"El Dia de Los Muertos"

Ezekiel 37:1-14

October 28, 2007 Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost

Preached at Kingston Road United Church by the Rev. Richard C. Choe

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Kim and I were on an elevator after visiting our friend Glenn when the elevator stopped on the 5th floor. A priest walked in. He was dressed in black and wore a clergy collar; a Bible and a purple stole in his hand. It was most likely that he had just performed last rites for someone who was dying. He looked very serious and solemn. As the elevator began to descend to the main floor, I said to the priest, “I thought you guys only go up and never down.” The priest burst out laughing. Humour has way of unburdening us from life’s challenges.

I grew up seeing caricatures of tigers and evil spirits in South Korea. Some of the old houses had drawings of a tiger with large fangs on the gate of a house. Some of the old cemeteries had huge stone carvings standing ten feet tall guarding the tombs. Each and every one of these image also had humorous expressions on them. The tiger, one of the most feared animals in Korea, had comical expressions on his face. Many of the tigers were holding a long stemmed tobacco pipe, smoking. The stone carvings of the evil spirits had cartoon-like features like huge rounded eyes and a huge circle depicting a nose.

I learned while studying Korean religion and philosophy in university that the ancient Koreans turned the objects of fear, such as tigers and evil spirits, into humorous caricatures so they could grapple with fear in a manageable way. Images of death, like a ferocious tiger or evil spirits, were “tamed” by re-imagining them into something comical and silly.

Many cultures and communities around the globe use humour to deal with fear of death. Making something that is outside of one’s grasp into something tangible like anthropomorphized tiger and evil spirits in order to make some sense has been part of spirituality in many communities.

If you were to pause and look around you, you may be surprised to know that there are many who are living with illness and many are grieving the loss of loved ones through death. Irene Maguire, one of the staunch members of our faith community passed away last Sunday. Her funeral was held here on Thursday and she is missed by many of us. Death is part of our lives. And yet North American culture focuses so much on youthfulness and rejuvenation of individuals. Our culture seems to be focused on “death-denying” and we do not want to acknowledge death as part of our life. Many TV and print advertisements in North America are about youthfulness. Billions of dollars are spent on anything and everything that would make people look youthful. “Old is bad and young is good” seems to be the message.

But if you were to look at the reasons why we are so preoccupied with youthfulness and rejuvenation in our culture, you might draw the conclusion that it is not youthfulness we are preoccupied with but a fear of death. It is the fear of death that drives people to find ways to deny that death is part of the human life journey.

I am sure some of you were shocked at the images you saw in the bulletin this morning. I must admit that I, too, felt somewhat uncomfortable using the images of “El Dia de Los Muertos” when DeeAnn and I sat to work on today’s service a few weeks ago. The images of this Mexican festival looked so alien to me. Is this Christian? Could we use such images on Sunday worship service? Are we glorifying death?

DeeAnn was very helpful to point out to me that “El Dia de Los Muertos” – translated roughly from Spanish into English as the “Day of the Dead” – is about re-connecting death as integral part of our life rather than trying to deny that reality. “El Dia de Los Muertos” uses humour to help us to embrace death as an integral part of the human life journey. There is also a sense of tribute to nature and respect for one’s ancestors present in ofrendas – the offerings – to the ancestors.

Hallowe’en began as a Celtic ceremony reflecting the vision of life as a natural, never-ending cycle of birth, death and reincarnation. The five days of festivities known as Samhain (pronounced sa-wen) began on the eve of October 31, and constituted the greatest event in the Celtic calendar. The Celts’ religion, still practiced today, is called Wicca, meaning wise. The Celts believed that the veil between the spirit world and the living is the thinnest on Samhain (sa-wen) Eve. As the two worlds become transparent to each other, those who died recently chose the bodies of people or animals to inhabit for the next year. To scare away these spiritual “squatters,” the Celts dressed up as demons, hobgoblins and witches.[i] Hallowe’en began as a way to embrace death as part of the circle of life in ancient times in British Isles, West-Central Europe, Spain and Portugal. Many Celtic belief and practices have been incorporated into western Christianity over the years.

Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of the powerful Babylonian empire, destroyed Jerusalem and burned Solomon’s temple to the ground in 586 BCE. The Jerusalem temple, where Yahweh dwelt, was essential to the Israelites. Some ten thousand Israelites were exiled in Babylon. How would they serve Yahweh without the temple that was the only means of making contact with their God? Five years after his arrival in Babylon a young priest called Ezekiel had a terrifying vision. He saw a vision that God had left Jerusalem and, riding on what seemed to be a massive war chariot, had come to live with the exiles in Babylon.[ii]

Today’s scripture reading is part of Ezekiel’s vision from his experiences of exile in Babylon. It is a vision of re-imagining new ways of being in the midst of suffering and death. It is a vision of hope that God is with them even when Israelites felt disconnected from God.

