the lent 2021
GATHERINGnewsletter of the Church of the Redeemer
2 ndash PENTECOST GATHERING
Sunday ndash 1030AMAnte-communionJoin in through ZoomThe link for the service is sent by email on Friday evening
Sunday ndash 7PMEvensong Taizeacute or RockOccasionally throughout the season a recorded service isposted on YouTube and Facebook
Sunday ndash 8PMComplineJoin in through ZoomThe link for the service is sent by email on Friday evening
WednesdayDaily PrayerA printed order for daily prayer posted on the website earlyin the morning
Each Morning and EveningA prayer or scripture reading on Facebook
The Church of the Redeemer
162 Bloor StreetWest
Toronto ONM5S 1M4
redeemerbellnetca
wwwtheredeemerca
facebookcomTheRedeemerTO
church office 416-922-4948
fax 416-922-0375
LENT GATHERING ndash 1
I believe that the Holy Spirit breathes through the mist ofevery age whispering her wisdom so that we may be led to adeeper truth of what it means to be the Christrsquos body in theworld Sometimes that whisper is more like a shout callingusmdashwith abrupt immediacymdashto a renewed sense of justiceand reconciliation with peoples we have ignored or worseabused Nowhere has this been more acutely felt than in theissues surrounding racial justice that erupted in the wake ofGeorge Floydrsquos murder in May 2020
The outrage posts and protests were immediate visceralresponses to the need for rapid change not just in the blackcommunity butmdashin our own contextmdashfor Indigenous peopleswho still were experiencing prejudice and injustice despitegovernment (and church) ldquotalking the talkrdquo aboutreconciliation It was as if the Spirit speaking through thezeitgeist was calling us to action One seemingly unlikelyforum where there has been concerted efforts to addressracial injustice has been in the unrelated worlds of footballand flapjacks (How timely and topical given that Super BowlSunday is upon us and Shrove Tuesday is just ahead)
One of my favorite podcasters recently did a piece on
brands who left behind their iconic names or imagesprecisely because they were racist He told the story of howAunt Jemimamdashthe poster image for Quaker Oatsrsquo pancakedivisionmdashwas retired in June 2020 in response to theaftermath of George Floydrsquos murder Moreover the brand andname was to be given a new identity one that wouldobviously repent of itrsquos prejudicial past So for now the worldawaits what Aunt Jemima will become
Likewise in the arena of pro sports racial injustice hasprompted a similar surrender of racist images and namesattached to long established football clubs WashingtonRedskins owners had beenmdashfor decadesmdashresistant toaddress the issue of the clubrsquos name This came to a head in2013 when prodded about its controversial name the ownerdeclared that the Redskins would ldquoNEVERrdquo change itsnamemdashfurther inviting the press to use ldquoall capsrdquo in itsreporting
In July 2020 those same owners reported that theRedskins would be called the Washington FootballTeam ldquopending the adoption of a new identityrdquo If youthink this only happens south of the border where racialtensions are more pronounced think again TheEdmonton Eskimos have likewise surrendered theiridentity recognizing the inherent prejudicialundertones in their name As with Aunt Jemima and theRedskins the Eskimos have let go of their past andthrough a process of repentance now await a newidentity
Lent is before us It is thetime in our life of faith whenwe heed the Spirit calling usto repent of behaviours andbeliefs that separate us fromGod and our neighbour Justas the world has confrontedlong-cherished brands andchallenged them to self-examination we also arecalled to seek what is wanting within us so that we maybe transformed In a sense like the brands mentionedabove who await a new identity wemdashin our Pilgrimagethrough Lentmdashlong for renewal and rebirth through theprocess of letting go of our own prejudices Just ascorporations have been forced to listen to the spirit ofthe age calling them to account for the ways in whichtheir images have been hurtful and insensitive we aresummonedmdashin our pilgrimage through Lentmdashto hearthe voice of the Spirit in our inner wilderness calling us
THE REVrsquoD CANONSTEVEN MACKISON
Respondingto the
Zeitgeistin Lent
Pending theAdoptionof a NewIdentity
2 ndash LENT GATHERING
to truth and action to be more fervent in prayer andmore generous in works of love
I close with the words from the Penitential Rite ofthe Ash Wednesday Liturgy They represent theSpiritsrsquo first whisperings (or shouts) of our need tolisten to let go of what deafens us to hearing thefullness of Godrsquos love as we give voice to it in our livesThese are not the last words on what God has in storefor us of course Repentance is just the beginning Inthe resurrection at Easter healing wholeness andnewness of life are what we look forward to ldquopendingthe adoption of a new identityrdquo
ldquoI invite you therefore in the name
of the Lord to observe a holy Lent
by self-examination penitence
prayer fasting and almsgiving and
by reading andmeditating on the
word of God Let us kneel before our
Creator andRedeemerrdquoYours in Christ
Steven+
VoicesForPeacePaul Pynkoski
Voices for Peace began in 2018 with a vision toexplore the Christian witness to peacemaking and non-violence Rooted in the spirituality of Thomas Mertonand Henri Nouwen the first conference explored the20th centurys legacy of radical faith and resistancethrough the lives of Merton Nouwen Daniel Berriganand Dorothy Day The 2019 conference explored 21stcentury stories of peacemaking in Palestine andAfghanistan and the relationship between the arts andpeacemaking
This year since we are unable to gather togetherVoices for Peace is offering three virtual sessionsexploring the connections between creation and non-violence peacemaking through reconciliation withIndigenous peoples and peacemaking efforts in thenew nuclear context created by the Treaty on theProhibition of Nuclear Weapons
Church of the Redeemer has been a sponsor of theconference along with the Henri Nouwen AssociationCitizens for Public Justice and the Basilian Centre forPeace and Justice This year the Canadian Council ofChurches joins us as a sponsor
Sylvia Keesmaat will be the featured speaker onApril 20 Nobel Peace nominee and author Fr John Dearwill be featured in September Details for an evening inJune are being worked out
Details and registration information we be sharedas available
CATECHESIS2021-STYLE
Lent is a time of reflection and self-discipline inpreparation for Easter
Lent is also the traditional time for CatechesisldquoCatechesisrdquo is a churchy word that simply meansldquoinstructionrdquo but is used by the Church to refer tothat special instruction given to those seeking tojoin the Church through baptism those looking tobe received into the Anglican Church fromanother denomination or those feeling the urgeto re-examine their faith and renew their bap-tismal vows
If you think you might be one of these peoplewe invite you to join us for Catechesis this Lent
The Catechesis program will be a bit moreinformal this year focussing on group explorationand discussion of core concepts such asScripture Telling Our Story Who is Jesus andHow to Be the Body of Christ
We will begin (via Zoom) on Ash WednesdayFebruary 17 after the 6 PM service and for thefive weeks following usually on Monday eveningsThere will be at least one meeting after Easter Ifyou are interested either in being a catechumen orsponsor please register online Please email usat catechesistheredeemerca if you have anyquestions
LENT GATHERING ndash 3
An UpdateFrom TheRefugeeSettlementCommitteeSusanna Jacob
The last year has passed in a blur On January 25 wewere reminded that it had been a year since the firstcase of COVID-19 was declared in Canada We all haveour own stories of lockdown isolation job loss anxietyillness and death We also have our own stories ofresilience determination compassion and adaptation
Richard Rohrrsquos daily meditations include thispoignant prayer of gratitude ldquoThank you for leading usinto a time where more of reality is being unveiled for usall to seerdquo The pandemic has indeed unveiled realitythe harsh reality of inequity prejudice and greed andthe beautiful reality of love generosity and care forfamily neighbours and community
One of the ongoing realities is the plight of refugeesworldwide In the midst of a pandemic that is affectingevery country in the world it is vitally important not tolose sight of the needs of those who were sufferingeven before the virus and who are living in crowdedconditions that only exacerbate its spread
The Church of the Redeemer has sponsored elevenpeople from three countries over the past five yearsthe last a group of four young men from Eritrea While ithas been two years since we have settled a group ofrefugees the committee has continued meetingoccasionally both to share our own circumstances andto exchange news and maintain hope that we will beable to welcome another group once travel restrictionsare lifted We have begun working with Anglican United
Refugee Alliance (AURA) to sponsor Somali fatherAbdikadir and his family of seven currently living inDadaab refugee camp in Kenya We hope that they maybe able to come to Canada in another year or so
You have probably heard of Dadaab the worldslargest refugee camp run by the UNHCR Over300000 people from surrounding countries arestranded there in their flights from wars atrocities andother threats in their homelands There is no freedomof movement but violence is prevalent and the campprovides a training ground for Al Qaeda Kenya refusescitizenship to people in the camp and threatens themwith repatriation otherwiseknown as refouillement aprocess by which peopleare sent back to theircountries of origin in spiteof dangers and threats totheir lives
It is to this camp thatAbdikadir fled on his own29 years ago when he was13 after the murder of hisparents and sister He haslived there ever since and isa leader within his sectionof the camp He is fluent inEnglish and has variousskills including somegained through work withan NGO as well as someauto mechanic experienceHe is the kind of refugeewho will make a strongcontribution to Canadian life once he has arrived here
Since we are in the very early stages of thissponsorship we will update you as time goes by In themeantime please keep Abdikadir and his family in yourprayers As we continue this ministry we look forwardto partnering with other faith groups and churches andto the continued support of our own congregationcommunity
hellipIt is vitally
important not to
lose sight of the
needs of those
who were
suffering even
before the virus
and who are
living in
crowded
conditions that
only exacerbate
its spread
4 ndash LENT GATHERING
TreatiesAffectingthe TorontoAreaCarolynn Bett
This article is part of an on-going series prepared byCarolynn Bett a member of the Indigenous SolidarityWorkingGroup
The two treaties that cover the area now known asToronto are
The Toronto Purchase (Treaty 13) 1787 and 1805settled 2010
The Williams Treaty 1923 settled 2018
Toronto Purchase Treaty 13In 1787 the Mississaugas met with the Crown at the
Bay of Quinte to discuss sharing the land that currentlystretches from Etobicoke CreekHighway 27 in thewest to Ashbridges BayWoodbine in the east and fromthe lake to just south of Bloomington Rd Aurora TheMississaugas were given 2000 gun flints 24 brasskettles 120 mirrors 24 lace hats a bale of floweredflannel and 96 gallons of rum Their understanding wasthat this was a rental in exchange for gifts in perpetuityThe Crown understood it as a purchase So when theMississaugas blocked a survey taking place west of theHumber and east of the Don claiming that land had notbeen ceded the Crown sent in the military However by1794 the Crown knew it lacked legal title the blankdeed did not delineate boundaries and the signaturesof the chiefs were affixed to it with an 18th centuryversion of post-it notes The only documentation was ina letter written in 1799 claiming a 10-mile square hadbeen negotiated
Wanting to secure title to a vaster territory theCrown revisited the treaty in 1805 By this time all thechiefs from 1787 were dead and the Mississaugas werestarving The Crown secured the treaty lands for 10shillings about $60 in 2010 money on August 1 1805Both the 1787 and 1805 documents were registered
together as Treaty 13 covering present day EtobicokeNorth York old City of Toronto old York East YorkVaughn King and south-west Markham over to westWhitechurch
By 1986 when Indigenous people were allowed toretain lawyers they launched a land claim saying theyhad never ceded the sacred lands of Toronto Islandsthat they had been denied their basic rights laid down inthe Royal Proclamation to fish in the Etobicoke Creekand to receive reasonable compensation Afterdecades of wrangling this claim was settled in 2010 for$145 million dollars The 1700 Mississauga bandmembers each got $20000 and the rest was put intrust for future generations M LaForme bandmember shrugged and said $20000 couldnrsquot buy atruck
The Williams TreatiesBecause some Redeemerites live east of
Ashbridges Bay it seemed worthwhile to describe theWilliams Treaties Moreover a couple of us who wereon a Travel for Learning city excursion in 2018 shortlybefore the settlement was announced sat next to theProvincial negotiator who was bursting withexcitement and let the cat out of the bag
The Williams Treaties covering the land east ofAshbridges BayWoodbine Ave in Toronto weresigned in October and November 1923 by thegovernments of Canada and Ontario and by sevenAnishinaabe First Nations of the Chippewa andMississaugas The goal of Mr Sinclair (Federal) MrMcFadden (lawyer) and Mr Williams (Provincial) waswith a one-time cash payment to extinguish Chippewaand Mississauga title to the lands on the north shore ofLake Ontario to Lake Simcoe and from the OttawaRiver to Lake Huronmdash20000 square kilometers in allThese were the last of the historic land cession treatiesThe payment was $25 for each band member plus$233425 to the Mississaugas to be divided amongfour reserves and $233375 to the Chippewa coveringthree reserves The settlement payments to theChippewas of Lake Simcoe went to BeausoleilGeorgina Island and Rama reserves Payments to theMississaugas of the North Shore of Lake Ontario wentto Alderville Curve Lake Hiawatha and Scugog Islandreserves
Problems arose because the treaties were notactually negotiated nor understood by the FirstNations Moreover other treaties gave hunting andfishing rights and annuity payments in perpetuity One
such treaty was number 20 whichoverlapped the land of the WilliamsTreaties
Years of litigation followedresulting in the settlement of 2018the largest land settlement evernegotiated The Chippewa andMississaugas won back fishing andhunting rights promised in the RoyalProclamation of 1763 they received4452 hectares for each reserve(1100 acres) and they receivedpayment of $666 million from theFederal Government and$444million from the Provincialgovernment They also negotiatedan apology from each governmentregarding the Williams Treaties of 1923 for insufficientcompensation inadequate reserve lands and denial oftheir fishing and hunting rights
The question remains in mymind whether these treaties andldquosettlements are regarded aspurchases of land according to theSettler point of view or whetherthey are agreements to share andcare for the land with the monetarypayments as compensation forfailure on the part of Settlergovernments to do so in the pastand as a promise of reconciliationfor the future This would be morein keeping with the spirit ofIndigenous law According toIndigenous world view and law theland owns us we are MotherNaturersquos children integrally
connected with all life formsmdashall my relationsmdashand areresponsible for their care as they provide forand feed us
Living OurQuestions
ldquoNo one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth onan old cloak otherwise the patch pullsaway from it the new from the old and aworse tear is made And no one puts newwine into old wineskins otherwise the winewill burst the skins and the wine is lost andso are the skins but one puts new wine intofresh wineskinsrdquo
ndash Mark 221-22Is there a sticking point in your experience of
Christian community A hymn that leaves youfeeling Im so not on board for this Words in theCreed that you struggle with Sketchy versions ofChristian doctrine and practice that seem to justifythe status quo instead of liberating people
Its easy to feel isolated with our sticking pointseasy to assume were alone with them But were
not When we have a safe space within thecommunity to share them and our struggles withthem were reminded that theyre part of thejourney of faith not a departure from the journey offaith We look for ways to go on saying I believe onterms that are true to our experience and values Wetry to pour new wine into new wineskins followingthe advice of Jesus that pouring new wine into oldwineskins doesnt work so well Searching togethercan strengthen our faith and give us courage for ourjourney We can weave an experience of deepermore intimate community with each other in theprocess
Following on the success of the first BE YOUsmall-group experience in the fallLearningRedeemer invites you to share thequestions you live with in a safe confidential circle offellow seekers A group of ten to twelve participantswill begin meeting shortly after Easter with thespecial invitation to share your sticking pointsWell start by sharing from the heart about ourjourneys In our later meetings well take up thetopics that members most want to explore and taketurns leading discussion on
Please register your interest through the parishwebsite or contact davidtownsendutorontoca formore information
6 ndash LENT GATHERING
A S THE WEEKS OF THE COVID-19 crisis lengthenedinto months the longings for communion andcommunity intensified especially among those of
our membership who cannot access Zoom church and thosewho live alone At the same time a longing was stirring in thehearts and minds of two of our parishioners who felt a deepdesire to open their beautiful backyard space to small groupsof fellow parishioners for worship and prayer
It was North Toronto and 2020 They are artists nottentmakers But Karen and Michael Visser were longing tohost their fellow Redeemerites in their garden just asPriscilla and Aquila hosted their fellow Christians in theirhome many centuries ago when those first followers of theWay were figuring out how to be disciples in a strange timewhen it was not yet clear or acceptable or necessarily safe toworship Christ openly
So over the ensuing months we began inviting groups ofseven or eight people to the Visser backyard to a shortcelebration of the Eucharist and on two occasions aEucharist with baptism Our goal was to begin with thosefeeling very alone or keenly missing the sacrament and to
continue extending the invitation until either COVID-19ended or we had invited everyone in the communitymdashpreferably the former They came from all over the city intheir eagerness to join one of our members walked almost20 kilometres each way in the scorching August heat just tobe part of it The story of this unique house church over itsfirst three seasons is told through these photographs and thereflections of a few of its participants
What follows are reflections by those who attendedthe services
Had someone asked me a year ago ldquoIf you were ableto partake of only one celebration of the Eucharist foran entire year and could choose where that would bewhere would you chooserdquo
After a momentrsquos thought of how weird aspeculation that was I may well have said lsquoHmmIrsquodprobably choose a celebration that was to take placebeneath a canopy of treesrdquo
How could I have known then that this questionwould prove not to be hypothetical but indeed the fact
House ChurchIn The TimeOf Pandemic
LENT GATHERING ndash 7
of what was to come And how amazing now lookingback on those many months that the single Eucharisticservice I was to be part of was indeed celebratedbeneath the overarching branches of surroundingtrees A living cathedral
Details of that summertime gathering have softenednow What remains in memory is a lyrical montage ofhuman faces against the background of green movingtogether in a kind of slow-motion dance as we enteredinto the familiar rhythm of remembering Jesusrsquo lastmeal with his disciples Together feasting on thescripture of the book from which we read amidst of theblessing of the scripture of Creation all around usTogether in the great mystery What a blessing
Grant Jahnke
What a gift to be present at a baptism that had suchcritical meaning for the individual It was a privilege tohear her make a firm and confident affirmation of faithknowing that there is a significant cost Cost that is notabout having the right clothes or a lavish party but costin terms of saying these things in the face of possiblereprisals That takes courage and commitment at alevel that I have never myself risen to I am very gratefulfor her modelling this for me Her bearing witnessdeepened my faith
SusanGrahamWalker
They recognized him in the breaking of the breadAs I arrive at the garden where a few of us will be
gathering for a celebration of Eucharist my thoughtslinger on the Emmaus story (Luke 2413-35) I feel akinship with the two travellers grieving over the loss ofthe One who had filled them with such hope For me forus COVID-19 has deprived us of gathering as acommunity around the Eucharistic table and we feellost But the garden draws us in warm and lush and softwith bird song I relax as the familiar prayers are spokenand the scriptures proclaimed We say Amen Let it beso We tell our sacred story and as bread is broken andwine poured out we remember Jesus the Christ andlike the disciples of old we recognize him in thebreaking of the bread I am grateful and content as wewish each other well and leave to return to our homesrefreshed and renewed
Rita Patenaude
This year we discovered how mystical and beautifula Eucharist in nature is Susan Haig says she feels aprofound connection tothe Divine in nature justas her grandfather didOur little gathering wasstunned to feel the powerof that connection whenSusan invoked the HolySpirit in our two baptisms
Joshua once known asRishi was baptized on aclear cold Autumn dayWe watched as heseemed transformedreborn as the Holy Spiritwas invoked After theEucharist Susan blessedus all to go out into theworld and a strange littlewind suddenly gatheredat the top of the tall mapletree swept down behindher gathered little goldleaves around her andswept through us It wasthe only wind of the dayand it left us euphoric
KarenVisserWe were surprised and
delighted to be invited tojoin a small group of masked Redeemerites for a
8 ndash LENT GATHERING
backyard Eucharist on a chilly but bright December dayThe event was a microcosm of the usual Eucharist inthe church building a dozen or so people instead of theusual scores no music a distanced and respectfulpeace no homily but readings no wine but bread froma tiny loaf In other words all the basic essentials noldquofrillsrdquo and friends warmed by our delight in seeingeach other by Susanrsquos pastoral care Karenrsquos generosityin hosting us and by the sunny crispness of the naturalsetting In all a heart-warming and worshipfulexperience
Pauline Thompson
It wasnrsquot the Garden of Eden In the middle there wasa table but not the Tree And yet it was a little bit ofparadise in North Toronto
The table held bread and wine Nearby flamed awoodfire not like the one Peter warmed his hands bybut one where a few brothers and sisters gathereddistanced in body but not spirit
No organ no choir But the words of institutionprayer over the gifts the body of the Lord given for usbread placed in sanitized hands taken eaten
The heavens didnrsquot open but our hearts didexposing and soothing just a little the ache for beingtogether at the table of the Lord
Paul Gooch
We are looking forward to many more celebrationsof the Eucharist under the canopy of trees of this housechurch The table is set the firewood is ready and soare our hearts and welcomes If you would like to join usor know of someone who would like to do so please letme know ndash Susan
LENT GATHERING ndash 9
WildernessResistanceCompassionPaul Pynkoski
Lent should behellipan experience that gets intoour flesh and nerves and bones a way oflifehellipvery few of us really give its spirit a fairchance to touch and penetrate our lives(Eugene R Fairweather)
It is one and the same movement of surrenderto open ourselves to intimacy and personalunion with God in the Spirit and to openourselves to compassion and solidarity withour struggling needy fellow human beings
ndash Martin L SmithI knew nothing of Lent during my fundamentalist
upbringing Lent was fuzzily conceived as some sort ofritual ldquothose Catholicsrdquo were involved in somethingother than the pure gospel Itrsquos purpose and place in thecycle of the Christian year became clearer as I exploredthe Anglican tradition Yet the Lenten fast hascontinued to hold some ambiguity I understood that itwas modelled on Jesusrsquo forty-day sojourn in thewilderness but my efforts to give up chocolate or wineor Facebookmdashor to add in greater efforts at personalprayermdashalways seemed to end up more frustratingthan helpful (One friend gave up church for Lent eachyear I pondered following suit)
This year I have begun Lent by looking beyond thestory of Jesus in the wilderness When I meditate on thelarger narrative accompanying Jesus from the JordanRiver through the wilderness and into Galilee I seemyself being beckoned to move beyond fastingtowards action and transformation
The evangelists depict the baptism of Jesus endingwith Godrsquos voice declaring ldquoYou are my son thebelovedrdquo Jesus does not get to bask in being thebeloved one of God It is not a badge to be worn like thenumber on an athletersquos sweater Nor could he writethose words down and carry them back to thecarpenterrsquos shop The Spirit had other ideas Jesus wasdriven to a place where no one really chooses to gomdashthe haunt of beasts and demons
Undernourished and emotionally exhausted afterforty days of fasting prayer and struggle Jesus is
tempted by Satan to change the laws of nature tocreate an amazing spectacle that would elevate himabove other human beings and to bow to the idolatry ofpower In refusing these temptations Jesus remainedhungry ordinary and powerless By resisting evil Jesuschose the way of poverty humility and dependence ofGod
Calling prayer and resistance led to solidarity Themovement of the narrative from the wilderness into thecity suggests to me that the fires of compassionatelove were being fanned
Consistent with the vision that emerged from hisresistance Jesus begins building a community of poorordinary and powerless people He started with fourunsuccessful fishermen and a despised tax collectorHealing the sick and proclaiming the good news ofGodrsquos liberation follows Those he restored to healthwere not unlike those he calledmdashblind roadsidebeggars demoniacs whose outlandish behaviourprecluded gainful employment and marginalizedlepers Controversy ensued ldquoWho does he think he ishanging out with those people Isnrsquot he breaking thelaw when he heals on the Sabbathrdquo
As I meditate on this I see that fasting has no valueas an end in itself As Godrsquos beloved I am being called toembrace this larger pattern of prayerful resistancecompassionate solidarity and healing What shapemight it take in my life in our lives
Might we like Dorothy Day live out our fast inpoverty with the powerless Could our fast move uslike William McNichols during the AIDS crisis to bringhealing to those society casts aside Could we imaginea fast that leads to resisting of our governmentrsquos policyon weapons of destruction and like the Kings BayPlowshares 7 risk incarceration Can we dream of afast that leads beyond saying ldquoblack lives matterrdquo topraying with our feet the description given by AbrahamJoshua Heschel of his march with Martin Luther KingJr Does it give me pause to realize that suchcompassion will inevitably garner controversy
Perhaps our dreams and imaginings will not place uson the world stage but in the smaller theatre of ourown lives bringing friendship through refugeeresettlement growing compassion through a blanketexercise or building a community of hope through theCommon Table
