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Easter is only one week away and we are becoming increasingly more aware of the importance discipleship plays in our lives.
We are learning through each Sunday’s special homilies and Wednesday prayer services, ways to enhance our spirituality by being grounded in our discipleship of Jesus as members of a Christian community. The Cost of Discipleship in our lives is the overall theme of Lent 2003 at St. Joan of Arc! The Reconciliation Service continued to bring us closer to that journey’s goal with emphasis on the Embrace of Discipleship, that week’s theme!
Before I describe the service itself, I would like to acquaint you with background on some special people who step up to take giant steps to help us all in this journey to discipleship.
The Prayer Partners of St. Joan of Arc are the designers of the Lenten Wednesday services, the Good Friday service, some special retreats, this reconciliation service and many special prayer events throughout the year. It is their talents and generosity that help to give us continuity in our parish’s philosophy and helps keep our parish on the cutting edge of good theology, prayer and discipleship.
Sometimes it is easy to take for granted another service or event of quality and realize that St. Joan’s has this unique group of lay people to give of themselves in a manner that formerly was only clergy driven. You are not likely to find its equal in any other parish.
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| Roger Dick, Karin Grosscup, Mark Scannell |
Fr. George Wertin was an integral part of this service. George gave the assembly a welcome, absolution, challenge and blessing, all necessary in making the service complete.
Anna Vagle worked with the Prayer Partners in choosing just the right music that began with the hymn, “Here I Am, Lord” a hymn of praise that asks for help in accepting and following Jesus wherever the path leads us as Disciples. The program ended with the song “The Summons” which again asks us to follow Jesus no matter how difficult the circumstances may be.
Joining Anna was Fred Vagle, on guitar and vocals, along with Joe Chouinard’s talented fingers on the keyboard.
One of the unsung heroes of all our gym liturgies are the people who sit at the computer and manipulate the slides throughout the service. Jerry Hartlaub, one of our faithful and regular projectionists, generously volunteered to accept that task for this service. Jerry’s knowledge of music plus computers is a huge benefit for that job. Thank you, Jerry, and all the projectionists that we take so much for granted.
The outstanding reading choices for this service were a combination of Anthony De Mello passages and scripture readings of Mark and John. Some of the readings were alternating sections and in litany form with the sung response, “Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord”.
The readings and prayers carefully selected, lead up to the excellent reflection by Mark Scannell.
His theme centered cleverly around “Are you out of your mind?” and how the followers of Jesus.. even his own family.. expressed the thought that he had lost his mind. Mark reminded us that in a crazy world, where it is unclear as to who is in their mind and who is out - who is patriotic and who is not - we must take risks and pay the price. 
His question is, are we becoming more compassionate, not just of the mind but we must involve the whole of us; mind, body and feelings! We could benefit from a compass to show us the way. Mark connected us to being disciples by using the words of passion - into compassion - into compass. “Look for your compass in the teachings of Jesus”, he said. “We are the compass ... you are the compass” were his final words! Mark gave us food for thought and guidance using the idea of a compass.
The service led easily into a ritual where each of us would process to the front where there would be someone holding a basket of very small compasses.
We were guided to look into our hearts for the “blocks” in our individual lives that prevent us from being one with the Spirit. As we heard the meditation helping us through this “examination of conscience” (as it was once called), we braved the possible embarrassment of telling out loud, a stranger or worse, your spouse, what that “block” was.
Then you would be handed a tiny compass and that same person would say to you, “Be Made Whole and Follow Jesus”! Then it would be your turn to face the next person to repeat that process.
It was a moving experience to be helped by a stranger (or a loved one) and then to be able to return that gift to another.
After accomplishing this while lovely music was played in the background, George gave us his Absolution, and his challenge to continue to grow in embracing the cost of discipleship and using the compass of compassion to remind us. We closed with the Lord’s Prayer; sign of peace and blessing. The singing of “The Summons” ended the service.
This is a truly improved way to “go to confession” if any of you remember that experience!
Lovely hospitality was waiting for everyone. The setting of yellow candles in groups on the tables, emphasized the tasty and tempting trays of cheeses with strawberry decorations and crackers. Along with wine, cider and water for a choice of beverage, there was much lively conversations in small groupings. The ever-present invisible helpers bustled around making it all seem effortless and smooth.
Harriet Horner spearheaded the hospitality. Her happy followers were Kay Samuelson, Jim Potts, Dick Voss and George Horner. This is another group of unsung heroes: Always there, always efficient and not looking for thanks, but perhaps that would not be a bad idea?
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