A Message from the Dean (April 6)
April 6, 2020
Dear Friends,
Another week has gone by as we live into our strange new way of being. Personally, it is been a mix of new anxieties overshadowed by new ways of being at peace in these uncertain days. If you are on social media at all, there are many resources there to lighten the mood with humour and deepen the calm with prayer, music and reflection. We continue to make our own offering to that endeavour at St. James Cathedral. For the latest updates, please see www.stjamescathedral.ca or our Facebook page.
As we journey more deeply into Holy Week, I would like to remind you of the services that will be available for you from your beloved spiritual home. New this week is a Stations of the Cross service for you to use daily, found at http://stjamescathedral.ca/stations-2020/. The link to view will become available after 2:00pm today.
Other services this week are below. If you are finding any of the live-streamed services choppy, try connecting to them a little later in the day.
- Holy Monday-Holy Wednesday: Morning Prayer posted at 8:00am
- Holy Tuesday: Chrism Service with Blessing of Oils at 10:30am
- Maundy Thursday: Ante Communion and Stripping of Altar at 7:00pm
- Good Friday: Solemn Liturgy at 12:00pm
- Easter Day: Ante Communion to Celebrate the Resurrection at 11:00am
You will have heard by now that Vicar Louise Peters’ last day with us will be May 15, 2020. She and her husband are moving back west where he will be serving at a parish in the Territory of the People in British Columbia. Our prayers and love go with them both, and we are beyond grateful for the Vicar’s incredible gifts and her time of sharing them with us. Unfortunately, we will not be able to say goodbye in person because of the COVID-19 crisis. Instead, we are compiling a Memories Book for Louise composed of letters (hand-written would be lovely), memories, photos, poems, artwork, whatever you would like to do! Electronic contributions can be sent to wardens@stjamescathedral.ca. Other items can be mailed to the Cathedral Offices (65 Church Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5C 2E9). Contributions must be received NO LATER THAN April 22, please, in order to allow Maurice Snelgrove time to put things together in his wonderful way. I hope you can be part of this special project to honour Louise.
In closing, I long for the time when we can be together again. In the meantime, there is still much to be grateful for. The following is a prayer written by Cameron Wiggins Bellm, which I found on the website of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.
May we who are merely inconvenienced
Remember those whose lives are at stake.
May we who have no risk factors
Remember those most vulnerable.
May we who have the luxury of working from home
Remember those who must choose between preserving their health or making their rent.
May we who have the flexibility to care for our children when their schools close
Remember those who have no options.
May we who have to cancel our trips
Remember those that have no safe place to go.
May we who are losing our margin money in the tumult of the economic market
Remember those who have no margin at all.
May we who settle in for a quarantine at home
Remember those who have no home.
As fear grips our country, let us choose love.
During this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other,
Let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace of God to our neighbors. Amen.
The refrain of Palm Sunday is, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” Let us join in the ongoing journey of the Saviour on the donkey and live our lives humbly and in gratitude, carrying the name and promises of the God of hope, love and peace into a frightened world.
Love and blessings to you all,
The Very Reverend Stephen Vail
Rector of St. James Cathedral & Dean of Toronto
