Musings of a Flemish Lutheran in an Exciting World
18-04-2014
Triduum Sacrum
Some personal thoughts on Holy Week and Easter put in prayer (some of you might recognise these)
As we approach Your banquet, o Lord, we do not
claim to have come by ourselves, but solely by the invitation of Your life-giving
word. When Jesus spreads open His arms at the Father´s table, may we come to
realise the mystery of bread turned Body and wine become Blood. May the
elements of our Eucharist grow as a part of us and may they work in us to the
Spirit´s bountiful harvest. So that we -in truth and gratitude- may start to acknowledge
the Fount from which this sustaining strength flows forth.
Only at the ninth hour, o Lord, do we realise
that we too slept when prayer was needed, that we fled when courage was asked,
that we too denied when the truth was obvious. If only we could clutch the base
of Calvary cross, dig the splinters in our fingers or pull the thorns over our
head. Perhaps then we can learn regret and thanksgiving. Yet, unable to do this
by ourselves, Lord, we ask You to extend the unconditional love of there and
then to the here and now. On this day You do not withhold Your only Son as the
sacrificial Lamb for the world and its shortcomings. Teach us this compassion
and mercy, and help us to wait for the third day.
As the stone is rolled before the entrance, o
Lord, we remain behind grieving, despairing, in disbelief. As Jesus descends to
Hell to free the righteous, instil in us, Father, patience to accept the
silence and darkness of the tomb. Prepare us for the festival to come, give us
hope to look forward to the joyous revelation at hand. Grant us faith, to be
certain that this patience and hope, this vigil, will not be without reply.
Friend of the Last Supper, Victim of the
Crucifixion, Victor of the Tomb and Bringer of Freedom, we hail You. In Your
rising we find all our shortcomings atoned, we find our faith rekindled. In
Your resurrection we see clearly the way to come to the Father. The old has
gone, a new creation is revealed. As mourning is turned to happiness and night
flees a glorious dawn, we pray: rise in us that we may rise up to You, shine on
us that we may lighten the world with Your glory and majesty.
It's been a while since I last posted on here; I had plenty of ideas but somehow none of them seemed to come to fuition or seemed just right at the time (I'm keeping them on the back burner though for future possible posts).
So here's a little something:
As part of my training I spent over a week in the lovely South English town of Ringwood, not very big but certainly not very sleepy either. I was staying with a lovely couple of vicar and mrs vicar (the wife originally being a priest in the Church of Sweden, hence the Lutheran connection) and I am very grateful for the warm welcome and interesting time I had. Just like my time in Liverpool it made my training a very ecumenical, Porvoo Agreement, Anglican-Lutheran Society event.
Now Ringwood is a parish comprising three active Church of England congregations, which means a lot of running, driving and rushing around for the priests. It also means that they look after baptisms, weddings and funerals (to wet, marry and bury) of anyone who lives within parish borders, even if they never -and I do mean NEVER- set foot in a church. The whole thing seems a bit odd to us coming from the Napoleonic system but it's all part and parcel of being an Established Church. You can't refuse requests, and while it allows for great opportunities from a missionary point of view, add to that the trials and tribulations of the 'regular crowd' and you get some idea of the work load it all presents.
I attended all the Sunday services practically possible (7 in total), 3 Morning Prayers, a baptism celebration for 3 kids, 2 wedding rehersals and consequent matrimonies, 2 funerals, and funeral, wedding and baptism visits both at the vicarage and at people's home. Add to that a trip to Christchurch Priory, an ecumenical Christian Aid meeting and a Lent Group and you can understand that I enjoyed a pretty busy week (exhillirating and exhausting). If this is the 'avarage parish week', phew!?
During that week an article appeared on The Guardian's website about a vicar's wife (not ordained herself unlike my hostess) complaining about all the hours her husband, by all accounts a kind and spiritual man, put in for his congregation. The lady blistered at what she felt was the blatant disregard for all the time and effort her husband was putting into the parish without as much as a shred of thanks and appreciation. You could feel the life being sucked out of these people and it was really sad. Remeber all the effort and ceromony they put in by request from 'non-churchy occasional punters' mentioned above?
They don't tell you these things at Seminary/Theological Faculty!!
They don't tell you about the faulty electric wiring, the eratic sound system or the bursting plumbing; neither do they tell you about the energy, time and soul you are expected to put into this kind of vocation, this type of life, more often than not without any gratitude or recognition in return. Ministry can indeed become soul-sucking work! Perhaps they don't tell students and ordinands this for fear of them dropping out, perhaps it's because the people who teach have been away from parish ministry too long... who knows. Fact is, that this experience has NOT made me waver, but it does make you aware that this is not something to be taken on lightly (a bit like the marriage vows, come to think of it).
This is not a life to be taken for granted, just like any other job, any other vocation, is not to be taken for granted!
Perhaps we all need a little less "Vicar of Dibley" and little more "Rev.", which apparently is being used in some parts as examples for future pastors and priests.
Now there's a thought, perhaps one of the next posts should be about that fab series?
I was born and raised in Flanders (northern Belgium) and became actively interested in religion at the age of 15. I was baptised Reformed, confirmed Lutheran while studying in London, and worshipped with an Anglican congregation in my beloved city of Ghent. These are my thoughts and experiences connected to life and religion, theology and parish life, and ordained ministry.
