October Rector’s Message
“Being invited forward by prophets and mystics, yet invariably offering great resistance, is the clear pattern of history…Francis is really an amazing exception. He somehow succeeds in being loved, admired, and imitated by even non-Christian religions and very secular people…God gives us highly evolved people to pull us all forward. The Christian word for that was simply ‘saint’. We cannot imagine something until we see it as a living model [that] constellates in our consciousness as maybe possible for us too.” -Richard Rohr, Eager to Love
The church, and others, remember the life and witness of Francis of Assisi officially on the 4th of October. This year we will bless fur, feather and fin babies along Sellers Ave on the 2nd of October from 10am – 12pm. I hope you will come by, I hope you will share it with friends who may not know what they think about church, but they love their animal companion and see something enlightening in Francis. Greeting the world and saying prayers with people and puppies- it is a good thing. However, It is just the icing on the top of connecting with the witness of Francis. As Father Rohr says, we who claim him as an exemplary saint are compelled to examine how our whole lives align with Francis’ model of Christian practice. What privileges are we willing to let go of and lay at Jesus’ feet? Who is the stranger that caring for will change us?
October is one of the best months to be Christ Church. This is the month when we shine with bright color and friendship all over our lawn. This is the month when we offer our time hour after hour to benefit our siblings of the Navajo reservation near Farmington, New Mexico. The fruitfulness of the earth is one of our biggest annual opportunities to bring joy and share good news – a task and appreciation we certainly see in Francis. This current wave of the pandemic is emotionally brutal, and I need to see all those pumpkins and hear children laughing and safely encounter friends and neighbors and strangers. I cannot wait. So I hope that you will join me, and all the loving hearts that have made this our legacy. If you are able, please go sign up right now to serve with the Pumpkin Patch this year. It is really quite easy, and such a delight.
– The Reverend Jane Gober