Dear Friends,
This week a dear priest and friend of long standing wrote to us to share a thoughtful insight which we found consoling during these troubling days.
It’s an insight to help us understand the COVID-19 threat as an invitation to reconsider our heart’s longing for Eucharist. He wrote: “So often, what is familiar can be sadly taken for granted. We can take for granted such blessings as life, health, faith, family, or friendship. It’s only when something is taken away from us that we can grow in the wisdom of discovering its irreplaceable value in and for our lives. That said, when the ‘all clear’ is eventually given, after the danger passes, our churches will again be opened, and our parishes will at last be able once again to celebrate the Eucharist together. On that joy-filled day, brimming with relief and thanksgiving, we will be able to gather in person at Jesus’ altar, to share with each other His Word of Salvation and to partake together of Holy Communion in his own Body and Blood. May we thus live the rest of this extraordinary Lent, and the most sacred days of Holy Week, as well as the glorious days of the coming Easter Season, with renewed enthusiasm for and delight in Holy Communion. The full communion of a grateful people who had been recently forced into social isolation by fear of contagion. The communion of a strengthened family of faith, which can once more come together giving thanks for our God’s deliverance. This new kind of Exodus…from a new type of Exile…blesses us with new, convincing evidence of God’s Easter victory among us. May our Heavenly Father, who raised His Son, Jesus, from the dead, fill your heart and your home with His Holy Spirit of Hope, Joy, and Peace.” With all God’s blessings, Deacon Ray & Claire We too are looking forward to seeing you soon.
