On Monday morning, I invited the Rev’d Russell Osmond, retired priest in the Parish of St. Philip’s. Russell, along with his wife Joan and our friend Gloria, joined us for the first day of the retreat. After singing one of my favourite hymns of the season of Advent, “Come thou long expected Jesus, Born to set thy people free,” Rev’d Russell led us in Morning Prayer as we prepared for this occasion. He reminded us that the Advent season, like other liturgical seasons, is a season of hope and grace as he began his meditation with us. His presentation, entitled “And Grace will lead me home,” referred to God’s unmerited favour. It is goodness and kindness from God that we don’t deserve and cannot earn by our own merits. It is God’s goodness and benevolence, or his favour upon us as unworthy as we are to receive it. As far as we know, Jesus never used the word “grace,” but his person, his ministry, and his teaching disclose that he was full of grace. Grace was part of his character and nature. He taught us parables of grace; perhaps the best of them was the parable of the prodigal son. Using the scriptures and quoting people like Barbara Brown Taylor, Rev’d Russell put into perspective how God’s grace is a gift and how his grace is at work in our lives. He ended his meditation with these words: “As children of God, people onto whom grace has been bestowed, we enter a season of emphasis on waiting and yearning; hoping for wholeness, transformation; waiting for a time when all brokenness is mended; wounds are healed; when God’s peace and justice rules the earth; when the lamb and the lion can pasture together and we become the people God intends for us to be.” Grace will lead me home. Amen and amen.

On the second day, Father Rudolph Anthony, Rector of St. Augustine’s, came to share the morning with us. After prayers, we listened for eight minutes to Denzel Washington as he reflected on his personal faith and ministry. This led us into the theme for the morning: “Our Calling to Ministry” for both ordained ministry as well as the important ministry of our laity. Father Anthony’s talk caused us to reflect upon our calling and the ministry we share with others in the life of the church. His thoughts were focused from the Book of Acts, chapter 8, verses 26 – 33 and 34 – 40. We had time to share some of our own experience in ministry as we reflected upon these scriptural references. We concluded the morning by listening to a beautiful song by Jason Ingram and Kari Jobe, “Be Still My Soul (In You I Rest)”. 

The Right Rev’d Cyrus Pitman, retired bishop of our diocese, came on Wednesday morning to be my guest for this third day of meditation. After Morning Prayer and a renewal of our baptismal covenant, the bishop moved into his theme for the day: “The seasons of our lives.” This theme was based on his first reading in Morning Prayer from the Book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, verses 1- 8. He talked about the different seasons in the life of the church, and said we as individuals go through seasons in our lives; sometimes we hurry through them rather than being present. Often, we find ourselves going back to the past or centring ourselves on the future and not enjoying the time we are in, whichever season that may be. I was able to more greatly appreciate the significance of the importance of waiting and taking time to be present in the moment in the seasons of life. 

Finally, on the fourth and final day of this retreat session, Archdeacon Charlene Taylor from Church House came to spend Thursday morning with us, and our friend Gloria once again joined us. Her theme was: “The Waiting Place of God.” In her opening devotion, Archdeacon Charlene focused on the sentence “Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 49:31) In her first reflection on waiting, she led us to think about the prophets by looking at the scripture of the Old Testament foretelling the coming of Christ into the world. Afterwards, we shared some reflections on some thought-provoking questions she had prepared. Her second talk centred on thinking about Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the different “times of waiting” she experienced: the time she spent with Elizabeth, and waiting for the birth of Jesus, and the journey to Bethlehem as his birth was imminent; also the time of waiting at the foot of the cross. Our session concluded with a guided meditation before we closed with the sacrament of Holy Eucharist. In essence this final retreat session reinforced the understanding that when God works in our lives, no matter how long it takes, it’s always worth the wait. 

Each afternoon, after the guests left, I would do my daily walk which gave me time to reflect upon what I heard each morning. This experience was worthwhile and I encourage others to do it for their own spiritual growth. It was truly an experience of sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to the word, and having the word penetrate in my heart and mind. 

I want to thank my wife, Joyce, for preparing breakfast and lunch for our guests, and for sharing with me in these days of meditation as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Saviour. 

