Church of the Ascension

Archives for April 2020

A New Kind of Community

The Story
Fourth Sunday of Easter
May 3, 2020

Acts 2:42-47

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. 

Something to Do

Glad and Generous Hearts

The vision of the earliest community of Christians is so beautiful – people gathering together with joy and love to worship and study and take care of one another. It is the vision we have for own communities, too, even if we sometimes also squabble or worry more about ourselves than other people. And these days, we miss being together whether happy or grumpy – but we can still have glad and generous hearts when we hold one another close in Spirit.

Reach out to someone in your church family. Send an email or make a phone call or – gasp – send a letter. If there is someone you would like to contact but you don’t know how, contact the office or your priest to pass on your message. Gladden someone else’s heart and find your own heart gladdened in the process.

Glad and generous hearts

There are people in the community who are experiencing real difficulty right now. If you are able, offer some of what you have to help by making a donation. Some possible options:

Something to Wonder

Awe came upon everyone

The life of this community can be counted as one of (perhaps even the greatest) of the signs and wonders performed by the apostles in the power of the Spirit. We know that it cannot simply be the work of people – and we know that it doesn’t last in quite such a perfect form (just read Paul’s letters!).

  • What do you imagine it would have been like to be part of it, for however long it lasted?
  • What parts of it sounds wonderful to you? What parts sound less so?

Community Dreams

What would your ideal community of the Spirit involve? What aspects of that dream can you work towards?

Something to Learn

Utopias & Intentional Communities

There is a long and ongoing tradition of Christians seeking to create communities that live up to the vision of the Gospel. This collection of articles includes historical overviews and reflections from both historical and current members of intentional communities.

Utopia: Nine of the most miserable attempts to create idealized societies from The Independent
“…some “intentional communities”, as those who study them like to call them, have flourished. But here are a few, imagined and historical, that show how acting on a dream can sometimes land you in a nightmare.”

The Return of the Utopians from The New Yorker
“Contradiction and hypocrisy have always hovered over the utopian project, shadowing its promise of a better world with the sordid realities of human nature. ”

A How-to for Intentional Christian Community A Q&A with David Janzen
“The Holy Spirit is using the longing for community that is universal in human beings, along with the specific cultural forces in our time to call people to this more intentional way of community life as disciples of Jesus.”

Living in Community A collection of essays on Plough, the publishing arm of one of the oldest intentional community networks, Bruderhof.

Something to Pray

Holy God, we do not always understand your word or your ways. 
Give us wisdom and imagination and courage as we learn and grow. 

The story this week has made me wonder about…
         (what questions are still on your heart?)
Receive my questions and help me hear your answers.

The story this week has filled me with…
         (how are you feeling?)
Accept my praise, heal my hurt, ease my worry.

The story this week has reminded me of…
         (are there situations or people you are thinking of?)
Be with all who are in need of you.

In Jesus’ name, we pray.
Amen.

Bread and Hearts – being disciples of Jesus

The Story
Third Sunday of Easter
April 26, 2020

Luke 24:13-25

Now on that same day two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?”

They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?”

They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.”

Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them.

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.

They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. 

Something to Do

Breaking of the Bread

Our collective desire to bake bread in response to the pandemic is a fascinating thing – and a frustrating one if you are trying to supply yourself with the necessary supplies. If you are fortunate enough, however, to have a stock of flour and yeast or sourdough starter or even baking powder/soda, bake some bread this week. When you eat it, take a moment to bless it and break it and remember that Jesus is with you.

If you are in need of a recipe, you could give Thomas’ no-knead sandwich loaf a try (our household plus the senior youth group can attest to its deliciousness):

  • 6 cups all-purpose white or whole wheat flour (or a mix)
  • 1 tbsp instant yeast
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 3 cups water, room temperature

1.       In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Whisk together.
2.       Add the water and mix well.
3.       Cover and let rise 4 hours.
4.       Butter a 12 x 4.5 inch loaf pan.
5.       Using hands, scoop dough into loaf pan, squishing it to fill the pan.
6.       Cover with tea towel and let rise 1 hour.
7.       Heat oven to 425 F.
8.       Bake  for about 30 minutes. The loaf will sound hollow when tapped.

Or, if you need something with no yeast, you could try one of these :

  • Altar Bread from the Society of St. John the Evangelist (this is the bread Derek makes for us at church)
  • Bannock for either the oven or the stope top
  • Irish Soda Bread (or do a quick google search for a version with raisins and sugar)

“Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?”

I wonder if the occasion to tell the story of Jesus death was a relief or a frustration to the disciples. If you think it might have been a relief, perhaps you would like to imagine you are meeting someone who has just arrived on earth and has no idea what is going on. Why are the stores closed? Why is no one at school? Why is everyone online all the time? How would you tell the story of the things that have taken place these past weeks?

