule by whites was entrenched). As official government policy, apartheid was a legal system of racial segregation enforced in South Africa between 1948 and 1994. In May of 1994, after years of anti-apartheid activism and imprisonment, Nelson Mandela became the first black President of South Africa in that country’s first multi-racial general election. With a deep and violent racial divide and a new black president, the question on everybody’s mind the day Mandela came to office had to have been, “how does he even begin to envision balancing black aspirations with white fears?”  On June 24, 1995, a rugby game was played that changed the hearts and minds of millions, and for a moment those aspirations and fears were forged into something beyond expectation …  a collective sense of greatness.

Based on the book by John Carlin, Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation the film Invictus is the newest project from director Clint Eastwood, and was the first to be viewed in a new occasional series we are calling “theology in the dark”. The film is about how Mandela (portrayed well by Morgan Freeman), in the early days of his presidency, set out to re-define South Africa and galvanize a country ripped apart by racial divides, by using the World Cup of Rugby which South Africa was set to host. The dilemma was that the dominantly white Afrikaner Springbok national rugby team was beloved by the white Afrikaners and despised by the blacks.  And frankly, at that point they were  just not a very good team. Mandela set out to enlist the help of team captain Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) by inspiring him towards building a better team and to go just beyond the expectations of those around them and consider what was then unlikely – win the world cup of rugby.

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o, alongside of the contemplative retreat that we’re holding at St Benedict’s Monastery in February, we’re going to once again head out to Camp Cedarwood for a decidedly noisier and more active version of a church weekend.  The theme for this one is “Playing with Parables”, and we assure you that we will taking a very playful approach to some of Jesus’ stories.

Cedarwood is a comfortable conference facility with lots of options for indoor and outdoor activity.  Time to learn, pray, play, eat, and just relax together… and we promise, the schedule will have lots of time for the playing, eating and relaxing.  Last year on the same weekend, we caught some of the best weather of the whole winter, allowing us to use not only the ice slide but also to hold one of the greatest – and wettest – broom-ball games on record.  You’ll want to bring winter gear, but also to think about shoes or boots that can get wet; there will be a second round of broom-ball.

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Blessed are you, Sovereign God, our light and our salvation, to you be glory and praise for ever. Your light springs up for the righteous and all the peoples have seen your glory. You gave the Christ as a light to the nations, and through the anointing of the Spirit you established us as a royal priesthood. As you call us into your marvellous light, may our lives bear witness to your truth and our lips never cease to proclaim your praise.

Lord in your Mercy, Hear our Prayer. Read the rest of this entry »

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n this past Sunday night in the sermon, I offered a bit of reflection as to why we structure worship the way that we do at saint ben’s, and specifically why we use silence, contemplative music, and the kind of slow and steady pacing that we do.  I suggested that these things are important as a way of shaping us as the kind people who know something of how to focus not on the things that normally grab the attention, but rather on the places where God is most likely to be doing something; at the edge, on the margin, just out of view.  The key biblical text for the evening was that of “water into wine” – John 2:1-11 – in which Jesus’ first miracle is performed in such an understated, almost “off-stage” way that only the hired help and the disciples even know that anything unusual has happened.

And so we build some silence and space into our liturgy, which in a culture filled with noise and endless bit of information is a fairly subversive thing.

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Blessed is the bride whose groom keeps his promises. More blessed are the people who know you and the covenant God. For in knowing you we are assured that your promises are ever true and that your “I will”s and “I do”s are solid and binding. Read the rest of this entry »

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a bit of a meditation by Byron O’Donnell, on his baptism on January 10, 2010

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here I sat, enjoying Jamie’s lighthearted remark about the tiny infant who was to be baptized in the same ceremony as me. “She has never had an unkind thought or uttered an unkind word to anyone.” Chuckling along with the congregation, I suddenly felt our whole pew stiffen as Jamie said “Byron, on the other hand…”  Our many conversations raced through my mind, somewhat akin to someone’s life flashing before their eyes. Why oh why did I ever open up to this man? I’m not sure what he actually said next, but it was fairly gentle, as is Jamie’s way.

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n Tuesday, I shared a wonderful lunch conversation with Dr Pierre Plourde, listening as he outlined the plans for an upcoming medical mission trip to Haiti he was to have spearheaded.  Along with his son Daniel and a team of medical professionals, Pierre was set to spend a week and a half living and working in a medical program sponsored through a local Baptist church.  This is a ministry in which Pierre has been involved for many years, and as his relationships with the people in the community there have deepened, so has his commitment to this unique work.  This year his team was to include not only medical professionals, but also a school principal whose role would be to act as a resource for the school run by that same Baptist church.  And Daniel Plourde – a student quite passionate about the game of soccer – had gathered some serious momentum in his initiative to collect soccer gear for the local community; an initiative that caught the attention of the Winnipeg Free Press a few months back.  In other words, it was a very hope-filled conversation.

It was probably less than six hours later that Haiti was struck by its devastating earthquake.   Read the rest of this entry »

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