Will Lent get into my bones this year Can Iaccompany Jesus out of the wilderness and into thecity where solidarity and compassion can takeconcrete shape
10 ndash LENT GATHERING
THE SEASONOF LENTEarlier in this newsletter Steven reminds us of the
invitation to observe a Holy Lent How will you mark thedays From Mardi Gras to Holy Week this is ourpilgrimage
Join in Mardi Gras OnlineWho says we canrsquot have our annual Mardi Gras
party We will gather on Tuesday February 16 throughZoom for music games and more And of coursepancakes Didy Erb shares her favourite recipe so youcan get the ingredients on-hand in time to make a stackto enjoy as we gather together
Didyrsquos Pancakes
2 cups flour 2 eggs3 Tbs sugar 14 cup oil12 tsp salt 1-34 cups milk1 Tbs Baking Powder 1 tsp Vanilla
Put all dry ingredients into a bowl mix togetherAdd all other ingredients just dump them in
Beat everything together using ahand-held beater or a whiskLet all of this sit for 10 minutes(important)During this time heat up your panIspray mine with a bit of Pam as itsnon-stick properties are failingWhen the ten minutes are up add aknob of butter (or Becel) to the panDrop the batter about a big
tablespoon full per pancake onto the hot panWhen bubbles appear on the top of the pancakes theyare ready to be flippedSo flip them wait about 2 minutesEAT WHILE HOT and ENJOY
Ash Wednesday ndash February 17The tracing of a cross with ashes on our foreheads
and the wordsYou are dust and to dust you shall returnreminds us that we have the season of Lent to turn toGod to bring all the pieces of our selves that needhealing and restoration as we prepare for the joyouscelebration of Easter This year our Ash Wednesdayservice will be offered through Zoom at 6 PMContainers with ashes created from our burnt palmbranches are included in the Lent-in-a-bag resourcesfor use during the service
Daily Prayer in LentJoin The Revrsquod Canon Steven Mackison each day
from February 18 to March 27 for a short service ofdaily prayerThe service will be offered through Zoomat mid-day Details will be shared in eNews
Lent Fast from Creation MattersAre you looking to undertake a fast during Lent that
focuses on creation and issues related to the climatecrisis The Bishoprsquos Committee on Creation Care hasproducedAFast for the Earth Lent 2021 to provide afast for each week of Lent meat consumption foodwaste water injustice electricity and ignorance Youcan find the resource on the diocese website mdashtorontoanglicanca May this resource be part of yourLenten observance
Annual Vestry MeetingThe annual Vestry meeting will be held through
Zoom on Sunday February 28 following the morningworship service Vestry reports and financial reportswill be posted on the website as soon as they areavailable
Lent Reading GroupLearningRedeemer invites
all to look forward throughoutthe season of Lent to theevents of Holy Week with theLententide Reading GroupWersquoll focus on Jesusrsquo final daysby reading the book The LastWeek by Marcus Borg and JohnDominic Crossan More detailsare online Please register byMonday February 15
2 ndash PENTECOST GATHERING
Sunday ndash 1030AMAnte-communionJoin in through ZoomThe link for the service is sent by email on Friday evening
Sunday ndash 7PMEvensong Taizeacute or RockOccasionally throughout the season a recorded service isposted on YouTube and Facebook
Sunday ndash 8PMComplineJoin in through ZoomThe link for the service is sent by email on Friday evening
WednesdayDaily PrayerA printed order for daily prayer posted on the website earlyin the morning
Each Morning and EveningA prayer or scripture reading on Facebook
The Church of the Redeemer
162 Bloor StreetWest
Toronto ONM5S 1M4
redeemerbellnetca
wwwtheredeemerca
facebookcomTheRedeemerTO
church office 416-922-4948
fax 416-922-0375
LENT GATHERING ndash 1
I believe that the Holy Spirit breathes through the mist ofevery age whispering her wisdom so that we may be led to adeeper truth of what it means to be the Christrsquos body in theworld Sometimes that whisper is more like a shout callingusmdashwith abrupt immediacymdashto a renewed sense of justiceand reconciliation with peoples we have ignored or worseabused Nowhere has this been more acutely felt than in theissues surrounding racial justice that erupted in the wake ofGeorge Floydrsquos murder in May 2020
The outrage posts and protests were immediate visceralresponses to the need for rapid change not just in the blackcommunity butmdashin our own contextmdashfor Indigenous peopleswho still were experiencing prejudice and injustice despitegovernment (and church) ldquotalking the talkrdquo aboutreconciliation It was as if the Spirit speaking through thezeitgeist was calling us to action One seemingly unlikelyforum where there has been concerted efforts to addressracial injustice has been in the unrelated worlds of footballand flapjacks (How timely and topical given that Super BowlSunday is upon us and Shrove Tuesday is just ahead)
One of my favorite podcasters recently did a piece on
brands who left behind their iconic names or imagesprecisely because they were racist He told the story of howAunt Jemimamdashthe poster image for Quaker Oatsrsquo pancakedivisionmdashwas retired in June 2020 in response to theaftermath of George Floydrsquos murder Moreover the brand andname was to be given a new identity one that wouldobviously repent of itrsquos prejudicial past So for now the worldawaits what Aunt Jemima will become
Likewise in the arena of pro sports racial injustice hasprompted a similar surrender of racist images and namesattached to long established football clubs WashingtonRedskins owners had beenmdashfor decadesmdashresistant toaddress the issue of the clubrsquos name This came to a head in2013 when prodded about its controversial name the ownerdeclared that the Redskins would ldquoNEVERrdquo change itsnamemdashfurther inviting the press to use ldquoall capsrdquo in itsreporting
In July 2020 those same owners reported that theRedskins would be called the Washington FootballTeam ldquopending the adoption of a new identityrdquo If youthink this only happens south of the border where racialtensions are more pronounced think again TheEdmonton Eskimos have likewise surrendered theiridentity recognizing the inherent prejudicialundertones in their name As with Aunt Jemima and theRedskins the Eskimos have let go of their past andthrough a process of repentance now await a newidentity
Lent is before us It is thetime in our life of faith whenwe heed the Spirit calling usto repent of behaviours andbeliefs that separate us fromGod and our neighbour Justas the world has confrontedlong-cherished brands andchallenged them to self-examination we also arecalled to seek what is wanting within us so that we maybe transformed In a sense like the brands mentionedabove who await a new identity wemdashin our Pilgrimagethrough Lentmdashlong for renewal and rebirth through theprocess of letting go of our own prejudices Just ascorporations have been forced to listen to the spirit ofthe age calling them to account for the ways in whichtheir images have been hurtful and insensitive we aresummonedmdashin our pilgrimage through Lentmdashto hearthe voice of the Spirit in our inner wilderness calling us
THE REVrsquoD CANONSTEVEN MACKISON
Respondingto the
Zeitgeistin Lent
Pending theAdoptionof a NewIdentity
2 ndash LENT GATHERING
to truth and action to be more fervent in prayer andmore generous in works of love
I close with the words from the Penitential Rite ofthe Ash Wednesday Liturgy They represent theSpiritsrsquo first whisperings (or shouts) of our need tolisten to let go of what deafens us to hearing thefullness of Godrsquos love as we give voice to it in our livesThese are not the last words on what God has in storefor us of course Repentance is just the beginning Inthe resurrection at Easter healing wholeness andnewness of life are what we look forward to ldquopendingthe adoption of a new identityrdquo
ldquoI invite you therefore in the name
of the Lord to observe a holy Lent
by self-examination penitence
prayer fasting and almsgiving and
by reading andmeditating on the
word of God Let us kneel before our
Creator andRedeemerrdquoYours in Christ
Steven+
VoicesForPeacePaul Pynkoski
Voices for Peace began in 2018 with a vision toexplore the Christian witness to peacemaking and non-violence Rooted in the spirituality of Thomas Mertonand Henri Nouwen the first conference explored the20th centurys legacy of radical faith and resistancethrough the lives of Merton Nouwen Daniel Berriganand Dorothy Day The 2019 conference explored 21stcentury stories of peacemaking in Palestine andAfghanistan and the relationship between the arts andpeacemaking
This year since we are unable to gather togetherVoices for Peace is offering three virtual sessionsexploring the connections between creation and non-violence peacemaking through reconciliation withIndigenous peoples and peacemaking efforts in thenew nuclear context created by the Treaty on theProhibition of Nuclear Weapons
Church of the Redeemer has been a sponsor of theconference along with the Henri Nouwen AssociationCitizens for Public Justice and the Basilian Centre forPeace and Justice This year the Canadian Council ofChurches joins us as a sponsor
Sylvia Keesmaat will be the featured speaker onApril 20 Nobel Peace nominee and author Fr John Dearwill be featured in September Details for an evening inJune are being worked out
Details and registration information we be sharedas available
CATECHESIS2021-STYLE
Lent is a time of reflection and self-discipline inpreparation for Easter
Lent is also the traditional time for CatechesisldquoCatechesisrdquo is a churchy word that simply meansldquoinstructionrdquo but is used by the Church to refer tothat special instruction given to those seeking tojoin the Church through baptism those looking tobe received into the Anglican Church fromanother denomination or those feeling the urgeto re-examine their faith and renew their bap-tismal vows
If you think you might be one of these peoplewe invite you to join us for Catechesis this Lent
The Catechesis program will be a bit moreinformal this year focussing on group explorationand discussion of core concepts such asScripture Telling Our Story Who is Jesus andHow to Be the Body of Christ
We will begin (via Zoom) on Ash WednesdayFebruary 17 after the 6 PM service and for thefive weeks following usually on Monday eveningsThere will be at least one meeting after Easter Ifyou are interested either in being a catechumen orsponsor please register online Please email usat catechesistheredeemerca if you have anyquestions
LENT GATHERING ndash 3
An UpdateFrom TheRefugeeSettlementCommitteeSusanna Jacob
The last year has passed in a blur On January 25 wewere reminded that it had been a year since the firstcase of COVID-19 was declared in Canada We all haveour own stories of lockdown isolation job loss anxietyillness and death We also have our own stories ofresilience determination compassion and adaptation
Richard Rohrrsquos daily meditations include thispoignant prayer of gratitude ldquoThank you for leading usinto a time where more of reality is being unveiled for usall to seerdquo The pandemic has indeed unveiled realitythe harsh reality of inequity prejudice and greed andthe beautiful reality of love generosity and care forfamily neighbours and community
One of the ongoing realities is the plight of refugeesworldwide In the midst of a pandemic that is affectingevery country in the world it is vitally important not tolose sight of the needs of those who were sufferingeven before the virus and who are living in crowdedconditions that only exacerbate its spread
The Church of the Redeemer has sponsored elevenpeople from three countries over the past five yearsthe last a group of four young men from Eritrea While ithas been two years since we have settled a group ofrefugees the committee has continued meetingoccasionally both to share our own circumstances andto exchange news and maintain hope that we will beable to welcome another group once travel restrictionsare lifted We have begun working with Anglican United
Refugee Alliance (AURA) to sponsor Somali fatherAbdikadir and his family of seven currently living inDadaab refugee camp in Kenya We hope that they maybe able to come to Canada in another year or so
You have probably heard of Dadaab the worldslargest refugee camp run by the UNHCR Over300000 people from surrounding countries arestranded there in their flights from wars atrocities andother threats in their homelands There is no freedomof movement but violence is prevalent and the campprovides a training ground for Al Qaeda Kenya refusescitizenship to people in the camp and threatens themwith repatriation otherwiseknown as refouillement aprocess by which peopleare sent back to theircountries of origin in spiteof dangers and threats totheir lives
It is to this camp thatAbdikadir fled on his own29 years ago when he was13 after the murder of hisparents and sister He haslived there ever since and isa leader within his sectionof the camp He is fluent inEnglish and has variousskills including somegained through work withan NGO as well as someauto mechanic experienceHe is the kind of refugeewho will make a strongcontribution to Canadian life once he has arrived here
Since we are in the very early stages of thissponsorship we will update you as time goes by In themeantime please keep Abdikadir and his family in yourprayers As we continue this ministry we look forwardto partnering with other faith groups and churches andto the continued support of our own congregationcommunity
hellipIt is vitally
important not to
lose sight of the
needs of those
who were
suffering even
before the virus
and who are
living in
crowded
conditions that
only exacerbate
its spread
4 ndash LENT GATHERING
TreatiesAffectingthe TorontoAreaCarolynn Bett
This article is part of an on-going series prepared byCarolynn Bett a member of the Indigenous SolidarityWorkingGroup
The two treaties that cover the area now known asToronto are
The Toronto Purchase (Treaty 13) 1787 and 1805settled 2010
The Williams Treaty 1923 settled 2018
Toronto Purchase Treaty 13In 1787 the Mississaugas met with the Crown at the
Bay of Quinte to discuss sharing the land that currentlystretches from Etobicoke CreekHighway 27 in thewest to Ashbridges BayWoodbine in the east and fromthe lake to just south of Bloomington Rd Aurora TheMississaugas were given 2000 gun flints 24 brasskettles 120 mirrors 24 lace hats a bale of floweredflannel and 96 gallons of rum Their understanding wasthat this was a rental in exchange for gifts in perpetuityThe Crown understood it as a purchase So when theMississaugas blocked a survey taking place west of theHumber and east of the Don claiming that land had notbeen ceded the Crown sent in the military However by1794 the Crown knew it lacked legal title the blankdeed did not delineate boundaries and the signaturesof the chiefs were affixed to it with an 18th centuryversion of post-it notes The only documentation was ina letter written in 1799 claiming a 10-mile square hadbeen negotiated
Wanting to secure title to a vaster territory theCrown revisited the treaty in 1805 By this time all thechiefs from 1787 were dead and the Mississaugas werestarving The Crown secured the treaty lands for 10shillings about $60 in 2010 money on August 1 1805Both the 1787 and 1805 documents were registered
together as Treaty 13 covering present day EtobicokeNorth York old City of Toronto old York East YorkVaughn King and south-west Markham over to westWhitechurch
By 1986 when Indigenous people were allowed toretain lawyers they launched a land claim saying theyhad never ceded the sacred lands of Toronto Islandsthat they had been denied their basic rights laid down inthe Royal Proclamation to fish in the Etobicoke Creekand to receive reasonable compensation Afterdecades of wrangling this claim was settled in 2010 for$145 million dollars The 1700 Mississauga bandmembers each got $20000 and the rest was put intrust for future generations M LaForme bandmember shrugged and said $20000 couldnrsquot buy atruck
The Williams TreatiesBecause some Redeemerites live east of
Ashbridges Bay it seemed worthwhile to describe theWilliams Treaties Moreover a couple of us who wereon a Travel for Learning city excursion in 2018 shortlybefore the settlement was announced sat next to theProvincial negotiator who was bursting withexcitement and let the cat out of the bag
The Williams Treaties covering the land east ofAshbridges BayWoodbine Ave in Toronto weresigned in October and November 1923 by thegovernments of Canada and Ontario and by sevenAnishinaabe First Nations of the Chippewa andMississaugas The goal of Mr Sinclair (Federal) MrMcFadden (lawyer) and Mr Williams (Provincial) waswith a one-time cash payment to extinguish Chippewaand Mississauga title to the lands on the north shore ofLake Ontario to Lake Simcoe and from the OttawaRiver to Lake Huronmdash20000 square kilometers in allThese were the last of the historic land cession treatiesThe payment was $25 for each band member plus$233425 to the Mississaugas to be divided amongfour reserves and $233375 to the Chippewa coveringthree reserves The settlement payments to theChippewas of Lake Simcoe went to BeausoleilGeorgina Island and Rama reserves Payments to theMississaugas of the North Shore of Lake Ontario wentto Alderville Curve Lake Hiawatha and Scugog Islandreserves
Problems arose because the treaties were notactually negotiated nor understood by the FirstNations Moreover other treaties gave hunting andfishing rights and annuity payments in perpetuity One
such treaty was number 20 whichoverlapped the land of the WilliamsTreaties
Years of litigation followedresulting in the settlement of 2018the largest land settlement evernegotiated The Chippewa andMississaugas won back fishing andhunting rights promised in the RoyalProclamation of 1763 they received4452 hectares for each reserve(1100 acres) and they receivedpayment of $666 million from theFederal Government and$444million from the Provincialgovernment They also negotiatedan apology from each governmentregarding the Williams Treaties of 1923 for insufficientcompensation inadequate reserve lands and denial oftheir fishing and hunting rights
The question remains in mymind whether these treaties andldquosettlements are regarded aspurchases of land according to theSettler point of view or whetherthey are agreements to share andcare for the land with the monetarypayments as compensation forfailure on the part of Settlergovernments to do so in the pastand as a promise of reconciliationfor the future This would be morein keeping with the spirit ofIndigenous law According toIndigenous world view and law theland owns us we are MotherNaturersquos children integrally
connected with all life formsmdashall my relationsmdashand areresponsible for their care as they provide forand feed us
Living OurQuestions
ldquoNo one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth onan old cloak otherwise the patch pullsaway from it the new from the old and aworse tear is made And no one puts newwine into old wineskins otherwise the winewill burst the skins and the wine is lost andso are the skins but one puts new wine intofresh wineskinsrdquo
ndash Mark 221-22Is there a sticking point in your experience of
Christian community A hymn that leaves youfeeling Im so not on board for this Words in theCreed that you struggle with Sketchy versions ofChristian doctrine and practice that seem to justifythe status quo instead of liberating people
Its easy to feel isolated with our sticking pointseasy to assume were alone with them But were
not When we have a safe space within thecommunity to share them and our struggles withthem were reminded that theyre part of thejourney of faith not a departure from the journey offaith We look for ways to go on saying I believe onterms that are true to our experience and values Wetry to pour new wine into new wineskins followingthe advice of Jesus that pouring new wine into oldwineskins doesnt work so well Searching togethercan strengthen our faith and give us courage for ourjourney We can weave an experience of deepermore intimate community with each other in theprocess
Following on the success of the first BE YOUsmall-group experience in the fallLearningRedeemer invites you to share thequestions you live with in a safe confidential circle offellow seekers A group of ten to twelve participantswill begin meeting shortly after Easter with thespecial invitation to share your sticking pointsWell start by sharing from the heart about ourjourneys In our later meetings well take up thetopics that members most want to explore and taketurns leading discussion on
Please register your interest through the parishwebsite or contact davidtownsendutorontoca formore information
6 ndash LENT GATHERING
A S THE WEEKS OF THE COVID-19 crisis lengthenedinto months the longings for communion andcommunity intensified especially among those of
our membership who cannot access Zoom church and thosewho live alone At the same time a longing was stirring in thehearts and minds of two of our parishioners who felt a deepdesire to open their beautiful backyard space to small groupsof fellow parishioners for worship and prayer
It was North Toronto and 2020 They are artists nottentmakers But Karen and Michael Visser were longing tohost their fellow Redeemerites in their garden just asPriscilla and Aquila hosted their fellow Christians in theirhome many centuries ago when those first followers of theWay were figuring out how to be disciples in a strange timewhen it was not yet clear or acceptable or necessarily safe toworship Christ openly
So over the ensuing months we began inviting groups ofseven or eight people to the Visser backyard to a shortcelebration of the Eucharist and on two occasions aEucharist with baptism Our goal was to begin with thosefeeling very alone or keenly missing the sacrament and to
continue extending the invitation until either COVID-19ended or we had invited everyone in the communitymdashpreferably the former They came from all over the city intheir eagerness to join one of our members walked almost20 kilometres each way in the scorching August heat just tobe part of it The story of this unique house church over itsfirst three seasons is told through these photographs and thereflections of a few of its participants
What follows are reflections by those who attendedthe services
Had someone asked me a year ago ldquoIf you were ableto partake of only one celebration of the Eucharist foran entire year and could choose where that would bewhere would you chooserdquo
After a momentrsquos thought of how weird aspeculation that was I may well have said lsquoHmmIrsquodprobably choose a celebration that was to take placebeneath a canopy of treesrdquo
How could I have known then that this questionwould prove not to be hypothetical but indeed the fact
House ChurchIn The TimeOf Pandemic
LENT GATHERING ndash 7
of what was to come And how amazing now lookingback on those many months that the single Eucharisticservice I was to be part of was indeed celebratedbeneath the overarching branches of surroundingtrees A living cathedral
Details of that summertime gathering have softenednow What remains in memory is a lyrical montage ofhuman faces against the background of green movingtogether in a kind of slow-motion dance as we enteredinto the familiar rhythm of remembering Jesusrsquo lastmeal with his disciples Together feasting on thescripture of the book from which we read amidst of theblessing of the scripture of Creation all around usTogether in the great mystery What a blessing
Grant Jahnke
What a gift to be present at a baptism that had suchcritical meaning for the individual It was a privilege tohear her make a firm and confident affirmation of faithknowing that there is a significant cost Cost that is notabout having the right clothes or a lavish party but costin terms of saying these things in the face of possiblereprisals That takes courage and commitment at alevel that I have never myself risen to I am very gratefulfor her modelling this for me Her bearing witnessdeepened my faith
SusanGrahamWalker
They recognized him in the breaking of the breadAs I arrive at the garden where a few of us will be
gathering for a celebration of Eucharist my thoughtslinger on the Emmaus story (Luke 2413-35) I feel akinship with the two travellers grieving over the loss ofthe One who had filled them with such hope For me forus COVID-19 has deprived us of gathering as acommunity around the Eucharistic table and we feellost But the garden draws us in warm and lush and softwith bird song I relax as the familiar prayers are spokenand the scriptures proclaimed We say Amen Let it beso We tell our sacred story and as bread is broken andwine poured out we remember Jesus the Christ andlike the disciples of old we recognize him in thebreaking of the bread I am grateful and content as wewish each other well and leave to return to our homesrefreshed and renewed
Rita Patenaude
This year we discovered how mystical and beautifula Eucharist in nature is Susan Haig says she feels aprofound connection tothe Divine in nature justas her grandfather didOur little gathering wasstunned to feel the powerof that connection whenSusan invoked the HolySpirit in our two baptisms
Joshua once known asRishi was baptized on aclear cold Autumn dayWe watched as heseemed transformedreborn as the Holy Spiritwas invoked After theEucharist Susan blessedus all to go out into theworld and a strange littlewind suddenly gatheredat the top of the tall mapletree swept down behindher gathered little goldleaves around her andswept through us It wasthe only wind of the dayand it left us euphoric
KarenVisserWe were surprised and
delighted to be invited tojoin a small group of masked Redeemerites for a
8 ndash LENT GATHERING
backyard Eucharist on a chilly but bright December dayThe event was a microcosm of the usual Eucharist inthe church building a dozen or so people instead of theusual scores no music a distanced and respectfulpeace no homily but readings no wine but bread froma tiny loaf In other words all the basic essentials noldquofrillsrdquo and friends warmed by our delight in seeingeach other by Susanrsquos pastoral care Karenrsquos generosityin hosting us and by the sunny crispness of the naturalsetting In all a heart-warming and worshipfulexperience
Pauline Thompson
It wasnrsquot the Garden of Eden In the middle there wasa table but not the Tree And yet it was a little bit ofparadise in North Toronto
The table held bread and wine Nearby flamed awoodfire not like the one Peter warmed his hands bybut one where a few brothers and sisters gathereddistanced in body but not spirit
No organ no choir But the words of institutionprayer over the gifts the body of the Lord given for usbread placed in sanitized hands taken eaten
The heavens didnrsquot open but our hearts didexposing and soothing just a little the ache for beingtogether at the table of the Lord
Paul Gooch
We are looking forward to many more celebrationsof the Eucharist under the canopy of trees of this housechurch The table is set the firewood is ready and soare our hearts and welcomes If you would like to join usor know of someone who would like to do so please letme know ndash Susan
LENT GATHERING ndash 9
WildernessResistanceCompassionPaul Pynkoski
Lent should behellipan experience that gets intoour flesh and nerves and bones a way oflifehellipvery few of us really give its spirit a fairchance to touch and penetrate our lives(Eugene R Fairweather)
It is one and the same movement of surrenderto open ourselves to intimacy and personalunion with God in the Spirit and to openourselves to compassion and solidarity withour struggling needy fellow human beings
ndash Martin L SmithI knew nothing of Lent during my fundamentalist
upbringing Lent was fuzzily conceived as some sort ofritual ldquothose Catholicsrdquo were involved in somethingother than the pure gospel Itrsquos purpose and place in thecycle of the Christian year became clearer as I exploredthe Anglican tradition Yet the Lenten fast hascontinued to hold some ambiguity I understood that itwas modelled on Jesusrsquo forty-day sojourn in thewilderness but my efforts to give up chocolate or wineor Facebookmdashor to add in greater efforts at personalprayermdashalways seemed to end up more frustratingthan helpful (One friend gave up church for Lent eachyear I pondered following suit)