If you were to see the images in this space – this sanctuary – through the eyes of someone new to the Christian faith, you would be surprised how much symbols of birth, death and resurrection you see here. There is a cross – a symbol of torture and death from the Roman era turned into a symbol of a new birth. There are images of dead saints – those whose lives are eternal through the re-telling and re-enacting of their deeds by the followers of Jesus. There is also all of us – individuals at various life and faith stages walking together as community. This is a place of acknowledging life, death and renewal.

How do we learn to pause at times to reflect on our life?
What are we thankful for when we think about our ancestors?
How do we grieve loss of lives of our loved ones in ways that are healing rather than just experiencing pain?

I would like to invite you to take time to reflect on those questions as you participate in the activities following this reflection. Like Ezekiel we live in the midst of despair and hope for radical changes. Like Ezekiel we would like to vision a renewed life that is filled with God’s spirit so we could experience connection with God once again.

May God’s spirit be poured into us and renew our soul, mind. and body. May God gift us with a sense of humour when we feel too exhausted to laugh. May we be a source of hope and strength to one another.

Amen.

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[i] Gregory Felton, “How Halloween took flight,” The Globe and Mail October 31, 1994. “Halloween born of ancient pagan rituals” Toronto Star October 31, 1996.
[ii] Karen Armstrong, The Bible: A Biography (Vancouver/Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, 2007) 9-10.

Stretching to Our Fullest

Luke 13:10-17

Preached at 2007 Toronto Conference Ethnic Rally at Toronto Chinese United Church
by the Rev. Richard C. Choe

Stretching to the fullest.

A few years ago I went back to South Korea to visit and I toured an old prison in Seoul. It had been turned into a walk through museum. In the basement of the jail, I saw small prison cells no bigger than a broom closet. They were purposely designed with very low ceilings so the prisoners could only stand with their necks bent. Can you imagine never being allowed to stand fully erect? My neck hurts as I think about it now. The effect of such prison cells was to break prisoners’ spirits as well as their bodies.

The prison was built and used during the Japanese military occupation of Korea from 1909 to 1945. The jail is now a museum so visitors can see and experience the shameful period of Korean history when the Japanese Military Regime ruled Korea with brutality and violence until the Atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

The prison cell in South Korea reminds me of Luke’s story of a bent woman with a spirit that had crippled her for 18 years. Not being able to stretch to her full height must have been torturous. Only seeing the ground she was walking on – littered with things people would carefully avoid stepping on. Never being able to look people in the eye. But the worst part of it all must have been the inability to stretch to the fullest of her being.

An unnamed, bent over woman encounters Jesus one Sabbath Day and was set free from her ailment and was able to stand straight and praise God for letting her be able to stretch to her full height. But the religious authority can only focus on the fact that Jesus transgressed the rules of the Sabbath.

In the time of Jesus, physical difference was accepted as a curse, a sign of an individual’s sin or the sins of one’s ancestors. Having any physical contact with such a person also placed one at the risk of being cursed as well. It was not just during the time of Jesus that physical difference was seen as a curse. It continues to happen in our time.

Societies continue to define and dictate what is acceptable and “normative” to the public. Media spins the “orthodoxy” – “belief in or agreement with what is, or is currently held to be right, especially in religious matters.”[i] And the public continues to perpetuate the orthodoxy until a brave soul, like Jesus, stands tall and challenges public opinion.

Tracy Turnblad is a generously portioned high school student in Baltimore, Maryland in 1962. The highlight of her day is to watch The Corny Collins Show, a local teen dance show from Station WYZT, with her friend, Penny Pingleton.

When the Station is looking for a new dancer for The Corny Collins Show, Tracy auditions for the show but gets turned away for being overweight and supportive of racial integration of the show.

This is 1962 in Baltimore. Only once a month are African American kids allowed to be part of The Corny Collins Show. Racism was in full swing.

Besides catchy tunes and wonderful dance moves, the play and the movie Hairspray shows how the United States struggled with the issues of race, intertwined with socio-political disparities, in the 1960s. The physical standards – physical preferences of the media, to be precise – based on people’s sizes, both height and width, along with the colour of one’s skin is also at a forefront of the issues the movie deals with. Parts of the movie were captured in Toronto so there are familiar landmarks as people march along the Roncesvalles Village near High Park.

