Holy Week Redux

By The Rev. Cameron Randle, Rector

Even as our lives continue to be impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, Christians around the globe are moving collectively toward Easter Sunday, through the spiritual gauntlet of Holy Week. The formal liturgical name of this time ahead is Triduum Sacrum (Three Sacred Days). It begins with Maundy Thursday’s service commemorating the institution of Holy Eucharist, including foot washing and a new commandment to love one another as Christ loves us (John 13:34). The period continues through the starkness of Good Friday, crescendos at the Great Vigil of Easter on late evening of Holy Saturday, then culminates in Easter Sunday.

As we know by now, this year’s experiencing of Holy Week will be unprecedented. Yet, different from does not necessarily mean inferior to our accustomed perceptions of this special season. Most of us will miss the gathering aspect of group worship. We will feel the loss of physical proximity to fellow sojourners. It is appropriate, even healthy, for us to allow ourselves time and space to grieve the loss of the familiar. At the same time, grieving such a loss can absolutely be accompanied by discovery of new and empowering spiritual experiences in place of our absent tradition. Mandatory closure has forced our comfortable ecclesial reality to its knees, but now that we’re on our knees, perhaps our line of vision will offer new insights about the Christian Way and our personal spirituality.

Please give prayerful consideration to viewing and participating in our online services this Holy Week and Easter Sunday . A link will be sent to you each day via email . At Eastern Shore Chapel, we will conduct, record and upload online worship services for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. For the Great Vigil of Easter on Holy Saturday, we will provide links to two services; one at Chanco on the James River and one on the York River shoreline. (If you wish to wash another’s feet during Maundy Thursday, there will be a cue to pause our online service and do so in your home, then continue with our service).

In addition to the above worship services, folks from across our parish are contributing individual video reflections on The 14 Stations of the Cross. They will be sent via email, as well. Please spend time with these personal devotional pieces during the hours between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Now more than ever, we are a Resurrection people. Our very lifeblood comes from the assurance that this world is only a beginning. Yet, we are commissioned to engage this world as though it were our only shot at existence. We are to absorb every experience; seek every opportunity to grow and learn and serve others; push back against inequity, injustice, prejudice, addiction, poverty, hunger and everything likely to rob us of our dignity. In short, we are to love one another as Christ loved us. We may be operating under restrictive limits for the time being, but our mandate and resolve will transcend these disconcerting days. The next three days offer a perfect forum for prayers in that direction. May God open our hearts and minds and the eyes of our souls.

Chapel Pantry to reopen

After a mandated hiatus since March 14, Eastern Shore Chapel’s food pantry is gearing-up to reopen under strict new operating procedures and with limited public hours. The Chapel Pantry will begin distribution to the public on Saturday, April 11 from 12 noon until 3 PM. Plans are to distribute at the same time each Saturday (one day per week) for the foreseeable future. In response to strictures imposed by the current pandemic, food will be provided in prepackaged format and placed by pantry personnel in the automobile trunks of pantry clients. Recipients of pantry food items are to remain in their vehicles at all times. As in the pre-COVID-19 era, valued support will be once again be forthcoming from Galilee Episcopal Church in Virginia Beach.

Volunteers from ESC are needed for the following:

Chapel Pantry Director Kay O’Reilly commented, “I am grateful that we have an abundance of hands willing to help reopen the pantry. Many have said, “How can I help?” Thanks be to God! I wish we had an abundance of food to give to all who are in need. At this point, we will give what we have and work tirelessly to acquire enough to help meet the need. Your prayers are needed and welcomed.”

A note of encouragement was sent by Bishop Susan B. Haynes, who said, “You definitely have my backing, my support and most especially my prayers. Thank you to Eastern Shore Chapel and Galilee for being the hands, feet and heart of Christ during this extraordinarily challenging time.”

For more information and ways to help, contact Kay O’Reilly at  [email protected] .

A Holy Week message from Bishop Haynes

 

God will spread a table for us, even in this wilderness - A Holy Week message from Bishop Susan. Click here or the video below to watch.

Virtual Sunday School! 

If your child is interested in connecting with their Sunday School class and students, see the exciting new options below. Please email the teacher and she will send you a ZOOM invitation.

Our first virtual Sunday School! Godly Play enjoyed hearing their story and connecting and EYC enjoyed a “gathering” and sharing about life right now!

Join us on ZOOM for daily Morning Prayer

As many of you know, we have been offering Morning Prayer - Rite Two each morning (except Sunday) at 7:30 on ZOOM. It takes about thirty minutes and offers a way to get together for spiritual exercise. A very good way indeed to start the day.

Because of recent concerns about security, we have established a new meeting that will require a password to join - nothing else will change. So, beginning immediately the details are these:

   Meeting ID:  562 715 368

   Password:  John1513

Just go to ZOOM on your browser and sign in - it's free and it's easy.

