Sunday, June 1

For the better part of the last year, I have been in discernment about what I would do for my sabbatical. Truth be told, it is hard for me to believe that the time for my sabbatical leave has finally arrived. Clergy sabbaticals are a time when clergy are released from regular ministry for the purpose of study, theological reflection, spiritual renewal, and strengthening of skills for their ministry. Sabbatical is an important part of the work and ministry of clergy. It is time for professional development, enrichment of a clergy person’s spiritual life, and a time for rest and renewal. It is also a time for renewal of one’s sense of vocation and extended study not possible during the typical work year. In the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island clergy are eligible for 3 months of sabbatical upon completing 5 years of ministry in a particular congregation. Clergy are still granted their month (5 Sundays) of vacation in sabbatical years, as sabbatical and vacation are two different things. As I reflected on my sabbatical, I felt that being away for four months of the year (three sabbatical and one vacation) was too long to be away for where we are at this time. It would also mean missing major things in the life of the parish. I have therefore decided to take two of my three months this year along with vacation, and next year I will take my third month along with vacation. In order to be as least disruptive to parish life as possible, I’ve also decided to take this time in the summer where I will, with the exception of City Camp, not miss any major events; instead of taking it during an academic semester in order to take course work at one of our local colleges/universities. Having just celebrated our 5th anniversary of shared ministry together (June 1), and my 8th ordination anniversary (June 3rd) now is the right moment for me to step back for this time of reflection, renewal, and learning that I might return ready to lead out community in this next chapter of our life together. The work of my sabbatical will be focused on building relationships across lines of difference. I have put together an independent reading list covering a wide range of topics from: discernment, parish life, anti-racism, LGBTQ+ inclusion, political division, doctrine of discovery, interfaith relationships, and environmental stewardship. I firmly believe that as Rector, I cannot ask you all to do anything I am not willing to do myself, so I need to ensure that I am continuing to push myself to grow and expand my knowledge and experience just as I ask you to do. Through this reading I also intend to draft studies to be used in our parish upon my return. Particularly I will work on revising a curriculum specially for the Episcopal Church and the LGBTQ+ community that I first developed in college. My time away will also include retreat at the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Cambridge, MA; and a trip to Western MA to explore the way art can help unite us and expand our understanding of the world around us; and worshiping in the community that sponsored me for ordination (The Church of the Redeemer, Providence). There will also be time for me to explore new spiritual disciples, and reconnect with family and friends. You can read more about my sabbatical on our parish website . All of this would not be possible without the support of the vestry, for which I am truly grateful. I cannot articulate what a gift it is to be gone for an extended period of time knowing the parish is in such good hands. It is not just the Wardens and Vestry who give me the confidence that I can set away, it is all of you. This parish is blessed with so many ministry leaders carrying on the good and important work of our community. I am abundantly grateful to you all, know the good work we’ve been doing together will continue this summer. I also want to express my gratitude to Bishop Knisely for providing us with a $2500 grant to financially support this time. While I am on sabbatical I encourage all of you to find ways to engage in this work as well. In the parish library you will find a partial copy of my reading list and several titles available to take home to read. When I return, I will host a variety of sessions to discuss some of these books. One particular book I would encourage everyone in the parish to read is Killers of the Flower Moon. Copies of this book are available in the parish library. On Saturday, September 13 Amanda Scott will lead us in conversation to reflect on this book and the issues it raises. Later in the fall we will also take a field trip in connection with the book and gather to watch the movie it inspired. If reading is not your things, there are other ways you can share in this work. Take time to volunteer with City Camp and spend time getting to know the amazing campers whose lived experience is different than what most of us know. Maybe you are feeling up for a field trip of your own and want to visit one of the other faith communities in our area. Rhode Island is home to a wide variety of faith traditions beyond Christianity, all doing wonderful things for in our state. Or find something who things differently than you do and invite them to coffee where you can listen to their story and learn from their experience. Maybe you want to take this time for your own spiritual renewal. Take time to pray, and recommit yourself to your relationship with God. Be faithful in attendance here at St. Thomas, explore options for personal devotion in the Book of Common Prayer, or find other forms of prayer - spending time in nature, listening to music, create something, cook, or whatever else helps you connect with God. I hope to return this fall strengthened and renewed for the next chapter of our ministry together. As I said before, I say again - I cannot wait to see what God has in store for us next.