This year I have begun Lent by looking beyond thestory of Jesus in the wilderness When I meditate on thelarger narrative accompanying Jesus from the JordanRiver through the wilderness and into Galilee I seemyself being beckoned to move beyond fastingtowards action and transformation
The evangelists depict the baptism of Jesus endingwith Godrsquos voice declaring ldquoYou are my son thebelovedrdquo Jesus does not get to bask in being thebeloved one of God It is not a badge to be worn like thenumber on an athletersquos sweater Nor could he writethose words down and carry them back to thecarpenterrsquos shop The Spirit had other ideas Jesus wasdriven to a place where no one really chooses to gomdashthe haunt of beasts and demons
Undernourished and emotionally exhausted afterforty days of fasting prayer and struggle Jesus is
tempted by Satan to change the laws of nature tocreate an amazing spectacle that would elevate himabove other human beings and to bow to the idolatry ofpower In refusing these temptations Jesus remainedhungry ordinary and powerless By resisting evil Jesuschose the way of poverty humility and dependence ofGod
Calling prayer and resistance led to solidarity Themovement of the narrative from the wilderness into thecity suggests to me that the fires of compassionatelove were being fanned
Consistent with the vision that emerged from hisresistance Jesus begins building a community of poorordinary and powerless people He started with fourunsuccessful fishermen and a despised tax collectorHealing the sick and proclaiming the good news ofGodrsquos liberation follows Those he restored to healthwere not unlike those he calledmdashblind roadsidebeggars demoniacs whose outlandish behaviourprecluded gainful employment and marginalizedlepers Controversy ensued ldquoWho does he think he ishanging out with those people Isnrsquot he breaking thelaw when he heals on the Sabbathrdquo
As I meditate on this I see that fasting has no valueas an end in itself As Godrsquos beloved I am being called toembrace this larger pattern of prayerful resistancecompassionate solidarity and healing What shapemight it take in my life in our lives
Might we like Dorothy Day live out our fast inpoverty with the powerless Could our fast move uslike William McNichols during the AIDS crisis to bringhealing to those society casts aside Could we imaginea fast that leads to resisting of our governmentrsquos policyon weapons of destruction and like the Kings BayPlowshares 7 risk incarceration Can we dream of afast that leads beyond saying ldquoblack lives matterrdquo topraying with our feet the description given by AbrahamJoshua Heschel of his march with Martin Luther KingJr Does it give me pause to realize that suchcompassion will inevitably garner controversy
Perhaps our dreams and imaginings will not place uson the world stage but in the smaller theatre of ourown lives bringing friendship through refugeeresettlement growing compassion through a blanketexercise or building a community of hope through theCommon Table
Will Lent get into my bones this year Can Iaccompany Jesus out of the wilderness and into thecity where solidarity and compassion can takeconcrete shape
10 ndash LENT GATHERING
THE SEASONOF LENTEarlier in this newsletter Steven reminds us of the
invitation to observe a Holy Lent How will you mark thedays From Mardi Gras to Holy Week this is ourpilgrimage
Join in Mardi Gras OnlineWho says we canrsquot have our annual Mardi Gras
party We will gather on Tuesday February 16 throughZoom for music games and more And of coursepancakes Didy Erb shares her favourite recipe so youcan get the ingredients on-hand in time to make a stackto enjoy as we gather together
Didyrsquos Pancakes
2 cups flour 2 eggs3 Tbs sugar 14 cup oil12 tsp salt 1-34 cups milk1 Tbs Baking Powder 1 tsp Vanilla
Put all dry ingredients into a bowl mix togetherAdd all other ingredients just dump them in
Beat everything together using ahand-held beater or a whiskLet all of this sit for 10 minutes(important)During this time heat up your panIspray mine with a bit of Pam as itsnon-stick properties are failingWhen the ten minutes are up add aknob of butter (or Becel) to the panDrop the batter about a big
tablespoon full per pancake onto the hot panWhen bubbles appear on the top of the pancakes theyare ready to be flippedSo flip them wait about 2 minutesEAT WHILE HOT and ENJOY
Ash Wednesday ndash February 17The tracing of a cross with ashes on our foreheads
and the wordsYou are dust and to dust you shall returnreminds us that we have the season of Lent to turn toGod to bring all the pieces of our selves that needhealing and restoration as we prepare for the joyouscelebration of Easter This year our Ash Wednesdayservice will be offered through Zoom at 6 PMContainers with ashes created from our burnt palmbranches are included in the Lent-in-a-bag resourcesfor use during the service
Daily Prayer in LentJoin The Revrsquod Canon Steven Mackison each day
from February 18 to March 27 for a short service ofdaily prayerThe service will be offered through Zoomat mid-day Details will be shared in eNews
Lent Fast from Creation MattersAre you looking to undertake a fast during Lent that
focuses on creation and issues related to the climatecrisis The Bishoprsquos Committee on Creation Care hasproducedAFast for the Earth Lent 2021 to provide afast for each week of Lent meat consumption foodwaste water injustice electricity and ignorance Youcan find the resource on the diocese website mdashtorontoanglicanca May this resource be part of yourLenten observance
Annual Vestry MeetingThe annual Vestry meeting will be held through
Zoom on Sunday February 28 following the morningworship service Vestry reports and financial reportswill be posted on the website as soon as they areavailable
Lent Reading GroupLearningRedeemer invites
all to look forward throughoutthe season of Lent to theevents of Holy Week with theLententide Reading GroupWersquoll focus on Jesusrsquo final daysby reading the book The LastWeek by Marcus Borg and JohnDominic Crossan More detailsare online Please register byMonday February 15
LENT GATHERING ndash 1
I believe that the Holy Spirit breathes through the mist ofevery age whispering her wisdom so that we may be led to adeeper truth of what it means to be the Christrsquos body in theworld Sometimes that whisper is more like a shout callingusmdashwith abrupt immediacymdashto a renewed sense of justiceand reconciliation with peoples we have ignored or worseabused Nowhere has this been more acutely felt than in theissues surrounding racial justice that erupted in the wake ofGeorge Floydrsquos murder in May 2020
The outrage posts and protests were immediate visceralresponses to the need for rapid change not just in the blackcommunity butmdashin our own contextmdashfor Indigenous peopleswho still were experiencing prejudice and injustice despitegovernment (and church) ldquotalking the talkrdquo aboutreconciliation It was as if the Spirit speaking through thezeitgeist was calling us to action One seemingly unlikelyforum where there has been concerted efforts to addressracial injustice has been in the unrelated worlds of footballand flapjacks (How timely and topical given that Super BowlSunday is upon us and Shrove Tuesday is just ahead)
One of my favorite podcasters recently did a piece on
brands who left behind their iconic names or imagesprecisely because they were racist He told the story of howAunt Jemimamdashthe poster image for Quaker Oatsrsquo pancakedivisionmdashwas retired in June 2020 in response to theaftermath of George Floydrsquos murder Moreover the brand andname was to be given a new identity one that wouldobviously repent of itrsquos prejudicial past So for now the worldawaits what Aunt Jemima will become
Likewise in the arena of pro sports racial injustice hasprompted a similar surrender of racist images and namesattached to long established football clubs WashingtonRedskins owners had beenmdashfor decadesmdashresistant toaddress the issue of the clubrsquos name This came to a head in2013 when prodded about its controversial name the ownerdeclared that the Redskins would ldquoNEVERrdquo change itsnamemdashfurther inviting the press to use ldquoall capsrdquo in itsreporting
In July 2020 those same owners reported that theRedskins would be called the Washington FootballTeam ldquopending the adoption of a new identityrdquo If youthink this only happens south of the border where racialtensions are more pronounced think again TheEdmonton Eskimos have likewise surrendered theiridentity recognizing the inherent prejudicialundertones in their name As with Aunt Jemima and theRedskins the Eskimos have let go of their past andthrough a process of repentance now await a newidentity
Lent is before us It is thetime in our life of faith whenwe heed the Spirit calling usto repent of behaviours andbeliefs that separate us fromGod and our neighbour Justas the world has confrontedlong-cherished brands andchallenged them to self-examination we also arecalled to seek what is wanting within us so that we maybe transformed In a sense like the brands mentionedabove who await a new identity wemdashin our Pilgrimagethrough Lentmdashlong for renewal and rebirth through theprocess of letting go of our own prejudices Just ascorporations have been forced to listen to the spirit ofthe age calling them to account for the ways in whichtheir images have been hurtful and insensitive we aresummonedmdashin our pilgrimage through Lentmdashto hearthe voice of the Spirit in our inner wilderness calling us
THE REVrsquoD CANONSTEVEN MACKISON
Respondingto the
Zeitgeistin Lent
Pending theAdoptionof a NewIdentity
2 ndash LENT GATHERING
to truth and action to be more fervent in prayer andmore generous in works of love
I close with the words from the Penitential Rite ofthe Ash Wednesday Liturgy They represent theSpiritsrsquo first whisperings (or shouts) of our need tolisten to let go of what deafens us to hearing thefullness of Godrsquos love as we give voice to it in our livesThese are not the last words on what God has in storefor us of course Repentance is just the beginning Inthe resurrection at Easter healing wholeness andnewness of life are what we look forward to ldquopendingthe adoption of a new identityrdquo
ldquoI invite you therefore in the name
of the Lord to observe a holy Lent
by self-examination penitence
prayer fasting and almsgiving and
by reading andmeditating on the
word of God Let us kneel before our
Creator andRedeemerrdquoYours in Christ
Steven+
VoicesForPeacePaul Pynkoski
Voices for Peace began in 2018 with a vision toexplore the Christian witness to peacemaking and non-violence Rooted in the spirituality of Thomas Mertonand Henri Nouwen the first conference explored the20th centurys legacy of radical faith and resistancethrough the lives of Merton Nouwen Daniel Berriganand Dorothy Day The 2019 conference explored 21stcentury stories of peacemaking in Palestine andAfghanistan and the relationship between the arts andpeacemaking
This year since we are unable to gather togetherVoices for Peace is offering three virtual sessionsexploring the connections between creation and non-violence peacemaking through reconciliation withIndigenous peoples and peacemaking efforts in thenew nuclear context created by the Treaty on theProhibition of Nuclear Weapons
Church of the Redeemer has been a sponsor of theconference along with the Henri Nouwen AssociationCitizens for Public Justice and the Basilian Centre forPeace and Justice This year the Canadian Council ofChurches joins us as a sponsor
Sylvia Keesmaat will be the featured speaker onApril 20 Nobel Peace nominee and author Fr John Dearwill be featured in September Details for an evening inJune are being worked out
Details and registration information we be sharedas available
CATECHESIS2021-STYLE
Lent is a time of reflection and self-discipline inpreparation for Easter
Lent is also the traditional time for CatechesisldquoCatechesisrdquo is a churchy word that simply meansldquoinstructionrdquo but is used by the Church to refer tothat special instruction given to those seeking tojoin the Church through baptism those looking tobe received into the Anglican Church fromanother denomination or those feeling the urgeto re-examine their faith and renew their bap-tismal vows
If you think you might be one of these peoplewe invite you to join us for Catechesis this Lent
The Catechesis program will be a bit moreinformal this year focussing on group explorationand discussion of core concepts such asScripture Telling Our Story Who is Jesus andHow to Be the Body of Christ
We will begin (via Zoom) on Ash WednesdayFebruary 17 after the 6 PM service and for thefive weeks following usually on Monday eveningsThere will be at least one meeting after Easter Ifyou are interested either in being a catechumen orsponsor please register online Please email usat catechesistheredeemerca if you have anyquestions
LENT GATHERING ndash 3
An UpdateFrom TheRefugeeSettlementCommitteeSusanna Jacob
The last year has passed in a blur On January 25 wewere reminded that it had been a year since the firstcase of COVID-19 was declared in Canada We all haveour own stories of lockdown isolation job loss anxietyillness and death We also have our own stories ofresilience determination compassion and adaptation
Richard Rohrrsquos daily meditations include thispoignant prayer of gratitude ldquoThank you for leading usinto a time where more of reality is being unveiled for usall to seerdquo The pandemic has indeed unveiled realitythe harsh reality of inequity prejudice and greed andthe beautiful reality of love generosity and care forfamily neighbours and community
One of the ongoing realities is the plight of refugeesworldwide In the midst of a pandemic that is affectingevery country in the world it is vitally important not tolose sight of the needs of those who were sufferingeven before the virus and who are living in crowdedconditions that only exacerbate its spread
The Church of the Redeemer has sponsored elevenpeople from three countries over the past five yearsthe last a group of four young men from Eritrea While ithas been two years since we have settled a group ofrefugees the committee has continued meetingoccasionally both to share our own circumstances andto exchange news and maintain hope that we will beable to welcome another group once travel restrictionsare lifted We have begun working with Anglican United
Refugee Alliance (AURA) to sponsor Somali fatherAbdikadir and his family of seven currently living inDadaab refugee camp in Kenya We hope that they maybe able to come to Canada in another year or so
You have probably heard of Dadaab the worldslargest refugee camp run by the UNHCR Over300000 people from surrounding countries arestranded there in their flights from wars atrocities andother threats in their homelands There is no freedomof movement but violence is prevalent and the campprovides a training ground for Al Qaeda Kenya refusescitizenship to people in the camp and threatens themwith repatriation otherwiseknown as refouillement aprocess by which peopleare sent back to theircountries of origin in spiteof dangers and threats totheir lives
It is to this camp thatAbdikadir fled on his own29 years ago when he was13 after the murder of hisparents and sister He haslived there ever since and isa leader within his sectionof the camp He is fluent inEnglish and has variousskills including somegained through work withan NGO as well as someauto mechanic experienceHe is the kind of refugeewho will make a strongcontribution to Canadian life once he has arrived here
Since we are in the very early stages of thissponsorship we will update you as time goes by In themeantime please keep Abdikadir and his family in yourprayers As we continue this ministry we look forwardto partnering with other faith groups and churches andto the continued support of our own congregationcommunity
hellipIt is vitally
important not to
lose sight of the
needs of those
who were
suffering even
before the virus
and who are
living in
crowded
conditions that
only exacerbate
its spread
4 ndash LENT GATHERING
TreatiesAffectingthe TorontoAreaCarolynn Bett
This article is part of an on-going series prepared byCarolynn Bett a member of the Indigenous SolidarityWorkingGroup
The two treaties that cover the area now known asToronto are
The Toronto Purchase (Treaty 13) 1787 and 1805settled 2010
The Williams Treaty 1923 settled 2018
Toronto Purchase Treaty 13In 1787 the Mississaugas met with the Crown at the
Bay of Quinte to discuss sharing the land that currentlystretches from Etobicoke CreekHighway 27 in thewest to Ashbridges BayWoodbine in the east and fromthe lake to just south of Bloomington Rd Aurora TheMississaugas were given 2000 gun flints 24 brasskettles 120 mirrors 24 lace hats a bale of floweredflannel and 96 gallons of rum Their understanding wasthat this was a rental in exchange for gifts in perpetuityThe Crown understood it as a purchase So when theMississaugas blocked a survey taking place west of theHumber and east of the Don claiming that land had notbeen ceded the Crown sent in the military However by1794 the Crown knew it lacked legal title the blankdeed did not delineate boundaries and the signaturesof the chiefs were affixed to it with an 18th centuryversion of post-it notes The only documentation was ina letter written in 1799 claiming a 10-mile square hadbeen negotiated
Wanting to secure title to a vaster territory theCrown revisited the treaty in 1805 By this time all thechiefs from 1787 were dead and the Mississaugas werestarving The Crown secured the treaty lands for 10shillings about $60 in 2010 money on August 1 1805Both the 1787 and 1805 documents were registered
together as Treaty 13 covering present day EtobicokeNorth York old City of Toronto old York East YorkVaughn King and south-west Markham over to westWhitechurch
By 1986 when Indigenous people were allowed toretain lawyers they launched a land claim saying theyhad never ceded the sacred lands of Toronto Islandsthat they had been denied their basic rights laid down inthe Royal Proclamation to fish in the Etobicoke Creekand to receive reasonable compensation Afterdecades of wrangling this claim was settled in 2010 for$145 million dollars The 1700 Mississauga bandmembers each got $20000 and the rest was put intrust for future generations M LaForme bandmember shrugged and said $20000 couldnrsquot buy atruck
The Williams TreatiesBecause some Redeemerites live east of
Ashbridges Bay it seemed worthwhile to describe theWilliams Treaties Moreover a couple of us who wereon a Travel for Learning city excursion in 2018 shortlybefore the settlement was announced sat next to theProvincial negotiator who was bursting withexcitement and let the cat out of the bag
The Williams Treaties covering the land east ofAshbridges BayWoodbine Ave in Toronto weresigned in October and November 1923 by thegovernments of Canada and Ontario and by sevenAnishinaabe First Nations of the Chippewa andMississaugas The goal of Mr Sinclair (Federal) MrMcFadden (lawyer) and Mr Williams (Provincial) waswith a one-time cash payment to extinguish Chippewaand Mississauga title to the lands on the north shore ofLake Ontario to Lake Simcoe and from the OttawaRiver to Lake Huronmdash20000 square kilometers in allThese were the last of the historic land cession treatiesThe payment was $25 for each band member plus$233425 to the Mississaugas to be divided amongfour reserves and $233375 to the Chippewa coveringthree reserves The settlement payments to theChippewas of Lake Simcoe went to BeausoleilGeorgina Island and Rama reserves Payments to theMississaugas of the North Shore of Lake Ontario wentto Alderville Curve Lake Hiawatha and Scugog Islandreserves
Problems arose because the treaties were notactually negotiated nor understood by the FirstNations Moreover other treaties gave hunting andfishing rights and annuity payments in perpetuity One
such treaty was number 20 whichoverlapped the land of the WilliamsTreaties
Years of litigation followedresulting in the settlement of 2018the largest land settlement evernegotiated The Chippewa andMississaugas won back fishing andhunting rights promised in the RoyalProclamation of 1763 they received4452 hectares for each reserve(1100 acres) and they receivedpayment of $666 million from theFederal Government and$444million from the Provincialgovernment They also negotiatedan apology from each governmentregarding the Williams Treaties of 1923 for insufficientcompensation inadequate reserve lands and denial oftheir fishing and hunting rights
The question remains in mymind whether these treaties andldquosettlements are regarded aspurchases of land according to theSettler point of view or whetherthey are agreements to share andcare for the land with the monetarypayments as compensation forfailure on the part of Settlergovernments to do so in the pastand as a promise of reconciliationfor the future This would be morein keeping with the spirit ofIndigenous law According toIndigenous world view and law theland owns us we are MotherNaturersquos children integrally
connected with all life formsmdashall my relationsmdashand areresponsible for their care as they provide forand feed us
Living OurQuestions
ldquoNo one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth onan old cloak otherwise the patch pullsaway from it the new from the old and aworse tear is made And no one puts newwine into old wineskins otherwise the winewill burst the skins and the wine is lost andso are the skins but one puts new wine intofresh wineskinsrdquo
ndash Mark 221-22Is there a sticking point in your experience of
Christian community A hymn that leaves youfeeling Im so not on board for this Words in theCreed that you struggle with Sketchy versions ofChristian doctrine and practice that seem to justifythe status quo instead of liberating people
Its easy to feel isolated with our sticking pointseasy to assume were alone with them But were
not When we have a safe space within thecommunity to share them and our struggles withthem were reminded that theyre part of thejourney of faith not a departure from the journey offaith We look for ways to go on saying I believe onterms that are true to our experience and values Wetry to pour new wine into new wineskins followingthe advice of Jesus that pouring new wine into oldwineskins doesnt work so well Searching togethercan strengthen our faith and give us courage for ourjourney We can weave an experience of deepermore intimate community with each other in theprocess
Following on the success of the first BE YOUsmall-group experience in the fallLearningRedeemer invites you to share thequestions you live with in a safe confidential circle offellow seekers A group of ten to twelve participantswill begin meeting shortly after Easter with thespecial invitation to share your sticking pointsWell start by sharing from the heart about ourjourneys In our later meetings well take up thetopics that members most want to explore and taketurns leading discussion on
Please register your interest through the parishwebsite or contact davidtownsendutorontoca formore information
6 ndash LENT GATHERING
A S THE WEEKS OF THE COVID-19 crisis lengthenedinto months the longings for communion andcommunity intensified especially among those of
our membership who cannot access Zoom church and thosewho live alone At the same time a longing was stirring in thehearts and minds of two of our parishioners who felt a deepdesire to open their beautiful backyard space to small groupsof fellow parishioners for worship and prayer
It was North Toronto and 2020 They are artists nottentmakers But Karen and Michael Visser were longing tohost their fellow Redeemerites in their garden just asPriscilla and Aquila hosted their fellow Christians in theirhome many centuries ago when those first followers of theWay were figuring out how to be disciples in a strange timewhen it was not yet clear or acceptable or necessarily safe toworship Christ openly
So over the ensuing months we began inviting groups ofseven or eight people to the Visser backyard to a shortcelebration of the Eucharist and on two occasions aEucharist with baptism Our goal was to begin with thosefeeling very alone or keenly missing the sacrament and to
continue extending the invitation until either COVID-19ended or we had invited everyone in the communitymdashpreferably the former They came from all over the city intheir eagerness to join one of our members walked almost20 kilometres each way in the scorching August heat just tobe part of it The story of this unique house church over itsfirst three seasons is told through these photographs and thereflections of a few of its participants
What follows are reflections by those who attendedthe services
Had someone asked me a year ago ldquoIf you were ableto partake of only one celebration of the Eucharist foran entire year and could choose where that would bewhere would you chooserdquo
After a momentrsquos thought of how weird aspeculation that was I may well have said lsquoHmmIrsquodprobably choose a celebration that was to take placebeneath a canopy of treesrdquo
How could I have known then that this questionwould prove not to be hypothetical but indeed the fact
House ChurchIn The TimeOf Pandemic
LENT GATHERING ndash 7
of what was to come And how amazing now lookingback on those many months that the single Eucharisticservice I was to be part of was indeed celebratedbeneath the overarching branches of surroundingtrees A living cathedral
Details of that summertime gathering have softenednow What remains in memory is a lyrical montage ofhuman faces against the background of green movingtogether in a kind of slow-motion dance as we enteredinto the familiar rhythm of remembering Jesusrsquo lastmeal with his disciples Together feasting on thescripture of the book from which we read amidst of theblessing of the scripture of Creation all around usTogether in the great mystery What a blessing
Grant Jahnke
What a gift to be present at a baptism that had suchcritical meaning for the individual It was a privilege tohear her make a firm and confident affirmation of faithknowing that there is a significant cost Cost that is notabout having the right clothes or a lavish party but costin terms of saying these things in the face of possiblereprisals That takes courage and commitment at alevel that I have never myself risen to I am very gratefulfor her modelling this for me Her bearing witnessdeepened my faith
SusanGrahamWalker
They recognized him in the breaking of the breadAs I arrive at the garden where a few of us will be
gathering for a celebration of Eucharist my thoughtslinger on the Emmaus story (Luke 2413-35) I feel akinship with the two travellers grieving over the loss ofthe One who had filled them with such hope For me forus COVID-19 has deprived us of gathering as acommunity around the Eucharistic table and we feellost But the garden draws us in warm and lush and softwith bird song I relax as the familiar prayers are spokenand the scriptures proclaimed We say Amen Let it beso We tell our sacred story and as bread is broken andwine poured out we remember Jesus the Christ andlike the disciples of old we recognize him in thebreaking of the bread I am grateful and content as wewish each other well and leave to return to our homesrefreshed and renewed
Rita Patenaude
This year we discovered how mystical and beautifula Eucharist in nature is Susan Haig says she feels aprofound connection tothe Divine in nature justas her grandfather didOur little gathering wasstunned to feel the powerof that connection whenSusan invoked the HolySpirit in our two baptisms
Joshua once known asRishi was baptized on aclear cold Autumn dayWe watched as heseemed transformedreborn as the Holy Spiritwas invoked After theEucharist Susan blessedus all to go out into theworld and a strange littlewind suddenly gatheredat the top of the tall mapletree swept down behindher gathered little goldleaves around her andswept through us It wasthe only wind of the dayand it left us euphoric
KarenVisserWe were surprised and
delighted to be invited tojoin a small group of masked Redeemerites for a
8 ndash LENT GATHERING
