All Saints Gazette: Whole Stories, Loving Neighbors, The Church Entrance
Greetings from All Saints!
We are over halfway through Lent and looking forward to welcoming you at our second service at our new location (this Sunday at 5:30 p.m.), as well as our Bible study (Wednesday at 6:30, currently online--see below for link. There are some pictures to help you find your way into our space at Vriburg. Also, we are having a service on Easter Sunday (usual time at Vrijburg, but in their sanctuary).
Abundance Inventory
In the Episcopal Lectionary cycle this week we commemorate four people whose lives, work and witness reaches from forgotten centuries into the present day.
On Tuesday we remember Gregory the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church. To him we owe Gregorian chant, the ordered cycle of Sunday readings that is the lectionary, and systematic guidance on the work of a minister in charge of a congregation.
On Wednesday we commemorate James Theodore Holly, Bishop of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. He was the first African American Bishop in the Episcopal Church and a founding member of the predecessor of the Union of Black Episcopalians. It was he who built up the Episcopal Church in Haiti establishing schools, congregations and medical programs throughout the country.
On Friday we mark the feast of Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac co-founders of the Daughters of Charity, ministers to the poor.
The stories told of each of these people celebrate their ultimate success. The stories glide over the hardships and doubts that may have assailed them from time to time. Those tales describe the lives of saints as smooth trajectories from birth to sainthood. The narratives do not tell of days when everything seemed to go wrong; when the goal seemed far out of reach; when an assumed ally didn’t offer support; how could they? And yet the set-backs and perceived failures are also integral parts of these stories. What resources did these saints draw on when resources seemed meagre? Where did they find springs in the desert?
Perhaps at this point in your lenten journey the season feels interminable. The supplies of hope, discipline and determination with which you began are dwindling. It seems there is no store of abundance from which you can draw. This may be the moment when Lent comes alive. It may be now that you finally recognise that God is the source of infinite abundance that has always been present and available to you. This may be the moment that you are drawn deeper into the desert, not trusting to your own talents but leaning on God’s grace.
What is God inviting you to share from the wellspring of abundance that you have found? Share your responses with us by email or on the All Saints WhatsApp group.
Bible Study
We are meeting online during Lent on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. No preparation is necessary, you're welcome to join once or many times, and we don't mind if you're eating dinner (we normally have food at our in person meetings anyway). This week: What are we doing when we pray the psalms?
Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88944038056?pwd=4ybNm7bmmD44bzCkAAdSaZ1ZNXM69N.1
Meeting ID: 889 4403 8056
Passcode: 817891
Note that after Easter, we are moving to Thursdays and in person at Vrijburg.
Finding us at Vrijburg
Enter at Herman Gorterstraat 31 and go right up the stairs. Here are two pictures with arrows showing the way from Diepenbrockstraat.
Roving Priest
Due to a childcare situation this week, I will need to work from home on Thursday, but I am always happy to set up a time to meet with you, whether in person or by phone or Zoom. Since I'm not going, will you walk a hundred meters or so on your street or any other and quietly pray for any person or home that catches your eye? If you need a formula, try: "God, I thank you for this beautiful and beloved neighbor. May I love you by loving them and every other neighbor. May you provide abundantly for their every need, heal them of every hurt, and grant them to know you in whatever way you desire to be known by them, in the name of your Son/Child, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen."
That's all for today!
Want to talk to a priest? We want to talk to you too!
Website: https://allsaintsamsterdam.church/
Mpho: mpho@allsaintsamsterdam.church
Kyle: kyle@allsaintsamsterdam.church
General: info@allsaintsamsterdam.church