Something to Wonder

Recognizing Jesus

One possible explanation for why Jesus’ own friends seemed to have a hard time recognizing him after his resurrection is that their brains simply refused to suggest something so obviously impossible to them. Jesus is dead. This man I am talking to is not dead. Therefore, this man I am talking to cannot be Jesus.

In this week’s story, the disciples are finally able to recognize him when he breaks and blesses the bread at dinner, something they must have seen him do many times before.

  • What are the things that help you recognize Jesus or that help you realize you are in God’s presence?
  • What are the assumptions you make that get in your way to see God’s presence?

“How slow of heart…were not our hearts burning within us”

We are reminded that our hearts are an important source of knowing, offering us wisdom and insights and pathways to understanding that should not be ignored.

  • What is your heart telling you these days?
  • What is your heart resisting?
  • What is your heart yearning for?

Something to Learn

Bread in a pandemic

People are making bread! These two articles reflect on why that is:
The science behind why everyone is suddenly baking bread from the Globe and Mail
Stress baking more than usual from the New York Times

Being disciples

The question of what it means to be a disciples of Jesus was active before Jesus’ death as well as after his resurrection. The Story at the Rectory will be reading Rowan Williams’ book on the topic, Being Disciples: Essentials of the Christian Life, beginning with chapter 1 on May 7th. The book is easily available in both print and e-book versions and the first chapter (only) is available as a PDF. Read it on your own or join us via Zoom in a few weeks and explore what being a disciple means to you.

Something to Pray

Holy God, we do not always understand your word or your ways. 
Give us wisdom and imagination and courage as we learn and grow. 

The story this week has made me wonder about…
         (what questions are still on your heart?)
Receive my questions and help me hear your answers.

The story this week has filled me with…
         (how are you feeling?)
Accept my praise, heal my hurt, ease my worry.

The story this week has reminded me of…
         (are there situations or people you are thinking of?)
Be with all who are in need of you.

In Jesus’ name, we pray.
Amen.

Kaite Burkholder Harris Speaks

How do you stay at home if you don’t have a home?

Kaite Burkholder Harris, executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness, will join us in our service on Sunday, May 3 to speak about the state of affairs in Ottawa, how we ended up here, and what we can do now and in the future.

Second Sunday in Easter – April 19, 2020

Found by Resurrection?

Laurna Strikwerda

This year, I am starting Eastertide reluctantly. I want to stay in Lent, which feels like a more appropriate season for rest and withdrawing. I don’t quite feel ready for resurrection, not yet. 

And I am starting Eastertide full of sympathy for Thomas, who has a lead role in this week’s Gospel passage from John. The disciples, we are told, have gathered in a room, where they have locked their doors for fear of the Jewish religious authorities. They are hiding after Jesus has died, and their hopes – for a revolution, a transformation, a fulfillment of prophecies – have been dashed, or so they think. 

Imagining myself there, in that room, the first word that comes to mind is “safe”. The locked room would probably feel like one small, certain measure of safety in a violent and chaotic world. Right now, when we in fact need to stay inside, I am even more primed to think of being inside, being locked in, as safe. 

Suddenly, regardless of the locked door, Jesus appears. The disciples rejoice, seeing him. But Thomas is not there, and only hears the story later. His words, “unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe,” feel even more poignant now, when the usual ways that we could express care or concern, a hand on the shoulder, a hug, are impossible to give anyone outside our immediate circle. If the resurrection happened today, would Thomas have been able to believe? 

My heart goes out to him, and the way he was so honest in his doubts. But Thomas was able to put his hands in the mark of his nails and the hole in his side. He was able to experience the signs of Jesus’s resurrection. He was able to believe. 

This Eastertide, still feeling more in Lent than Easter, I wonder if I am actually able to believe in the resurrection, or if it is only a story. I love thinking about the resurrection, love hearing stories about moments that point to renewal, transformation, and rebirth. But I realize that despite the fact that I love stories about resurrection, I sometimes don’t live my life as if the resurrection is true. Sometimes, I live my life to be safe, staying inside both physically and metaphorically. 

So as Easter begins, I am starting to look at my life, and wonder if it resembles the life of someone who follows a risen Savior. I am starting to listen, to see if I might notice resurrection in the here and now, those small signs of hope that remind us that Jesus is risen. I am trying to listen and to begin praying, a practice I have long struggled with – actually setting aside time to listen for God. As strange as that feels, this Eastertide, I have a sense of hope when I remember Thomas, tentatively reaching out, touching Jesus’s hands and side. Resurrection found him, even if he didn’t yet believe.