I want to thank Rev’d Russell Osmond, Father Anthony, Bishop Pitman, and Archdeacon Charlene for travelling to Chapel’s Cove to share with me in this personal retreat time. Your sharing and friendship have been a blessing in my life. I give thanks to God for this time together and for our many years of friendship. Thank You for sharing your faith, love, and commitment in the one who has called us into his ministry. With each of your presentations, you allowed us the time to share and reflect. We were glad to have others join us for these meditations and to be able to share their thoughts and feelings, too. 

These four days of prayer and meditation have indeed been a blessing for me as I move forward in my ministry and took the time to stop and smell the flowers once again. Have a blessed season, whatever “season” you find yourself in as you journey through your life and ministry. 

My prayer for you is the same as Father Anthony shared with us in his session on Tuesday morning in this Irish Blessing: 

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be ever at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of his hands. Amen.

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On November 28th, the first Sunday in Advent, St. James’ Church in Port aux Basques held a “Jesse Tree Service.” Rev’d Jane explained to the children the origin of the Jesse Tree, and after that, the children placed symbols on our Jesse tree. It was a beautiful morning of worship.

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T. S. Eliot was a practicing Anglo-Catholic, and his faith always had a huge part to play in his writing. 

The focus, as the title of the poem suggests, is on the trip itself to see the Christ. This physical journey of the magi is a representation for a spiritual journey of faith. For us today, as people who continue to practice Christianity in a world that has become mostly secular, the portrayal of alienation felt by these outsiders that Eliot expresses can ring especially true—these are men who are not Jewish or Christian, but who are on their way to see Jesus, whose birth would be a huge threat to the pagan religions that they belong to. This was clearly the beginning of something new, but at the possible expense of the things that had gone before—at the expense of the familiar things. The narrator of the poem says, 

were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.

There are some of us in the Church that struggle like this a great deal these days. The world has changed so much, and so quickly. We may worry that the good things are all gone. Our constant need to “pivot” (a big buzz word of the pandemic) is exhausting, and I can feel a connection with these magi who feel like they are seeing their very identity disintegrating. 

Perhaps there is worth in noting that Christ’s birth was not a good thing for all people, even those like the magi who saw this as so important that they travelled to be witnesses to it. Important, but also a bit worrying.

When Archbishop Linda Nicholls was visiting last fall, she talked about some of the good things that have happened since the pandemic began. For example, people have found themselves reconnecting with traditional worship like the daily offices, which are one of our real strengths as Anglicans. Let’s take the time to rediscover who we are, and remember the things that make us unique and beautiful. 

I don’t think that the death of the Anglican Church is at all on its way, but this is a good time to understand who we are and who we want to be. We need to address the many problems from our past, and at the same time we can embrace the good things and build on them. We can take this time, this epiphany season, to experience insight—to see more clearly the way that is before us as the Church. The way to avoid the bitter agony and death is to allow God to direct us in the way that he wants us to go, and allow the light of the world to shine through us.

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Genesis 1:1 introduces us to God. By way of beginning, God created the entire cosmos. Genesis 1:1 denotes the entire creation period. But nobody really knows how God created the cosmos, nor when. After Genesis 1:1 the focal point of the creation story is the planet, our earthly home.

Genesis 1:2a tells us the earth was formless, empty, and dark. Some people have suggested that after the initial creation, then something happened that caused the earth to become “formless, empty, and dark.” In this view, there was a long period of time (a gap) between what happened in Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. Perhaps, the fall of Satan destroyed the Earth completely. At this point, God started all over again (James Montgomery Boice, Genesis: Volume 1, 1998, pp. 56-57).

In this view, the formless, empty, and dark earth existed prior to God’s creative act, and the creation was a matter of organizing the existing chaos—making something good out of something not good. This view was supported by St. Augustine and Basil the Great. In short, the destruction of an original world was followed by a recreation described in Genesis 1:3-31 (Boice, p. 57). This allows for eons of time and can accommodate modern science.

One difficulty of the gap theory is that it requires that creation suffer death and destruction before Adam’s fall. Another objection: if something important had occurred between the first two verses of Genesis, God would have told us so, rather than leave us to speculate. According to R. C. Sproul, “the gap theory puts a strain on the grammar of verse 2 to translate was as became, making it unlikely from a grammatical point of view” (Before the Face of God, Book Three, 1994, p. 34).  If the gap theory is really true, it means that God failed his first attempt to create the cosmos in Genesis 1:1 and he had to recreate it again in Genesis 1:3-31.