backyard Eucharist on a chilly but bright December dayThe event was a microcosm of the usual Eucharist inthe church building a dozen or so people instead of theusual scores no music a distanced and respectfulpeace no homily but readings no wine but bread froma tiny loaf In other words all the basic essentials noldquofrillsrdquo and friends warmed by our delight in seeingeach other by Susanrsquos pastoral care Karenrsquos generosityin hosting us and by the sunny crispness of the naturalsetting In all a heart-warming and worshipfulexperience
Pauline Thompson
It wasnrsquot the Garden of Eden In the middle there wasa table but not the Tree And yet it was a little bit ofparadise in North Toronto
The table held bread and wine Nearby flamed awoodfire not like the one Peter warmed his hands bybut one where a few brothers and sisters gathereddistanced in body but not spirit
No organ no choir But the words of institutionprayer over the gifts the body of the Lord given for usbread placed in sanitized hands taken eaten
The heavens didnrsquot open but our hearts didexposing and soothing just a little the ache for beingtogether at the table of the Lord
Paul Gooch
We are looking forward to many more celebrationsof the Eucharist under the canopy of trees of this housechurch The table is set the firewood is ready and soare our hearts and welcomes If you would like to join usor know of someone who would like to do so please letme know ndash Susan
LENT GATHERING ndash 9
WildernessResistanceCompassionPaul Pynkoski
Lent should behellipan experience that gets intoour flesh and nerves and bones a way oflifehellipvery few of us really give its spirit a fairchance to touch and penetrate our lives(Eugene R Fairweather)
It is one and the same movement of surrenderto open ourselves to intimacy and personalunion with God in the Spirit and to openourselves to compassion and solidarity withour struggling needy fellow human beings
ndash Martin L SmithI knew nothing of Lent during my fundamentalist
upbringing Lent was fuzzily conceived as some sort ofritual ldquothose Catholicsrdquo were involved in somethingother than the pure gospel Itrsquos purpose and place in thecycle of the Christian year became clearer as I exploredthe Anglican tradition Yet the Lenten fast hascontinued to hold some ambiguity I understood that itwas modelled on Jesusrsquo forty-day sojourn in thewilderness but my efforts to give up chocolate or wineor Facebookmdashor to add in greater efforts at personalprayermdashalways seemed to end up more frustratingthan helpful (One friend gave up church for Lent eachyear I pondered following suit)
This year I have begun Lent by looking beyond thestory of Jesus in the wilderness When I meditate on thelarger narrative accompanying Jesus from the JordanRiver through the wilderness and into Galilee I seemyself being beckoned to move beyond fastingtowards action and transformation
The evangelists depict the baptism of Jesus endingwith Godrsquos voice declaring ldquoYou are my son thebelovedrdquo Jesus does not get to bask in being thebeloved one of God It is not a badge to be worn like thenumber on an athletersquos sweater Nor could he writethose words down and carry them back to thecarpenterrsquos shop The Spirit had other ideas Jesus wasdriven to a place where no one really chooses to gomdashthe haunt of beasts and demons
Undernourished and emotionally exhausted afterforty days of fasting prayer and struggle Jesus is
tempted by Satan to change the laws of nature tocreate an amazing spectacle that would elevate himabove other human beings and to bow to the idolatry ofpower In refusing these temptations Jesus remainedhungry ordinary and powerless By resisting evil Jesuschose the way of poverty humility and dependence ofGod
Calling prayer and resistance led to solidarity Themovement of the narrative from the wilderness into thecity suggests to me that the fires of compassionatelove were being fanned
Consistent with the vision that emerged from hisresistance Jesus begins building a community of poorordinary and powerless people He started with fourunsuccessful fishermen and a despised tax collectorHealing the sick and proclaiming the good news ofGodrsquos liberation follows Those he restored to healthwere not unlike those he calledmdashblind roadsidebeggars demoniacs whose outlandish behaviourprecluded gainful employment and marginalizedlepers Controversy ensued ldquoWho does he think he ishanging out with those people Isnrsquot he breaking thelaw when he heals on the Sabbathrdquo
As I meditate on this I see that fasting has no valueas an end in itself As Godrsquos beloved I am being called toembrace this larger pattern of prayerful resistancecompassionate solidarity and healing What shapemight it take in my life in our lives
Might we like Dorothy Day live out our fast inpoverty with the powerless Could our fast move uslike William McNichols during the AIDS crisis to bringhealing to those society casts aside Could we imaginea fast that leads to resisting of our governmentrsquos policyon weapons of destruction and like the Kings BayPlowshares 7 risk incarceration Can we dream of afast that leads beyond saying ldquoblack lives matterrdquo topraying with our feet the description given by AbrahamJoshua Heschel of his march with Martin Luther KingJr Does it give me pause to realize that suchcompassion will inevitably garner controversy
Perhaps our dreams and imaginings will not place uson the world stage but in the smaller theatre of ourown lives bringing friendship through refugeeresettlement growing compassion through a blanketexercise or building a community of hope through theCommon Table
Will Lent get into my bones this year Can Iaccompany Jesus out of the wilderness and into thecity where solidarity and compassion can takeconcrete shape
10 ndash LENT GATHERING
THE SEASONOF LENTEarlier in this newsletter Steven reminds us of the
invitation to observe a Holy Lent How will you mark thedays From Mardi Gras to Holy Week this is ourpilgrimage
Join in Mardi Gras OnlineWho says we canrsquot have our annual Mardi Gras
party We will gather on Tuesday February 16 throughZoom for music games and more And of coursepancakes Didy Erb shares her favourite recipe so youcan get the ingredients on-hand in time to make a stackto enjoy as we gather together
Didyrsquos Pancakes
2 cups flour 2 eggs3 Tbs sugar 14 cup oil12 tsp salt 1-34 cups milk1 Tbs Baking Powder 1 tsp Vanilla
Put all dry ingredients into a bowl mix togetherAdd all other ingredients just dump them in
Beat everything together using ahand-held beater or a whiskLet all of this sit for 10 minutes(important)During this time heat up your panIspray mine with a bit of Pam as itsnon-stick properties are failingWhen the ten minutes are up add aknob of butter (or Becel) to the panDrop the batter about a big
tablespoon full per pancake onto the hot panWhen bubbles appear on the top of the pancakes theyare ready to be flippedSo flip them wait about 2 minutesEAT WHILE HOT and ENJOY
Ash Wednesday ndash February 17The tracing of a cross with ashes on our foreheads
and the wordsYou are dust and to dust you shall returnreminds us that we have the season of Lent to turn toGod to bring all the pieces of our selves that needhealing and restoration as we prepare for the joyouscelebration of Easter This year our Ash Wednesdayservice will be offered through Zoom at 6 PMContainers with ashes created from our burnt palmbranches are included in the Lent-in-a-bag resourcesfor use during the service
Daily Prayer in LentJoin The Revrsquod Canon Steven Mackison each day
from February 18 to March 27 for a short service ofdaily prayerThe service will be offered through Zoomat mid-day Details will be shared in eNews
Lent Fast from Creation MattersAre you looking to undertake a fast during Lent that
focuses on creation and issues related to the climatecrisis The Bishoprsquos Committee on Creation Care hasproducedAFast for the Earth Lent 2021 to provide afast for each week of Lent meat consumption foodwaste water injustice electricity and ignorance Youcan find the resource on the diocese website mdashtorontoanglicanca May this resource be part of yourLenten observance
Annual Vestry MeetingThe annual Vestry meeting will be held through
Zoom on Sunday February 28 following the morningworship service Vestry reports and financial reportswill be posted on the website as soon as they areavailable
Lent Reading GroupLearningRedeemer invites
all to look forward throughoutthe season of Lent to theevents of Holy Week with theLententide Reading GroupWersquoll focus on Jesusrsquo final daysby reading the book The LastWeek by Marcus Borg and JohnDominic Crossan More detailsare online Please register byMonday February 15
2 ndash LENT GATHERING
to truth and action to be more fervent in prayer andmore generous in works of love
I close with the words from the Penitential Rite ofthe Ash Wednesday Liturgy They represent theSpiritsrsquo first whisperings (or shouts) of our need tolisten to let go of what deafens us to hearing thefullness of Godrsquos love as we give voice to it in our livesThese are not the last words on what God has in storefor us of course Repentance is just the beginning Inthe resurrection at Easter healing wholeness andnewness of life are what we look forward to ldquopendingthe adoption of a new identityrdquo
ldquoI invite you therefore in the name
of the Lord to observe a holy Lent
by self-examination penitence
prayer fasting and almsgiving and
by reading andmeditating on the
word of God Let us kneel before our
Creator andRedeemerrdquoYours in Christ
Steven+
VoicesForPeacePaul Pynkoski
Voices for Peace began in 2018 with a vision toexplore the Christian witness to peacemaking and non-violence Rooted in the spirituality of Thomas Mertonand Henri Nouwen the first conference explored the20th centurys legacy of radical faith and resistancethrough the lives of Merton Nouwen Daniel Berriganand Dorothy Day The 2019 conference explored 21stcentury stories of peacemaking in Palestine andAfghanistan and the relationship between the arts andpeacemaking
This year since we are unable to gather togetherVoices for Peace is offering three virtual sessionsexploring the connections between creation and non-violence peacemaking through reconciliation withIndigenous peoples and peacemaking efforts in thenew nuclear context created by the Treaty on theProhibition of Nuclear Weapons
Church of the Redeemer has been a sponsor of theconference along with the Henri Nouwen AssociationCitizens for Public Justice and the Basilian Centre forPeace and Justice This year the Canadian Council ofChurches joins us as a sponsor
Sylvia Keesmaat will be the featured speaker onApril 20 Nobel Peace nominee and author Fr John Dearwill be featured in September Details for an evening inJune are being worked out
Details and registration information we be sharedas available
CATECHESIS2021-STYLE
Lent is a time of reflection and self-discipline inpreparation for Easter
Lent is also the traditional time for CatechesisldquoCatechesisrdquo is a churchy word that simply meansldquoinstructionrdquo but is used by the Church to refer tothat special instruction given to those seeking tojoin the Church through baptism those looking tobe received into the Anglican Church fromanother denomination or those feeling the urgeto re-examine their faith and renew their bap-tismal vows
If you think you might be one of these peoplewe invite you to join us for Catechesis this Lent
The Catechesis program will be a bit moreinformal this year focussing on group explorationand discussion of core concepts such asScripture Telling Our Story Who is Jesus andHow to Be the Body of Christ
We will begin (via Zoom) on Ash WednesdayFebruary 17 after the 6 PM service and for thefive weeks following usually on Monday eveningsThere will be at least one meeting after Easter Ifyou are interested either in being a catechumen orsponsor please register online Please email usat catechesistheredeemerca if you have anyquestions
LENT GATHERING ndash 3
An UpdateFrom TheRefugeeSettlementCommitteeSusanna Jacob
The last year has passed in a blur On January 25 wewere reminded that it had been a year since the firstcase of COVID-19 was declared in Canada We all haveour own stories of lockdown isolation job loss anxietyillness and death We also have our own stories ofresilience determination compassion and adaptation
Richard Rohrrsquos daily meditations include thispoignant prayer of gratitude ldquoThank you for leading usinto a time where more of reality is being unveiled for usall to seerdquo The pandemic has indeed unveiled realitythe harsh reality of inequity prejudice and greed andthe beautiful reality of love generosity and care forfamily neighbours and community
One of the ongoing realities is the plight of refugeesworldwide In the midst of a pandemic that is affectingevery country in the world it is vitally important not tolose sight of the needs of those who were sufferingeven before the virus and who are living in crowdedconditions that only exacerbate its spread
The Church of the Redeemer has sponsored elevenpeople from three countries over the past five yearsthe last a group of four young men from Eritrea While ithas been two years since we have settled a group ofrefugees the committee has continued meetingoccasionally both to share our own circumstances andto exchange news and maintain hope that we will beable to welcome another group once travel restrictionsare lifted We have begun working with Anglican United
Refugee Alliance (AURA) to sponsor Somali fatherAbdikadir and his family of seven currently living inDadaab refugee camp in Kenya We hope that they maybe able to come to Canada in another year or so
You have probably heard of Dadaab the worldslargest refugee camp run by the UNHCR Over300000 people from surrounding countries arestranded there in their flights from wars atrocities andother threats in their homelands There is no freedomof movement but violence is prevalent and the campprovides a training ground for Al Qaeda Kenya refusescitizenship to people in the camp and threatens themwith repatriation otherwiseknown as refouillement aprocess by which peopleare sent back to theircountries of origin in spiteof dangers and threats totheir lives
It is to this camp thatAbdikadir fled on his own29 years ago when he was13 after the murder of hisparents and sister He haslived there ever since and isa leader within his sectionof the camp He is fluent inEnglish and has variousskills including somegained through work withan NGO as well as someauto mechanic experienceHe is the kind of refugeewho will make a strongcontribution to Canadian life once he has arrived here
Since we are in the very early stages of thissponsorship we will update you as time goes by In themeantime please keep Abdikadir and his family in yourprayers As we continue this ministry we look forwardto partnering with other faith groups and churches andto the continued support of our own congregationcommunity
hellipIt is vitally
important not to
lose sight of the
needs of those
who were
suffering even
before the virus
and who are
living in
crowded
conditions that
only exacerbate
its spread
4 ndash LENT GATHERING
TreatiesAffectingthe TorontoAreaCarolynn Bett
This article is part of an on-going series prepared byCarolynn Bett a member of the Indigenous SolidarityWorkingGroup
The two treaties that cover the area now known asToronto are
The Toronto Purchase (Treaty 13) 1787 and 1805settled 2010
The Williams Treaty 1923 settled 2018
Toronto Purchase Treaty 13In 1787 the Mississaugas met with the Crown at the
Bay of Quinte to discuss sharing the land that currentlystretches from Etobicoke CreekHighway 27 in thewest to Ashbridges BayWoodbine in the east and fromthe lake to just south of Bloomington Rd Aurora TheMississaugas were given 2000 gun flints 24 brasskettles 120 mirrors 24 lace hats a bale of floweredflannel and 96 gallons of rum Their understanding wasthat this was a rental in exchange for gifts in perpetuityThe Crown understood it as a purchase So when theMississaugas blocked a survey taking place west of theHumber and east of the Don claiming that land had notbeen ceded the Crown sent in the military However by1794 the Crown knew it lacked legal title the blankdeed did not delineate boundaries and the signaturesof the chiefs were affixed to it with an 18th centuryversion of post-it notes The only documentation was ina letter written in 1799 claiming a 10-mile square hadbeen negotiated
Wanting to secure title to a vaster territory theCrown revisited the treaty in 1805 By this time all thechiefs from 1787 were dead and the Mississaugas werestarving The Crown secured the treaty lands for 10shillings about $60 in 2010 money on August 1 1805Both the 1787 and 1805 documents were registered
together as Treaty 13 covering present day EtobicokeNorth York old City of Toronto old York East YorkVaughn King and south-west Markham over to westWhitechurch
By 1986 when Indigenous people were allowed toretain lawyers they launched a land claim saying theyhad never ceded the sacred lands of Toronto Islandsthat they had been denied their basic rights laid down inthe Royal Proclamation to fish in the Etobicoke Creekand to receive reasonable compensation Afterdecades of wrangling this claim was settled in 2010 for$145 million dollars The 1700 Mississauga bandmembers each got $20000 and the rest was put intrust for future generations M LaForme bandmember shrugged and said $20000 couldnrsquot buy atruck
The Williams TreatiesBecause some Redeemerites live east of
Ashbridges Bay it seemed worthwhile to describe theWilliams Treaties Moreover a couple of us who wereon a Travel for Learning city excursion in 2018 shortlybefore the settlement was announced sat next to theProvincial negotiator who was bursting withexcitement and let the cat out of the bag
The Williams Treaties covering the land east ofAshbridges BayWoodbine Ave in Toronto weresigned in October and November 1923 by thegovernments of Canada and Ontario and by sevenAnishinaabe First Nations of the Chippewa andMississaugas The goal of Mr Sinclair (Federal) MrMcFadden (lawyer) and Mr Williams (Provincial) waswith a one-time cash payment to extinguish Chippewaand Mississauga title to the lands on the north shore ofLake Ontario to Lake Simcoe and from the OttawaRiver to Lake Huronmdash20000 square kilometers in allThese were the last of the historic land cession treatiesThe payment was $25 for each band member plus$233425 to the Mississaugas to be divided amongfour reserves and $233375 to the Chippewa coveringthree reserves The settlement payments to theChippewas of Lake Simcoe went to BeausoleilGeorgina Island and Rama reserves Payments to theMississaugas of the North Shore of Lake Ontario wentto Alderville Curve Lake Hiawatha and Scugog Islandreserves
Problems arose because the treaties were notactually negotiated nor understood by the FirstNations Moreover other treaties gave hunting andfishing rights and annuity payments in perpetuity One
such treaty was number 20 whichoverlapped the land of the WilliamsTreaties
Years of litigation followedresulting in the settlement of 2018the largest land settlement evernegotiated The Chippewa andMississaugas won back fishing andhunting rights promised in the RoyalProclamation of 1763 they received4452 hectares for each reserve(1100 acres) and they receivedpayment of $666 million from theFederal Government and$444million from the Provincialgovernment They also negotiatedan apology from each governmentregarding the Williams Treaties of 1923 for insufficientcompensation inadequate reserve lands and denial oftheir fishing and hunting rights
The question remains in mymind whether these treaties andldquosettlements are regarded aspurchases of land according to theSettler point of view or whetherthey are agreements to share andcare for the land with the monetarypayments as compensation forfailure on the part of Settlergovernments to do so in the pastand as a promise of reconciliationfor the future This would be morein keeping with the spirit ofIndigenous law According toIndigenous world view and law theland owns us we are MotherNaturersquos children integrally
connected with all life formsmdashall my relationsmdashand areresponsible for their care as they provide forand feed us
Living OurQuestions
ldquoNo one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth onan old cloak otherwise the patch pullsaway from it the new from the old and aworse tear is made And no one puts newwine into old wineskins otherwise the winewill burst the skins and the wine is lost andso are the skins but one puts new wine intofresh wineskinsrdquo
ndash Mark 221-22Is there a sticking point in your experience of
Christian community A hymn that leaves youfeeling Im so not on board for this Words in theCreed that you struggle with Sketchy versions ofChristian doctrine and practice that seem to justifythe status quo instead of liberating people
Its easy to feel isolated with our sticking pointseasy to assume were alone with them But were
not When we have a safe space within thecommunity to share them and our struggles withthem were reminded that theyre part of thejourney of faith not a departure from the journey offaith We look for ways to go on saying I believe onterms that are true to our experience and values Wetry to pour new wine into new wineskins followingthe advice of Jesus that pouring new wine into oldwineskins doesnt work so well Searching togethercan strengthen our faith and give us courage for ourjourney We can weave an experience of deepermore intimate community with each other in theprocess
Following on the success of the first BE YOUsmall-group experience in the fallLearningRedeemer invites you to share thequestions you live with in a safe confidential circle offellow seekers A group of ten to twelve participantswill begin meeting shortly after Easter with thespecial invitation to share your sticking pointsWell start by sharing from the heart about ourjourneys In our later meetings well take up thetopics that members most want to explore and taketurns leading discussion on
Please register your interest through the parishwebsite or contact davidtownsendutorontoca formore information
6 ndash LENT GATHERING
A S THE WEEKS OF THE COVID-19 crisis lengthenedinto months the longings for communion andcommunity intensified especially among those of
our membership who cannot access Zoom church and thosewho live alone At the same time a longing was stirring in thehearts and minds of two of our parishioners who felt a deepdesire to open their beautiful backyard space to small groupsof fellow parishioners for worship and prayer
It was North Toronto and 2020 They are artists nottentmakers But Karen and Michael Visser were longing tohost their fellow Redeemerites in their garden just asPriscilla and Aquila hosted their fellow Christians in theirhome many centuries ago when those first followers of theWay were figuring out how to be disciples in a strange timewhen it was not yet clear or acceptable or necessarily safe toworship Christ openly
So over the ensuing months we began inviting groups ofseven or eight people to the Visser backyard to a shortcelebration of the Eucharist and on two occasions aEucharist with baptism Our goal was to begin with thosefeeling very alone or keenly missing the sacrament and to
continue extending the invitation until either COVID-19ended or we had invited everyone in the communitymdashpreferably the former They came from all over the city intheir eagerness to join one of our members walked almost20 kilometres each way in the scorching August heat just tobe part of it The story of this unique house church over itsfirst three seasons is told through these photographs and thereflections of a few of its participants
What follows are reflections by those who attendedthe services
Had someone asked me a year ago ldquoIf you were ableto partake of only one celebration of the Eucharist foran entire year and could choose where that would bewhere would you chooserdquo
After a momentrsquos thought of how weird aspeculation that was I may well have said lsquoHmmIrsquodprobably choose a celebration that was to take placebeneath a canopy of treesrdquo
How could I have known then that this questionwould prove not to be hypothetical but indeed the fact
House ChurchIn The TimeOf Pandemic
LENT GATHERING ndash 7
of what was to come And how amazing now lookingback on those many months that the single Eucharisticservice I was to be part of was indeed celebratedbeneath the overarching branches of surroundingtrees A living cathedral
Details of that summertime gathering have softenednow What remains in memory is a lyrical montage ofhuman faces against the background of green movingtogether in a kind of slow-motion dance as we enteredinto the familiar rhythm of remembering Jesusrsquo lastmeal with his disciples Together feasting on thescripture of the book from which we read amidst of theblessing of the scripture of Creation all around usTogether in the great mystery What a blessing
Grant Jahnke
What a gift to be present at a baptism that had suchcritical meaning for the individual It was a privilege tohear her make a firm and confident affirmation of faithknowing that there is a significant cost Cost that is notabout having the right clothes or a lavish party but costin terms of saying these things in the face of possiblereprisals That takes courage and commitment at alevel that I have never myself risen to I am very gratefulfor her modelling this for me Her bearing witnessdeepened my faith
SusanGrahamWalker
They recognized him in the breaking of the breadAs I arrive at the garden where a few of us will be
gathering for a celebration of Eucharist my thoughtslinger on the Emmaus story (Luke 2413-35) I feel akinship with the two travellers grieving over the loss ofthe One who had filled them with such hope For me forus COVID-19 has deprived us of gathering as acommunity around the Eucharistic table and we feellost But the garden draws us in warm and lush and softwith bird song I relax as the familiar prayers are spokenand the scriptures proclaimed We say Amen Let it beso We tell our sacred story and as bread is broken andwine poured out we remember Jesus the Christ andlike the disciples of old we recognize him in thebreaking of the bread I am grateful and content as wewish each other well and leave to return to our homesrefreshed and renewed
Rita Patenaude
This year we discovered how mystical and beautifula Eucharist in nature is Susan Haig says she feels aprofound connection tothe Divine in nature justas her grandfather didOur little gathering wasstunned to feel the powerof that connection whenSusan invoked the HolySpirit in our two baptisms
Joshua once known asRishi was baptized on aclear cold Autumn dayWe watched as heseemed transformedreborn as the Holy Spiritwas invoked After theEucharist Susan blessedus all to go out into theworld and a strange littlewind suddenly gatheredat the top of the tall mapletree swept down behindher gathered little goldleaves around her andswept through us It wasthe only wind of the dayand it left us euphoric
KarenVisserWe were surprised and
delighted to be invited tojoin a small group of masked Redeemerites for a
8 ndash LENT GATHERING
backyard Eucharist on a chilly but bright December dayThe event was a microcosm of the usual Eucharist inthe church building a dozen or so people instead of theusual scores no music a distanced and respectfulpeace no homily but readings no wine but bread froma tiny loaf In other words all the basic essentials noldquofrillsrdquo and friends warmed by our delight in seeingeach other by Susanrsquos pastoral care Karenrsquos generosityin hosting us and by the sunny crispness of the naturalsetting In all a heart-warming and worshipfulexperience
Pauline Thompson
It wasnrsquot the Garden of Eden In the middle there wasa table but not the Tree And yet it was a little bit ofparadise in North Toronto
The table held bread and wine Nearby flamed awoodfire not like the one Peter warmed his hands bybut one where a few brothers and sisters gathereddistanced in body but not spirit
No organ no choir But the words of institutionprayer over the gifts the body of the Lord given for usbread placed in sanitized hands taken eaten
The heavens didnrsquot open but our hearts didexposing and soothing just a little the ache for beingtogether at the table of the Lord
Paul Gooch