We have arrived at the end of our celebration of Eastertide. This Sunday is the Day of Pentecost, the 50th day after Easter Day, and the conclusion of this season. On the Day of Pentecost, a principal feast day on the Church calendar, we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church. We read in the Acts of the Apostles that on this day “all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts 2:4, NRSV). This enabled them to preach the Good News of God to every family, language, people, and nation in languages the people could understand. After this moment, as Peter addresses the crowds, those who believed in his message were baptized, and about three thousand people were added to the household of God (Acts 2:41). As we gather on Sunday to celebrate the Day of Pentecost, we will share in the tradition of welcoming others into the household of God. At our 10:00am liturgy we will baptized Hope and Tanner. As we rejoice with Hope, Tanner, and their families, all os us (at both services) will have the opportunity to renew our own baptismal vows. Once more we will proclaim, “I will, with God’s help” as we recall the ways we have been called to live in this world by virtue of our baptism. These vows create the framework we are called to live by, the reference points we follow as we make decisions for our daily life and work. In the midst of the uncertainty and chaos of the world around us, it is especially appropriate to refocus ourselves on practicing this way of life. As we celebrate this great festival day, as we prepare to renew our vows, I hope you will some some time reflecting on how God is calling you to live out these promises in your life personally and in our life collectively. How will you, and how will we . . . . . . continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowing, in the breaking of the bread and in the prayers? . . . persevere in resisting evil, and whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord? . . . proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? . . . seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? . . . strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? With God’s help, and only with God’s help, we can live this way of love. When we commit ourselves to this way, when we commit ourselves to God, we might just find that our hearts have been set aflame by the power of the Holy Spirit. When that happens - the world better watch out. For the last time that happened, 100 people turned the known world upside down.

This week we celebrate one of the optional observances in the life of the Church - Rogationtide. The weekdays following the Sixth Sunday of Easter (specifically the Monday - Wednesday) are the annual Rogation days. These days are collectively known as Rogationtide (just like the great fifty days of Easter are known as Eastertide). The Book of Common Prayer allows us to anticipate these days and so we are going to do just that. The word “Rogation” comes from the Latin word “rogare” which means, “to ask.” During these three days we ask God’s blessing upon creation as new crops are planted. We pray that God will send favorable weather, with the right balance of sun, rain, and moderate temperatures resulting in a bountiful harvest. Traditionally parishes marked Rogationtide with a solemn procession around the bounds of the parish while they prayed the Great Litany. At the conclusion of the 10am liturgy we will keep a simplified version of this prayer in our church year. Rogationtide reminds us of the interconnectedness of all creation. It can be easy for us to forget we are one with the whole created order. The sun, moon, stars, plants, flowers, vegetables, streams, rivers, animals, and all of humanity are united as one - united as God’s beloved creation. These days highlight for us that God made all there is and has entrusted us with the care of the created order. We have been given the responsibility to care for the beauty of God’s creation. As faithful stewards of God’s handiwork, we shared in God’s acts of creation. The words of Hymn 705 - which we will sing this Sunday - offers us an excellent reflection on our role as participants in God’s creation, and our responsibility to always offer the first fruits of our labors (whatever they might be) to God. As those of old their first fruits brought of vineyard, flock, and field to God, the giver of all good, the source of bounteous yield; so we today our first fruits bring, the wealth of this good land, of farm and market, shop and home, of mind, and heart, and hand. A world in need now summons us to labor, love, and give; to make our life an offering to God that all may live; the Church of Christ is calling us to make the dream come true: a world redeemed by Christ-like love; all life in Christ made new. With gratitude and humble trust we bring our best to thee to serve thy cause and share thy love with all humanity. O thou who gavest us thyself in Jesus Christ thy son, help us to give ourselves each day until life’s work is done. As we make this seasonal transition may we give thanks for the beauty of creation which God has so generously provided. 