When Black and White young people fall in love with one another – like the characters of Seaweed and Penny – and people finally stand up for their rights – the way African Americans and Tracy and her Mom march for racial integration of the dance show – the walls of segregation begin to tumble down. When people begin to lift their heads and reach to their full potential, equal rights, and privileges, communities begin to experience healing and freedom.

It was not just African Americans who were healed by marching toward healing and freedom when they stood up for their God-given inalienable rights to be equal with their White neighbours. The rest of American society – First Nations Peoples, Whites, Asians, and bi- and multi- racial people of all shades began to be healed and freed in the process. By segregating one segment of society, those who were enforcing segregation were also in need of healing and freedom from their racism and hatred of their neighbours. Canada was not exempt.

It is amazing how the church and societies do not seem to realise that the disease of discrimination against the downtrodden and minorities of any community always points to the illness of the majority of the members within it. There is much resistance toward the healing of the community and the Other just the way the bent woman’s community seemed unwilling to heal her themselves, and heal themselves in the process.

The Very Rev. Dr. Bill Phipps, who served as the Moderator of The United Church of Canada from 1997 to 2000, speaks of the necessary transformation of humanity as a process of moving away from being co-opted and perpetuating the Old Story – stories that are characterized by violence, fear, domination, arrogance, and competition. In his new book Cause for Hope: Humanity as the Crossroads,[ii] he speaks of moving to the New Story – stories that are characterized by mutual respect, cooperation, laughter, humility, interdependence, interconnection, and gratitude. When you change the story, you can change the context of your life and the future.

Much of our Church, The United Church of Canada, still believes, participates, perpetuates, and disseminates the Old Story. When the Ethnic Ministries Council was being developed as a way of transforming the United Church in 1992, many in the church raised questions about creating a national program unit that would “isolate and segregate” ethnic minorities from the rest of the church. What they have not asked themselves was the question why they, the dominant part of church, have been “isolating and segregating” the ethnic minorities since the inception of the United Church. There were no visible minority or First Nations Commissioners at the Mutual Arena celebrating the inception of The United Church of Canada in 1925.

The same question continues even today, eleven years after the creation of the Ethnic Ministries Council. Like the religious authority in the Luke story, the people of the status quo can only focus on the fact that ethnic minorities are doing something that is contrary to the rules and regulations that have benefited them to remain dominant within the church.

“Why Ethnic Ministries Council/Unit?” Many of us who have been part of the Ethnic Ministries Council/Unit have been answering this question for more than seventeen years.

The institutional racism within The United Church of Canada has segregated and isolated ethnic minorities as the Other within the Church from the time of Union in 1925. It is questionable whether the founding vision of the United Church of being One in Christ Jesus had any intention to include anyone other than White Europeans.

Being One in the United Church for many ethnic minorities, Peoples of the First Nations, and French Canadians has been and still is about being assimilated into White Anglo Saxon Protestant values that have too often been expressed as the Old Story of alienation, belittlement and exclusion of ethnic minorities in the church. What we seek through the leadership of Ethnic Ministries is integration of the whole where each part of Christ’ body is valued and appreciated and is part of transforming the whole.

So when ethnic minorities within the Church, in partnership with some ethnic majority allies, spoke for establishing a national unit that would encourage, enable, and empower ethnic minorities along with the rest of the Church, those of the Old Story saw it as a threat to their status quo rather than a gift to the Church.

Ethnic Ministries, Aboriginal Ministries, and French Ministries have a vision to begin to tell the New Story of the United Church – stories that are based on mutual and interconnected relationships amongst all peoples within and outside the Church.

But when you are only used to the Old Story – a paradigm of competition, and divide and conquer – ways of interdependence by establishing, developing and nurturing all parts of the Body of Jesus Christ can only be seen as “isolation and segregation” of the minorities.

The proposal from the Ethnic Ministries Unit for the United Church to embrace intercultural ministry – a ministry of mutuality between and amongst all racial/ethnic/cultural communities – and to become an intercultural church was accepted at the 39th General Council of The United Church of Canada in Thunder Bay in 2006. The church committed itself to move toward the New Story for the common good of all.

The United Church needs intercultural ministry – a ministry between and among peoples of various racial/ethnic communities – a ministry that envisions, pursues, and lives out the original vision of Jesus Christ “That All May be One.” What we need is individual and corporate courage to live the New Story of interrelatedness, mutuality, and interdependence where no one is left out and where everyone is truly appreciated and valued as children of God.

