Loaves and Fishes, Free Read

Loaves and Fishes, Free Read

“Young people say, “What can one person do? What is the sense of our small effort?” They cannot see that we can only lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time; we can be responsible only for the one action of the present moment.

But we can beg for an increase of love in our hearts that will vitalize and transform these actions, and know that God will take them and multiply them, as Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes.”–Dorothy Day, The Catholic Worker, September 1957

I often hear from friends that they want to give up their ministry. The need is overwhelming, and they cannot imagine how their small part can make any difference. My experience is that God calls us to bloom where we are planted in our small part of the world, try to help and make changes right where we are, and let God take over the rest.

This 20th-century social activist reminds us of something else we should have remembered. We do what God calls us to do, and God will multiply the works we have done, just like the loaves and fishes. How exciting that the story of the multiplying loaves and fishes did not only happen in Jesus’ time. It happens every day, every hour we do ministry.

I am thinking of one friend, Tandy Cobb, who heard a call to send books to women in prison during the scariest part of the pandemic. Tandy is a retired, much beloved high school English teacher who still wanted to share her love of reading with others and heard a call to women’s prison ministry. She presented her idea to our Daughters of the King (DOK) and then to the congregation at Saint Mark’s. As a result, 23 St. Mark’s parishioners joined the ministry, including 16 DOK members.

 The books go directly to inmates who have requested them and are not returned. One group called other individuals and bookstores for paperback books. The Boy Scouts helped move books and gave up a part of their scout hut to store them. Donations of money and paperbacks came in. Members of the group met with Tandy for three days each month to fill orders from the women in prison.

Then, the chaplain at the prison wanted the group, now called Free Read, to send books to the men’s prison as well. Soon, they filled an order from 324 men and women for 648 books. Sheila and Carly, two other team members, delivered the two carloads of books to the prison.

The notes written by inmates on their book request forms let them know that Free Read is a program that matters to them. They received letters saying they would leave prison before the last shipment of books they ordered, but could the books be sent to their home address? Most notes are expressions of gratitude, but they frequently receive glimpses of their lives. One man asked them to pray for his release.

One lady asked for a large print Bible for her bunk-mate, who is almost blind. Another Free Read regular wrote she has no family to visit her, so she looks forward to receiving books each month. Recently, Mary wrote, “Thank you for the wonderful books. We so enjoy sharing them. So many special friendships are formed. We learn a lot about one another. God bless you.”

The group at Saint Mark’s repeatedly talks about how this ministry blesses them.

Some might believe God is still in “the multiplying the loaves and fishes” business.

Joanna joannaseibert.com  https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Great 50 Days of Easter

Lessons from the Great Fifty Days of Easter

"I looked and saw a nurse, dressed in white, standing by a bed in the improvised ICU. Why do you seek the living among the dead?" she asked, pulling back the curtain to reveal an empty bed. In my confusion, I turned and walked outside, leaving the hospital as if it were a tomb and going into the streets.

There were hundreds of people there, people laughing and talking, people strolling hand in hand, children playing in the parks, people hugging one another as they met on busy sidewalks. The shops were full. The streets were full. The city was overflowing with the sounds of life, joyous and unending, beneath a clear and sunny sky. I stood transfixed. Then I remembered: it was Easter Day!"—Steven Charleston's Facebook Page, Easter 2020.

Langley Easter New York Grace Church

In case you did not see this previous Easter Facebook Page by Bishop Charleston, here it is! He tells us what the resurrection of our state, country, and world will look like. He constantly reminds us to look fear in the eye. He shows us what hope looks like. Reread the resurrection stories of Jesus. So often, he says, "Fear not. Do not be afraid; Peace be with you."

Not being afraid means knowing God is beside us and cares about us. God walks beside us today so that we, again this year, can take the joy of Easter out of our churches. The Easter Parade is a reminder of a movement into our streets, shops, and workplaces to share the good news.

Easter Parade

Customs and traditions can also help us remember the love of God walking with us, especially during a joyous holiday such as Easter. My granddaughter Zoe and I have a custom of watching the movie Easter Parade on Holy Saturday. Later, one Easter Day, after lunch, I watched the Easter Parade with our oldest granddaughter, Langley, who had never seen it. That night, she showed me pictures of that day's Easter Parade in New York City. It was very different from the past, but still joyous.

This Easter, Langley, who is now in school in New York, sent us a picture of the Easter parade at her church in the city. A tradition even celebrated when we are apart.

We need traditions to remind ourselves of life and love in the past. We also live in the present and bring the traditions forward to keep remembering. Customs can be as simple as watching a movie with people you love. Traditions help us remember a past time of God's love and promise. Sometimes, we can enjoy the experience even more in our memories.

The joy of the great fifty days of Easter is an excellent time to celebrate family traditions and memories of love.

Joanna. https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Chant: Exsultet Easter Vigil

Chant Exsultet Easter

“Chant calls us out of chronological time, in which ‘now’ can never be located, and into the eternal now, which is not really found in time.” —David Steindl-Rast in The Music of Silence: Entering the Sacred Space of Monastic Experience (HarperOne, 1995).

David Steindl-Rast reminds us that when we use this ancient voice of praise and prayer to God, we are standing in the presence of ancient angel choirs. We are changing the way we address God and each other. The words become notes. The message we chant sounds different. The sounds of the chant are soothing and comforting.

The music takes us to another place and another time. The sounds open our world to a new dimension. Chanting slows down the words of the message. The squirrels running in the cage in our heads slow down and become a bit quieter. Sometimes, time seems to stand still, and we feel at peace. We are home.

The chant that deacons most often sing is the Exsultet, which follows bringing the newly lit Christ candle back into the church at the Easter Vigil. This music becomes part of my body long before Lent begins, even if I am not the deacon designated to sing this lengthy Canticle.

Jason Pennington, the music director at one of my previous churches, describes the Exsultet as “one of the most difficult chants of the Church’s treasury of song, sung at the opening of the Great Vigil. It is the culmination of the events of the Holy Triduum, as the congregation holds their candles in the shadow of the one Paschal Candle. The choir, not yet allowed into the stalls, stands in the nave with the faithful as that most beautiful of Canticles is intoned and promises us all the immeasurable gift of salvation.” 

I keep a note from Jason from our last Easter together, when I began having more mobility issues, and standing for a long time was more difficult.

Jason

“She faced excruciating physical pain to stand for the lengthy Canticle as she drew each breath to acclaim its message of life. She paced it well, taking her time and savoring every single phrase as if it were the very first. This was a beautiful gift of ministry, a Holy Spirit gift that put ministry before self. And isn’t that exactly the lesson to have been learned at the Mandatum not two nights before: ‘I give you a new commandment, that you should love one another.’ Joanna’s lovely, quiet chanting voice was tremulous with pain, yet was filled with joy. This was Easter.”

I keep Jason’s note to remind me and others that chanting is always an offering, never a performance.

Joanna. https://www.joannaseibert.com/