It is better to interpret that there was no gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. Genesis 1:2a tells us that, when God first created the earth, it was formless, empty, and dark; it was unfinished and uninhabited. The rest of Genesis 1 tells us the six days of creation. If God first forms the earth (Genesis 1:1) and then later creates light (Genesis 1:3), there would have to be darkness over the earth in Genesis 1:2a. This indicates that God’s creation is in progress. In other words, the description of “formless, empty, and dark” is simply an expression of stages of progress during the first day of creation (Genesis 1:3-5).

As Christians, we should not be too concerned about how God created the cosmos. We must not miss the wonder, glory, and majesty of what God created. Indeed, the intricate beauty of nature continues to reveal God to us.

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When I was twelve, I went to Europe on a school trip. My father was the chaperone and we went to Amsterdam, Paris, and London. I had never seen such grand buildings before, large streets, and crowded cities. I was particularly taken with London and all it had to offer. We went to Westminster Abby, a huge cathedral where kings and queens and famous people had been buried. I remember looking around at the grandiose surroundings and being amazed. I remember thinking to myself, who walked up this aisle? Who listened to the sermons in this building? And who were the great ministers who preached to royalty? At twelve I couldn’t imagine all the possibilities.

Shortly after visiting the Abbey, we went shopping on the streets of London. I was in paradise! So many shops, so much to look at, so much to buy! Just about everything I saw, I wanted to buy. I had no real concept of money at the time and was unaware of the cost of things. Dad quickly reminded me that I had bought many souvenirs already and I couldn’t possibly have it all, yet I continued to look and continued to ask for purchases. Dad was looking for a new pair of shoes so we were spending a little too much time in one place for my liking. I decided to explore the shop next door to the shoe store without my father’s knowledge. As you can imagine, I lost track of where I was and forgot that I was in a very large city. In my excitement, I wandered further until another lovely souvenir caught my attention and I turned to ask my father once again if I could purchase it. But my father wasn’t behind me when I looked around. In fact, my father wasn’t anywhere to be seen. I was alone, in London, without any money and without the knowledge of the name of our hotel. I was lost!

Being twelve, I didn’t realize the gravity of the situation. I didn’t panic. I just knew my father would come find me and all would be well. I knew my father couldn’t be too far away and all I had to do was wait. I believed whole heartedly he would come and keep me safe. I stayed where I was and waited. Of course, in time, dad did come frantically up the street, calling my name. We were reunited and all was well, just as I knew it would be.

Looking back now, I can only imagine what my father must have been thinking. Only the day before, a newspaper in London reported that the body of a 14 year old girl had been found. She had been taken and murdered. The worry on my father’s face when he found me was clearly visible. My father, much like Mary and Joseph probably were, was very relieved to find me unharmed.

When I think of Jesus at the age of twelve and compare my twelve year old experiences, I can see that Jesus knew right from birth that he was meant for greatness. He knew he was the son of God. Mary and Joseph probably knew Jesus was meant for greatness too but parental worry is instinctual and they no doubt had been very frightened for him.

This story is the only one recorded of Jesus during his growing up. The Bible records his birth, his baptism, this day at the temple and then begins again when Jesus was an adult. One story of Jesus’ childhood and what lesson do we learn? I believe this story reminds us of Jesus’ humanity and not his deity. It is sometimes hard to imagine Jesus being the son of God and the son of man. Part of him was just like any other twelve year old boy of his time or mine. He got lost in his excitement and did not think of the consequences of his behaviour. Jesus felt safe because he knew he was the son of God and he believed his parents would keep him safe. His curiosity and thirst for knowledge caused him to stay and listen to the temple elders, forgetting about the very real dangers of wandering off from the protection of his parents. This short glimpse of Jesus as a child reinforces his humanity. I would imagine, at some point in all our lives as children, we all experienced being separated from our parents and we all had faith our parents would rescue us. We all felt at the time there was nothing to worry about. When I read about Jesus as a boy, I feel closer to our Saviour. I feel like we all had a shared experience of being lost and found. Although the story doesn’t show Jesus being in any way concerned about his well being, just knowing both he and I shared a similar experience makes me feel closer to him.

Jesus felt safe in the knowledge his heavenly Father and his earthly parents were always protecting him. We should have that same faith in our heavenly Father. He keeps us safe and protects us from dangers. As long as we have faith in our heavenly Father, we will never be lost. And that is something we believers can always count on.

