Weekly Word October 2009

And I shall clothe myself in your eternal will,
And by this light I shall come to know that you, eternal Trinity,
Are table, and food, and waiter for us.
You, eternal Father, are the table that offers us as food
The Lamb, your only-begotten Son.
He is the most exquisite of foods for us,
Both in his teaching, which nourishes us in your will
And in the sacrament that we receive in Holy Communion,
Which feeds and strengthens us while we are pilgrim travelers in this life.
And the Holy Spirit is indeed a waiter for us,
For the Spirit serves us this teaching by enlightening our mind’s eye with it
And inspiring us to follow it.
And the Spirit serves us charity for our neighbors and hunger to have as our food.

Catherine of Siena (14th c)

Dear Fellow Followers of the Way:

Tuesday Chapel at Austin Presbyterian Seminary is when the community gathers to celebrate Communion. The professor who preaches usually presides at Table. One Tuesday during my senior year, I was sitting in the balcony of the chapel for worship. I had many things that needed to be done, but I wanted to hear that particular professor preach. I was going to leave after the sermon, but for some reason I stayed.

As I fell into the back of one of the lines, my mind was filled with thoughts of how much further behind I was getting with what needed to be done that day. I stepped forward to receive the elements and as I did I lifted my gaze from the floor to meet the eyes of my professor. As our eyes met, I felt the bread being pressed into my hand and the weight of her hand as well, but the eyes that I was gazing into were actually the eyes of Christ looking into my very soul.

As she spoke the words I have heard and have spoken hundreds of times before “The body of Christ broken for you” I had the sense that it was no longer my friend serving me, but Christ. I felt the impact of those words more profoundly than ever before. I encountered the risen Christ that day while being fed at the Table. It was an encounter that would not have happened had I not stayed.

I was reminded of this encounter on Sunday as we celebrated World Communion Sunday and we shared in the Lord’s Supper with Christians around the world and were re-membered into the Body of Christ. Being a part of the Body of Christ, we are called into relationship with one another to bring about the Kingdom here on earth. We are called to remember our relationship to God, others and the world as we have been talking about this fall.

As I read the words of Catherine of Sienna and as I listened to Dr. Cynthia Rigby lecture on the Trinity recently, I was reminded that we worship and serve a relational God. The Triune God is intimately related one to another. Theologian Elizabeth Johnson describes the relationship as a triple helix, three separate strands that are woven together. And just as intimately as the Godhead is related to each other, the Triune God is also intimately relational to us.

This is the God who created both male and female in God’s image, the God who became human and walked among the people, the God who gifted the apostles with the ability to speak in other languages and spread the Good News to all the world. This is the God who still acts in the world today and interacts with us. God has reached out to us,, it is our time, by the grace of God, to respond.

Everyone leads busy lives, but we make time for that which is important to us. I challenge you to look at your relationships. How are you connected to God? How are you connected to others in the Body of Christ? How are you connected to the world? Relationships only happen when we are present. How can you be present and grow in your relationships this fall? We are pilgrim travelers in this life, may we meet at the Table to be nourished and walk the road together as we seek to deepen our relationship with God, others and the world.

Grace, mercy, and peace,
Karen