October 17, 2024

Dear Friends,

 The Holy Eucharist, the principal act of Christian worship on the Lord’s Day and other major Feasts, and Daily Morning and Evening Prayer, as set forth in this Book, are the regular services appointed for public worship in this Church.

In all services, the entire Christian assembly participates in such a way that the members of each order within the Church, lay persons, bishops, priests, and deacons, fulfill the functions proper to their respective orders, as set forth in the rubrical directions for each service.

 The quotes above are found at the very beginning of The Book of Common Prayer in the introductory section labeled “Concerning the Service of the Church. There are two primary takeaways for you in these quotes. First, the Holy Eucharist is noted to be the “principal act of Christian worship. Second, “the entire assembly participates.” This is the most basic definition of the word liturgy – meaning “the work of the people.” This is what WE do and there are no spectators.

 The Catechism set forth in The Book of Common Prayer defines the Sacraments as “outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace.” The definition seems esoteric, archaic, and intangible, and I hope to unpack it some as we have discussion about the Holy Eucharist at Forum presentations this month and subsequently in November and December. More from the Catechism follows:

The Holy Eucharist is the sacrament commanded by Christ for the continual remembrance of his life
, death, and resurrection, until his coming again.

The inward and spiritual grace in the Holy Communion is the Body and Blood of Christ
given to his people, and received by faith.

The benefits we receive are the forgiveness of our sins, the strengthening of our union with Christ
and one another, and the foretaste of the heavenly banquet which is our nourishment in eternal life.

 At our most recent parish retreat, we talked about what the Eucharist is and its impact on our individual lives and our communal life. We talked about it being a moment of bonding with other Christians worshipping God in whatever manner their worship may take. We talked about occasions of worship in which we felt either swept up in the ethereal, transcendent reality, occasions when we felt the immanent presence of God moving among us, and occasions when we were distracted and just felt like we were going through the motions.

It dawned on us in those conversations that, perhaps, we take what is normal to us for granted. We concluded that taking some time for intentional reflection on “what we do,” “why we do it,” and “from whence do these practices come” would be edifying for our life together amid all our transformations. So, this Sunday, October 20^th, I will offer my first of three (maybe four) presentations on the Holy Eucharist at the Rector’s Forum at 9:00 a.m. in the Library. Later presentations will be in November and December.

 I am so pleased by the interest and participation we have seen at the Forum. I remind you that we are going to hear from Wesley Ann and Ron Godard on the 27^th about life in the Foreign Service, and that in November we will hear from Randy Oglesby, the Stewardship and Development Committee, and hear about the work of Diocesan Convention. We also look forward to welcoming guests from the diocesan staff and from CrossOver Healthcare Ministries.

 Thank you so much for getting our program year off to such a great start.

 Peace,
 Michael