Time seems to be moving rather quickly these days. I wonder if you feel it too? To me if feels like we have just concluded our intense, dramatic, mystical, and glorious worship of Holy Week. Surely that was just a moment ago, yet here we are on the cusp of the 5th Sunday after Easter Day. I am not really sure where the last four weeks have gone. As the days speed by we are rapidly approaching the end of the great 50 days of Eastertide. Pentecost, that great principal feast of the Church, is just a few weeks away - this year celebrated on June 8. Over these initial weeks of Eastertide we have witnessed Jesus’ continued presence with the disciples in his resurrected body: visiting them in the upper room, offering them peace in the midst of fear; cooking breakfast for them on the beach; offering reconciliation to Peter after this threefold denial on Good Friday. During this season we also hear, from the Acts of the Apostles, how those earliest disciples learned to carry on the work Jesus commanded them to do in the aftermath of his death and resurrection. These stories, these treasures, we have encountered again this season are not the only Eason why Eastertide is known as the Queen of Seasons. Just as this season begins with important feasts and celebrations, the conclusion of Eastertide provides another set of feasts for us to observe. Over the next few weeks we will keep various celebrations which help us make the patterns of our life of faith - which help us remember the continued work of God in the world. These celebrations are captured in the mnemonic device RAPT - a lovely trick I learned from one of the matriarchs at the parish which sponsored me for ordination. RAPT stands for Rogation, Ascension, Pentecost, and Trinity Sunday. These days begin on the 6th Sunday of Easter (this year May 25) and conclude on the first Sunday after Pentecost, Trinity Sunday (this year June 15). Rogation is a time when we remember especially the gift God has given us in creation. We ask God’s blessing upon creation, for abundant harvest, and seasonable weather. Ascension Day (a principal feast day - which we will keep at our mid-week Eucharist on May 28) recalls the day that Jesus ascends into heaven at last completing the incarnation cycle which began at Christ - and no, this does not mean you can keep your Christmas tree up until Spring every year. Pentecost is the day we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church. The day when the Holy Spirit descends on the disciples empowering them to proclaim the good news of God in every language imaginable. Finally, Trinity Sunday, is that day - the only day dedicated to a theological concept - when we give thanks for the triune Godhead, God who is in relationship with God’s self. Over the next few weeks I will share more about these days individually, but on the cusp of entering into this cycle I want to draw our attention to the bigger picture they paint. These celebrations prepare us for the life of discipleship we have been called to on this side of the resurrection, they capture the fullness of the work of God in the world. We remember the very creation of the universe and our call to be good stewards of all that God has entrusted to our care, we celebrate the fact that with the Ascension God has transformed our humanity (that’s right, I’m talking about divinization - and no that is not a class taught at Hogwarts), we are empowered with the gifts for ministry, and we rejoice that the entirety of our lives is built on the foundation of God’s love. I hope you will join us as we celebrate these days. Together let us discover the gifts they offer, continuing our transformation into the people God has called us to be.

