Rector's Notes
July, 2010

 

You’ve heard it said many times that we learn from our mistakes. In keeping with my custom of offering many learning opportunities, I really botched the absolution at the Wednesday Holy Eucharist last week. Maybe it was because I had been away on vacation for a couple of weeks, or maybe I was distracted, I don’t know. It’s never happened to me before, but there I was standing in front of a larger than normal Wednesday congregation and going totally blank, then when I got started completely forgetting the words again.

But here’s what I learned, you guys know the words of Absolution too (they’re on page 360 in the Book of Common Prayer, just before Passing the Peace)! As I stumbled and embarrassed myself, several people there helped me along and told me what to say. I think that is awesome! Most of the
Wednesday crowd is pretty committed, and they’re very familiar with the liturgy because they make it a regular part of their lives, not only on Wednesday but on Sunday as well. This incident showed me that what we are doing at St. Matthew’s is working. We want to integrate worship into our
lives to such a degree that we can say the words even when the priest can’t!

This applies to all of us who worship together, but I believe that children especially need the opportunity to become so comfortable with the liturgy that they could take the priest’s place! I attended a funeral service of a lodge brother recently and was impressed by the part that Chaplain Don Bretz, our Episcopal brother and Wing Chaplain at Vance AFB, played in the service (the deceased was a veteran who sometimes worshipped in the base chapel). At the end of his homily Don asked the congregation to recite the 23rd Psalm. I was amazed at the number of people who could do that. Could you? It is just one of those things that we learn in church growing up, but if our children aren’t exposed to that then we are robbing them of that treasure.

I was worshipping with a group at a diocesan function last year where we began the day with Morning Prayer. When we read the rather long canticle assigned for that day one of the ladies there recited it from memory. I commented on it to her later and she said that she and her husband did Morning Prayer every day and after a while you just know the canticles. I guess I’m inconsistent enough that I don’t know them all, but she really did model what should be the norm for all of us. The purpose of the Book of Common Prayer is not to be a crutch, but to train us in holiness as the
prayers and sentences become so engrained in us that they really start to
transform our lives.

As we get busy with summer activities church sometimes takes a back
seat. May I encourage you to make church an integral and ongoing part of
your life so that you to may be transformed by the words of our worship.
Have a fun and safe summer, Blessings, Fr. Steve +

 

Blessings, Fr. Steve +

 

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