TASTE & SEE: The Rector's Musings

I write you on the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, one of seven Principal Feasts in the calendar of the Anglican Church of Canada.  The Feast always falls on a Thursday, counting 39 days forward from Easter Sunday.  Ascension reminds us that all good things come to an end, but because of Christ's promise that "I am with you always, to the end of the age," we are assured that this is simply the end of the beginning, AND the beginning of a community of his disciples marked and empowered by the joy of the Holy Spirit, which is the Church built on the foundation of Christ's love.  

DID YOU KNOW that it was on the eve of the Ascension Day in 988 when Dunstan, then an elderly Archbishop of Cantebury, received a vision of angels informing him that he would die within 3 days.  And at the celebration of the Holy Eucharist the next morning, after preaching 3 times (see how lucky we all are today) he annourced his impending death to the monks.  He died two days afterwards on May 19, opening the way for us to remember (or to learn the first time) our patron saint's remarkable witness to the good news of Christ Jesus.  I had so much fun this week reseaching the truly extraordinary life of Dunstan.  This blog includes a link to a video biography of Saint Dunstan, a well-worth 23 minutes of your week.  We shall a St. Dunstan's trivia at coffee hour this Sunday!

May 14 also marks the Independence Day of the modern state of Israel, while May 15 is the day of commemoration for the Nakba, also known as the Palestinian Catastrophe, when the Palestinian homeland and society were destroyed in 1948 and most Palestinians were permanently displaced.  In Luke's telling of the Ascension story in the Book of Acts, two angels appeared to the disciples who were gazing up towards heaven and feeling a bit lost.  They said,

Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

There are many reasons to heed the warning of angels that disciples of the Way should keep our eyes, hearts, hands and feet focused on the meaning of Christ’s gospel here on earth.  The destruction of Palestinian land and culture is continuing today. 
Take some time today to learn about the commemoration of Nakbu.  And CLICK THIS LINK to a recording of webinar sponsored by Pax Christi International on "A Christian Call to Peace from Palestine." This webinar explores how communities rooted in faith continue to raise a courageous call for justice, peace, human dignity, and reconciliation.

Anglicans and Lutherans in Canada are invited by our respective national mothership to observe Jerusalem and the Holy Land Sunday on May 17 to stand in partnership with the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan & the Holy Land through worship, learning and giving.  If you are like me wondering how we may hold all these many layers of observances (St. Dunstan's Day, Nakba, Jerusalem and the Holy Land Sunday) on a single Sunday, take comfort in this prayer penned by St. Dunstan:

Remember, I beg you, merciful Christ, to protect [me/your name], and do not permit the storms of the underworld to swallow me up.

Clarence+