This Sunday is affectionately known as Good Shepherd Sunday: a title that sparks the imagination in a way that the Fourth Sunday of Easter might not be able to. As the name suggests, on this Sunday, ever year, the Gospel passage appointed draws our attention to the image of Jesus as our good shepherd. Every year we have the opportunity to think afresh about what it means for God to identify in this way. This year, as I contemplate that image, I find my mind overwhelmed by a hymn that is dear to my heart - Hymn 645 “The King of love my shepherd is.” By the way, we will sing this hymn on Sunday at the 10am liturgy. You can also listen to a recording of it here . This hymn is a paraphrase of the 23rd Psalm, which we will say on Sunday, and the words have gone virtually unchanged since it first appears in 1868. Here is the text of the hymn: The King of love my shepherd is, whose goodness faith never; I nothing lack if I am his, and he is mine for ever. Where streams of living water flow, my ransomed soul he leaders, and where the verdant pastries grow, with food celestial feedeth. Perverse and foolish oft I strayed, but yet in love he sought me, and on his shoulders gently laid, and home, rejoicing, brought me. In death’s dark vale I fear no ill with thee, dear Lord, beside me; thy rod and staff my comfort still, thy cross before to guide me. Thou spread’st a table in my sight; thy unction grace bestoweth; and oh, what transport of delight from thy pure chalice floweth! And so through all the length of days thy goodness faileth never: Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise within thy house forever. In this hymn, Sir Henry Williams Baker transforms the words of the psalm into language of New Testament Christianity: “the cup becomes the eucharistic chalice, the cross takes its place with the rod and staff, and the pastoral caretaker assumes the role of the “Good Shepherd” in St. John’s Gospel” (Glover, The Hymnal 1982 Companion Volume 3B, p. 1185). As we gather this week, may these words wash over us. Let them help us recognize in new ways that we have been claimed by God, that God watches over us, that God seeks to care for us and guide us along our journeys. In the love of God, let us find that we lack nothing, and in return may we dwell in the presence of our Lord with prayers and praise that never cease.

While our worship space has been returned to its usual simple beauty, our celebrations of Easter have not concluded. We are still in the early days of Eastertide, living anew into the glories of our resurrected Lord. This Sunday we hear of Jesus’ third resurrection appearance to the disciples. This week we leave the upper room and head to the beach. After the unbelievable drama of what we now know as Holy Week, the disciples have been trying to make sense of what they have experienced. They are trying to figure out what happens now that Jesus has been crucified and raised from the dead. In a completely relatable way, Peter announces that he is going fishing. In the midst of the mind spinning experiences they have had, he is returning to something familiar - something he can trust, something that feels safe. Peter and the disciples with him set out. They fish all night. They catch nothing. Then, as day breaks someone on the beach who calls out to them, and invites them to cast their nets to the other side of the boat. What did they have to lose? The nets were so full they could barely haul them. The disciple whom Jesus loved announces to Peter that the figure on the beach is Jesus. What a revelatory moment! The disciples discover Jesus’s resurrected power and glory, as their once familiar practice was transformed into unimaginable abundance. Like the disciples, though this miracle, we see again how God desires abundance not sacristy for God’s people. When we obey the call of God, when we follow God’s commands, we will not be disappointed. After Jesus cooks them breakfast on the beach, Jesus offers Peter the chance for reconciliation following Peter’s denials on Good Friday. Three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves him. Three times Peter responses affirmatively. Three times Jesus invites Peter to go out and care for those who belong to the flock of God. Jesus offers Peter an abundance of forgiveness and reconciliation. Jesus restores Peter, letting me know that his denial is not the end of their relationship. Even when we deny Jesus in the most grim of hours, we are always offered the opportunity to be restored to right relationship with God. That my friends if the amazing gift of the abundant love of God. It is never too late. There is always time. This Sunday, as we continue to discover our call as Easter people, let us gather in the assurance that God offers us abundance of every kind. Let us come to share in the meal Christ offer us, the bread and wine of the Eucharist, confessing our love for God and receiving the gift that God loves us know matter what.

Easter Message from the Presiding Bishop The Most Rev’d Sean W. Rowe Luke’s Gospel tells us that on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Joanna went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. When they got there, the stone had been rolled away, and they heard the message that transformed their world—and ours: “He is not here. He is risen.” On that Easter morning, the women who had been the last protectors and pastors at the cross on Good Friday became the first to witness and proclaim the resurrection. Scripture tells us, however, that their good news was not met with joy. The news that Jesus had risen from the dead was received as an idle tale, as nonsense—in one dynamic translation, as nothing more than women’s trinkets. In the fraught and divided world in which these first evangelists lived, they were on the margins, and their word counted for nothing. How quickly the apostles forgot what Jesus had modeled days before on Palm Sunday and at the Last Supper. The long-awaited Messiah fashioned himself not as a political conqueror but as a peacemaker. Our Savior upended notions of worldly power by taking on the role of a servant and washing the feet of his followers. For Jesus, the vulnerable and the marginalized are in focus, and his ears are attuned to their voices. As we proclaim the resurrection in our own time and place, let us always remember that the kingdom of God is revealed to us most clearly by those who are dispossessed by the powers and principalities of this world. Let us celebrate the joy of Easter by seeking and serving the resurrected Christ in the lives and the witness of those who have been silenced, persecuted, and marginalized. May God bless you and all those you love this Easter.