We are looking forward to many more celebrationsof the Eucharist under the canopy of trees of this housechurch The table is set the firewood is ready and soare our hearts and welcomes If you would like to join usor know of someone who would like to do so please letme know ndash Susan
LENT GATHERING ndash 9
WildernessResistanceCompassionPaul Pynkoski
Lent should behellipan experience that gets intoour flesh and nerves and bones a way oflifehellipvery few of us really give its spirit a fairchance to touch and penetrate our lives(Eugene R Fairweather)
It is one and the same movement of surrenderto open ourselves to intimacy and personalunion with God in the Spirit and to openourselves to compassion and solidarity withour struggling needy fellow human beings
ndash Martin L SmithI knew nothing of Lent during my fundamentalist
upbringing Lent was fuzzily conceived as some sort ofritual ldquothose Catholicsrdquo were involved in somethingother than the pure gospel Itrsquos purpose and place in thecycle of the Christian year became clearer as I exploredthe Anglican tradition Yet the Lenten fast hascontinued to hold some ambiguity I understood that itwas modelled on Jesusrsquo forty-day sojourn in thewilderness but my efforts to give up chocolate or wineor Facebookmdashor to add in greater efforts at personalprayermdashalways seemed to end up more frustratingthan helpful (One friend gave up church for Lent eachyear I pondered following suit)
This year I have begun Lent by looking beyond thestory of Jesus in the wilderness When I meditate on thelarger narrative accompanying Jesus from the JordanRiver through the wilderness and into Galilee I seemyself being beckoned to move beyond fastingtowards action and transformation
The evangelists depict the baptism of Jesus endingwith Godrsquos voice declaring ldquoYou are my son thebelovedrdquo Jesus does not get to bask in being thebeloved one of God It is not a badge to be worn like thenumber on an athletersquos sweater Nor could he writethose words down and carry them back to thecarpenterrsquos shop The Spirit had other ideas Jesus wasdriven to a place where no one really chooses to gomdashthe haunt of beasts and demons
Undernourished and emotionally exhausted afterforty days of fasting prayer and struggle Jesus is
tempted by Satan to change the laws of nature tocreate an amazing spectacle that would elevate himabove other human beings and to bow to the idolatry ofpower In refusing these temptations Jesus remainedhungry ordinary and powerless By resisting evil Jesuschose the way of poverty humility and dependence ofGod
Calling prayer and resistance led to solidarity Themovement of the narrative from the wilderness into thecity suggests to me that the fires of compassionatelove were being fanned
Consistent with the vision that emerged from hisresistance Jesus begins building a community of poorordinary and powerless people He started with fourunsuccessful fishermen and a despised tax collectorHealing the sick and proclaiming the good news ofGodrsquos liberation follows Those he restored to healthwere not unlike those he calledmdashblind roadsidebeggars demoniacs whose outlandish behaviourprecluded gainful employment and marginalizedlepers Controversy ensued ldquoWho does he think he ishanging out with those people Isnrsquot he breaking thelaw when he heals on the Sabbathrdquo
As I meditate on this I see that fasting has no valueas an end in itself As Godrsquos beloved I am being called toembrace this larger pattern of prayerful resistancecompassionate solidarity and healing What shapemight it take in my life in our lives
Might we like Dorothy Day live out our fast inpoverty with the powerless Could our fast move uslike William McNichols during the AIDS crisis to bringhealing to those society casts aside Could we imaginea fast that leads to resisting of our governmentrsquos policyon weapons of destruction and like the Kings BayPlowshares 7 risk incarceration Can we dream of afast that leads beyond saying ldquoblack lives matterrdquo topraying with our feet the description given by AbrahamJoshua Heschel of his march with Martin Luther KingJr Does it give me pause to realize that suchcompassion will inevitably garner controversy
Perhaps our dreams and imaginings will not place uson the world stage but in the smaller theatre of ourown lives bringing friendship through refugeeresettlement growing compassion through a blanketexercise or building a community of hope through theCommon Table
Will Lent get into my bones this year Can Iaccompany Jesus out of the wilderness and into thecity where solidarity and compassion can takeconcrete shape
10 ndash LENT GATHERING
THE SEASONOF LENTEarlier in this newsletter Steven reminds us of the
invitation to observe a Holy Lent How will you mark thedays From Mardi Gras to Holy Week this is ourpilgrimage
Join in Mardi Gras OnlineWho says we canrsquot have our annual Mardi Gras
party We will gather on Tuesday February 16 throughZoom for music games and more And of coursepancakes Didy Erb shares her favourite recipe so youcan get the ingredients on-hand in time to make a stackto enjoy as we gather together
Didyrsquos Pancakes
2 cups flour 2 eggs3 Tbs sugar 14 cup oil12 tsp salt 1-34 cups milk1 Tbs Baking Powder 1 tsp Vanilla
Put all dry ingredients into a bowl mix togetherAdd all other ingredients just dump them in
Beat everything together using ahand-held beater or a whiskLet all of this sit for 10 minutes(important)During this time heat up your panIspray mine with a bit of Pam as itsnon-stick properties are failingWhen the ten minutes are up add aknob of butter (or Becel) to the panDrop the batter about a big
tablespoon full per pancake onto the hot panWhen bubbles appear on the top of the pancakes theyare ready to be flippedSo flip them wait about 2 minutesEAT WHILE HOT and ENJOY
Ash Wednesday ndash February 17The tracing of a cross with ashes on our foreheads
and the wordsYou are dust and to dust you shall returnreminds us that we have the season of Lent to turn toGod to bring all the pieces of our selves that needhealing and restoration as we prepare for the joyouscelebration of Easter This year our Ash Wednesdayservice will be offered through Zoom at 6 PMContainers with ashes created from our burnt palmbranches are included in the Lent-in-a-bag resourcesfor use during the service
Daily Prayer in LentJoin The Revrsquod Canon Steven Mackison each day
from February 18 to March 27 for a short service ofdaily prayerThe service will be offered through Zoomat mid-day Details will be shared in eNews
Lent Fast from Creation MattersAre you looking to undertake a fast during Lent that
focuses on creation and issues related to the climatecrisis The Bishoprsquos Committee on Creation Care hasproducedAFast for the Earth Lent 2021 to provide afast for each week of Lent meat consumption foodwaste water injustice electricity and ignorance Youcan find the resource on the diocese website mdashtorontoanglicanca May this resource be part of yourLenten observance
Annual Vestry MeetingThe annual Vestry meeting will be held through
Zoom on Sunday February 28 following the morningworship service Vestry reports and financial reportswill be posted on the website as soon as they areavailable
Lent Reading GroupLearningRedeemer invites
all to look forward throughoutthe season of Lent to theevents of Holy Week with theLententide Reading GroupWersquoll focus on Jesusrsquo final daysby reading the book The LastWeek by Marcus Borg and JohnDominic Crossan More detailsare online Please register byMonday February 15
LENT GATHERING ndash 3
An UpdateFrom TheRefugeeSettlementCommitteeSusanna Jacob
The last year has passed in a blur On January 25 wewere reminded that it had been a year since the firstcase of COVID-19 was declared in Canada We all haveour own stories of lockdown isolation job loss anxietyillness and death We also have our own stories ofresilience determination compassion and adaptation
Richard Rohrrsquos daily meditations include thispoignant prayer of gratitude ldquoThank you for leading usinto a time where more of reality is being unveiled for usall to seerdquo The pandemic has indeed unveiled realitythe harsh reality of inequity prejudice and greed andthe beautiful reality of love generosity and care forfamily neighbours and community
One of the ongoing realities is the plight of refugeesworldwide In the midst of a pandemic that is affectingevery country in the world it is vitally important not tolose sight of the needs of those who were sufferingeven before the virus and who are living in crowdedconditions that only exacerbate its spread
The Church of the Redeemer has sponsored elevenpeople from three countries over the past five yearsthe last a group of four young men from Eritrea While ithas been two years since we have settled a group ofrefugees the committee has continued meetingoccasionally both to share our own circumstances andto exchange news and maintain hope that we will beable to welcome another group once travel restrictionsare lifted We have begun working with Anglican United
Refugee Alliance (AURA) to sponsor Somali fatherAbdikadir and his family of seven currently living inDadaab refugee camp in Kenya We hope that they maybe able to come to Canada in another year or so
You have probably heard of Dadaab the worldslargest refugee camp run by the UNHCR Over300000 people from surrounding countries arestranded there in their flights from wars atrocities andother threats in their homelands There is no freedomof movement but violence is prevalent and the campprovides a training ground for Al Qaeda Kenya refusescitizenship to people in the camp and threatens themwith repatriation otherwiseknown as refouillement aprocess by which peopleare sent back to theircountries of origin in spiteof dangers and threats totheir lives
It is to this camp thatAbdikadir fled on his own29 years ago when he was13 after the murder of hisparents and sister He haslived there ever since and isa leader within his sectionof the camp He is fluent inEnglish and has variousskills including somegained through work withan NGO as well as someauto mechanic experienceHe is the kind of refugeewho will make a strongcontribution to Canadian life once he has arrived here
Since we are in the very early stages of thissponsorship we will update you as time goes by In themeantime please keep Abdikadir and his family in yourprayers As we continue this ministry we look forwardto partnering with other faith groups and churches andto the continued support of our own congregationcommunity
hellipIt is vitally
important not to
lose sight of the
needs of those
who were
suffering even
before the virus
and who are
living in
crowded
conditions that
only exacerbate
its spread
4 ndash LENT GATHERING
TreatiesAffectingthe TorontoAreaCarolynn Bett
This article is part of an on-going series prepared byCarolynn Bett a member of the Indigenous SolidarityWorkingGroup
The two treaties that cover the area now known asToronto are
The Toronto Purchase (Treaty 13) 1787 and 1805settled 2010
The Williams Treaty 1923 settled 2018
Toronto Purchase Treaty 13In 1787 the Mississaugas met with the Crown at the
Bay of Quinte to discuss sharing the land that currentlystretches from Etobicoke CreekHighway 27 in thewest to Ashbridges BayWoodbine in the east and fromthe lake to just south of Bloomington Rd Aurora TheMississaugas were given 2000 gun flints 24 brasskettles 120 mirrors 24 lace hats a bale of floweredflannel and 96 gallons of rum Their understanding wasthat this was a rental in exchange for gifts in perpetuityThe Crown understood it as a purchase So when theMississaugas blocked a survey taking place west of theHumber and east of the Don claiming that land had notbeen ceded the Crown sent in the military However by1794 the Crown knew it lacked legal title the blankdeed did not delineate boundaries and the signaturesof the chiefs were affixed to it with an 18th centuryversion of post-it notes The only documentation was ina letter written in 1799 claiming a 10-mile square hadbeen negotiated
Wanting to secure title to a vaster territory theCrown revisited the treaty in 1805 By this time all thechiefs from 1787 were dead and the Mississaugas werestarving The Crown secured the treaty lands for 10shillings about $60 in 2010 money on August 1 1805Both the 1787 and 1805 documents were registered
together as Treaty 13 covering present day EtobicokeNorth York old City of Toronto old York East YorkVaughn King and south-west Markham over to westWhitechurch
By 1986 when Indigenous people were allowed toretain lawyers they launched a land claim saying theyhad never ceded the sacred lands of Toronto Islandsthat they had been denied their basic rights laid down inthe Royal Proclamation to fish in the Etobicoke Creekand to receive reasonable compensation Afterdecades of wrangling this claim was settled in 2010 for$145 million dollars The 1700 Mississauga bandmembers each got $20000 and the rest was put intrust for future generations M LaForme bandmember shrugged and said $20000 couldnrsquot buy atruck
The Williams TreatiesBecause some Redeemerites live east of
Ashbridges Bay it seemed worthwhile to describe theWilliams Treaties Moreover a couple of us who wereon a Travel for Learning city excursion in 2018 shortlybefore the settlement was announced sat next to theProvincial negotiator who was bursting withexcitement and let the cat out of the bag
The Williams Treaties covering the land east ofAshbridges BayWoodbine Ave in Toronto weresigned in October and November 1923 by thegovernments of Canada and Ontario and by sevenAnishinaabe First Nations of the Chippewa andMississaugas The goal of Mr Sinclair (Federal) MrMcFadden (lawyer) and Mr Williams (Provincial) waswith a one-time cash payment to extinguish Chippewaand Mississauga title to the lands on the north shore ofLake Ontario to Lake Simcoe and from the OttawaRiver to Lake Huronmdash20000 square kilometers in allThese were the last of the historic land cession treatiesThe payment was $25 for each band member plus$233425 to the Mississaugas to be divided amongfour reserves and $233375 to the Chippewa coveringthree reserves The settlement payments to theChippewas of Lake Simcoe went to BeausoleilGeorgina Island and Rama reserves Payments to theMississaugas of the North Shore of Lake Ontario wentto Alderville Curve Lake Hiawatha and Scugog Islandreserves
Problems arose because the treaties were notactually negotiated nor understood by the FirstNations Moreover other treaties gave hunting andfishing rights and annuity payments in perpetuity One
such treaty was number 20 whichoverlapped the land of the WilliamsTreaties
Years of litigation followedresulting in the settlement of 2018the largest land settlement evernegotiated The Chippewa andMississaugas won back fishing andhunting rights promised in the RoyalProclamation of 1763 they received4452 hectares for each reserve(1100 acres) and they receivedpayment of $666 million from theFederal Government and$444million from the Provincialgovernment They also negotiatedan apology from each governmentregarding the Williams Treaties of 1923 for insufficientcompensation inadequate reserve lands and denial oftheir fishing and hunting rights
The question remains in mymind whether these treaties andldquosettlements are regarded aspurchases of land according to theSettler point of view or whetherthey are agreements to share andcare for the land with the monetarypayments as compensation forfailure on the part of Settlergovernments to do so in the pastand as a promise of reconciliationfor the future This would be morein keeping with the spirit ofIndigenous law According toIndigenous world view and law theland owns us we are MotherNaturersquos children integrally
connected with all life formsmdashall my relationsmdashand areresponsible for their care as they provide forand feed us
Living OurQuestions
ldquoNo one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth onan old cloak otherwise the patch pullsaway from it the new from the old and aworse tear is made And no one puts newwine into old wineskins otherwise the winewill burst the skins and the wine is lost andso are the skins but one puts new wine intofresh wineskinsrdquo
ndash Mark 221-22Is there a sticking point in your experience of
Christian community A hymn that leaves youfeeling Im so not on board for this Words in theCreed that you struggle with Sketchy versions ofChristian doctrine and practice that seem to justifythe status quo instead of liberating people
Its easy to feel isolated with our sticking pointseasy to assume were alone with them But were
not When we have a safe space within thecommunity to share them and our struggles withthem were reminded that theyre part of thejourney of faith not a departure from the journey offaith We look for ways to go on saying I believe onterms that are true to our experience and values Wetry to pour new wine into new wineskins followingthe advice of Jesus that pouring new wine into oldwineskins doesnt work so well Searching togethercan strengthen our faith and give us courage for ourjourney We can weave an experience of deepermore intimate community with each other in theprocess
Following on the success of the first BE YOUsmall-group experience in the fallLearningRedeemer invites you to share thequestions you live with in a safe confidential circle offellow seekers A group of ten to twelve participantswill begin meeting shortly after Easter with thespecial invitation to share your sticking pointsWell start by sharing from the heart about ourjourneys In our later meetings well take up thetopics that members most want to explore and taketurns leading discussion on
Please register your interest through the parishwebsite or contact davidtownsendutorontoca formore information
6 ndash LENT GATHERING
A S THE WEEKS OF THE COVID-19 crisis lengthenedinto months the longings for communion andcommunity intensified especially among those of
our membership who cannot access Zoom church and thosewho live alone At the same time a longing was stirring in thehearts and minds of two of our parishioners who felt a deepdesire to open their beautiful backyard space to small groupsof fellow parishioners for worship and prayer
It was North Toronto and 2020 They are artists nottentmakers But Karen and Michael Visser were longing tohost their fellow Redeemerites in their garden just asPriscilla and Aquila hosted their fellow Christians in theirhome many centuries ago when those first followers of theWay were figuring out how to be disciples in a strange timewhen it was not yet clear or acceptable or necessarily safe toworship Christ openly
So over the ensuing months we began inviting groups ofseven or eight people to the Visser backyard to a shortcelebration of the Eucharist and on two occasions aEucharist with baptism Our goal was to begin with thosefeeling very alone or keenly missing the sacrament and to
continue extending the invitation until either COVID-19ended or we had invited everyone in the communitymdashpreferably the former They came from all over the city intheir eagerness to join one of our members walked almost20 kilometres each way in the scorching August heat just tobe part of it The story of this unique house church over itsfirst three seasons is told through these photographs and thereflections of a few of its participants
What follows are reflections by those who attendedthe services
Had someone asked me a year ago ldquoIf you were ableto partake of only one celebration of the Eucharist foran entire year and could choose where that would bewhere would you chooserdquo
After a momentrsquos thought of how weird aspeculation that was I may well have said lsquoHmmIrsquodprobably choose a celebration that was to take placebeneath a canopy of treesrdquo
How could I have known then that this questionwould prove not to be hypothetical but indeed the fact
House ChurchIn The TimeOf Pandemic
LENT GATHERING ndash 7
of what was to come And how amazing now lookingback on those many months that the single Eucharisticservice I was to be part of was indeed celebratedbeneath the overarching branches of surroundingtrees A living cathedral
Details of that summertime gathering have softenednow What remains in memory is a lyrical montage ofhuman faces against the background of green movingtogether in a kind of slow-motion dance as we enteredinto the familiar rhythm of remembering Jesusrsquo lastmeal with his disciples Together feasting on thescripture of the book from which we read amidst of theblessing of the scripture of Creation all around usTogether in the great mystery What a blessing
Grant Jahnke
What a gift to be present at a baptism that had suchcritical meaning for the individual It was a privilege tohear her make a firm and confident affirmation of faithknowing that there is a significant cost Cost that is notabout having the right clothes or a lavish party but costin terms of saying these things in the face of possiblereprisals That takes courage and commitment at alevel that I have never myself risen to I am very gratefulfor her modelling this for me Her bearing witnessdeepened my faith
SusanGrahamWalker
They recognized him in the breaking of the breadAs I arrive at the garden where a few of us will be
gathering for a celebration of Eucharist my thoughtslinger on the Emmaus story (Luke 2413-35) I feel akinship with the two travellers grieving over the loss ofthe One who had filled them with such hope For me forus COVID-19 has deprived us of gathering as acommunity around the Eucharistic table and we feellost But the garden draws us in warm and lush and softwith bird song I relax as the familiar prayers are spokenand the scriptures proclaimed We say Amen Let it beso We tell our sacred story and as bread is broken andwine poured out we remember Jesus the Christ andlike the disciples of old we recognize him in thebreaking of the bread I am grateful and content as wewish each other well and leave to return to our homesrefreshed and renewed
Rita Patenaude
This year we discovered how mystical and beautifula Eucharist in nature is Susan Haig says she feels aprofound connection tothe Divine in nature justas her grandfather didOur little gathering wasstunned to feel the powerof that connection whenSusan invoked the HolySpirit in our two baptisms
Joshua once known asRishi was baptized on aclear cold Autumn dayWe watched as heseemed transformedreborn as the Holy Spiritwas invoked After theEucharist Susan blessedus all to go out into theworld and a strange littlewind suddenly gatheredat the top of the tall mapletree swept down behindher gathered little goldleaves around her andswept through us It wasthe only wind of the dayand it left us euphoric
KarenVisserWe were surprised and
delighted to be invited tojoin a small group of masked Redeemerites for a
8 ndash LENT GATHERING
backyard Eucharist on a chilly but bright December dayThe event was a microcosm of the usual Eucharist inthe church building a dozen or so people instead of theusual scores no music a distanced and respectfulpeace no homily but readings no wine but bread froma tiny loaf In other words all the basic essentials noldquofrillsrdquo and friends warmed by our delight in seeingeach other by Susanrsquos pastoral care Karenrsquos generosityin hosting us and by the sunny crispness of the naturalsetting In all a heart-warming and worshipfulexperience
Pauline Thompson
It wasnrsquot the Garden of Eden In the middle there wasa table but not the Tree And yet it was a little bit ofparadise in North Toronto
The table held bread and wine Nearby flamed awoodfire not like the one Peter warmed his hands bybut one where a few brothers and sisters gathereddistanced in body but not spirit
No organ no choir But the words of institutionprayer over the gifts the body of the Lord given for usbread placed in sanitized hands taken eaten
The heavens didnrsquot open but our hearts didexposing and soothing just a little the ache for beingtogether at the table of the Lord
Paul Gooch
We are looking forward to many more celebrationsof the Eucharist under the canopy of trees of this housechurch The table is set the firewood is ready and soare our hearts and welcomes If you would like to join usor know of someone who would like to do so please letme know ndash Susan
LENT GATHERING ndash 9
WildernessResistanceCompassionPaul Pynkoski
Lent should behellipan experience that gets intoour flesh and nerves and bones a way oflifehellipvery few of us really give its spirit a fairchance to touch and penetrate our lives(Eugene R Fairweather)
It is one and the same movement of surrenderto open ourselves to intimacy and personalunion with God in the Spirit and to openourselves to compassion and solidarity withour struggling needy fellow human beings
ndash Martin L SmithI knew nothing of Lent during my fundamentalist
upbringing Lent was fuzzily conceived as some sort ofritual ldquothose Catholicsrdquo were involved in somethingother than the pure gospel Itrsquos purpose and place in thecycle of the Christian year became clearer as I exploredthe Anglican tradition Yet the Lenten fast hascontinued to hold some ambiguity I understood that itwas modelled on Jesusrsquo forty-day sojourn in thewilderness but my efforts to give up chocolate or wineor Facebookmdashor to add in greater efforts at personalprayermdashalways seemed to end up more frustratingthan helpful (One friend gave up church for Lent eachyear I pondered following suit)
This year I have begun Lent by looking beyond thestory of Jesus in the wilderness When I meditate on thelarger narrative accompanying Jesus from the JordanRiver through the wilderness and into Galilee I seemyself being beckoned to move beyond fastingtowards action and transformation
The evangelists depict the baptism of Jesus endingwith Godrsquos voice declaring ldquoYou are my son thebelovedrdquo Jesus does not get to bask in being thebeloved one of God It is not a badge to be worn like thenumber on an athletersquos sweater Nor could he writethose words down and carry them back to thecarpenterrsquos shop The Spirit had other ideas Jesus wasdriven to a place where no one really chooses to gomdashthe haunt of beasts and demons
Undernourished and emotionally exhausted afterforty days of fasting prayer and struggle Jesus is
tempted by Satan to change the laws of nature tocreate an amazing spectacle that would elevate himabove other human beings and to bow to the idolatry ofpower In refusing these temptations Jesus remainedhungry ordinary and powerless By resisting evil Jesuschose the way of poverty humility and dependence ofGod
Calling prayer and resistance led to solidarity Themovement of the narrative from the wilderness into thecity suggests to me that the fires of compassionatelove were being fanned
Consistent with the vision that emerged from hisresistance Jesus begins building a community of poorordinary and powerless people He started with fourunsuccessful fishermen and a despised tax collectorHealing the sick and proclaiming the good news ofGodrsquos liberation follows Those he restored to healthwere not unlike those he calledmdashblind roadsidebeggars demoniacs whose outlandish behaviourprecluded gainful employment and marginalizedlepers Controversy ensued ldquoWho does he think he ishanging out with those people Isnrsquot he breaking thelaw when he heals on the Sabbathrdquo
As I meditate on this I see that fasting has no valueas an end in itself As Godrsquos beloved I am being called toembrace this larger pattern of prayerful resistancecompassionate solidarity and healing What shapemight it take in my life in our lives
Might we like Dorothy Day live out our fast inpoverty with the powerless Could our fast move uslike William McNichols during the AIDS crisis to bringhealing to those society casts aside Could we imaginea fast that leads to resisting of our governmentrsquos policyon weapons of destruction and like the Kings BayPlowshares 7 risk incarceration Can we dream of afast that leads beyond saying ldquoblack lives matterrdquo topraying with our feet the description given by AbrahamJoshua Heschel of his march with Martin Luther KingJr Does it give me pause to realize that suchcompassion will inevitably garner controversy
Perhaps our dreams and imaginings will not place uson the world stage but in the smaller theatre of ourown lives bringing friendship through refugeeresettlement growing compassion through a blanketexercise or building a community of hope through theCommon Table