God bless you all in this new year!
– Melanie Clarke

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The choir included the Cathedral’s Choral Scholars (sponsored by MUN’s Bruneau Center for Choral Excellence), Cathedral Choir members, and several singers from the Bay of Musical Arts Chorus, many of them students of Dr. Jennifer Matthews. Their choral selections, chosen by the Cathedral’s Vicar Choral, Fr Lynn Braye, included “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree” by Elizabeth Poston, “Advent Peace Canon” by Pachelbel, arranged by Elaine Schram, and “Gabriel to Mary came,” a 14^th century Irish piece.

The band, prepared by Wendy Woodland and directed by Jason Reid, played a prelude and accompanied several congregational hymns including “Lo, How a Rose e’er Blooming” and Frederik Kaan’s “Tomorrow Christ is Coming.”  Organist, Dr. Doreen Helen Klassen, accompanied several other hymns, and flautist Vickie Crocker several choral selections.

The service used the Anglican Nine Lessons and Carols format, but it was a truly ecumenical event, as instrumentalists, readers, and choir members came from the city’s Anglican, Bahai, Baptist, Roman Catholic, Salvation Army, and United churches and faith traditions. Funds raised were donated to the local food bank.

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“In my curation of what we do…how does the opportunity to sit in the silence or in darkness…how does that slow us down to take time to sit and listen?” asked Buley. The art of silence, of presence in our minds and ourselves, is quite the lost art in modern society, long since replaced by the art of doing what we are told. Our Sundays@Seven seek to do the opposite. Buley said, “This is a sense of spirituality to find its own way, without being told that now you’re gonna have a spiritual encounter.”

As for the impression Buley hopes his services have, he hopes for immersion. “I guess one thing is an opportunity to immerse ourselves in different musics that perhaps would be more challenging at the 11am service…it’s an opportunity to just experience things and then say ‘oh that’s another piece of God’s grandeur, another piece of creation, another piece of this world.’” Our 11am service, for context, is the sung Eucharist from the Books of Common Prayer and Common Praise, including spoken and sung prayer with lessons, a sermon, and communion. He believes musical spirituality can help us access that higher knowledge and closeness with religion without disputing what the Anglican faith believes, and can help individuals improve their connections with God, the world, and each other.

Next I met with Susan Cummings, regional manager in pastoral care, ethics and bereavement services with Eastern Health, as well as the person largely responsible for the installation of the Cathedral’s outdoor labyrinth. When I asked her about the purpose of the labyrinth, her response was quite interesting. “I wish we knew! I mean, labyrinths are at least 3, 4000 years old…and of course all that history is shrouded in mystery.” Labyrinths have been assigned many different purposes, from a representation of great odysseys in classical Greece to a representation of religious pilgrimage in Christianity in the middle ages. Contrary to mazes and other puzzles, the labyrinth is a straightforward design with one entrance and exit, meaning it requires no problem solving. Cummings said, “the only decision that you have to make is whether or not you want to walk”.

Because of this open-ended design, the modern day uses of the labyrinth are as unique as those who choose to walk it. “What draws us, I guess, is key to answering [what are some uses of the labyrinth]…there’s such a thing as a labyrinth practice…it’s like a mandala, a pattern for our own life’s journey.” The labyrinth helps separate past, present and future by encouraging its walkers to live in the present moment; the present thought. “It’s an intuitive practice, really,” said Cummings, “Reasons are as many as there are individuals. What would draw us, you know?”

Because of this open-ended use, the question of what impact a labyrinth could have on personal spirituality became inadvertently biased. To remedy this, Susan Cummings reached out to several friends who walked labyrinths frequently and asked them about the labyrinth’s impact on their personal spirituality. Answers were widely varied and individual. The included Holly, who said that the imagery of the labyrinth has “captured her imagination,” and that she employs the labyrinth to help her “get in touch with her truth.” Bernadine said that the labyrinth enables her to feel “refreshed and [with] a better outlook on…life.” Joan said that the labyrinth causes “a sense of problem solving [to arise],” which enables “a deeper connection with all.” Finally,  Robyn said, “meeting the labyrinth was like meeting a new friend,” and that in the labyrinth she “felt both free and held.” It’s plain to see that the labyrinth means so many things to many different people, and can help people heal and learn in a variety of different ways.