You might have noticed that this week’s update has gone out a bit earlier than usual. That is because this week is not a typical week. We are in the midst of Holy Week, a time unlike any other, and I wanted to send this update our early so that it would reach you before the final days of this Great Week (as the Early Church called it). The second half of Holy Week is known as the Triduum Sacrum - Latin for Three Holy Days. These days, beginning on Maundy Thursday and concluding with the Great Vigil of Easter, are the most important days we keep. In the early to mid twentieth century scholars discovered records of how the Early Church worshipped on these holiest of days and then worked to adapt their findings for the church today. The restoration of these liturgies is one the greatest gifts of our current Prayer Book. These liturgies remind us that liturgical time and God’s time are different than chronological time. These liturgies are not a memorial or re-enactment of something that happened over 2000 years ago; nor do we believe these events actually happen every year. We do not have to pretend that we do not know the end of the story either. Instead these liturgies invite us into a space where time stands still: a place where we enter into the fullness of these days and know how everything turns out. In theological terms we refer to this as anamnesis - the memorial aspect of what we do (be it during these liturgies or anytime we gather for the Eucharist) is not a passive process, but one by which we can actually enter into the Paschal mystery. It is the moment when past, present, and future align into one. I say all this to help give us a frame work for what we do in these days; to help explain why I have so passionately been imploring us to give ourselves over to worship this week. We need to stand at the foot of the cross seeing both our suffering and our complicity in the suffering of others. We need to sit in the silence as creation holds its breath as Jesus descends to the dead breaking down the gates of Hades - liberating every person who has ever and will ever walk this earth from the shackles of death. We need to hear the record of God’s saving deeds in history to remind ourselves that God has never abandoned God’s people just as God does not abandon us now. We need to pass through those Baptismal waters welcoming others to share with us in the priesthood of all believe. We need to proclaim Easter - declaring boldly that God has triumphed! In this moment of our lives I think one of the things we need most is Maundy Thursday. Tomorrow night we will be given the command to love one another and have the opportunity to both give and receive that love. I know washing feet and having our feet washed makes many in the community uncomfortable, but I invite you to lean into the discomfort, to take the risk, and share in the foot washing anyway. There is something incredibly profound about being vulnerable with another person in the midst of the safety of community. Kneeling down, gently taking a friends foot and washing it, is a level of love that rarely is expressed in our time. When we wash the feet of others we get to experience the humble loving service of God that we are called to emulate. Even more so, when we allow someone else to hold us tenderly we receive nothing less than the love of God made incarnate in that moment. Having washed and been washed, we will celebrate the Eucharist on the night in which Jesus instituted the Sacrament of his body and blood. Having experienced God’s mandate of love we will receive the blessed Sacrament and be transformed into the body and blood of God for the world - strengthening us to be bearers of love to all we meet. The liturgies of these days are rich and dramatic. Together we will share in worship that Christians have experienced since at least the third century. This is the once a year opportunity to delve into these days, participating in things which only happen in these days. I invite you, I implore you, with every fiber of my being to join fully in worship during these three holy days. Come in the fullness of where you are in this moment. Bring your joys and your sorrows. Bring your laughter and tears. There is no judgment or shame for any emotion that might emerge during worship. Trust me, I’ve ugly cried - and I mean ugly cried - in church before. Not only is that okay, but sometimes it is exactly what we need. Come and see what is revealed through the sacred gift of tears, of joy, of experiencing something for the first time or the first time in a long time. Beloved of God come to worship these nights. Have your feet washed, and wash the feet of others. Kneel before the cross in veneration, leave your burdens there for God to carry. Hear the story of Salvation. Renew your baptismal promises. Proclaim Easter. Come and see what marvelous, miraculous, incomprehensible thing God is doing. It will change your life.

