Global Mission Fair - October 5, 2024

You're invited! 

The Episcopal Diocese of New York will be holding their eighth Global Mission Fair on Saturday, October 5, 2024, at St. John's, Pleasantville. More information here:

https://dioceseny.org/ednyevent/global-mission-fair-2024/

And because I was invited by two different people, I'm planning to be there along with at least one other sister, possibly staffing a booth for the Global Episcopal Mission Network (details yet to be worked out). 

I've attended this before and found it interesting and informative, and of course I enjoy meeting people interested in ministries around the globe. 

If this is your interest, know that you do not have to belong to one of the parishes in the Diocese of New York to attend. Do come. You might enjoy it!

Swahili 101

Jambo! Habari! Hujambo! Hamjambo! Shikamoo!
Hello, hello, hello, hello, hello!
Or so I gather.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/378583912405639636/

And Mambo = What's up?

Guess who's going to Tanzania???!!!!! To the Diocese of Tanga, to be precise.
Ahem. Not at all excited. Of course not. See me being blasée.

At least until I do a jig and ruin the effect.

So amid considering Deet and Permethrin sprays, doing an expedited passport renewal, getting my inoculations and antimalarial drugs, I am attempting to learn a few phrases in Swahili. Clearly it's the polite thing to do, but who wouldn't want to pick up another language, however small an amount of it?

Truly, if I hope to participate in the renewal of a diocesan partnership, language learning is more than a gesture.

I have, therefore, renewed my friendship with my Duolingo app, which seems to have forgiven me for letting my Spanish slide (temporarily). A free app to teach you Swahili is not a small thing, even when you have turned off the audio so as not to break the Great Silence inadvertantly or disturb the sister in the next room. God bless the creators of this app.

Tonight I have added YouTube (with sound, safely in my office), so I thought I'd share.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQv6QJHLmDA

More later...

Kwa heri, usiku mwema, na lala salama (Goodbye, goodnight, and sleep peacefully*).

*http://tanzaniasafariadvisor.com/hello-in-swahili-greetings/

a monastic year in England for young adults

Look at this!

"Are you a Christian aged 20-35? Do you have a hunger to go deeper with God? Want to join a new monastic community at the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury?

St Anselm is an adventurous new religious community being formed by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace in London.

In a unique experiment, next year Archbishop Justin Welby will open up his home in London to young Christians – inviting them to spend a year living, studying and praying at the heart of the Anglican Communion."

http://stanselm.org.uk/

This is a great opportunity.  I would definitely have applied back when I was the right age.

Now that I think of it, by the time I had paid off my student loans, I was already interested in the religious life of a permanent sort. I wonder if there would be some sort of extension for student loans such as they do for the Peace Corps? I remember senior year of college looking into volunteering with the church in South America and giving up on it because there was no way to deal with paying back my loans. It's an issue for many of those interested.

Still, consider the possibilities! And to get to know the Archbishop of Canterbury, too. May God bless this new community as the seeds are planted for the coming year.

To find out more, subscribe to their blog at the site listed above.

And of course, if you are interested in becoming a sister, I invite you to contact Sr. Carolyn at 781-934-9477x702 or email Vocations[at]ssmbos.org.

From Olympic Speed Skater to Franciscan Sister?

While on the lookout for something else this morning, I ran into this video. I always find the vocation stories of other sisters interesting - no surprise there - and it seemed appropriate to post it during the winter Olympics.



You all have heard about Roman Catholic Franciscans, I'm sure, as in this video - or at least you've heard of St. Francis.  But did you know there are also Anglican/Episcopal Franciscans?  They, too, stress their vow of poverty and social justice work; though I have never heard them use the Bride of Christ metaphor, I'm sure there are similarities in spirituality in other aspects among all the Franciscan orders.

Here's a photo I got from one of their online newsletters:

Episcopal Franciscan Sisters (from a 2011 newsletter)
source:
http://www.communitystfrancis.org/Canticle%20Dec%2011.pdf

http://www.anglicanfranciscans.org/
http://www.franciscans.org.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/TheCommunityAndSocietyOfStFrancisEuropeanProvince
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franciscan_orders_in_the_Anglican_Communion

Anglican/Episcopal Franciscan Women:
www.communitystfrancis.org (US house)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_of_St._Francis

There are also contemplative Franciscan women in England:
http://oscfreeland.wordpress.com/home/

Anglican/Episcopal Franciscan Men:
Society of St. Francis, Province of the Americas: http://www.s-s-f.org/
The Society of St. Francis is a world-wide Franciscan community within the Anglican Communion. The Province of the Americas is part of the Episcopal Church.
http://www.osffranciscans.com/
http://littleportionfriary.net/

Third Order Franciscans - Episcopal men and women who follow in the spirit of St. Francis in their secular lives:
http://tssf.org/

The Apocryphon of the Sacred Coffee

From the writings of Liza Anderson:

It is a sad calamity of modern church life that some parishes/parishioners/services (which shall not be named) neglect the practice of the Most Sacred Rite of Coffee Hour. Clearly they have forgotten the Apocryphon of the Sacred Coffee, an ancient text discovered in 16th century England and included as an appendix to the first Book of Common Prayer- newly revised from last year's publication after the discovery of more manuscripts! 