Join us won't you? We will all be made richer by your presence. You are not expected but welcomed indeed! Email Lee Davis [email protected] if you have questions.

Centering Prayer: An Open Invitation

During this time of social distancing, we continue to practice Centering Prayer. Centering Prayer can be a wonderful way to help you through this difficult and stressful time. As it is a time of silence the use of Zoom is not recommended. Although we are not meeting as a group on Thursdays, we invite you to consider participating from 5:00 to 6:00 P.M. individually knowing that we are meeting collectively.

During this time, we sit and read quietly for the first half hour and begin Centering Prayer at 5:30 for 20 minutes and then take time to slowly return to our normal activities. If you are not familiar with the practice of Centering Prayer, please go to contemplativeoutreach.org and go to the centering prayer under practice on the menu tab for an explanation. In addition, there is a free app available that provides the same resources as the website and will suggest various prayers for beginning and ending for the recommended 20 minutes. 



Please contact Christina Wyman at [email protected] if you have any further questions.

Parish Day School: Virtual Trike-a-thon; Week of the Young Child

This week Parish Day School is celebrating the Week of the Young Child . To kick off the week, teachers and families are participating in a Spirit Week with crazy hair day, crazy hat day, and favorite character day! We look forward to seeing photos of our students enjoying the fun over Bloomz and Zoom (private social media connections). 

 

For the month of April, we are participating in our annual CHKD Trike-a-thon with a “virtual” twist!  Teachers, staff and families have been posting photos and videos to show us they are participating by riding their tricycle, bicycle or scooter for CHKD. Check out how you can participate at www.teamchkd.org/parishdayschooltrikers . We are keeping families updated by posting some special videos on FaceBook . Enjoy!

 

As we prepare for Easter and observe holy week, one classroom made handprint palms, Easter eggs, and learned a five finger Easter prayer. We love hearing that our PDS activities are continuing even at this time of physical distancing.

 

We continue to pray for our Parish Day School and Church family in this uncertain time. We are keeping our eyes on what God has in store for us with finishing out our school year, starting our summer camp and our new school year. We keep focused on our mission to love, educate, and support our preschoolers and their families. We know the way we serve and connect to our families might look different, but the mission is still the same. Sending all of you prayers for health and safety, Happy Easter!

Daily Spiritual Exercise

By Lee Davis

During this season of Lent, many of us have been much more intentional about our spiritual exercise. If you have, after these forty days, established a rhythm and a habit of reading daily devotionals I offer you an alternative, something just a little bit different. Prisoner to Prisoner is a daily devotional written by prisoners for prisoners. It is written by incarcerated men and women in institutions all across the country (some in Virginia) and is sent to prison chaplains for distribution to their residents. It is based on the Revised Common Lectionary that we use in the Episcopal Church. I love to imagine my friends in prison sitting on their bunk reading along with me as I read it each morning. It is put together by the KAIROS program in Ohio. A one year subscription is only $14 and can be had by writing a check to KAIROS Prison Ministry and mailing it to:

Prisoner to Prisoner

KAIROS Prison Ministry of Ohio

P. O. Box 750354

Dayton, Ohio 45475-0354

Here is a free sample:

WEDNESDAY, April 1

“Great piece have they which love thy law; and nothing shall offend them.”

Psalm 119:165 KJV

The Psalmist in this verse does a great job speaking his heartfelt truths concerning the goodness of God and what that goodness means to him. He clearly articulates that his hope is in the LORD and that he takes pleasure in God’s laws. The Psalmist has no doubt that God will continue to protect, provide, and pursue a relationship with him. The Psalmist’s ultimate pleasure is pleasing the Father.

One of my coworkers loves to brag that she is God’s favorite, and there isn’t anything anyone else can do about it. I just chuckle every time she says it because she says it with such a huge smile. I sometimes tell her that God certainly does have a way of making us feel that we are His favorites. When we actively pursue a relationship with him, we do receive things that the world will never be able to give to us. As chaotic as the world is, peace will never be attainable if we are expecting the world to give it to us. I suggest becoming one of God’s favorite children if you aren’t already. It’s really easy to do. All you have to do is accept His free gift of salvation and pursue a relationship with Him.

Friends, it’s great to know that we have completion in Him. Even though we don’t ale=ways give Him what He deserves, God always gives us what is best for us. Amen. – T.R.L.

 

TRL is in her 16 ^th year at Central MS, she enjoys working in the chapel, and encouraging others in God’s Word.

Pray for our military

Pray for the military to look to God as the source of their Hope and Peace during these uncertain times of rapid operational shifts in their response to COVID-19.

Prayers & Prayer Cards for deployed military

If you would like a prayer card sent to your deployed service member please contact Bill Hunter at [email protected] or 757-402-6384. I would also be happy to place the service member on the prayer list at church for inclusion in the weekly Prayers of the People.

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