A Letter from the Rector - Easter 2009

My dear friends,

Two thousand years ago the first disciples insisted that Christ had risen from death. Whatever that claim meant to them, it was a life-changing experience. So much so that soon little communities were springing up around the ancient world – each energized by the claim that a man, whom most of them had never met, was alive after suffering the most horrendous punishment the Roman empire could meet out.

In our day, St. John's is such a community. The only reason St. John's exists is because of the claim that a man who was tortured to death by the Roman Empire is still alive. So what does it mean to say that Jesus is alive? In what way is that good news for us? And what difference does it make?

What does it mean to say “Jesus is alive?” It's not just that long ago a good person called Jesus died and came back to life – the claim is that after being tortured to death by the most powerful interests in the world, the dead man is now even more alive. If this is true, it means that the deep energy of goodness and victory is erupting to overcome injustice and evil.

Do we, the parishioners of St. John's, have the same life-changing experience of deep goodness surging up and overcoming evil and destruction? It would be wonderful to have such an experience, wouldn't it? Something about that sounds so very solid and so very right. As members of St. John's we are on a life pilgrimage to know that experience more and more deeply. Wherever you are on that journey, come and walk with your fellow pilgrims as we encounter Christ's resurrection ever more deeply in the particular circumstances of our time.

How is it good news for us? If God really did reverse the destruction done to Jesus, that proves that God's power of good, of love, of creative energy, will overcome any kind of destruction we will ever encounter. Whether the evil we experience is personal, medical, societal, global or environmental, Jesus' resurrection demonstrates that evil, pain and destruction do not have the last word. Something wonderfully startling, something gloriously victorious, is lurking in the core of reality, poised to erupt with justice, fulfilment, and joy. That's good news indeed! No wonder we will shout, “Alleluia, Christ is Risen!”

And what difference does it make to St. John's? If one person experiences joy in discovering God's power to transform evil, an entire community which experiences such joy will be an enormous force for hope and confidence in our city. Not only will we develop a reputation as being a community of energized confidence and joy, but it will also be obvious that we are not bound by the chains of discouragement or injustice or self-concern which shackle so many aspects of our world. Energized like those ancient communities, among us the poor are honoured, beauty is made, justice enacted, and love is given and received.

Not only will St. John's be characterized by such victories – which are the form of God's triumph in our day - but we will also share the implications of God's triumph with people we know, with organizations we belong to, and with the policy-makers of our city, province and country. What a fulfilling calling that is!

So how do we go about deepening our experience of God's up welling victory? Sometimes the journey will be through private prayer and meditation, or confronting some personal brokenness in our own life. Sometimes it will be through a group which meets to explore scripture and the faith. But all of us will want to join our community of the resurrection by participating in the deep liturgical acts of Holy Week and Easter.

Those Holy Week liturgies are designed, in a pattern more than a thousand years old, to draw us into the experience of God's up surging victory. On the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week we will celebrate a short eucharist in the chapel, each day, at 5:00 pm with readings related to the events leading up to Jesus' death and resurrection. At 6:00 pm on Maundy Thursday we gather in the hall for a potluck agape supper and Eucharist re-enacting Jesus' last supper with his disciples, and then gather in the church to minister to each other by washing one another's hands, as Jesus washed his disciples' feet. Finally we will watch in the dark as the church is stripped of decoration, thus experiencing Jesus' arrest in Gethsemane. On Good Friday, at 10:00 in the morning, the young people, who have stayed overnight on retreat at the church, will lead our worship, re-enacting Jesus' crucifixion. Starting at noon, there are three one-hour services to mark the three hours Jesus was on the cross – at noon there are meditations and silence, at 1:00 pm there is music and at 2:00 pm there is a litany in front of a large wooden cross, followed by a simple Eucharist. That night at 8:00 pm there is solemn Tenebrae, a medieval service in which the light gradually is extinguished to experience Jesus' death, followed by a dramatic hint of the resurrection to come. Holy Saturday is silent, as was Jesus' grave. But late on Saturday night, at 9:00 pm we gather to celebrate the resurrection by entering the church in the dark, being flooded with light from the new fire, and singing the great Easter hymns. And on Easter Day, the church will again ring with shouts of joy at our experience of God's victory over destruction and death.

Don't miss these unique opportunities to deepen your experience of God's up welling victory!

Two other matters are of interest.

On Pentecost Sunday, May 31, Bishop Jenks will preside at the 10:00 am. Eucharist for baptism, confirmation, or re-affirmation of baptismal vows. To prepare for this very significant commitment, the rector will meet with adults who wish to make or re-affirm vows or be confirmed. Please register at the church office in the week following Easter.

To shelter the proclamation of God's victory, we have to do something very mundane. We have to repair the church roof. This spring each of us will have a chance to have a conversation in our homes about our vision of God's call to St. John's and how each of us can participate in that. Ted Hughes is the honorary patron of the campaign. Jim Harlick and Bea Holland are the co-chairs – please speak to them if you have any questions.

I enclose an Easter envelope with which you may wish to uphold the ministries at St. John's which proclaim Christ's resurrection in word and deed.

May the victory of the Risen Christ be yours ever more deeply day by day in your journey with Christ.

Sincerely,

Harold Munn

The Rev. Canon Dr. Harold Munn

Rector