Will Lent get into my bones this year Can Iaccompany Jesus out of the wilderness and into thecity where solidarity and compassion can takeconcrete shape
10 ndash LENT GATHERING
THE SEASONOF LENTEarlier in this newsletter Steven reminds us of the
invitation to observe a Holy Lent How will you mark thedays From Mardi Gras to Holy Week this is ourpilgrimage
Join in Mardi Gras OnlineWho says we canrsquot have our annual Mardi Gras
party We will gather on Tuesday February 16 throughZoom for music games and more And of coursepancakes Didy Erb shares her favourite recipe so youcan get the ingredients on-hand in time to make a stackto enjoy as we gather together
Didyrsquos Pancakes
2 cups flour 2 eggs3 Tbs sugar 14 cup oil12 tsp salt 1-34 cups milk1 Tbs Baking Powder 1 tsp Vanilla
Put all dry ingredients into a bowl mix togetherAdd all other ingredients just dump them in
Beat everything together using ahand-held beater or a whiskLet all of this sit for 10 minutes(important)During this time heat up your panIspray mine with a bit of Pam as itsnon-stick properties are failingWhen the ten minutes are up add aknob of butter (or Becel) to the panDrop the batter about a big
tablespoon full per pancake onto the hot panWhen bubbles appear on the top of the pancakes theyare ready to be flippedSo flip them wait about 2 minutesEAT WHILE HOT and ENJOY
Ash Wednesday ndash February 17The tracing of a cross with ashes on our foreheads
and the wordsYou are dust and to dust you shall returnreminds us that we have the season of Lent to turn toGod to bring all the pieces of our selves that needhealing and restoration as we prepare for the joyouscelebration of Easter This year our Ash Wednesdayservice will be offered through Zoom at 6 PMContainers with ashes created from our burnt palmbranches are included in the Lent-in-a-bag resourcesfor use during the service
Daily Prayer in LentJoin The Revrsquod Canon Steven Mackison each day
from February 18 to March 27 for a short service ofdaily prayerThe service will be offered through Zoomat mid-day Details will be shared in eNews
Lent Fast from Creation MattersAre you looking to undertake a fast during Lent that
focuses on creation and issues related to the climatecrisis The Bishoprsquos Committee on Creation Care hasproducedAFast for the Earth Lent 2021 to provide afast for each week of Lent meat consumption foodwaste water injustice electricity and ignorance Youcan find the resource on the diocese website mdashtorontoanglicanca May this resource be part of yourLenten observance
Annual Vestry MeetingThe annual Vestry meeting will be held through
Zoom on Sunday February 28 following the morningworship service Vestry reports and financial reportswill be posted on the website as soon as they areavailable
Lent Reading GroupLearningRedeemer invites
all to look forward throughoutthe season of Lent to theevents of Holy Week with theLententide Reading GroupWersquoll focus on Jesusrsquo final daysby reading the book The LastWeek by Marcus Borg and JohnDominic Crossan More detailsare online Please register byMonday February 15
4 ndash LENT GATHERING
TreatiesAffectingthe TorontoAreaCarolynn Bett
This article is part of an on-going series prepared byCarolynn Bett a member of the Indigenous SolidarityWorkingGroup
The two treaties that cover the area now known asToronto are
The Toronto Purchase (Treaty 13) 1787 and 1805settled 2010
The Williams Treaty 1923 settled 2018
Toronto Purchase Treaty 13In 1787 the Mississaugas met with the Crown at the
Bay of Quinte to discuss sharing the land that currentlystretches from Etobicoke CreekHighway 27 in thewest to Ashbridges BayWoodbine in the east and fromthe lake to just south of Bloomington Rd Aurora TheMississaugas were given 2000 gun flints 24 brasskettles 120 mirrors 24 lace hats a bale of floweredflannel and 96 gallons of rum Their understanding wasthat this was a rental in exchange for gifts in perpetuityThe Crown understood it as a purchase So when theMississaugas blocked a survey taking place west of theHumber and east of the Don claiming that land had notbeen ceded the Crown sent in the military However by1794 the Crown knew it lacked legal title the blankdeed did not delineate boundaries and the signaturesof the chiefs were affixed to it with an 18th centuryversion of post-it notes The only documentation was ina letter written in 1799 claiming a 10-mile square hadbeen negotiated
Wanting to secure title to a vaster territory theCrown revisited the treaty in 1805 By this time all thechiefs from 1787 were dead and the Mississaugas werestarving The Crown secured the treaty lands for 10shillings about $60 in 2010 money on August 1 1805Both the 1787 and 1805 documents were registered
together as Treaty 13 covering present day EtobicokeNorth York old City of Toronto old York East YorkVaughn King and south-west Markham over to westWhitechurch
By 1986 when Indigenous people were allowed toretain lawyers they launched a land claim saying theyhad never ceded the sacred lands of Toronto Islandsthat they had been denied their basic rights laid down inthe Royal Proclamation to fish in the Etobicoke Creekand to receive reasonable compensation Afterdecades of wrangling this claim was settled in 2010 for$145 million dollars The 1700 Mississauga bandmembers each got $20000 and the rest was put intrust for future generations M LaForme bandmember shrugged and said $20000 couldnrsquot buy atruck
The Williams TreatiesBecause some Redeemerites live east of
Ashbridges Bay it seemed worthwhile to describe theWilliams Treaties Moreover a couple of us who wereon a Travel for Learning city excursion in 2018 shortlybefore the settlement was announced sat next to theProvincial negotiator who was bursting withexcitement and let the cat out of the bag
The Williams Treaties covering the land east ofAshbridges BayWoodbine Ave in Toronto weresigned in October and November 1923 by thegovernments of Canada and Ontario and by sevenAnishinaabe First Nations of the Chippewa andMississaugas The goal of Mr Sinclair (Federal) MrMcFadden (lawyer) and Mr Williams (Provincial) waswith a one-time cash payment to extinguish Chippewaand Mississauga title to the lands on the north shore ofLake Ontario to Lake Simcoe and from the OttawaRiver to Lake Huronmdash20000 square kilometers in allThese were the last of the historic land cession treatiesThe payment was $25 for each band member plus$233425 to the Mississaugas to be divided amongfour reserves and $233375 to the Chippewa coveringthree reserves The settlement payments to theChippewas of Lake Simcoe went to BeausoleilGeorgina Island and Rama reserves Payments to theMississaugas of the North Shore of Lake Ontario wentto Alderville Curve Lake Hiawatha and Scugog Islandreserves
Problems arose because the treaties were notactually negotiated nor understood by the FirstNations Moreover other treaties gave hunting andfishing rights and annuity payments in perpetuity One
such treaty was number 20 whichoverlapped the land of the WilliamsTreaties
Years of litigation followedresulting in the settlement of 2018the largest land settlement evernegotiated The Chippewa andMississaugas won back fishing andhunting rights promised in the RoyalProclamation of 1763 they received4452 hectares for each reserve(1100 acres) and they receivedpayment of $666 million from theFederal Government and$444million from the Provincialgovernment They also negotiatedan apology from each governmentregarding the Williams Treaties of 1923 for insufficientcompensation inadequate reserve lands and denial oftheir fishing and hunting rights
The question remains in mymind whether these treaties andldquosettlements are regarded aspurchases of land according to theSettler point of view or whetherthey are agreements to share andcare for the land with the monetarypayments as compensation forfailure on the part of Settlergovernments to do so in the pastand as a promise of reconciliationfor the future This would be morein keeping with the spirit ofIndigenous law According toIndigenous world view and law theland owns us we are MotherNaturersquos children integrally
connected with all life formsmdashall my relationsmdashand areresponsible for their care as they provide forand feed us
Living OurQuestions
ldquoNo one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth onan old cloak otherwise the patch pullsaway from it the new from the old and aworse tear is made And no one puts newwine into old wineskins otherwise the winewill burst the skins and the wine is lost andso are the skins but one puts new wine intofresh wineskinsrdquo
ndash Mark 221-22Is there a sticking point in your experience of
Christian community A hymn that leaves youfeeling Im so not on board for this Words in theCreed that you struggle with Sketchy versions ofChristian doctrine and practice that seem to justifythe status quo instead of liberating people
Its easy to feel isolated with our sticking pointseasy to assume were alone with them But were
not When we have a safe space within thecommunity to share them and our struggles withthem were reminded that theyre part of thejourney of faith not a departure from the journey offaith We look for ways to go on saying I believe onterms that are true to our experience and values Wetry to pour new wine into new wineskins followingthe advice of Jesus that pouring new wine into oldwineskins doesnt work so well Searching togethercan strengthen our faith and give us courage for ourjourney We can weave an experience of deepermore intimate community with each other in theprocess
Following on the success of the first BE YOUsmall-group experience in the fallLearningRedeemer invites you to share thequestions you live with in a safe confidential circle offellow seekers A group of ten to twelve participantswill begin meeting shortly after Easter with thespecial invitation to share your sticking pointsWell start by sharing from the heart about ourjourneys In our later meetings well take up thetopics that members most want to explore and taketurns leading discussion on
Please register your interest through the parishwebsite or contact davidtownsendutorontoca formore information
6 ndash LENT GATHERING
A S THE WEEKS OF THE COVID-19 crisis lengthenedinto months the longings for communion andcommunity intensified especially among those of
our membership who cannot access Zoom church and thosewho live alone At the same time a longing was stirring in thehearts and minds of two of our parishioners who felt a deepdesire to open their beautiful backyard space to small groupsof fellow parishioners for worship and prayer
It was North Toronto and 2020 They are artists nottentmakers But Karen and Michael Visser were longing tohost their fellow Redeemerites in their garden just asPriscilla and Aquila hosted their fellow Christians in theirhome many centuries ago when those first followers of theWay were figuring out how to be disciples in a strange timewhen it was not yet clear or acceptable or necessarily safe toworship Christ openly
So over the ensuing months we began inviting groups ofseven or eight people to the Visser backyard to a shortcelebration of the Eucharist and on two occasions aEucharist with baptism Our goal was to begin with thosefeeling very alone or keenly missing the sacrament and to
continue extending the invitation until either COVID-19ended or we had invited everyone in the communitymdashpreferably the former They came from all over the city intheir eagerness to join one of our members walked almost20 kilometres each way in the scorching August heat just tobe part of it The story of this unique house church over itsfirst three seasons is told through these photographs and thereflections of a few of its participants
What follows are reflections by those who attendedthe services
Had someone asked me a year ago ldquoIf you were ableto partake of only one celebration of the Eucharist foran entire year and could choose where that would bewhere would you chooserdquo
After a momentrsquos thought of how weird aspeculation that was I may well have said lsquoHmmIrsquodprobably choose a celebration that was to take placebeneath a canopy of treesrdquo
How could I have known then that this questionwould prove not to be hypothetical but indeed the fact
House ChurchIn The TimeOf Pandemic
LENT GATHERING ndash 7
of what was to come And how amazing now lookingback on those many months that the single Eucharisticservice I was to be part of was indeed celebratedbeneath the overarching branches of surroundingtrees A living cathedral
Details of that summertime gathering have softenednow What remains in memory is a lyrical montage ofhuman faces against the background of green movingtogether in a kind of slow-motion dance as we enteredinto the familiar rhythm of remembering Jesusrsquo lastmeal with his disciples Together feasting on thescripture of the book from which we read amidst of theblessing of the scripture of Creation all around usTogether in the great mystery What a blessing
Grant Jahnke
What a gift to be present at a baptism that had suchcritical meaning for the individual It was a privilege tohear her make a firm and confident affirmation of faithknowing that there is a significant cost Cost that is notabout having the right clothes or a lavish party but costin terms of saying these things in the face of possiblereprisals That takes courage and commitment at alevel that I have never myself risen to I am very gratefulfor her modelling this for me Her bearing witnessdeepened my faith
SusanGrahamWalker
They recognized him in the breaking of the breadAs I arrive at the garden where a few of us will be
gathering for a celebration of Eucharist my thoughtslinger on the Emmaus story (Luke 2413-35) I feel akinship with the two travellers grieving over the loss ofthe One who had filled them with such hope For me forus COVID-19 has deprived us of gathering as acommunity around the Eucharistic table and we feellost But the garden draws us in warm and lush and softwith bird song I relax as the familiar prayers are spokenand the scriptures proclaimed We say Amen Let it beso We tell our sacred story and as bread is broken andwine poured out we remember Jesus the Christ andlike the disciples of old we recognize him in thebreaking of the bread I am grateful and content as wewish each other well and leave to return to our homesrefreshed and renewed
Rita Patenaude
This year we discovered how mystical and beautifula Eucharist in nature is Susan Haig says she feels aprofound connection tothe Divine in nature justas her grandfather didOur little gathering wasstunned to feel the powerof that connection whenSusan invoked the HolySpirit in our two baptisms
Joshua once known asRishi was baptized on aclear cold Autumn dayWe watched as heseemed transformedreborn as the Holy Spiritwas invoked After theEucharist Susan blessedus all to go out into theworld and a strange littlewind suddenly gatheredat the top of the tall mapletree swept down behindher gathered little goldleaves around her andswept through us It wasthe only wind of the dayand it left us euphoric
KarenVisserWe were surprised and
delighted to be invited tojoin a small group of masked Redeemerites for a
8 ndash LENT GATHERING
backyard Eucharist on a chilly but bright December dayThe event was a microcosm of the usual Eucharist inthe church building a dozen or so people instead of theusual scores no music a distanced and respectfulpeace no homily but readings no wine but bread froma tiny loaf In other words all the basic essentials noldquofrillsrdquo and friends warmed by our delight in seeingeach other by Susanrsquos pastoral care Karenrsquos generosityin hosting us and by the sunny crispness of the naturalsetting In all a heart-warming and worshipfulexperience
Pauline Thompson
It wasnrsquot the Garden of Eden In the middle there wasa table but not the Tree And yet it was a little bit ofparadise in North Toronto
The table held bread and wine Nearby flamed awoodfire not like the one Peter warmed his hands bybut one where a few brothers and sisters gathereddistanced in body but not spirit
No organ no choir But the words of institutionprayer over the gifts the body of the Lord given for usbread placed in sanitized hands taken eaten
The heavens didnrsquot open but our hearts didexposing and soothing just a little the ache for beingtogether at the table of the Lord
Paul Gooch
We are looking forward to many more celebrationsof the Eucharist under the canopy of trees of this housechurch The table is set the firewood is ready and soare our hearts and welcomes If you would like to join usor know of someone who would like to do so please letme know ndash Susan
LENT GATHERING ndash 9
WildernessResistanceCompassionPaul Pynkoski
Lent should behellipan experience that gets intoour flesh and nerves and bones a way oflifehellipvery few of us really give its spirit a fairchance to touch and penetrate our lives(Eugene R Fairweather)
It is one and the same movement of surrenderto open ourselves to intimacy and personalunion with God in the Spirit and to openourselves to compassion and solidarity withour struggling needy fellow human beings
ndash Martin L SmithI knew nothing of Lent during my fundamentalist
upbringing Lent was fuzzily conceived as some sort ofritual ldquothose Catholicsrdquo were involved in somethingother than the pure gospel Itrsquos purpose and place in thecycle of the Christian year became clearer as I exploredthe Anglican tradition Yet the Lenten fast hascontinued to hold some ambiguity I understood that itwas modelled on Jesusrsquo forty-day sojourn in thewilderness but my efforts to give up chocolate or wineor Facebookmdashor to add in greater efforts at personalprayermdashalways seemed to end up more frustratingthan helpful (One friend gave up church for Lent eachyear I pondered following suit)
This year I have begun Lent by looking beyond thestory of Jesus in the wilderness When I meditate on thelarger narrative accompanying Jesus from the JordanRiver through the wilderness and into Galilee I seemyself being beckoned to move beyond fastingtowards action and transformation
The evangelists depict the baptism of Jesus endingwith Godrsquos voice declaring ldquoYou are my son thebelovedrdquo Jesus does not get to bask in being thebeloved one of God It is not a badge to be worn like thenumber on an athletersquos sweater Nor could he writethose words down and carry them back to thecarpenterrsquos shop The Spirit had other ideas Jesus wasdriven to a place where no one really chooses to gomdashthe haunt of beasts and demons
Undernourished and emotionally exhausted afterforty days of fasting prayer and struggle Jesus is
tempted by Satan to change the laws of nature tocreate an amazing spectacle that would elevate himabove other human beings and to bow to the idolatry ofpower In refusing these temptations Jesus remainedhungry ordinary and powerless By resisting evil Jesuschose the way of poverty humility and dependence ofGod
Calling prayer and resistance led to solidarity Themovement of the narrative from the wilderness into thecity suggests to me that the fires of compassionatelove were being fanned
Consistent with the vision that emerged from hisresistance Jesus begins building a community of poorordinary and powerless people He started with fourunsuccessful fishermen and a despised tax collectorHealing the sick and proclaiming the good news ofGodrsquos liberation follows Those he restored to healthwere not unlike those he calledmdashblind roadsidebeggars demoniacs whose outlandish behaviourprecluded gainful employment and marginalizedlepers Controversy ensued ldquoWho does he think he ishanging out with those people Isnrsquot he breaking thelaw when he heals on the Sabbathrdquo
As I meditate on this I see that fasting has no valueas an end in itself As Godrsquos beloved I am being called toembrace this larger pattern of prayerful resistancecompassionate solidarity and healing What shapemight it take in my life in our lives
Might we like Dorothy Day live out our fast inpoverty with the powerless Could our fast move uslike William McNichols during the AIDS crisis to bringhealing to those society casts aside Could we imaginea fast that leads to resisting of our governmentrsquos policyon weapons of destruction and like the Kings BayPlowshares 7 risk incarceration Can we dream of afast that leads beyond saying ldquoblack lives matterrdquo topraying with our feet the description given by AbrahamJoshua Heschel of his march with Martin Luther KingJr Does it give me pause to realize that suchcompassion will inevitably garner controversy
Perhaps our dreams and imaginings will not place uson the world stage but in the smaller theatre of ourown lives bringing friendship through refugeeresettlement growing compassion through a blanketexercise or building a community of hope through theCommon Table
Will Lent get into my bones this year Can Iaccompany Jesus out of the wilderness and into thecity where solidarity and compassion can takeconcrete shape
10 ndash LENT GATHERING
THE SEASONOF LENTEarlier in this newsletter Steven reminds us of the
invitation to observe a Holy Lent How will you mark thedays From Mardi Gras to Holy Week this is ourpilgrimage
Join in Mardi Gras OnlineWho says we canrsquot have our annual Mardi Gras
party We will gather on Tuesday February 16 throughZoom for music games and more And of coursepancakes Didy Erb shares her favourite recipe so youcan get the ingredients on-hand in time to make a stackto enjoy as we gather together
Didyrsquos Pancakes
2 cups flour 2 eggs3 Tbs sugar 14 cup oil12 tsp salt 1-34 cups milk1 Tbs Baking Powder 1 tsp Vanilla
Put all dry ingredients into a bowl mix togetherAdd all other ingredients just dump them in
Beat everything together using ahand-held beater or a whiskLet all of this sit for 10 minutes(important)During this time heat up your panIspray mine with a bit of Pam as itsnon-stick properties are failingWhen the ten minutes are up add aknob of butter (or Becel) to the panDrop the batter about a big
tablespoon full per pancake onto the hot panWhen bubbles appear on the top of the pancakes theyare ready to be flippedSo flip them wait about 2 minutesEAT WHILE HOT and ENJOY
Ash Wednesday ndash February 17The tracing of a cross with ashes on our foreheads
and the wordsYou are dust and to dust you shall returnreminds us that we have the season of Lent to turn toGod to bring all the pieces of our selves that needhealing and restoration as we prepare for the joyouscelebration of Easter This year our Ash Wednesdayservice will be offered through Zoom at 6 PMContainers with ashes created from our burnt palmbranches are included in the Lent-in-a-bag resourcesfor use during the service
Daily Prayer in LentJoin The Revrsquod Canon Steven Mackison each day
from February 18 to March 27 for a short service ofdaily prayerThe service will be offered through Zoomat mid-day Details will be shared in eNews
Lent Fast from Creation MattersAre you looking to undertake a fast during Lent that
focuses on creation and issues related to the climatecrisis The Bishoprsquos Committee on Creation Care hasproducedAFast for the Earth Lent 2021 to provide afast for each week of Lent meat consumption foodwaste water injustice electricity and ignorance Youcan find the resource on the diocese website mdashtorontoanglicanca May this resource be part of yourLenten observance
Annual Vestry MeetingThe annual Vestry meeting will be held through
Zoom on Sunday February 28 following the morningworship service Vestry reports and financial reportswill be posted on the website as soon as they areavailable
Lent Reading GroupLearningRedeemer invites
all to look forward throughoutthe season of Lent to theevents of Holy Week with theLententide Reading GroupWersquoll focus on Jesusrsquo final daysby reading the book The LastWeek by Marcus Borg and JohnDominic Crossan More detailsare online Please register byMonday February 15
such treaty was number 20 whichoverlapped the land of the WilliamsTreaties
Years of litigation followedresulting in the settlement of 2018the largest land settlement evernegotiated The Chippewa andMississaugas won back fishing andhunting rights promised in the RoyalProclamation of 1763 they received4452 hectares for each reserve(1100 acres) and they receivedpayment of $666 million from theFederal Government and$444million from the Provincialgovernment They also negotiatedan apology from each governmentregarding the Williams Treaties of 1923 for insufficientcompensation inadequate reserve lands and denial oftheir fishing and hunting rights
The question remains in mymind whether these treaties andldquosettlements are regarded aspurchases of land according to theSettler point of view or whetherthey are agreements to share andcare for the land with the monetarypayments as compensation forfailure on the part of Settlergovernments to do so in the pastand as a promise of reconciliationfor the future This would be morein keeping with the spirit ofIndigenous law According toIndigenous world view and law theland owns us we are MotherNaturersquos children integrally
connected with all life formsmdashall my relationsmdashand areresponsible for their care as they provide forand feed us
Living OurQuestions
ldquoNo one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth onan old cloak otherwise the patch pullsaway from it the new from the old and aworse tear is made And no one puts newwine into old wineskins otherwise the winewill burst the skins and the wine is lost andso are the skins but one puts new wine intofresh wineskinsrdquo
ndash Mark 221-22Is there a sticking point in your experience of
Christian community A hymn that leaves youfeeling Im so not on board for this Words in theCreed that you struggle with Sketchy versions ofChristian doctrine and practice that seem to justifythe status quo instead of liberating people
Its easy to feel isolated with our sticking pointseasy to assume were alone with them But were
not When we have a safe space within thecommunity to share them and our struggles withthem were reminded that theyre part of thejourney of faith not a departure from the journey offaith We look for ways to go on saying I believe onterms that are true to our experience and values Wetry to pour new wine into new wineskins followingthe advice of Jesus that pouring new wine into oldwineskins doesnt work so well Searching togethercan strengthen our faith and give us courage for ourjourney We can weave an experience of deepermore intimate community with each other in theprocess
Following on the success of the first BE YOUsmall-group experience in the fallLearningRedeemer invites you to share thequestions you live with in a safe confidential circle offellow seekers A group of ten to twelve participantswill begin meeting shortly after Easter with thespecial invitation to share your sticking pointsWell start by sharing from the heart about ourjourneys In our later meetings well take up thetopics that members most want to explore and taketurns leading discussion on
Please register your interest through the parishwebsite or contact davidtownsendutorontoca formore information
6 ndash LENT GATHERING
A S THE WEEKS OF THE COVID-19 crisis lengthenedinto months the longings for communion andcommunity intensified especially among those of
our membership who cannot access Zoom church and thosewho live alone At the same time a longing was stirring in thehearts and minds of two of our parishioners who felt a deepdesire to open their beautiful backyard space to small groupsof fellow parishioners for worship and prayer
It was North Toronto and 2020 They are artists nottentmakers But Karen and Michael Visser were longing tohost their fellow Redeemerites in their garden just asPriscilla and Aquila hosted their fellow Christians in theirhome many centuries ago when those first followers of theWay were figuring out how to be disciples in a strange timewhen it was not yet clear or acceptable or necessarily safe toworship Christ openly
So over the ensuing months we began inviting groups ofseven or eight people to the Visser backyard to a shortcelebration of the Eucharist and on two occasions aEucharist with baptism Our goal was to begin with thosefeeling very alone or keenly missing the sacrament and to
