Yesterday was a spiritually “full” day, by that I mean, it was a day when the presence of God seemed to saturate us at St. Andrew’s. At expected and unexpected moments, I kept bumping into the awareness of the presence of something bigger than any of us, something more pervasive than effort any of us could sustain, and something richer than any of us could image. After a remarkable morning of glorious worship, when Deacon Wanda, Mother Carenda and I stood behind the altar, raising up in our hearts all those who have worshipped and ministered in our parish over the past five years, when we were uplifted by a homily by Veteran Amber Endrusik, our youth gathered in the afternoon to help others, and by doing so, grew their hearts.
We participated in an effort called Food Recovery Network by collecting leftover food at the Shippensburg University, packed it in aluminum containers, then served it to the residents of the Episcopal Square. We presented an abundant feast, helped them fill their plates, offered them coffee, and sat and shared a meal with them. Then something marvelous happened! All of a sudden our young people were playing dominoes with them. Our young people didn’t know how to play this game, but the residents paired up with our young people and jumped right in to teach them. We went from serving others a meal to being with new friends. This is what Jesus is all about: making that shift from helping by giving to being in communion with others. We fed and were fed.
In our conversations following the meal, I became aware of how big the hearts of our young people are. They were willing to walk into the uncomfortable place of unfamiliarity to help other people. This is the zone where Jesus shows up: in our hearts, when we’re reaching out to help other people, when we’re struggling with the bigger issues affecting other people, when we want to make a difference, and when our hearts are turned toward justice. I thank God for our amazing young people, for their parents and our community who are forming them to be faithful Christians through their love of others.