Good day,

Today is National Red Dress Day to raise awareness about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. So, if you see me today, that’s why I’m looking a little fancier than I usually do on a Monday. 

A new happening to let you know about:

Saturday, May 31, 8am – noon: Trunk Sale in the Zion Lutheran Church parking lot! There will also be pulla and cinnamon buns for sale. Yum…

Also that day is a tea at Emmaus. That info went out a couple of weeks ago so please check the previous post…

Prayer Study: Thursday, June 5, 4-5pm in the Trinity Centre. We will start diving into “contemplative prayer”. We’ll start by distinguishing between “meditative” and “contemplative” since the Christian world has a different idea of these in comparison to the rest of the world. This should be great…Hope you can make it.

Line Dancing “Fun”Raiser!! Friday, June 6 at 6:30pm in the Trinity Centre. For just $5 you can have a lesson – or maybe just a good laugh. This is my first time line dancing…Anyway, there will also be more advanced steps for people who actually know what they’re doing plus refreshments for everyone.

Early Ministry Conference (Trinity Centre) and Diocesan Synod (Water Tower Inn) This Week! If there seems to be people missing from your parish this week, that could be where they are. Everyone is invited to attend the Opening Worship of Synod, 7pm at the Cathedral on Wednesday, May 7pm. (Holy Eucharist and Ordination).

A Liturgical Note For You:The Fourth Sunday of Easter: The Gospel reading for this upcoming Sunday is the continuation of the Good Shepherd discourse (John 10:1-10. Interestingly, Jesus names himself as the gate in this part of the discourse, not as the shepherd). I find it curious that, rather than continue this discourse over consecutive Sundays so that we hear all of it in a row, this discourse is continued over consecutive years. On each of our Fourth Sundays of Easter in Years A, B, and C, we hear a chunk of this Good Shepherd discourse (the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and United Methodist congregations do this, too). So, we actually are continuing from this time last year.  Because of these Gospel readings, the Fourth Sunday of Easter has come to be known as Good Shepherd Sunday. This eventually led us to pray for the vocations of all the ordained and those who have dedicated their lives to the church by becoming Sisters and Brothers of various religious orders.  In fact, this Sunday is now the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. It would be very appropriate then to acknowledge this in The Prayers of the People. We should include, too, the ministries of all the baptized in our prayers this day.  We all know that, without the dedicated members of Christ’s body who are not ordained, the church would be a pale shadow of what we are meant to be. As we heard in last Sunday’s Gospel story, the task of good shepherding has been passed on to all of us…Feed my sheep.

For Your Devotions:

Tuesday, May 6th is the Holy Day of John, Apostle and Evangelist. For some reason – maybe because the Orthodox Church celebrates John in May – John has two dates on our calendar from which to choose to acknowledge his importance to our lives as Christians. In Christian tradition, John is one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, he is the son of Zebedee and brother to James, and generally credited as being the author of three letters and the Gospel of John.  Some also attribute the Book of Revelation to him as well. Of course, scholars debate whether or not he actually wrote those things but, regardless, he was an important leader in the early Church in Jerusalem.  John was also one of the three apostles (Peter, James, John) who formed Jesus’ intimate inner circle. John is said to be the only apostle who died a natural death from old age. According to legend, when over 100 years old, John took seven disciples outside of Ephesus and had them dig a grave in the shape of a cross. John then went into the grave, and the disciples buried him there, alive. Later on, when his grave was opened, John’s body was not there. On May 8 of each year (when the Orthodox church celebrates John), dust rises up from his grave, by which the sick are healed of various diseases. For more information – and other interesting legends:  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-John-the-Apostle

Thursday, May 8th is the commemoration of Julian of Norwich, Spiritual Teacher, died about 1417.  For starters, this isn’t her real name – we don’t know her real name. She was named after the church in Norwich where she was the anchoress for many years. We really don’t know much about her life either but we do know that many people visited her for spiritual counsel. Her famous writing, Revelations of Divine Love, tell us even more…While lying on her deathbed at the age of 30, Julian saw visions of the crucified Christ and received insight into his sufferings. Julian then lived for more than 40 years afterward! Her writing “reveals  an intelligent, sensitive and very down-to-earth woman who  maintains her trust in God’s goodness whilst addressing doubt, fear and deep theological questions.” To read more:  http://juliancentre.org/about/about-julian-of-norwich.html

In the joy of the risen Christ,

Susan