Both the Sundays@Seven and the labyrinth are fantastic ways to increase spiritual closeness and relationships with God. Both offer opportunities to deepen personal connection with the personal spirit and with God as well, in ways more personal and less technical than a traditional Eucharist. There are still many other different ways to strengthen spirituality, so do what is best for you!

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Some clergy hold up the bread because the congregation are watching for a glimpse of Jesus. This moment becomes a focal point in the service when the faithful show the reverence and devotion they would show to Christ himself if he were physically present. Others hold up the bread to show the congregation what they are becoming. Just as ordinary bread becomes the Body of Christ, so ordinary people are becoming the Body of Christ—the Church.

Receiving and becoming the Body of Christ is a great privilege for us, but it also comes with a great responsibility. By elevating the consecrated bread, holding it up for the people to see, the priest is also showing them what they must do. Our encounter with Christ is not limited to an hour in church on Sunday. What happens next? We are dismissed, sent out into the world, to show Jesus to the world, just as he has been shown to us.

This is the heart of mission, and it’s something particularly worth remembering at this time of year. We have just come out of the Christmas season, with its emphasis on God taking human flesh and becoming like us. January takes us into the season of Epiphany, when the Gospel lessons, especially in the early weeks, focus on Jesus making himself known to the world. We hear the story of the coming of the Magi, and then of Christ’s baptism in the River Jordan and the voice from heaven that proclaims him to be God’s Son. We see the first sign that he performs at the wedding in Cana. We see him making himself known in the synagogue at Capernaum, and telling his first disciples to let down their nets for a catch. The theme builds to a climax on the last Sunday after Epiphany, when we see him transfigured, speaking to Moses and Elijah in dazzling white clothing. All these stories are the stories of Christ being revealed to the world, and as we leave our churches on Sunday morning, we are stepping out into the mission that God calls us to share.

‘As the Father has sent me, so I send you,’ says Jesus. When we proclaim the good news that we have heard, or make disciples, or care for those in need, or challenge injustice and corruption, or care for the world that has been put into our care, we are carrying on the work that Christ began. There is a story in John’s Gospel of a group of Greeks who have arrived in Jerusalem, and come to Jesus’ disciples saying ‘We want to see Jesus.’ For some people, all they know of Jesus will be what they see and hear from us. When people look to us, will they see signs of lives transformed? How are we holding Christ up for the world to see?

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Here at St. John the Evangelist Church, and indeed all other neighbouring places of worship, distancing and mask wearing still prevails. However, our record in Newfoundland of keeping COVID-19 somewhat under control can be primarily attributed to the professionalism of Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, and the consequent respect shown to her judgement by all.

With so many restrictions on our church activities, a big congratulations is also in order to Mrs. Emily Rowe, editor of Anglican Life magazine, for allowing us to continue submitting parish news without interruption during this perplexing period. It also keeps us up to date on what other parishes are accomplishing while restricted. 

Since my last report, we have been successful in taking on the adventure of a fall fair on November 6th. But unlike years previous to 2019, in house food was not included in our project. 

Encouraged by the response and consequence of that venture, our team initiated a plan for a three-course stuffed chicken breast dinner as a take-out. 

At the time of planning, we could only speculate on the given date of November 20th, which depended on the COVID-19 situation. 

However, everything went off smoothly and on time, with no surprises. 

We hope that before Christmas, it may be safe to eliminate or at least be less stringent with regards to social distancing, as our entertaining team is looking forward to resuming the traditional Holly Tea in December, after a hiatus. 

Most individuals or groups can boast, whether big or small, of some semblance of a Christmas tradition. Random House dictionary describes it as a custom so long continued that it has almost the force of a law. 

Twelve years ago, the ACW ladies of St. John the Evangelist in Topsail, decided as part of our Christmas celebrations, to host a special tea party, served on our best china and befitting a king. After all, despite the commercialization of Christmas in the secular world, Advent is still all about the anticipation of the birth of the greatest king that ever lived. 

As a gesture of a good will and fellowship we extended invitations outside the confines of our own parish family, and the response to that outreach was overwhelming. As a result, the festivity known as our Holly Tea was born, and enjoyed each year up to 2019. 

We look forward to its resumption this year of 2021.
The accompanying photo portrays the original group of our “Holly Tea Ladies” of 2009. 

“The hope we have is an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast.”
Hebrews 6:19 

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