Nuno presented worship adapted from Mission St. Clare, including a vision of all the saints from 2 Esdras and a spoken hymn: "For All the Saints." (His closing was a recording of "I Sing a Song of the Saints of God," which left us all smiling.)
For a gathering question, Nuno asked what saints come to mind for us?
- Thomas Aquinas (for philosophy, but let's also remember his song Humbly I Adore Thee, topping the charts for 1000 years)
- St. Peter, St. Paul, and the church fathers (and mothers) whose writings and actions shaped the church
- St. Anthony, patron saint of lost things
- St. Francis, whose ministry included animals
- St. Teresa of Avila for teaching that we are Christ's hands and feet, now
- personal saints among family and friends (very appropriate for this Day of the Dead)
Living Faithfully in a Multicultural World:
1st yr: Jessica; 2nd yr: Susan; 3rd yr, Pete, Nuno, Marilyn, Kathy ; 4th yr, Scott. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: None.
One thread of the discussion was protracted and recurring conflicts over doctrines that, to us, "didn't make an iota of difference" -- a joke that Nuno appreciated. We were amazed that the church survived at all. Through these disagreements we saw under Constantine's imperial church a competitiveness for power along with sincere concerns about truth. We noted that these conflicts will continue under other names at other times and places.
Another theme, one that would connect to our TR, was the proliferation of certified relics as different shrines offered destinations for pilgrims.
Pete shared on screen four slides: front-and-back of Pete's birth certificate in the Thai language, another in English from the US State Department, and a certificate of Baptism. We had a long list of observations and questions before we decided to focus on the concept of "identity through certification."
We explored that concept with perspective questions, this time looking for building, breaking, and bridging: building a new life or new community, creating an historical record; breaking common humanity, separating Us v. Them; bridging generations and countries.
We connected "identity through certification" to other sources.
- Tradition: Circumcision a seal, “You are sealed as Christ’s own forever,” blood on the door to identify Hebrews in Egypt, mark of the beast vs. Christ’s seal on the foreheads, Ashes on Ash Wednesday. When we looked for connections specifically to Jesus, we hit a new vein of ideas: “Render unto Caesar” the coins that bear the Roman imprint, Jesus consorting with outsiders, the marks he made on others (pressing spittle and mud in the blind eyes, telling the lepers to present themselves to the priests to certify healing), and his question about identity: “Who do you say that I am?” That last one made us think of God's answer I am what I am, refusing Moses the certification he sought to let people know he'd been with the real God.
- Culture: pedigree for animal breeders; travel papers such as passports but also forms under apartheid that asserted minority control over ethnic groups; tattoos--as souvenirs, at demarcation at Auschwitz, along with the Star of David, and as Gang Identification; and brands that mark status, with the egregious example of the SUPREME label.
- Action: Nuno shared a couple of personal experiences when certification was important.
- Position: None of this documentation is necessary to who you really are or your relationship with God.
Gathering insights and applications, we thought how certification of "provenance" for art and "pedigree" for animals (and debutantes) increase their value, and also questioned the system that makes that so. We connected this discussion to the readings for today, how the early church fought bitter fights certifying true beliefs.
Working together in a breakout room, Pete, Nuno, and Kathy composed this collect:
Dear all knowing and all seeing God: You know our true identity better than we do. We pray that when we encounter strangers that we see you in them and recognize them as members of your earthly family so that we may be more true to your identity and desires. Amen.
Jessica and Marilyn wove different threads of the discussion into their collect:
Dear I am who I am and who knows who we are even before we are born: You seal us as members of your holy church through Baptism with love. We pray that those who do not know you come to the knowledge and love of you so that they might know the beauty of belonging, feeling connected by faith. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Marilyn brings worship and a gathering question; Scott will bring something from the tradition source for a TR.
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