Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent - April 4
Ezekiel 37:21-28 John 11:45-57
When my husband Jim and I moved to Kansas City in 2004, we shopped around for a church home. Although I recognize now we were supposed to choose a parish based on our geographic location, we sought the sort of community we had grown accustomed to in Columbia. Our first Mass at Visitation was incredible; while the liturgy was moving, what really seemed to saturate our senses that day was the lay-out of the church. The congregation worshipped around the altar, rather than behind. Although there were no familiar faces at that first Mass, the sanctuary offered a promise of community yet to come.
In today’s readings, there is a recurrent theme of bringing people together, scattered sheep being brought home. Jeremiah reminds us: “The Lord will guard us, like a shepherd guarding his flock.” Ezekiel 37 notes “I will make with them a covenant of peace; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, I will multiply them, and put my sanctuary among them forever.” Any given week, our sanctuary houses many different views and dispositions, but we all seek a place of refuge and safety. The protections afforded by our faith, protections which work to guard against uncertainty, failure, fear and regret, offer daily refuge.
Our sanctuary houses a disparate group, from the jubilant singing kindergarteners at a Wednesday school Mass, to the steady regulars who maintain the grooves and routines of weekly liturgy, to the visitors who perhaps feel the same awe I experienced sixteen years ago. Our place of refuge, our source of beauty, our beloved church home, provides a continual reminder of the promise of salvation. As we await the coming of Jesus, let us be reminded of the sanctuary promised to us, a sanctuary we can internalize and carry forth to all we encounter.
Q: Have you noticed any new faces at your regular mass time? How might you reach out and invite them into community with you?
When my husband Jim and I moved to Kansas City in 2004, we shopped around for a church home. Although I recognize now we were supposed to choose a parish based on our geographic location, we sought the sort of community we had grown accustomed to in Columbia. Our first Mass at Visitation was incredible; while the liturgy was moving, what really seemed to saturate our senses that day was the lay-out of the church. The congregation worshipped around the altar, rather than behind. Although there were no familiar faces at that first Mass, the sanctuary offered a promise of community yet to come.
In today’s readings, there is a recurrent theme of bringing people together, scattered sheep being brought home. Jeremiah reminds us: “The Lord will guard us, like a shepherd guarding his flock.” Ezekiel 37 notes “I will make with them a covenant of peace; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, I will multiply them, and put my sanctuary among them forever.” Any given week, our sanctuary houses many different views and dispositions, but we all seek a place of refuge and safety. The protections afforded by our faith, protections which work to guard against uncertainty, failure, fear and regret, offer daily refuge.
Our sanctuary houses a disparate group, from the jubilant singing kindergarteners at a Wednesday school Mass, to the steady regulars who maintain the grooves and routines of weekly liturgy, to the visitors who perhaps feel the same awe I experienced sixteen years ago. Our place of refuge, our source of beauty, our beloved church home, provides a continual reminder of the promise of salvation. As we await the coming of Jesus, let us be reminded of the sanctuary promised to us, a sanctuary we can internalize and carry forth to all we encounter.
Q: Have you noticed any new faces at your regular mass time? How might you reach out and invite them into community with you?
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