continue extending the invitation until either COVID-19ended or we had invited everyone in the communitymdashpreferably the former They came from all over the city intheir eagerness to join one of our members walked almost20 kilometres each way in the scorching August heat just tobe part of it The story of this unique house church over itsfirst three seasons is told through these photographs and thereflections of a few of its participants
What follows are reflections by those who attendedthe services
Had someone asked me a year ago ldquoIf you were ableto partake of only one celebration of the Eucharist foran entire year and could choose where that would bewhere would you chooserdquo
After a momentrsquos thought of how weird aspeculation that was I may well have said lsquoHmmIrsquodprobably choose a celebration that was to take placebeneath a canopy of treesrdquo
How could I have known then that this questionwould prove not to be hypothetical but indeed the fact
House ChurchIn The TimeOf Pandemic
LENT GATHERING ndash 7
of what was to come And how amazing now lookingback on those many months that the single Eucharisticservice I was to be part of was indeed celebratedbeneath the overarching branches of surroundingtrees A living cathedral
Details of that summertime gathering have softenednow What remains in memory is a lyrical montage ofhuman faces against the background of green movingtogether in a kind of slow-motion dance as we enteredinto the familiar rhythm of remembering Jesusrsquo lastmeal with his disciples Together feasting on thescripture of the book from which we read amidst of theblessing of the scripture of Creation all around usTogether in the great mystery What a blessing
Grant Jahnke
What a gift to be present at a baptism that had suchcritical meaning for the individual It was a privilege tohear her make a firm and confident affirmation of faithknowing that there is a significant cost Cost that is notabout having the right clothes or a lavish party but costin terms of saying these things in the face of possiblereprisals That takes courage and commitment at alevel that I have never myself risen to I am very gratefulfor her modelling this for me Her bearing witnessdeepened my faith
SusanGrahamWalker
They recognized him in the breaking of the breadAs I arrive at the garden where a few of us will be
gathering for a celebration of Eucharist my thoughtslinger on the Emmaus story (Luke 2413-35) I feel akinship with the two travellers grieving over the loss ofthe One who had filled them with such hope For me forus COVID-19 has deprived us of gathering as acommunity around the Eucharistic table and we feellost But the garden draws us in warm and lush and softwith bird song I relax as the familiar prayers are spokenand the scriptures proclaimed We say Amen Let it beso We tell our sacred story and as bread is broken andwine poured out we remember Jesus the Christ andlike the disciples of old we recognize him in thebreaking of the bread I am grateful and content as wewish each other well and leave to return to our homesrefreshed and renewed
Rita Patenaude
This year we discovered how mystical and beautifula Eucharist in nature is Susan Haig says she feels aprofound connection tothe Divine in nature justas her grandfather didOur little gathering wasstunned to feel the powerof that connection whenSusan invoked the HolySpirit in our two baptisms
Joshua once known asRishi was baptized on aclear cold Autumn dayWe watched as heseemed transformedreborn as the Holy Spiritwas invoked After theEucharist Susan blessedus all to go out into theworld and a strange littlewind suddenly gatheredat the top of the tall mapletree swept down behindher gathered little goldleaves around her andswept through us It wasthe only wind of the dayand it left us euphoric
KarenVisserWe were surprised and
delighted to be invited tojoin a small group of masked Redeemerites for a
8 ndash LENT GATHERING
backyard Eucharist on a chilly but bright December dayThe event was a microcosm of the usual Eucharist inthe church building a dozen or so people instead of theusual scores no music a distanced and respectfulpeace no homily but readings no wine but bread froma tiny loaf In other words all the basic essentials noldquofrillsrdquo and friends warmed by our delight in seeingeach other by Susanrsquos pastoral care Karenrsquos generosityin hosting us and by the sunny crispness of the naturalsetting In all a heart-warming and worshipfulexperience
Pauline Thompson
It wasnrsquot the Garden of Eden In the middle there wasa table but not the Tree And yet it was a little bit ofparadise in North Toronto
The table held bread and wine Nearby flamed awoodfire not like the one Peter warmed his hands bybut one where a few brothers and sisters gathereddistanced in body but not spirit
No organ no choir But the words of institutionprayer over the gifts the body of the Lord given for usbread placed in sanitized hands taken eaten
The heavens didnrsquot open but our hearts didexposing and soothing just a little the ache for beingtogether at the table of the Lord
Paul Gooch
We are looking forward to many more celebrationsof the Eucharist under the canopy of trees of this housechurch The table is set the firewood is ready and soare our hearts and welcomes If you would like to join usor know of someone who would like to do so please letme know ndash Susan
LENT GATHERING ndash 9
WildernessResistanceCompassionPaul Pynkoski
Lent should behellipan experience that gets intoour flesh and nerves and bones a way oflifehellipvery few of us really give its spirit a fairchance to touch and penetrate our lives(Eugene R Fairweather)
It is one and the same movement of surrenderto open ourselves to intimacy and personalunion with God in the Spirit and to openourselves to compassion and solidarity withour struggling needy fellow human beings
ndash Martin L SmithI knew nothing of Lent during my fundamentalist
upbringing Lent was fuzzily conceived as some sort ofritual ldquothose Catholicsrdquo were involved in somethingother than the pure gospel Itrsquos purpose and place in thecycle of the Christian year became clearer as I exploredthe Anglican tradition Yet the Lenten fast hascontinued to hold some ambiguity I understood that itwas modelled on Jesusrsquo forty-day sojourn in thewilderness but my efforts to give up chocolate or wineor Facebookmdashor to add in greater efforts at personalprayermdashalways seemed to end up more frustratingthan helpful (One friend gave up church for Lent eachyear I pondered following suit)
This year I have begun Lent by looking beyond thestory of Jesus in the wilderness When I meditate on thelarger narrative accompanying Jesus from the JordanRiver through the wilderness and into Galilee I seemyself being beckoned to move beyond fastingtowards action and transformation
The evangelists depict the baptism of Jesus endingwith Godrsquos voice declaring ldquoYou are my son thebelovedrdquo Jesus does not get to bask in being thebeloved one of God It is not a badge to be worn like thenumber on an athletersquos sweater Nor could he writethose words down and carry them back to thecarpenterrsquos shop The Spirit had other ideas Jesus wasdriven to a place where no one really chooses to gomdashthe haunt of beasts and demons
Undernourished and emotionally exhausted afterforty days of fasting prayer and struggle Jesus is
tempted by Satan to change the laws of nature tocreate an amazing spectacle that would elevate himabove other human beings and to bow to the idolatry ofpower In refusing these temptations Jesus remainedhungry ordinary and powerless By resisting evil Jesuschose the way of poverty humility and dependence ofGod
Calling prayer and resistance led to solidarity Themovement of the narrative from the wilderness into thecity suggests to me that the fires of compassionatelove were being fanned
Consistent with the vision that emerged from hisresistance Jesus begins building a community of poorordinary and powerless people He started with fourunsuccessful fishermen and a despised tax collectorHealing the sick and proclaiming the good news ofGodrsquos liberation follows Those he restored to healthwere not unlike those he calledmdashblind roadsidebeggars demoniacs whose outlandish behaviourprecluded gainful employment and marginalizedlepers Controversy ensued ldquoWho does he think he ishanging out with those people Isnrsquot he breaking thelaw when he heals on the Sabbathrdquo
As I meditate on this I see that fasting has no valueas an end in itself As Godrsquos beloved I am being called toembrace this larger pattern of prayerful resistancecompassionate solidarity and healing What shapemight it take in my life in our lives
Might we like Dorothy Day live out our fast inpoverty with the powerless Could our fast move uslike William McNichols during the AIDS crisis to bringhealing to those society casts aside Could we imaginea fast that leads to resisting of our governmentrsquos policyon weapons of destruction and like the Kings BayPlowshares 7 risk incarceration Can we dream of afast that leads beyond saying ldquoblack lives matterrdquo topraying with our feet the description given by AbrahamJoshua Heschel of his march with Martin Luther KingJr Does it give me pause to realize that suchcompassion will inevitably garner controversy
Perhaps our dreams and imaginings will not place uson the world stage but in the smaller theatre of ourown lives bringing friendship through refugeeresettlement growing compassion through a blanketexercise or building a community of hope through theCommon Table
Will Lent get into my bones this year Can Iaccompany Jesus out of the wilderness and into thecity where solidarity and compassion can takeconcrete shape
10 ndash LENT GATHERING
THE SEASONOF LENTEarlier in this newsletter Steven reminds us of the
invitation to observe a Holy Lent How will you mark thedays From Mardi Gras to Holy Week this is ourpilgrimage
Join in Mardi Gras OnlineWho says we canrsquot have our annual Mardi Gras
party We will gather on Tuesday February 16 throughZoom for music games and more And of coursepancakes Didy Erb shares her favourite recipe so youcan get the ingredients on-hand in time to make a stackto enjoy as we gather together
Didyrsquos Pancakes
2 cups flour 2 eggs3 Tbs sugar 14 cup oil12 tsp salt 1-34 cups milk1 Tbs Baking Powder 1 tsp Vanilla
Put all dry ingredients into a bowl mix togetherAdd all other ingredients just dump them in
Beat everything together using ahand-held beater or a whiskLet all of this sit for 10 minutes(important)During this time heat up your panIspray mine with a bit of Pam as itsnon-stick properties are failingWhen the ten minutes are up add aknob of butter (or Becel) to the panDrop the batter about a big
tablespoon full per pancake onto the hot panWhen bubbles appear on the top of the pancakes theyare ready to be flippedSo flip them wait about 2 minutesEAT WHILE HOT and ENJOY
Ash Wednesday ndash February 17The tracing of a cross with ashes on our foreheads
and the wordsYou are dust and to dust you shall returnreminds us that we have the season of Lent to turn toGod to bring all the pieces of our selves that needhealing and restoration as we prepare for the joyouscelebration of Easter This year our Ash Wednesdayservice will be offered through Zoom at 6 PMContainers with ashes created from our burnt palmbranches are included in the Lent-in-a-bag resourcesfor use during the service
Daily Prayer in LentJoin The Revrsquod Canon Steven Mackison each day
from February 18 to March 27 for a short service ofdaily prayerThe service will be offered through Zoomat mid-day Details will be shared in eNews
Lent Fast from Creation MattersAre you looking to undertake a fast during Lent that
focuses on creation and issues related to the climatecrisis The Bishoprsquos Committee on Creation Care hasproducedAFast for the Earth Lent 2021 to provide afast for each week of Lent meat consumption foodwaste water injustice electricity and ignorance Youcan find the resource on the diocese website mdashtorontoanglicanca May this resource be part of yourLenten observance
Annual Vestry MeetingThe annual Vestry meeting will be held through
Zoom on Sunday February 28 following the morningworship service Vestry reports and financial reportswill be posted on the website as soon as they areavailable
Lent Reading GroupLearningRedeemer invites
all to look forward throughoutthe season of Lent to theevents of Holy Week with theLententide Reading GroupWersquoll focus on Jesusrsquo final daysby reading the book The LastWeek by Marcus Borg and JohnDominic Crossan More detailsare online Please register byMonday February 15
6 ndash LENT GATHERING
A S THE WEEKS OF THE COVID-19 crisis lengthenedinto months the longings for communion andcommunity intensified especially among those of
our membership who cannot access Zoom church and thosewho live alone At the same time a longing was stirring in thehearts and minds of two of our parishioners who felt a deepdesire to open their beautiful backyard space to small groupsof fellow parishioners for worship and prayer
It was North Toronto and 2020 They are artists nottentmakers But Karen and Michael Visser were longing tohost their fellow Redeemerites in their garden just asPriscilla and Aquila hosted their fellow Christians in theirhome many centuries ago when those first followers of theWay were figuring out how to be disciples in a strange timewhen it was not yet clear or acceptable or necessarily safe toworship Christ openly
So over the ensuing months we began inviting groups ofseven or eight people to the Visser backyard to a shortcelebration of the Eucharist and on two occasions aEucharist with baptism Our goal was to begin with thosefeeling very alone or keenly missing the sacrament and to
continue extending the invitation until either COVID-19ended or we had invited everyone in the communitymdashpreferably the former They came from all over the city intheir eagerness to join one of our members walked almost20 kilometres each way in the scorching August heat just tobe part of it The story of this unique house church over itsfirst three seasons is told through these photographs and thereflections of a few of its participants
What follows are reflections by those who attendedthe services
Had someone asked me a year ago ldquoIf you were ableto partake of only one celebration of the Eucharist foran entire year and could choose where that would bewhere would you chooserdquo
After a momentrsquos thought of how weird aspeculation that was I may well have said lsquoHmmIrsquodprobably choose a celebration that was to take placebeneath a canopy of treesrdquo
How could I have known then that this questionwould prove not to be hypothetical but indeed the fact
House ChurchIn The TimeOf Pandemic
LENT GATHERING ndash 7
of what was to come And how amazing now lookingback on those many months that the single Eucharisticservice I was to be part of was indeed celebratedbeneath the overarching branches of surroundingtrees A living cathedral
Details of that summertime gathering have softenednow What remains in memory is a lyrical montage ofhuman faces against the background of green movingtogether in a kind of slow-motion dance as we enteredinto the familiar rhythm of remembering Jesusrsquo lastmeal with his disciples Together feasting on thescripture of the book from which we read amidst of theblessing of the scripture of Creation all around usTogether in the great mystery What a blessing
Grant Jahnke
What a gift to be present at a baptism that had suchcritical meaning for the individual It was a privilege tohear her make a firm and confident affirmation of faithknowing that there is a significant cost Cost that is notabout having the right clothes or a lavish party but costin terms of saying these things in the face of possiblereprisals That takes courage and commitment at alevel that I have never myself risen to I am very gratefulfor her modelling this for me Her bearing witnessdeepened my faith
SusanGrahamWalker
They recognized him in the breaking of the breadAs I arrive at the garden where a few of us will be
gathering for a celebration of Eucharist my thoughtslinger on the Emmaus story (Luke 2413-35) I feel akinship with the two travellers grieving over the loss ofthe One who had filled them with such hope For me forus COVID-19 has deprived us of gathering as acommunity around the Eucharistic table and we feellost But the garden draws us in warm and lush and softwith bird song I relax as the familiar prayers are spokenand the scriptures proclaimed We say Amen Let it beso We tell our sacred story and as bread is broken andwine poured out we remember Jesus the Christ andlike the disciples of old we recognize him in thebreaking of the bread I am grateful and content as wewish each other well and leave to return to our homesrefreshed and renewed
Rita Patenaude
This year we discovered how mystical and beautifula Eucharist in nature is Susan Haig says she feels aprofound connection tothe Divine in nature justas her grandfather didOur little gathering wasstunned to feel the powerof that connection whenSusan invoked the HolySpirit in our two baptisms
Joshua once known asRishi was baptized on aclear cold Autumn dayWe watched as heseemed transformedreborn as the Holy Spiritwas invoked After theEucharist Susan blessedus all to go out into theworld and a strange littlewind suddenly gatheredat the top of the tall mapletree swept down behindher gathered little goldleaves around her andswept through us It wasthe only wind of the dayand it left us euphoric
KarenVisserWe were surprised and
delighted to be invited tojoin a small group of masked Redeemerites for a
8 ndash LENT GATHERING
backyard Eucharist on a chilly but bright December dayThe event was a microcosm of the usual Eucharist inthe church building a dozen or so people instead of theusual scores no music a distanced and respectfulpeace no homily but readings no wine but bread froma tiny loaf In other words all the basic essentials noldquofrillsrdquo and friends warmed by our delight in seeingeach other by Susanrsquos pastoral care Karenrsquos generosityin hosting us and by the sunny crispness of the naturalsetting In all a heart-warming and worshipfulexperience
Pauline Thompson
It wasnrsquot the Garden of Eden In the middle there wasa table but not the Tree And yet it was a little bit ofparadise in North Toronto
The table held bread and wine Nearby flamed awoodfire not like the one Peter warmed his hands bybut one where a few brothers and sisters gathereddistanced in body but not spirit
No organ no choir But the words of institutionprayer over the gifts the body of the Lord given for usbread placed in sanitized hands taken eaten
The heavens didnrsquot open but our hearts didexposing and soothing just a little the ache for beingtogether at the table of the Lord
Paul Gooch
We are looking forward to many more celebrationsof the Eucharist under the canopy of trees of this housechurch The table is set the firewood is ready and soare our hearts and welcomes If you would like to join usor know of someone who would like to do so please letme know ndash Susan
LENT GATHERING ndash 9
WildernessResistanceCompassionPaul Pynkoski
Lent should behellipan experience that gets intoour flesh and nerves and bones a way oflifehellipvery few of us really give its spirit a fairchance to touch and penetrate our lives(Eugene R Fairweather)
It is one and the same movement of surrenderto open ourselves to intimacy and personalunion with God in the Spirit and to openourselves to compassion and solidarity withour struggling needy fellow human beings
ndash Martin L SmithI knew nothing of Lent during my fundamentalist
upbringing Lent was fuzzily conceived as some sort ofritual ldquothose Catholicsrdquo were involved in somethingother than the pure gospel Itrsquos purpose and place in thecycle of the Christian year became clearer as I exploredthe Anglican tradition Yet the Lenten fast hascontinued to hold some ambiguity I understood that itwas modelled on Jesusrsquo forty-day sojourn in thewilderness but my efforts to give up chocolate or wineor Facebookmdashor to add in greater efforts at personalprayermdashalways seemed to end up more frustratingthan helpful (One friend gave up church for Lent eachyear I pondered following suit)
This year I have begun Lent by looking beyond thestory of Jesus in the wilderness When I meditate on thelarger narrative accompanying Jesus from the JordanRiver through the wilderness and into Galilee I seemyself being beckoned to move beyond fastingtowards action and transformation
The evangelists depict the baptism of Jesus endingwith Godrsquos voice declaring ldquoYou are my son thebelovedrdquo Jesus does not get to bask in being thebeloved one of God It is not a badge to be worn like thenumber on an athletersquos sweater Nor could he writethose words down and carry them back to thecarpenterrsquos shop The Spirit had other ideas Jesus wasdriven to a place where no one really chooses to gomdashthe haunt of beasts and demons
Undernourished and emotionally exhausted afterforty days of fasting prayer and struggle Jesus is
tempted by Satan to change the laws of nature tocreate an amazing spectacle that would elevate himabove other human beings and to bow to the idolatry ofpower In refusing these temptations Jesus remainedhungry ordinary and powerless By resisting evil Jesuschose the way of poverty humility and dependence ofGod
Calling prayer and resistance led to solidarity Themovement of the narrative from the wilderness into thecity suggests to me that the fires of compassionatelove were being fanned
Consistent with the vision that emerged from hisresistance Jesus begins building a community of poorordinary and powerless people He started with fourunsuccessful fishermen and a despised tax collectorHealing the sick and proclaiming the good news ofGodrsquos liberation follows Those he restored to healthwere not unlike those he calledmdashblind roadsidebeggars demoniacs whose outlandish behaviourprecluded gainful employment and marginalizedlepers Controversy ensued ldquoWho does he think he ishanging out with those people Isnrsquot he breaking thelaw when he heals on the Sabbathrdquo
As I meditate on this I see that fasting has no valueas an end in itself As Godrsquos beloved I am being called toembrace this larger pattern of prayerful resistancecompassionate solidarity and healing What shapemight it take in my life in our lives
Might we like Dorothy Day live out our fast inpoverty with the powerless Could our fast move uslike William McNichols during the AIDS crisis to bringhealing to those society casts aside Could we imaginea fast that leads to resisting of our governmentrsquos policyon weapons of destruction and like the Kings BayPlowshares 7 risk incarceration Can we dream of afast that leads beyond saying ldquoblack lives matterrdquo topraying with our feet the description given by AbrahamJoshua Heschel of his march with Martin Luther KingJr Does it give me pause to realize that suchcompassion will inevitably garner controversy
Perhaps our dreams and imaginings will not place uson the world stage but in the smaller theatre of ourown lives bringing friendship through refugeeresettlement growing compassion through a blanketexercise or building a community of hope through theCommon Table
Will Lent get into my bones this year Can Iaccompany Jesus out of the wilderness and into thecity where solidarity and compassion can takeconcrete shape
10 ndash LENT GATHERING
THE SEASONOF LENTEarlier in this newsletter Steven reminds us of the
invitation to observe a Holy Lent How will you mark thedays From Mardi Gras to Holy Week this is ourpilgrimage
Join in Mardi Gras OnlineWho says we canrsquot have our annual Mardi Gras
party We will gather on Tuesday February 16 throughZoom for music games and more And of coursepancakes Didy Erb shares her favourite recipe so youcan get the ingredients on-hand in time to make a stackto enjoy as we gather together
Didyrsquos Pancakes
2 cups flour 2 eggs3 Tbs sugar 14 cup oil12 tsp salt 1-34 cups milk1 Tbs Baking Powder 1 tsp Vanilla
Put all dry ingredients into a bowl mix togetherAdd all other ingredients just dump them in
Beat everything together using ahand-held beater or a whiskLet all of this sit for 10 minutes(important)During this time heat up your panIspray mine with a bit of Pam as itsnon-stick properties are failingWhen the ten minutes are up add aknob of butter (or Becel) to the panDrop the batter about a big
tablespoon full per pancake onto the hot panWhen bubbles appear on the top of the pancakes theyare ready to be flippedSo flip them wait about 2 minutesEAT WHILE HOT and ENJOY
Ash Wednesday ndash February 17The tracing of a cross with ashes on our foreheads
and the wordsYou are dust and to dust you shall returnreminds us that we have the season of Lent to turn toGod to bring all the pieces of our selves that needhealing and restoration as we prepare for the joyouscelebration of Easter This year our Ash Wednesdayservice will be offered through Zoom at 6 PMContainers with ashes created from our burnt palmbranches are included in the Lent-in-a-bag resourcesfor use during the service
Daily Prayer in LentJoin The Revrsquod Canon Steven Mackison each day
from February 18 to March 27 for a short service ofdaily prayerThe service will be offered through Zoomat mid-day Details will be shared in eNews
Lent Fast from Creation MattersAre you looking to undertake a fast during Lent that
focuses on creation and issues related to the climatecrisis The Bishoprsquos Committee on Creation Care hasproducedAFast for the Earth Lent 2021 to provide afast for each week of Lent meat consumption foodwaste water injustice electricity and ignorance Youcan find the resource on the diocese website mdashtorontoanglicanca May this resource be part of yourLenten observance
Annual Vestry MeetingThe annual Vestry meeting will be held through
Zoom on Sunday February 28 following the morningworship service Vestry reports and financial reportswill be posted on the website as soon as they areavailable
Lent Reading GroupLearningRedeemer invites
all to look forward throughoutthe season of Lent to theevents of Holy Week with theLententide Reading GroupWersquoll focus on Jesusrsquo final daysby reading the book The LastWeek by Marcus Borg and JohnDominic Crossan More detailsare online Please register byMonday February 15
LENT GATHERING ndash 7
of what was to come And how amazing now lookingback on those many months that the single Eucharisticservice I was to be part of was indeed celebratedbeneath the overarching branches of surroundingtrees A living cathedral
Details of that summertime gathering have softenednow What remains in memory is a lyrical montage ofhuman faces against the background of green movingtogether in a kind of slow-motion dance as we enteredinto the familiar rhythm of remembering Jesusrsquo lastmeal with his disciples Together feasting on thescripture of the book from which we read amidst of theblessing of the scripture of Creation all around usTogether in the great mystery What a blessing
Grant Jahnke
What a gift to be present at a baptism that had suchcritical meaning for the individual It was a privilege tohear her make a firm and confident affirmation of faithknowing that there is a significant cost Cost that is notabout having the right clothes or a lavish party but costin terms of saying these things in the face of possiblereprisals That takes courage and commitment at alevel that I have never myself risen to I am very gratefulfor her modelling this for me Her bearing witnessdeepened my faith
SusanGrahamWalker
They recognized him in the breaking of the breadAs I arrive at the garden where a few of us will be
gathering for a celebration of Eucharist my thoughtslinger on the Emmaus story (Luke 2413-35) I feel akinship with the two travellers grieving over the loss ofthe One who had filled them with such hope For me forus COVID-19 has deprived us of gathering as acommunity around the Eucharistic table and we feellost But the garden draws us in warm and lush and softwith bird song I relax as the familiar prayers are spokenand the scriptures proclaimed We say Amen Let it beso We tell our sacred story and as bread is broken andwine poured out we remember Jesus the Christ andlike the disciples of old we recognize him in thebreaking of the bread I am grateful and content as wewish each other well and leave to return to our homesrefreshed and renewed
Rita Patenaude