The intercultural church we envision is about faith communities that seek partnership amongst the disenfranchised to enable and empower themselves to be equal partners in the ministry of Jesus Christ. It is about inviting and challenging those who are in the status quo to courageously “de-centre” themselves to join the community where everyone is truly equal as servants of the ministry of Jesus Christ. It is about re-membering – as in re-connecting – our church to find ways to establish right relationship with sisters and brothers in First Nations communities and with one another.

My hope is that the intercultural vision would provide a thorough understanding of the Old Story in order to not keep repeating the old paradigms of empowerment of some at the disempowerment and dispossession of others. James Cone cautions us that “lack of knowledge of one’s past leads inevitably to self-hatred and self-hate leads one to love the oppressor’s values, and thus to act against one’s own freedom.”[iii] Ethnic minorities in the church would need to unlearn the behaviour of being Native Informers – those who have been co-opted to the Old Story that they have internalized the racist values of their oppressors deeply within them. Ethnic majorities in the church, on the other hand, would need to embrace and accept who they are without the trappings of the unearned privileges and status of being White in Canada. What we are envisioning together as ethnic minorities and ethnic majorities through intercultural ministry is a faith community that tells the New Story that heals and transforms all within it.

An Intercultural church should be a place where faith and life stories of each one in the community is lifted up and cherished so we can all live to our fullest. It is a community where the Journeys of Black Peoples is a healing and peace-making journey of peoples of all African descents. It is a community where the Sounding the Bamboo is a healing and life transforming event for racial ethnic minority women. It is also a community where people of the land and people from away; where men, women, youth, children, gays, lesbian, transgendered, and differently abled folks are all welcomed and embraced as sisters and brothers in God’s love.

Intercultural Church is a vision of a community where the last, the least and the lost in our society are invited and welcomed as part of our community. Intercultural church is not a middle class ghetto where only upwardly mobile folks from various racial-ethnic cultural communities congregate for the next opportunity to advance themselves by peddling the “hierarchy of pain” through which one community’s Otherness becomes a ticket for one’s personal and individual success. Intercultural church is where everyday is “intercultural day” and every aspect of ministry and worship is intercultural in ethos and in practice.

There is a song in the movie Hairspray that says a lot about our communal journey in intercultural ministry. The civil rights marchers sing “I Know Where I’ve Been” as they demonstrate for the de-segregation of the dance show.

Motormouth Maybelle Stubbs, played by Queen Latifah, leads the singing as they march for freedom and the healing of society.“There's a dreamIn the futureThere's a struggleWe have yet to winAnd there's prideIn my heart 'Cause I knowWhere I'm goingAnd I know where I've beenIn my heart 'Cause I knowWhere I'm goingAnd I know where I've beenThere's a roadWe must travelThere's a promiseWe must make'Cause the richesWill be plentyWorth the riskAnd chances that we takeThere's a dreamIn the futureThere's a struggleWe have yet to winUse that prideIn our heartsTo lift us upTo tomorrow'Cause just to sit stillWould be a sinAnd lord knowsI knowWhere I've beenOh! When we win,I'll give thanks to my God'Cause I know where I've been.

When people stand up to say “No” to the orthodoxy of the day and society’s prevailing beliefs and attitudes based on the Old Story that threaten and force people to live at a less than their fullest, then healing of the society begins.

When the rest of the Canada begins to hear the pleas for dignity from Aboriginal Peoples and participate in the healing journey for all Canadians, the healing in Canada will begin.

When society begins to realise that the healing of the entire society depends on the healing of the wounded and marginalised, then healing has begun.

When we, as a faith community, do not participate in this healing process, we are diminished, stunted, living with our heads down so we cannot see our brothers and sisters. Becoming an intercultural church is about affirming life for all so that all can live to their fullest in the New Story.

Luke recorded the day when Jesus not only sought out the bent woman but also touched her and healed her on the Sabbath. It is not the dogma of the religion that healed the bent woman. It is the homeless rabbi named Jesus from Nazareth who healed and enabled the bent women to stretch to her fullest.

The story does not end after her healing. The healing also comes to the community. Jan Richardson, a Methodist pastor, writes in her book, Sacred Journey: A Woman’s Book of Daily Prayer.

“The community also receives Jesus’ freeing touch as it begins to learn about the care God calls us to have for one another. With Jesus’ touch of the woman’s body, with her song of praise, and with the community’s rejoicing, this story challenges us to consider how we participate in the diminishment of those around us and how we must provide the condition of healing – physical, emotional, economic, relational – to happen for us all.”[iv]

In a place where people lives were bent with the burdens of the Old Story Jesus started the New Story that “un-bent” and stretched everyone to their fullest potential. For us, intercultural ministry is the New Story of Jesus Christ for our church. It is the story of interconnectedness, interdependence, and intercultural relationship amongst all God’s people.

