Eucharist – St. Andrew's Episcopal Church

Into the desert we went

This morning we were in the desert (Wadi Qelt) by 6 a.m. to pray and celebrate the Eucharist together. We began our time by praying Psalm 23 together, as we looked out over the desert which appeared to go on endlessly. The beauty was stunning, the view expansive, and the presence of God seemed tangible. We ended the Psalm with the words, “and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever”, and my heart and soul replied “AMEN”. It is true. I know that I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever, for that is the where my heart solidly resides. It was a clear and moving moment in my spiritual pilgrimage ~ I guess that surrender part of the return to the place of our pilgrimage continues to support my journey, ever deeper into the mystery of God.

Our pilgrimage to the top (Reminded me of Psalm 122: I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

Amazing mountains and hills as the location of our Eucharist.

Fr. Richard Wall celebrating Eucharist with us.

One of the most profound parts of the Eucharist, celebrated, in the beauty and silence of the world around us, was the people who joined us, freely and without question. The Bedouin family who live in the caves nearby, came and joined us, not to receive Holy Eucharist for they are Muslim, but to be a part of our group. Yes, they came to lay out their wares to be sold, beautiful bracelets and scarfs, ready for us to buy, but it seemed also to be a part of who we were. The little children carried on, as any child in church, running to and fro, yet also knowing something special was happening among us. It was a gift to walk down the hill with the little girl, noticing that our clothing matched and to ask her help on which bracelet I should buy from her. It was a gift for our communion and community to be expanded by their presence.

I’ve been thinking a lot about community today, about how the people in this area seem to have a different sense of it than we do. I have never seen anyone who knows so many people as our guide. Of course, that’s his professional network, but it’s also his way of life. Everywhere we go, we connect with his “cousins”, people he knows and trust, people he can count on, people he can find similarity with. I have some more thinking to do on this, but it explains a lot about how Jesus was always running into the right people, or asking the right people to provide things for him (donkey to ride into Jerusalem), or feeling comfortable sending his disciples out carrying nothing, for he knew the people along the way who would take care of them. It makes me wonder about how this sense of community supports the idea and practice of the missional church, when the church and relationships extend beyond the parish, out into the community. More to ponder here.

My other real learning today is that I will NEVER EVER AGAIN call the Israelites, who grumbled in the desert, “stiff-necked people”. Oh my goodness, to imagine they walked this desert, from Egypt to the Promised Land — it’s remarkable! I think I would have been cranky within 10 minutes of leaving the Red Sea! This land is hard and inhospitable. The distances are long. The trek difficult. They would have been unprepared for the journey, since they were not bedouins. The left hastily with unleavened bread, but also wouldn’t have had tents, animals, and a familiarity with the landscape. I really understand their discomfort and wondering what in the world Moses was doing leading them into this fragile existence. We did get to be at Mt. Nebo today, where Moses saw the Promised Land and it was stunning and beautiful. As Betsy and I noticed, we took a lot of pictures of dirt today, but the view was so amazing, we kept wanting to capture something within it that was calling us.

Beautiful cross at the top of the mountain, designed to incorporate the bronze serpent we hear in the story of Moses and God’s people.

Tomorrow, we head to Petra to the “lost city”, and I can’t wait!

Many blessings of peace to you, Barbara+

Pilgrimage: Returning to the Place of our Resurrection Part II

So yesterday, I was reunited with a place of resurrection by completely surrendering to God, through my prayers at the Western Wall. It was a powerful opening within me that burst open my awareness of my love of God.

Today, we travelled to Bethlehem, which is only 7 miles from Jerusalem. For some reason, the physical distance between these important points in the Biblical narrative are much less than I had imagined. We had the amazing opportunity to arrive at the Church of the Nativity, which is built upon the spot where Jesus was born, where heaven and earth were joined, to open us for us our salvation, at the time to receive the invitation to celebrate the Eucharist with the Franciscan monks in the grotto of the Star of Bethlehem (the location of the manger).

2016-10-31-07-34-52 — The Star of Bethlehem, the place designated as the birthplace of Jesus.

We received the bread of life in Bethlehem, the city whose name means, “House of Bread”. The mass was held in Latin, but somehow the rhythm of the Eucharist was familiar to all and our experience transcended words we did not comprehend.

2016-10-31-07-37-06 — Mother Betsy and Mary Grace, preparing for the Eucharist in this holy spot.

The second part that God showed me today in my pilgrimage to the place of resurrection is our connection to the suffering of the world. Prior to the Eucharist, we met in a nearby grotto, which when excavated, revealed the bones of many babies, the Holy Innocents, the babies as our prayer named as “those who bore the price of our salvation”. I was painfully aware that our salvation certainly came at the expense of Jesus’ life, but also others have deeply suffered as a result of the love God released into the world upon Jesus’ birth, the love which others feared and felt threatened by (and still do). When we surrender to God, we bear the suffering in our world. That’s just part of it we must be willing to embrace.

I’ve learned this past year, often through my reading of Richard Rohr, that we cannot separate the “mountain top experience” of Eucharist in the grotto where Jesus was born with the suffering which resulted from this glorious act. They are the part of the same; two sides to a coin. We must embrace both of them to be fully Christians.

We then went to the Church of the Angels, which was astonishing! It was at the shepherd’s field, where the shepherds heard the message from the angels and ran into Bethlehem (not nearly as far away as I had previously imagined). The chapel was simple and true and we sang “The Shepherds watched their flocks by night” and it was a holy time. But what struck me most was the altar. I lifted the altar cloth to reveal these amazing statues of angels holding up the altar. And isn’t it true — that it is our humility, our prayer, our watchfulness, and our turning our faces toward God which hold up the altar of God, where Jesus’ love can be broken open. Don’t you think that it is our response of love that opens and supports the release of love borne to all people through the Eucharist?