This year we discovered how mystical and beautifula Eucharist in nature is Susan Haig says she feels aprofound connection tothe Divine in nature justas her grandfather didOur little gathering wasstunned to feel the powerof that connection whenSusan invoked the HolySpirit in our two baptisms
Joshua once known asRishi was baptized on aclear cold Autumn dayWe watched as heseemed transformedreborn as the Holy Spiritwas invoked After theEucharist Susan blessedus all to go out into theworld and a strange littlewind suddenly gatheredat the top of the tall mapletree swept down behindher gathered little goldleaves around her andswept through us It wasthe only wind of the dayand it left us euphoric
KarenVisserWe were surprised and
delighted to be invited tojoin a small group of masked Redeemerites for a
8 ndash LENT GATHERING
backyard Eucharist on a chilly but bright December dayThe event was a microcosm of the usual Eucharist inthe church building a dozen or so people instead of theusual scores no music a distanced and respectfulpeace no homily but readings no wine but bread froma tiny loaf In other words all the basic essentials noldquofrillsrdquo and friends warmed by our delight in seeingeach other by Susanrsquos pastoral care Karenrsquos generosityin hosting us and by the sunny crispness of the naturalsetting In all a heart-warming and worshipfulexperience
Pauline Thompson
It wasnrsquot the Garden of Eden In the middle there wasa table but not the Tree And yet it was a little bit ofparadise in North Toronto
The table held bread and wine Nearby flamed awoodfire not like the one Peter warmed his hands bybut one where a few brothers and sisters gathereddistanced in body but not spirit
No organ no choir But the words of institutionprayer over the gifts the body of the Lord given for usbread placed in sanitized hands taken eaten
The heavens didnrsquot open but our hearts didexposing and soothing just a little the ache for beingtogether at the table of the Lord
Paul Gooch
We are looking forward to many more celebrationsof the Eucharist under the canopy of trees of this housechurch The table is set the firewood is ready and soare our hearts and welcomes If you would like to join usor know of someone who would like to do so please letme know ndash Susan
LENT GATHERING ndash 9
WildernessResistanceCompassionPaul Pynkoski
Lent should behellipan experience that gets intoour flesh and nerves and bones a way oflifehellipvery few of us really give its spirit a fairchance to touch and penetrate our lives(Eugene R Fairweather)
It is one and the same movement of surrenderto open ourselves to intimacy and personalunion with God in the Spirit and to openourselves to compassion and solidarity withour struggling needy fellow human beings
ndash Martin L SmithI knew nothing of Lent during my fundamentalist
upbringing Lent was fuzzily conceived as some sort ofritual ldquothose Catholicsrdquo were involved in somethingother than the pure gospel Itrsquos purpose and place in thecycle of the Christian year became clearer as I exploredthe Anglican tradition Yet the Lenten fast hascontinued to hold some ambiguity I understood that itwas modelled on Jesusrsquo forty-day sojourn in thewilderness but my efforts to give up chocolate or wineor Facebookmdashor to add in greater efforts at personalprayermdashalways seemed to end up more frustratingthan helpful (One friend gave up church for Lent eachyear I pondered following suit)
This year I have begun Lent by looking beyond thestory of Jesus in the wilderness When I meditate on thelarger narrative accompanying Jesus from the JordanRiver through the wilderness and into Galilee I seemyself being beckoned to move beyond fastingtowards action and transformation
The evangelists depict the baptism of Jesus endingwith Godrsquos voice declaring ldquoYou are my son thebelovedrdquo Jesus does not get to bask in being thebeloved one of God It is not a badge to be worn like thenumber on an athletersquos sweater Nor could he writethose words down and carry them back to thecarpenterrsquos shop The Spirit had other ideas Jesus wasdriven to a place where no one really chooses to gomdashthe haunt of beasts and demons
Undernourished and emotionally exhausted afterforty days of fasting prayer and struggle Jesus is
tempted by Satan to change the laws of nature tocreate an amazing spectacle that would elevate himabove other human beings and to bow to the idolatry ofpower In refusing these temptations Jesus remainedhungry ordinary and powerless By resisting evil Jesuschose the way of poverty humility and dependence ofGod
Calling prayer and resistance led to solidarity Themovement of the narrative from the wilderness into thecity suggests to me that the fires of compassionatelove were being fanned
Consistent with the vision that emerged from hisresistance Jesus begins building a community of poorordinary and powerless people He started with fourunsuccessful fishermen and a despised tax collectorHealing the sick and proclaiming the good news ofGodrsquos liberation follows Those he restored to healthwere not unlike those he calledmdashblind roadsidebeggars demoniacs whose outlandish behaviourprecluded gainful employment and marginalizedlepers Controversy ensued ldquoWho does he think he ishanging out with those people Isnrsquot he breaking thelaw when he heals on the Sabbathrdquo
As I meditate on this I see that fasting has no valueas an end in itself As Godrsquos beloved I am being called toembrace this larger pattern of prayerful resistancecompassionate solidarity and healing What shapemight it take in my life in our lives
Might we like Dorothy Day live out our fast inpoverty with the powerless Could our fast move uslike William McNichols during the AIDS crisis to bringhealing to those society casts aside Could we imaginea fast that leads to resisting of our governmentrsquos policyon weapons of destruction and like the Kings BayPlowshares 7 risk incarceration Can we dream of afast that leads beyond saying ldquoblack lives matterrdquo topraying with our feet the description given by AbrahamJoshua Heschel of his march with Martin Luther KingJr Does it give me pause to realize that suchcompassion will inevitably garner controversy
Perhaps our dreams and imaginings will not place uson the world stage but in the smaller theatre of ourown lives bringing friendship through refugeeresettlement growing compassion through a blanketexercise or building a community of hope through theCommon Table
Will Lent get into my bones this year Can Iaccompany Jesus out of the wilderness and into thecity where solidarity and compassion can takeconcrete shape
10 ndash LENT GATHERING
THE SEASONOF LENTEarlier in this newsletter Steven reminds us of the
invitation to observe a Holy Lent How will you mark thedays From Mardi Gras to Holy Week this is ourpilgrimage
Join in Mardi Gras OnlineWho says we canrsquot have our annual Mardi Gras
party We will gather on Tuesday February 16 throughZoom for music games and more And of coursepancakes Didy Erb shares her favourite recipe so youcan get the ingredients on-hand in time to make a stackto enjoy as we gather together
Didyrsquos Pancakes
2 cups flour 2 eggs3 Tbs sugar 14 cup oil12 tsp salt 1-34 cups milk1 Tbs Baking Powder 1 tsp Vanilla
Put all dry ingredients into a bowl mix togetherAdd all other ingredients just dump them in
Beat everything together using ahand-held beater or a whiskLet all of this sit for 10 minutes(important)During this time heat up your panIspray mine with a bit of Pam as itsnon-stick properties are failingWhen the ten minutes are up add aknob of butter (or Becel) to the panDrop the batter about a big
tablespoon full per pancake onto the hot panWhen bubbles appear on the top of the pancakes theyare ready to be flippedSo flip them wait about 2 minutesEAT WHILE HOT and ENJOY
Ash Wednesday ndash February 17The tracing of a cross with ashes on our foreheads
and the wordsYou are dust and to dust you shall returnreminds us that we have the season of Lent to turn toGod to bring all the pieces of our selves that needhealing and restoration as we prepare for the joyouscelebration of Easter This year our Ash Wednesdayservice will be offered through Zoom at 6 PMContainers with ashes created from our burnt palmbranches are included in the Lent-in-a-bag resourcesfor use during the service
Daily Prayer in LentJoin The Revrsquod Canon Steven Mackison each day
from February 18 to March 27 for a short service ofdaily prayerThe service will be offered through Zoomat mid-day Details will be shared in eNews
Lent Fast from Creation MattersAre you looking to undertake a fast during Lent that
focuses on creation and issues related to the climatecrisis The Bishoprsquos Committee on Creation Care hasproducedAFast for the Earth Lent 2021 to provide afast for each week of Lent meat consumption foodwaste water injustice electricity and ignorance Youcan find the resource on the diocese website mdashtorontoanglicanca May this resource be part of yourLenten observance
Annual Vestry MeetingThe annual Vestry meeting will be held through
Zoom on Sunday February 28 following the morningworship service Vestry reports and financial reportswill be posted on the website as soon as they areavailable
Lent Reading GroupLearningRedeemer invites
all to look forward throughoutthe season of Lent to theevents of Holy Week with theLententide Reading GroupWersquoll focus on Jesusrsquo final daysby reading the book The LastWeek by Marcus Borg and JohnDominic Crossan More detailsare online Please register byMonday February 15
8 ndash LENT GATHERING
backyard Eucharist on a chilly but bright December dayThe event was a microcosm of the usual Eucharist inthe church building a dozen or so people instead of theusual scores no music a distanced and respectfulpeace no homily but readings no wine but bread froma tiny loaf In other words all the basic essentials noldquofrillsrdquo and friends warmed by our delight in seeingeach other by Susanrsquos pastoral care Karenrsquos generosityin hosting us and by the sunny crispness of the naturalsetting In all a heart-warming and worshipfulexperience
Pauline Thompson
It wasnrsquot the Garden of Eden In the middle there wasa table but not the Tree And yet it was a little bit ofparadise in North Toronto
The table held bread and wine Nearby flamed awoodfire not like the one Peter warmed his hands bybut one where a few brothers and sisters gathereddistanced in body but not spirit
No organ no choir But the words of institutionprayer over the gifts the body of the Lord given for usbread placed in sanitized hands taken eaten
The heavens didnrsquot open but our hearts didexposing and soothing just a little the ache for beingtogether at the table of the Lord
Paul Gooch
We are looking forward to many more celebrationsof the Eucharist under the canopy of trees of this housechurch The table is set the firewood is ready and soare our hearts and welcomes If you would like to join usor know of someone who would like to do so please letme know ndash Susan
LENT GATHERING ndash 9
WildernessResistanceCompassionPaul Pynkoski
Lent should behellipan experience that gets intoour flesh and nerves and bones a way oflifehellipvery few of us really give its spirit a fairchance to touch and penetrate our lives(Eugene R Fairweather)
It is one and the same movement of surrenderto open ourselves to intimacy and personalunion with God in the Spirit and to openourselves to compassion and solidarity withour struggling needy fellow human beings
ndash Martin L SmithI knew nothing of Lent during my fundamentalist
upbringing Lent was fuzzily conceived as some sort ofritual ldquothose Catholicsrdquo were involved in somethingother than the pure gospel Itrsquos purpose and place in thecycle of the Christian year became clearer as I exploredthe Anglican tradition Yet the Lenten fast hascontinued to hold some ambiguity I understood that itwas modelled on Jesusrsquo forty-day sojourn in thewilderness but my efforts to give up chocolate or wineor Facebookmdashor to add in greater efforts at personalprayermdashalways seemed to end up more frustratingthan helpful (One friend gave up church for Lent eachyear I pondered following suit)
This year I have begun Lent by looking beyond thestory of Jesus in the wilderness When I meditate on thelarger narrative accompanying Jesus from the JordanRiver through the wilderness and into Galilee I seemyself being beckoned to move beyond fastingtowards action and transformation
The evangelists depict the baptism of Jesus endingwith Godrsquos voice declaring ldquoYou are my son thebelovedrdquo Jesus does not get to bask in being thebeloved one of God It is not a badge to be worn like thenumber on an athletersquos sweater Nor could he writethose words down and carry them back to thecarpenterrsquos shop The Spirit had other ideas Jesus wasdriven to a place where no one really chooses to gomdashthe haunt of beasts and demons
Undernourished and emotionally exhausted afterforty days of fasting prayer and struggle Jesus is
tempted by Satan to change the laws of nature tocreate an amazing spectacle that would elevate himabove other human beings and to bow to the idolatry ofpower In refusing these temptations Jesus remainedhungry ordinary and powerless By resisting evil Jesuschose the way of poverty humility and dependence ofGod
Calling prayer and resistance led to solidarity Themovement of the narrative from the wilderness into thecity suggests to me that the fires of compassionatelove were being fanned
Consistent with the vision that emerged from hisresistance Jesus begins building a community of poorordinary and powerless people He started with fourunsuccessful fishermen and a despised tax collectorHealing the sick and proclaiming the good news ofGodrsquos liberation follows Those he restored to healthwere not unlike those he calledmdashblind roadsidebeggars demoniacs whose outlandish behaviourprecluded gainful employment and marginalizedlepers Controversy ensued ldquoWho does he think he ishanging out with those people Isnrsquot he breaking thelaw when he heals on the Sabbathrdquo
As I meditate on this I see that fasting has no valueas an end in itself As Godrsquos beloved I am being called toembrace this larger pattern of prayerful resistancecompassionate solidarity and healing What shapemight it take in my life in our lives
Might we like Dorothy Day live out our fast inpoverty with the powerless Could our fast move uslike William McNichols during the AIDS crisis to bringhealing to those society casts aside Could we imaginea fast that leads to resisting of our governmentrsquos policyon weapons of destruction and like the Kings BayPlowshares 7 risk incarceration Can we dream of afast that leads beyond saying ldquoblack lives matterrdquo topraying with our feet the description given by AbrahamJoshua Heschel of his march with Martin Luther KingJr Does it give me pause to realize that suchcompassion will inevitably garner controversy
Perhaps our dreams and imaginings will not place uson the world stage but in the smaller theatre of ourown lives bringing friendship through refugeeresettlement growing compassion through a blanketexercise or building a community of hope through theCommon Table
Will Lent get into my bones this year Can Iaccompany Jesus out of the wilderness and into thecity where solidarity and compassion can takeconcrete shape
10 ndash LENT GATHERING
THE SEASONOF LENTEarlier in this newsletter Steven reminds us of the
invitation to observe a Holy Lent How will you mark thedays From Mardi Gras to Holy Week this is ourpilgrimage
Join in Mardi Gras OnlineWho says we canrsquot have our annual Mardi Gras
party We will gather on Tuesday February 16 throughZoom for music games and more And of coursepancakes Didy Erb shares her favourite recipe so youcan get the ingredients on-hand in time to make a stackto enjoy as we gather together
Didyrsquos Pancakes
2 cups flour 2 eggs3 Tbs sugar 14 cup oil12 tsp salt 1-34 cups milk1 Tbs Baking Powder 1 tsp Vanilla
Put all dry ingredients into a bowl mix togetherAdd all other ingredients just dump them in
Beat everything together using ahand-held beater or a whiskLet all of this sit for 10 minutes(important)During this time heat up your panIspray mine with a bit of Pam as itsnon-stick properties are failingWhen the ten minutes are up add aknob of butter (or Becel) to the panDrop the batter about a big
tablespoon full per pancake onto the hot panWhen bubbles appear on the top of the pancakes theyare ready to be flippedSo flip them wait about 2 minutesEAT WHILE HOT and ENJOY
Ash Wednesday ndash February 17The tracing of a cross with ashes on our foreheads
and the wordsYou are dust and to dust you shall returnreminds us that we have the season of Lent to turn toGod to bring all the pieces of our selves that needhealing and restoration as we prepare for the joyouscelebration of Easter This year our Ash Wednesdayservice will be offered through Zoom at 6 PMContainers with ashes created from our burnt palmbranches are included in the Lent-in-a-bag resourcesfor use during the service
Daily Prayer in LentJoin The Revrsquod Canon Steven Mackison each day
from February 18 to March 27 for a short service ofdaily prayerThe service will be offered through Zoomat mid-day Details will be shared in eNews
Lent Fast from Creation MattersAre you looking to undertake a fast during Lent that
focuses on creation and issues related to the climatecrisis The Bishoprsquos Committee on Creation Care hasproducedAFast for the Earth Lent 2021 to provide afast for each week of Lent meat consumption foodwaste water injustice electricity and ignorance Youcan find the resource on the diocese website mdashtorontoanglicanca May this resource be part of yourLenten observance
Annual Vestry MeetingThe annual Vestry meeting will be held through
Zoom on Sunday February 28 following the morningworship service Vestry reports and financial reportswill be posted on the website as soon as they areavailable
Lent Reading GroupLearningRedeemer invites
all to look forward throughoutthe season of Lent to theevents of Holy Week with theLententide Reading GroupWersquoll focus on Jesusrsquo final daysby reading the book The LastWeek by Marcus Borg and JohnDominic Crossan More detailsare online Please register byMonday February 15
LENT GATHERING ndash 9
WildernessResistanceCompassionPaul Pynkoski
Lent should behellipan experience that gets intoour flesh and nerves and bones a way oflifehellipvery few of us really give its spirit a fairchance to touch and penetrate our lives(Eugene R Fairweather)
It is one and the same movement of surrenderto open ourselves to intimacy and personalunion with God in the Spirit and to openourselves to compassion and solidarity withour struggling needy fellow human beings
ndash Martin L SmithI knew nothing of Lent during my fundamentalist
upbringing Lent was fuzzily conceived as some sort ofritual ldquothose Catholicsrdquo were involved in somethingother than the pure gospel Itrsquos purpose and place in thecycle of the Christian year became clearer as I exploredthe Anglican tradition Yet the Lenten fast hascontinued to hold some ambiguity I understood that itwas modelled on Jesusrsquo forty-day sojourn in thewilderness but my efforts to give up chocolate or wineor Facebookmdashor to add in greater efforts at personalprayermdashalways seemed to end up more frustratingthan helpful (One friend gave up church for Lent eachyear I pondered following suit)
This year I have begun Lent by looking beyond thestory of Jesus in the wilderness When I meditate on thelarger narrative accompanying Jesus from the JordanRiver through the wilderness and into Galilee I seemyself being beckoned to move beyond fastingtowards action and transformation
The evangelists depict the baptism of Jesus endingwith Godrsquos voice declaring ldquoYou are my son thebelovedrdquo Jesus does not get to bask in being thebeloved one of God It is not a badge to be worn like thenumber on an athletersquos sweater Nor could he writethose words down and carry them back to thecarpenterrsquos shop The Spirit had other ideas Jesus wasdriven to a place where no one really chooses to gomdashthe haunt of beasts and demons
Undernourished and emotionally exhausted afterforty days of fasting prayer and struggle Jesus is
tempted by Satan to change the laws of nature tocreate an amazing spectacle that would elevate himabove other human beings and to bow to the idolatry ofpower In refusing these temptations Jesus remainedhungry ordinary and powerless By resisting evil Jesuschose the way of poverty humility and dependence ofGod
Calling prayer and resistance led to solidarity Themovement of the narrative from the wilderness into thecity suggests to me that the fires of compassionatelove were being fanned
Consistent with the vision that emerged from hisresistance Jesus begins building a community of poorordinary and powerless people He started with fourunsuccessful fishermen and a despised tax collectorHealing the sick and proclaiming the good news ofGodrsquos liberation follows Those he restored to healthwere not unlike those he calledmdashblind roadsidebeggars demoniacs whose outlandish behaviourprecluded gainful employment and marginalizedlepers Controversy ensued ldquoWho does he think he ishanging out with those people Isnrsquot he breaking thelaw when he heals on the Sabbathrdquo
As I meditate on this I see that fasting has no valueas an end in itself As Godrsquos beloved I am being called toembrace this larger pattern of prayerful resistancecompassionate solidarity and healing What shapemight it take in my life in our lives
Might we like Dorothy Day live out our fast inpoverty with the powerless Could our fast move uslike William McNichols during the AIDS crisis to bringhealing to those society casts aside Could we imaginea fast that leads to resisting of our governmentrsquos policyon weapons of destruction and like the Kings BayPlowshares 7 risk incarceration Can we dream of afast that leads beyond saying ldquoblack lives matterrdquo topraying with our feet the description given by AbrahamJoshua Heschel of his march with Martin Luther KingJr Does it give me pause to realize that suchcompassion will inevitably garner controversy
Perhaps our dreams and imaginings will not place uson the world stage but in the smaller theatre of ourown lives bringing friendship through refugeeresettlement growing compassion through a blanketexercise or building a community of hope through theCommon Table
Will Lent get into my bones this year Can Iaccompany Jesus out of the wilderness and into thecity where solidarity and compassion can takeconcrete shape
10 ndash LENT GATHERING
THE SEASONOF LENTEarlier in this newsletter Steven reminds us of the
invitation to observe a Holy Lent How will you mark thedays From Mardi Gras to Holy Week this is ourpilgrimage
Join in Mardi Gras OnlineWho says we canrsquot have our annual Mardi Gras
party We will gather on Tuesday February 16 throughZoom for music games and more And of coursepancakes Didy Erb shares her favourite recipe so youcan get the ingredients on-hand in time to make a stackto enjoy as we gather together
Didyrsquos Pancakes
2 cups flour 2 eggs3 Tbs sugar 14 cup oil12 tsp salt 1-34 cups milk1 Tbs Baking Powder 1 tsp Vanilla
Put all dry ingredients into a bowl mix togetherAdd all other ingredients just dump them in
Beat everything together using ahand-held beater or a whiskLet all of this sit for 10 minutes(important)During this time heat up your panIspray mine with a bit of Pam as itsnon-stick properties are failingWhen the ten minutes are up add aknob of butter (or Becel) to the panDrop the batter about a big
tablespoon full per pancake onto the hot panWhen bubbles appear on the top of the pancakes theyare ready to be flippedSo flip them wait about 2 minutesEAT WHILE HOT and ENJOY
Ash Wednesday ndash February 17The tracing of a cross with ashes on our foreheads
and the wordsYou are dust and to dust you shall returnreminds us that we have the season of Lent to turn toGod to bring all the pieces of our selves that needhealing and restoration as we prepare for the joyouscelebration of Easter This year our Ash Wednesdayservice will be offered through Zoom at 6 PMContainers with ashes created from our burnt palmbranches are included in the Lent-in-a-bag resourcesfor use during the service
Daily Prayer in LentJoin The Revrsquod Canon Steven Mackison each day
from February 18 to March 27 for a short service ofdaily prayerThe service will be offered through Zoomat mid-day Details will be shared in eNews
Lent Fast from Creation MattersAre you looking to undertake a fast during Lent that
focuses on creation and issues related to the climatecrisis The Bishoprsquos Committee on Creation Care hasproducedAFast for the Earth Lent 2021 to provide afast for each week of Lent meat consumption foodwaste water injustice electricity and ignorance Youcan find the resource on the diocese website mdashtorontoanglicanca May this resource be part of yourLenten observance
Annual Vestry MeetingThe annual Vestry meeting will be held through
Zoom on Sunday February 28 following the morningworship service Vestry reports and financial reportswill be posted on the website as soon as they areavailable
Lent Reading GroupLearningRedeemer invites
all to look forward throughoutthe season of Lent to theevents of Holy Week with theLententide Reading GroupWersquoll focus on Jesusrsquo final daysby reading the book The LastWeek by Marcus Borg and JohnDominic Crossan More detailsare online Please register byMonday February 15
10 ndash LENT GATHERING
THE SEASONOF LENTEarlier in this newsletter Steven reminds us of the
invitation to observe a Holy Lent How will you mark thedays From Mardi Gras to Holy Week this is ourpilgrimage
Join in Mardi Gras OnlineWho says we canrsquot have our annual Mardi Gras
party We will gather on Tuesday February 16 throughZoom for music games and more And of coursepancakes Didy Erb shares her favourite recipe so youcan get the ingredients on-hand in time to make a stackto enjoy as we gather together
Didyrsquos Pancakes
2 cups flour 2 eggs3 Tbs sugar 14 cup oil12 tsp salt 1-34 cups milk1 Tbs Baking Powder 1 tsp Vanilla
Put all dry ingredients into a bowl mix togetherAdd all other ingredients just dump them in
Beat everything together using ahand-held beater or a whiskLet all of this sit for 10 minutes(important)During this time heat up your panIspray mine with a bit of Pam as itsnon-stick properties are failingWhen the ten minutes are up add aknob of butter (or Becel) to the panDrop the batter about a big
tablespoon full per pancake onto the hot panWhen bubbles appear on the top of the pancakes theyare ready to be flippedSo flip them wait about 2 minutesEAT WHILE HOT and ENJOY
Ash Wednesday ndash February 17The tracing of a cross with ashes on our foreheads
and the wordsYou are dust and to dust you shall returnreminds us that we have the season of Lent to turn toGod to bring all the pieces of our selves that needhealing and restoration as we prepare for the joyouscelebration of Easter This year our Ash Wednesdayservice will be offered through Zoom at 6 PMContainers with ashes created from our burnt palmbranches are included in the Lent-in-a-bag resourcesfor use during the service
Daily Prayer in LentJoin The Revrsquod Canon Steven Mackison each day
from February 18 to March 27 for a short service ofdaily prayerThe service will be offered through Zoomat mid-day Details will be shared in eNews
Lent Fast from Creation MattersAre you looking to undertake a fast during Lent that
focuses on creation and issues related to the climatecrisis The Bishoprsquos Committee on Creation Care hasproducedAFast for the Earth Lent 2021 to provide afast for each week of Lent meat consumption foodwaste water injustice electricity and ignorance Youcan find the resource on the diocese website mdashtorontoanglicanca May this resource be part of yourLenten observance
Annual Vestry MeetingThe annual Vestry meeting will be held through
Zoom on Sunday February 28 following the morningworship service Vestry reports and financial reportswill be posted on the website as soon as they areavailable
Lent Reading GroupLearningRedeemer invites
all to look forward throughoutthe season of Lent to theevents of Holy Week with theLententide Reading GroupWersquoll focus on Jesusrsquo final daysby reading the book The LastWeek by Marcus Borg and JohnDominic Crossan More detailsare online Please register byMonday February 15