Good day,

I’m busy relaxing at my dad’s place today (and I will be again tomorrow) 

Next Prayer Study: Thursday, September 4, 4-5pm at the Trinity Centre. Continuing our exploration of contemplative prayer.

First Guild of St. Joseph breakfast of the fall season: Saturday, September 13, 9:30am at the Trinity Centre.

Lay Presiders’ Workshop: Saturday, September 20, 10am – 2pm at the Cathedral. If you preside at any liturgies – or would like to – please make this a “must” on your calendar. Let me know if you have any special dietary considerations. (susan.montague2@gmail.com)

For anyone not in the Soo who may be interested, I recently took a couple of photos of the progress being made on the “Trinity Tower” – the future home of Holy Trinity – in order to show some American colleagues so I thought I’d share them here, too.

Making Corrections?

Our acknowledgement of Bernard (below) this week has brought this to mind again. Bernard supported the Crusades but, now, support for the slaughter of a group of people based on their religion would be very slim indeed (although, sadly, it is still happening). I mentioned this “making corrections” issue not too long ago when we had the reading in Hosea which causes us to question some passages found in Judges. We find scripture in direct contradiction with itself on a number of occasions and, as I said then, as Christians we turn to Jesus to tell us which path we ought to take. Sometimes Jesus doesn’t address issues we would like him to talk about but his silence is also an indication of our path – especially when paired with his inclusive love of the “other”. 

Anyway, our liturgies have also undergone some corrective measures. As archeologists, biblical and historical scholars, liturgical experts, etc., have made more discoveries, we have adjusted our worship. The creation of the BAS was the attempt to bring our worship more closely in line with the practices and thinking of the early church. That doesn’t mean that everything in the BAS is “perfect” – we always have more to learn and, therefore, more adjusting to do – but I find it exciting to know I’m worshipping much like the early church writers I so greatly admire. One issue I’ve mentioned before is, of course, kneeling for prayer in our Holy Eucharist worship service. Although kneeling is a valid prayer posture, it is not the most appropriate posture during our Sunday celebration of Christ’s victory over death. This is why the very early Christians were forbidden to kneel during this worship. One new issue that is now being corrected is the (very Western) notion that in order to “participate” we need to talk. I won’t get into the lengthy “nuts and bolts” of this one but, in our liturgies, we participate through listening, speaking (we do get the opportunity to talk quite a lot, actually), smells, sights, body movements (ex. bowing, making the sign of the cross) and postures (so you can see why taking the appropriate posture is important in how you form your thinking of what you’re experiencing).  

Change is hard and it is very difficult to undo previous learning in the face of new knowledge. Jesus often calls attention to – and laments – the inability/unwillingness of his society’s leaders to do the necessary changing in order to join him in God’s kingdom. Let’s remember that together we are stronger than we are alone as we support each other through times of adjustment (which, basically, would be all the time ). 

For Your Devotions:

Wednesday, August 20th is the memorial of Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux who died in 1153. Bernard is very well known for his mystical writings on the love of God but also was a strong supporter of the Crusades. This support is not looked upon favorably now by many but it is easy to judge in hindsight. He founded the Cistercian abbey at Clairvaux and then 70 more during his lifetime.  He was austere to the extreme, causing himself health issues with his excessive fasting and sleep deprivation but he was arguably the most influential Christian of his era. Here is one of his most famous quotes…“You wish me to tell you why and how God should be loved. My answer is that God himself is the reason he is to be loved”…  and here is where you can find more information on this colourful monk:  https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/moversandshakers/bernard-of-clairvaux.html

In the hope of Christ,

Susan