Thursday, August 27, 2020

Dear friends,

I had a feeling last week when the new orders came out that they would not be enough. The number of infections continue to rise, with yesterday’s number being 277. On Tuesday a new stay-at-home order was announced. Having a spouse who is a nurse, I have known the stress that our hospitals have begun to feel. Our Episcopal churches on Oahu have been ahead of the curve, gathering online solely for the past few weeks, and this will continue to be our practice even though the new stay-at-home order allows for religious exemptions. As for the religious exemptions, I don't think faith communities should exercise such exemptions. We should be in solidarity with the wider community, doing what everyone else is being expected to do. Christians especially need to give up the practice of thinking we are special or more deserving than others.

As a church we are fortunate that we may continue to function fairly well through online means. I had to laugh the other day, because someone lamented that we only had four people at Evening Prayer. For those who participated in the Daily Office prior to the pandemic, you know that it was not uncommon for daily services to only have two or three people in attendance. If four people attended it was a crowd! Ironically, during this pandemic, we regularly have 8-12 people attending any given daily office. Our pandemic average is by far superior to our pre-pandemic daily office numbers. Furthermore, these numbers reflect actual people signing into the offices via Zoom. They are not mere Facebook views, in which people only drop in for a moment. Our daily numbers reflect actual people remaining for the duration of the daily prayer service, and the number of people committing to the daily office in community is more than ever before. This is just one small blessing that has resulted due to our required pandemic practices.

There is much pain in the world right now, but as has always been the case, there are signs of the hope of Jesus Christ all around us. In the midst of everything happening in our world, we still give thanks for the redemption of Jesus Christ. One of the prayers of the Daily Office is the General Thanksgiving (BCP pp. 58, 71, 101, 125). It can be said at every Morning Prayer and every Evening Prayer. Some of you will recall that we say this prayer at the end of each Annual Meeting. When we did our capital campaign, we used a phrase from the General Thanksgiving as one of our themes: for the means of grace and for the hope of glory.

As we continue to grapple with this pandemic, St. Mark's will be sending you some reflections that are to be blessings of hope, faith, and resurrection in the midst of the continued chaos. You will be hearing from me, as well as from fellow parishioners. We are going to continue exploring the theme for the means of grace and for the hope of glory. No matter what is happening in the world around us, as Christians we are called to give our general thanksgiving for the redemption of our world by our Lord Jesus Christ, for Christ, especially in the middle of a pandemic, is our means of grace and our hope for glory.

I hope you enjoy the forthcoming messages, and I hope they offer you some inspiration during these challenging times.

Faithfully,
Father Paul Lillie +