It is important for us to find ways to tell the story of these challenging times, even as we live through them.
This time of year – between Ascension Day last Thursday and the Day of Pentecost next Sunday – I'm always intrigued by this in-between time, between Jesus' Ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Ascension is the withdrawal of the Incarnate One, Jesus in his human body, from our world. There is a specificity, a concreteness to that historical Jesus that we long for, in some ways, but is elusive for us.
The Rev. Rod Perez-Vega says the food pantry at St. John’s Church in Dover, where he is rector, didn’t used to be as big as it is now.
Like Jesus being tempted in the wilderness, during this pandemic we are in a wilderness being tempted by fear, worry and sorrow – but we do not walk alone. God is doing a work of transformation in us, and guiding our journey forward into the new church, the church that God needs us to be. (Time: 8:42.)
This is Bishop Hughes in the Diocese of Newark. And I want to talk with you about these past nine weeks, this journey that we have been on – in particular the way in which this journey is viewed by me as the spiritual leader of this diocese.
The COVID-19 pandemic is changing outreach across The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Newark, and the 16-year-old food ministry at Holy Trinity in West Orange is no exception.
Do you remember before you learned to walk? I do not. There are other things that my memory does not give a “before” context. I cannot remember a time before singing, before singing sacred music even, and I don’t remember a time before loving beautiful buildings, church decorations or those things together with music. These things grew up alongside my faith. I am a woman in a line of church musicians and singers, my earliest memories are of being a toddler in darkened concert halls and churches listening to choral music being rehearsed or of my Nana playing hymns.
May 18, 2020
Dear Companions on the Journey,
We are not the first of God’s people to be displaced and sent on a journey into unknown land. Abraham, Sarah, Joseph, Moses, and the Magi all set out without a map. Most started without knowing their destination, although the Magi followed a star. Our sacred text, traditions, and history show us that God guided them to the places God prepared for them.
There is a hunger emergency going on in our state right now as a result of the pandemic and the large number of people who have lost their jobs. Bishop Hughes reminds us that one of the ways that we love our neighbors is to help them have enough food to eat.
The powerful responsibility of Christians to respond to those in need is first and foremost about love – God’s love for us enacted by our showing love to others – but it is also wound up in our basic identity as those who gather at Christ’s table.
The Friday Soup Kitchen at St. Andrew’s, Newark, reminds the Rev. Sylvester Ekunwe, the church’s Vicar, of the miracle of the loaves and the fishes.
