The Story
National Indigenous Day of Prayer
June 21, 2020

Isaiah 40:25-31

To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God””? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but 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, they shall walk and not faint.

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Something to Do

…those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength

Seeking justice and reconciliation is hard work. The prophet Isaiah reminds us that the source of our strength is God who renews us day by day. One of the ways God renews us is by giving us opportunities for joy in the midst of the hard work. Be renewed by the beauty and richness of the cultures of the Indigenous Peoples of this land.

The Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival is happening online all month. You can take culinary or crafting webinars; watch live-streamed music and dance; listen to lectures; and do family-friendly virtual tours and games.

The Canadian Museum of History has a fascinating virtual exhibit dedicated to exploring Alex Janvier’s masterpiece Morning Star. Get up close to this beautiful painting and learn about the symbolism the artist used and the methods

The NAC Indigenous Theatre is running a (recorded) speaker series on Indigenous arts and storytelling, beginning with Professor Simon Brascoupé, Mohawk, an Algonquin Anishinabeg artist. 

God is the Creator of the ends of the earth.

The Doctrine of Discovery was one of the founding sins of colonialism. Christian Europe concluded that Christian Europeans counted and so land really only came into being when they found it. Anyone already living there was not really, properly human and so Christian Europeans were free to do with the land as they wished.

How God must have wept to see any of God’s children so twist the truth.

Territorial acknowledgments are a small act but they are one way to counteract this terrible lie. These lands existed under the care and use of other people – whose descendants still live on these lives.

Learn the history of the land you live on. Learn the history of any other lands you have lived on. This website is working to make this information easier for us to find: Native-Land.ca

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Something to Wonder

Wings like an eagle

The promises in this passage are so lovely – and, in the face of very real tiredness, hard to believe. Check in with yourself. What is tiring you out these days? What restores your energy? Where would you like God to help you soar?

Name all of that for yourself and then tell it all to God – and wait for the Lord.

Making Connections

Why do you suppose this reading has been chosen for the National Indigenous Day of Prayer? How does it speak to the work of reconciliation? How does it speak to the realities of diversity? Of inequality?

If you were preaching, what would you say?

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Something to Learn

The Strawberry Teaching

This Sunday, the are going to listen to the Most Rev’d Mark MacDonald, our National Indigenous Archbishop, tell us the story of Odeiman and use the strawberry teaching to call us into a renewed life of love.

In preparation, you can study up on the strawberry teaching in English or in French.

Gathering at the River: A Gospel Jamboree

And you can get to know Archbishop Mark as he hosts Indigenous Ministries’ first on-line Gospel Jamboree (available as a video or audio recording).

Within the Anglican Church of Canada, Gospel Jamborees have accompanied the Native Convocations/Sacred Circles as well as being used by communities and ministry areas to bring folks together for fellowship, encouragement, worship, community-building, support and fun. The last three General Synods have also featured Gospel Jamborees as ongoing acts of reconciliation and bridge-building.

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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.

The Story
2nd Sunday after Pentecost
June 14, 2020

Matthew 9:35-10:8

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.” Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.” 

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Something to Do

The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few

There is no shortage of work for us to do in the name of Jesus – no shortage of sickness in need of curing or unclean spirits in need of casting out. Happily, there is also no shortage of Good News to be proclaimed because the Kingdom of God is at hand and the promise of life and love is sure.

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, in his sermon for Pentecost 2020, identified the great pandemic in need of curing as the pandemic of self-centredness which leads, among other things, to the terrible sin of racism. Begin the work of curing that sickness by learning.

Consider gathering a small group of trusted friends (in a socially distant way or online) to read a book that will help you do this learning. I will be reading White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo with three other priests in the diocese. Other possibilities could include Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death , and Hard Truths in a Northern City by Tanya Talaga; How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? (short stories) by N.K. Jemisin; or Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present by Robyn Maynard.

Last week’s Story at Home included more book suggestions and, if you have children in your household, take a look at the resources shared by Gabrielle in last week’s Sunday school at home email.

He had compassion on them

The etymology of compassion is to suffer-with. It’s an imaginative act of entering into another person’s story so that their experience has an impact on you, too.

Practice compassion this week. Anytime you encounter someone else, take a moment to imagine how they might be feeling. Notice when this is easy and when this is hard. Are there certain people for whom you struggle to feel compassion? Are there certain situations which makes it harder for you? Wonder about all these patterns.

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Something to Wonder

Go nowhere among the Gentiles

Most of us would be included in this category – members of the nations other than Israel. How does hearing Jesus reserve the Good News and healing power for the “lost sheep of Israel” make you feel? Why do you think he did it? Why do you think he later extended the disciples’ mandate to include “all nations”?

You received without payment, give without payment

Eucharistic theology teaches us that everything we have and everything we are comes from God, including the great privilege of having something to give away. This non-transactional relationship is at the heart of our relationship with God – we can’t buy or earn grace which also means we can’t sell it. All we can do, in response to receiving it, is to give it.

Contemplate the gifts you have been given.
Contemplate how you can give them away.

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Something to Learn

Ministry among the harassed and helpless

This Sunday, the Rev’d Caroline Ducros will be speaking to us about her work in prison ministry. As we anticipate her visit, here are two articles about the state of prison ministry in the time of COVID-19.

From “God’s total identification with the incarcerated” in The Anglican Journal:
“I really think our prison system’s problems are being exposed through this crisis, because we see that our prisons aren’t equipped to deal with a public health crisis. The conditions of lockdown are very penal, very punishing for people, and it causes massively significant, detrimental mental health impacts on prisoners.”

From “Spiritual needs of vulnerable federal inmates unmet during pandemic: chaplains” in The National Post
“Federal prison chaplains say the spiritual needs of inmates have become an unnecessary casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic at a time when offenders are feeling particularly vulnerable and alone.”

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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.