2016-10-31-11-14-53 — Shepherd holding up the altar

2016-10-31-11-14-34 — Prayer holding up the space for God to be released.

2016-10-31-11-14-23 — Human humility opening the way for God’s love to be released.

2016-10-31-11-13-45 — Shepherd’s face turned toward God.

We also went by “The Wall”, the dividing wall that separates Israel from the occupied territory of Palestine. It’s ugly and oppressive. I have learned this is a very complex situation (Israeli and Palestinian relations) that I can’t yet understand, but want to know more and yearn to see the “Prince of Peace” who was born in this tiny town of Bethlehem to reign in this conflicted area.

Surrender, Suffering, Salvation. These words and movements of our hearts seem to flow together for me in a brand new way. Thanks be to God!

Tomorrow we head out into the Judean desert to celebrate the Eucharist as the sun rises, then off into Petra. This is the ultimate trip of a lifetime. I feel so blessed to be here, as I hold you all in my prayers. I can’t wait to share this all with you upon my return. Many blessings and much love to you all, Barbara+

I’ll post a gallery on facebook of more photos.

Touching a piece of my resurrection

Today I found a part of what I came searching for as a pilgrim. I framed my pilgrimage in John Phillip Newell’s understanding that a pilgrimage is a return to the place of your resurrection. I learned today that the place of my resurrection involves complete surrender to God. I experienced this release and joy at the Western Wall (previously called the Wailing Wall). This is the only remaining portion of the 2nd temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. Jews come here as a pilgrimage and also, it appeared today, as a regular or even daily ritual in their worship life. Often people write prayers on small slips of paper and insert them into the wall. I wrote mine, and it became a profession of my love for God ~ my complete surrender to the love which drives my life.

As Mother Betsy and I were walking toward the wall, with our head coverings on and a sense of reverence in our hearts, the image that came to my mind, heart, and soul was when Betsy and I were preparing to walk down the aisle for her ordination as a deacon, and she looked at me with wide-eyes and said, “I feel like I’m getting ready to marry Jesus!”. I replied, “Yes, Betsy, you are.”

Today, as I approached the wall, in the midst of women whose hearts were turned to the same God, I touched the wall, laying my hands and head upon the hard smooth surface, and prayed from the depths of my heart. I prayed for my family, then my parish family, then allowed prayers to float to my heart, and then I ended with a complete sense of love and union with God. Tears filled my eyes, reverence and awe filled my heart, and a peace settled into my soul, that once again, I opened the veil and lived into the vow I made in baptism and ordination, that indeed, my heart was filled with the love of God. This is a part of our resurrection, our understanding that we and our lives are completely dedicated to loving God. I feel blessed and honored to have taken my place among women of God who turn their thoughts, cares, devotion, and love to the God so present in this holy site.

We continued our journey, next to the Dome of the Rock, the site of Abraham’s potential sacrifice of Issac and the third holiest site is Islam, where Muhammed was taken on his night journey to Jerusalem. My favorite image from this place where we were clearly guests invited to honor another’s understanding of our God, was listening to a teacher chant the Koran to another, filling the air with beautiful sounds and a sense of passing along the faith.

From these two powerful experiences of witnessing other expressions of obedience and observance to the God of the three Abrahamic faiths, we came home to the Cathedral and joined in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. There is much to ponder from this day but my sense is that faith or God is not to be claimed, controlled, nor put boundaries around, but rather we are called to show respect for and appreciation for the multitude of ways God can be honored in people’s lives.

The other powerful experience for me today was going to the Church of St. Anne’s where we saw the pools of Bethsaida, where Jesus performed healing miracles. It was amazing to walk down into the lowest level excavated which contained the pools that Jesus would have seen and where he spoke to the man who had waited years to go into the pools and Jesus said, “Get up and walk”. We offered prayers and received anointing and I left with a broader awareness of the healing grace offered to us by Christ.

2016-10-30-06-30-51 — Sunrise over the city of Jerusalem

2016-10-30-06-46-13 — Prayers of devotion at Western (wailing wall)

2016-10-30-06-46-39 — Sending our prayers to God

2016-10-30-07-59-14 — Koran being taught through chant

2016-10-30-07-38-59 — Dome of the Rock- holy site of Islam

2016-10-30-08-50-05 — Anointing at St. Anne’s Church

2016-10-30-09-01-13 — Healing pools at Bethsaida

2016-10-30-11-10-08 — Holy Eucharist at St. George’s Cathedral, Jerusalem

Affirming our Healing Ministry

At St. Andrew’s, we are blessed with a number of people whose gifts include offering healing prayers to those in need of Christ’s healing love and grace. This group gathers twice a month for scripture study, prayer, reflection, and opportunities for deepening their relationship with God.

This past Sunday we celebrated the Feast Day of St. Luke, who was one of the gospel writers and also a physician. The theme of healing resonates throughout his stories of Jesus, who is always focused on drawing the poor, oppressed, and isolated people of the society into the center of his love.

At our worship yesterday, we anointed the hands of the healing ministers, saying, “May these hands be blessed to continue God’s healing work in the world.”

We also listened to and were inspired by a homily offered by Ms. Laurel White, one of our healing ministers, who speaks of the three cornerstones for healing: Holy Eucharist, healing prayers, and Confession of Sin. To learn more, please read her sermon which you can access on our website, under “Recent Sermons”.

You are all invited to join us for our meetings and become a part of our healing ministry.