Holy Eucharist Online and other news
Hey Rez Family,
We are living in some unique times. This virus is impacting everyone from our families, businesses, and first responders who are bravely caring for those in need. As the situation continues to affect our world and our neighborhood, we wanted to reach out and update you on how we’re planning on supporting our community to continue to participate with God to welcome, shape, and send disciples.
Only God knew that when we started this year with the ministry vision of a Sabbath Life, how perfectly suited this would be for us and for the benefit of others. We set out to "open up space in our lives to be renewed by the Sabbath life of God and become a people of rest for the sake of others." What does this mean for you in your changing situation? For me (Fr. Shawn), it has meant finding small moments to pause and pay attention to the stresses, worries and needs that I carry around in my day without even noticing. I went on a quick hike with Mateo the other day and for a few minutes we practiced listening prayer. Maybe it would be a helpful practice for you, even for a minute, in the middle of your day.
Listening Prayer involves:
Inviting God to be with you and silently paying attention to His presence
Naming some of your needs or stresses and acknowledging that He see them too.
Inviting His care and lovingkindness
Listening for His voice
Also, as we mentioned on Sunday, we encourage you to set a 3:00 PM reminder to pray the Lord's Prayer, reflectively, knowing that others in the Rez family are praying together also.
A Few Important Updates:
Holy Eucharist Online
This Sunday we will be celebrating Eucharist online together. This is an extraordinary situation that calls for some very different arrangements. We are recording a Holy Eucharist service that we will stream on Sunday at 10 AM. Though this service is pre-recorded, I will also be celebrating Holy Eucharist at that same time alone at the church on behalf of our parish. This may give rise to questions that Thomas and Fr. Shawn will address in our catechism podcast (coming soon!). For now, a brief explanation about "spiritual communion" and Fr. Shawn's role as your priest, is in order.
Spiritual Communion
Typically, this is a pastoral way of sharing the benefits of Christ's presence in the Holy Eucharist with those who, for reason of great illness or separation, cannot otherwise receive the sacrament. The prayer book provides a prayer (p. 677, prayer 106) for a spiritual reception of Christ's presence. This is what we'll be leading you to do as we celebrate online this Sunday.
Why is our priest celebrating communion alone? Priests are called to be under authority to faithfully preach the Word of God and administer the Holy Sacraments. We may tend to think of the liturgy as something mostly for us. And this makes sense...we all experience the benefits of the liturgy and receiving the sacraments. But the liturgy, as an act of worship, is something offered to God. We offer our lives as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1), we offer our praise and thanksgiving--we offer all of us. Our offering is joined with the sacrifice of Christ made once-for-all. This is what it means that Christ is our Great High Priest (Hebrews 10), and our own mediator and advocate (1 Timothy 2:5). So, "by, with, and in" Christ, "in the unity of the Holy Spirit," the Church does what it does: worships God with thanksgiving by offering all of the praise He is due.
Rez Family Ministry At Home
With nearly every routine altered and kids home for the foreseeable future, we have a lot of new normals to find. While it's easy to panic and be overwhelmed with uncertainty and anxiety, we invite you to lean into time at home as a family and find ways that God is inviting you to rest in him and with each other. Below are some resources to help us think in that direction. More family engaging opportunities to come!
For anyone who will be newly homeschooling for the foreseeable future, check out these educational resources. Most are made free during this time and have great things to offer!
Daily Office
As we continue to worship online together, we encourage you to pray daily. Morning, noonday, evening, and compline prayer are great rhythms of prayer that give shape to our whole spiritual lives. We highly commend them to you. Looking forward, we have been working on ways for us to do this together online.
Online Ministry
We have been working hard to figure out the best ways of providing worship, formation, and community online. Many of you have asked about prayer services, catechism, and other resources--and we are putting in a ton of work to make this all happen. Everything from catechism to Table Groups to prayer boards. Look for this coming very soon. In the meantime, we encourage all of you to engage with one another via phone or on social media, FaceTime, Marco Polo, and other platforms to stay connected in the midst of our physical isolation!
Mission
We have totally crushed our fund-raising goal for the Austin Food Bank. Thank you for all who gave. We know this is going to bless a lot of families. Way to go, Rez! As we continue, we'll be looking for ways that we can lean forward in mission with God, even though we are all separated. One of the most missional things you can do is be a calming presence and pray. We'll provide you more ways to pray together, but please pray for those who suffer, those providing front-line care, our elderly, and anyone else God invites you to pray for.
Pastoral Care
First, if you have a pastoral need, especially in light of the escalation of events of the past weeks, please let us know! In addition, we recognize that there may be some unique pastoral care needs right now in the life of the church, and are thinking of creative ways to meet needs as they arise. We are putting together a team of caregivers who are able to help in this area as needed. If you are interested in being a part of this team, please contact Deacon Ryan.
Giving
Your giving has always been a critical way for us to thrive. We encourage all of you who call Rez home to continue to give faithfully and prayerfully. This is not a time to be on our heels but to lean forward in mission and ministry. Your gifts are critical for that. We encourage you to do what Michelle and Fr. Shawn do, setup online automatic giving. When they get a notification that they have given, they pause and praise God "from whom all blessing flow."
Your Safety and Others
Finally, please be diligent in observing the health guidance provided by our nation's leadership and experts, including social distancing and precautions. As an effort to keep everyone safe, especially the elderly and those in weak health, we are conducting almost all of our Rez work remotely. This is an act of love for others and our part in helping to reduce the spread of this virus. Table Groups, Bible studies, book groups, evening prayer at the church, and all gatherings are postponed until further notice. Please help us maintain this. For up-to-date details of how the virus is effecting our church and its rhythms, check here regularly.
We love and miss all of you! This is not the same, but these strange times are stirring up our parish to join God in mission in new ways.
God's peace,
Rez Staff