In the Fourth Century pilgrims journeyed to Jerusalem in order to visit the sites traditionally associated with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Countless people made this journey to learn and experience something more of the final days of Jesus’ earthly life. The bishop of Jerusalem, Cyril created a series of liturgies - which were considered to be one grand liturgy - to mark this Great Week. During Cyril’s time, Egeria, a nun, believed to be from Spain walked to Jerusalem to make this pilgrimage, and spent two years observing and recording all that she experienced. Her diary still exists today and has given the Church insights into how the earliest Christians observed this Great Week. The work of Cyril, captured by Egeria, is the basis for the liturgies of Holy Week now contained in our Book of Common Prayer. My first time reading Egeria’s diary, published under the title Egeria’s Travels, I was struck by her words about Cyril’s remarks to the people during the day on Good Friday: “Then the bishop speaks a word of encouragement to the people. They have been hard at it all night, and there is further effort in store for them in the day ahead. So he tells them not to be weary, but to put their hope in God, who will give them a reward out of all proportion to the effort they have made” (Egeria’s Travels, John Wilkinson, 1999, p.155). As we prepare to enter once more into these most sacred of days, I think we would do well to heed Cyril’s words. On Sunday, Palm Sunday, we begin our pilgrimage. Each day there is at least one liturgy to gather us together to experience what really happened in those days. This is more than some historical reenactment, and we certainly hope to do more than just go through the motions. As is true every time we gather for worship, time stands still: past, present, and future are united as one. In this week we join with Egeria and all those who have walked this road before us, we join with Christians around the world today, and we join with all those who will come after us, not pretending we do not know the end of the story, but immersing ourselves into it that we may experience the events of our salvation once more. We will join with the crowds gathered for Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem with our own shouts of “Hosanna!” which will quickly turn to cries of “Crucify him!” We will witness Judas’ betrayal of Jesus and be reminded that no one, not even Judas, is beyond the redemptive power of God’s love. We will gather in the upper room where Jesus gives the great commandment, the mandatum (Latin for mandate; where the word Maundy comes from) to love one another as God has love us. We will wash each other’s feet in that humble, vulnerable act of tender service and care. We will share in the institution of the Holy Eucharist, the Sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood, that we might be nourished and transformed into Christ’s Body and Blood for the world. After that meal we will strip the church bare and gather to watch and wait with Jesus through the night. We will gather to stand before the cross facing the darkness and reality of that shameful means of death which becomes for us a means of life. We will witness the very worst that humanity is capable of. We will wait in the stillness of the morning as all creation holds its breath. On Saturday night we return to the darkness. This night is the Passover of the Lord. We kindle a new fire and we follow the Paschal Candle giving thanks for the light of Christ. We will gather to hear God’s saving deeds in history. As Emmett is baptized and welcomed into the household of God, we will renew our baptismal promises and be sprinkled with holy water. And finally we will proclaim Easter – we will shout with joy that Christ is Risen! We will rejoice that death has been destroyed by life, that darkness was vanquished by light, that Love has conquered all. I invite you to make this sacred journey once more. It is demanding. It is exhausting. I know there will be days when you just do not feel like coming to church, days when the demands of life want to capture all of your attention. But the more you give yourself space and permission to share in the fullness of this week the more glorious your celebration of Easter will be. If we dare to walk this road we too will share in the transformative power of this Great Week. Let us remember those words of encouragement from Cyril of Jerusalem, “not to be weary, but to put (our) hope in God, who will give (us) a reward out of all proportion to the effort (we) have made.” I look forward to walking this week with you.