FEATHER: Almighty God, Creator of all, today we give thanks and praise for the gift of your Holy Spirit, who guides and strengthens your children of faith. Your Spirit walks with us, in this season of new life and your promise revealed. As new life blossoms forth, bless all who are called to proclaim the living Word in Christ our Lord, bless our words and actions that we can be better today than we were yesterday and the day before. In Christ we pray. Amen.
SAGE: This month of June we look at names and titles, beginning in the Plains Cree moon calendar with Paskawihowipisim or “Egg-hatching Moon.” Paska means “egg hatching,” wihowi means “giving a name to” and pisim means “moon.” Observance of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples, now known as apostles, begins this month. Disciples are students who listen, learn and follow the teacher; apostles are messengers who are chosen and sent to proclaim the message of the teacher. Simply put, the disciples are called by Christ; anointed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, they become apostles and messengers of Christ; they become the hands and voice of Christ in the world before them. It’s Christ’s message that we today live and proclaim, as we too are all called, anointed and sent by the Holy Spirit of God Almighty.
At the end of June our next General Synod, the gathering of delegates chosen from among our own, will elect the next primate of the Anglican Church of Canada. This person will be our next highest-ranking or “prime” (meaning “first”) as in the Latin term sometimes applied to the Archbishop of Canterbury, primus inter pares or “first among equals,” a bishop of and to the bishops. Names and titles are what we give to those we set aside or designate for a role to serve within our circle of understanding and ministry. Our bishops and other leaders are to be the greatest servants and deacons, in the original sense of “helpers”—they serve Christ and the church in humility. As Christ served and gave example, so too will our leadership; as Christ was sent and struggled in a doubting world, so too will our leadership find the struggle of ministry. So, as new ministry is revealed in season, pray and bless your leadership, let us together pray and bless the church for the work that we together will be called and anointed to proclaim, in the message of Christ to all the world.