Dear Cathedral Family,
As we have prepared this week for the resumption of the diocesan Acolyte Festival here at Christ Church Cathedral, I have had reason to be thankful for the younger and newer priests and talented lay staff members here in our diocese, whose creative work has gone into this collaborative ministry. And I was also tapped into the enthusiasm and excitement that working with our youth can bring when we receive it as gift and new life. I believe that the day of fun and learning together here on Saturday will be a wonderful experience of ministry together, and I look forward to sharing more about it with you on Sunday morning.
In our gospel reading this Sunday, Jesus travels into foreign territory and is confronted by a Canaanite woman, someone very much outside the “house of Israel,” who asks him for mercy and healing for her daughter and herself. Jesus responds with silence—and then resistant responses. This does not deter her from pursuing her plea with renewed energy and argument. Jesus finally responds with admiration of her great faith and grants her request. Paul, writing to the Romans, argues that all—Israel and those outside “the house”—are “imprisoned in disobedience” so that God may be merciful to all. Our work is the work of receiving God's gifts and participating in God's
mercy.
When I fall into moments of despair about the state of our world and the future of the Church, one of the gifts of God’s grace is to show me the faith and the energy of young people who believe in and work for a better world and Church, where God’s love and mercy are freely given to all. No matter how grim the present moment may make the future appear, we are offered this great hope. This Sunday we will pray that God may give us the grace to receive it.
Faithfully,
Beverly+