"And lo, it came to pass that after Christ and his apostles had partaken of the Last Supper, our Lord's disciple Mary Magdalene emerged from the kitchen with the sacred coffee urn, containing a delicious caffeinated beverage. But Peter, James, and John did protest: "Nay, Lord! For behold,the hour is very late. It is not an appropriate time for coffee! Moreover, now that the sacred meal has finally ended, we want to immediately rush outside and promptly forget this mysterious sacrament of unity that has just happened! We earnestly desire not to linger over a warm beverage, lest we be compelled to *talk* to one other!" But our Lord said only: "Yeah.....Trust me, guys... This is going to be a Really Long Night.....!" Alas, however, Peter, James, and John refused to partake of the sacred coffee, and thus they repeatedly fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane, rather than watching and praying! 

Therefore, in remembrance of this, the members of the Anglican Church must never fail to partake of the sacred coffee which, according to our Lord's most holy institution, must always be offered after each celebration of the Holy Eucharist, forever and ever, Amen." "But wait!" the people of the 8am service did protest. "Surely there is an exemption for those who go to mass at 8:00. For everyone knows that the 8:00 service was invented for introverts - and anyway, no one should have to speak at that hour of the morning. Because....well...because they haven't had their coffee or breakfast yet?" And the theologians replied: "This argument is unsound. However, in our judgment, those who find talking to other people more challenging may partake of Irish coffee instead, as a concession to their human weakness." And the Church of England did protest: "But verily, our coffee is extraordinarily bad, for we do earnestly believe that Nescafe is real coffee! Perhaps we might have Tea Hour instead?" And the theologians replied: "It is permissible to offer tea alongside of, but not instead of, the coffee. For you now live in an age of globalization, and are therefore without excuse. Such instant "coffee" is akin to electric "candles", and by extension must be just as zealously shunned by all true Anglicans."

a rock badger for the archbishop

The high hills are a refuge for the mountain goats, *
and the stony cliffs for the rock badgers.
                       -- Psalm 104:19


Bishop Welby and his rock badger crozier


OK, I love the new future Archbishop of Canterbury already.  He sounds as though he has both a sense of humor and humility as well as the practical experience and breadth I read about in an earlier article (a bio: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9663422/Justin-Welby-the-oil-executive-who-heard-God-calling.html).

The Telegraph reports:
In January last year Bishop Welby, then Dean of Liverpool, was reading a passage from Leviticus chapter 11 detailing Jewish food laws, listing a number of little known animals which are considered unclean to eat.

In the traditional King James Version, verse five advises against eating the meat of the “coney” – usually referred to by zoologists now as the Rock Hyrax – “because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof”. But in several modern translations – including the one from which he was reading - the animal is referred to in less poetical terms as a “rock badger”.

As he read the incongruous-sounding verse the Bishop began to giggle. Within moments he had lost his composure, sending the congregation into gales of laughter.

He was subsequently teased mercilessly about his “rocky moment” and when he was made Bishop of Durham members of the congregation had the crozier specially made bearing the unmistakable image of a Rock Hyrax from a picture downloaded on the internet.

A group of lay clerks also paid for him to sponsor one of the creatures at Edinburgh zoo.

“He has a habit, when reading the Bible of doing it in a Sir Humphrey Appleby voice, he dramatizes Bible readings and sometimes it is his undoing,” explained one member of the congregation. “It was like the ‘leg-over moment’, he was giggling and couldn’t stop, he said I’ll start that again but there were tears coming down his face, it was just so funny.”

A recent scientific study found that the Rock Hyrax, known for its unusual call, is one of the most sophisticated communicators in the animal kingdom.

If indeed this scientific study is accurate, I can't imagine a more appropriate animal for the future archbishop.  He's going to need all the communication skill he can muster, and then some.  May the Holy Spirit guide and inspire him in the years to come.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9664981/Blessed-are-the-Rock-Badgers-as-Justin-Welby-heads-for-Canterbury.html