The bent woman got un-bent and she was able to celebrate with her community and praise God for the gift.

What about us? in the here and now?

What parts of our lives are not living to the fullest? Who are we in the face of those who live at less than the fullest?

Jesus continues to challenge us to seek out those who are prevented from living to their fullest, and to heal them. Jesus continues to seek us out and heal us when we are bent and stunted by the prejudices and unwillingness of others to see us the way God sees us. For we, too, need healing. For we know where we’ve been. And we know we are going on a journey of healing and freedom for all God’s children.

May our life be abundant with creative ways of stretching to our fullest.

Amen.

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[i] Katherine Barber, The Canadian Oxford Dictionary, (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1998 ed.) 1027.
[ii] Bill Phipps, Cause for Hope: Humanity at the Crossroads, (Kelowna: CopperHouse, 2007) 71-109.
[iii] James Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation, (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1986) 203.
[iv] Jan L. Richardson, Sacred Journeys: A Woman’s Book of Daily Prayer, (Nashville: Upper Room Books, 1996) 414.

Gift of Life

John 6:25-35

October 7, 2007 Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Worldwide Communion & Thanksgiving Sunday

Preached at Kingston Road United Church by the Rev. Richard C. Choe

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34They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’ 35 Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Richard C. Choe©
“Communion Basket & Cup at Walpole Island First Nations United Church”


What are you thankful for?

What are you thankful for as you celebrate Thanksgiving?

I know that Thanksgiving Day will always be associated with a miracle that happened to my friend Glenn this weekend.

“In Honour of those who gave the Gift of Life” This inscription was etched on the 7th floor of the Toronto General Hospital as you enter Transplant Unit of the hospital. There are sixty photos of people on either side of the inscription. Each photo is accompanied with a brief description of the person. They are photos of men and women, boys and girls, who have donated their organs so that others may live. I was so moved by the individuals who were courageous enough and generous enough to share part of their body so that someone else may have a chance to live life anew.

A woman came by me around 6 am on Saturday morning as I was reading the descriptions of each person on the wall. “They are beautiful, aren’t they?” she commented. “Are you doing a research to write a book?” she asked me. “No, but I would like to share some of their stories with others since a friend of mine is waiting for transplant surgery,” I said to her. “My name is Suzanne and I just had heart transplant on September 20,” she said. “I did not know how long it takes to recover but I am so thankful for these people.” “I read about some of these people in the news,” Suzanne said as she walked toward her room, pushing her IV trolley.

My friend Glenn Smith, whom some of you have met at our Covenanting service last year, has been waiting for kidney and pancreas transplants for about three years. He received a call on Friday night around 9 pm that he would need to get to the Toronto General Hospital as soon as possible. The call was from 705 calling area, Glenn told me as we were heading to the hospital. We were surmising that there must have been a fatal accident in Northern and Central Ontario, places like Halliburton and Barry. Glenn was also told that he was a “secondary” recipient – meaning that the surgery may or may not happen this time.

Glenn, Kim and I were beyond excitement as we were heading down the Gardiner Expressway. We know how difficult it has been for Glenn as he awaited for a possible transplants. There were so many ups and downs. A close friend of Glenn’s volunteered to donate her kidney and they spent so much time going through all the required procedures in the past year. But there were medical complications that prevented the hope of transplant at the last stage a few weeks ago. Needless to say, this was such a disheartening experience for all of us who were hopeful of the transplant for Glenn so he could live his life as fully as possible. Then, the call came out of the blue on Friday night. A gift might have his name on it.

“It is good to be a friend.”

“It is good to be a friend,” was what I was thinking as I was rushing along the highway to take my friend to a hospital on Friday evening.

We got to the hospital in record time. Kim reminded me that the surgery was not an excuse for me to fly down the highway. Once Glenn was admitted to the hospital, a long wait began. Three of us spent the night sharing jokes and regaling one another as nurses came in through the night and morning to perform various tests and preparations for the surgery. No one at the hospital was able to tell us whether the surgery would happen. All we knew was that there was a possibility of a surgery.

Three of us formed a circle as we held hands and pray to God for Glenn’s safe keeping and guidance for the surgeons and nurses. The emotions of the moment and the tears flowed on our cheeks reminded us of the friendship and love we shared with those who were praying for Glenn. 27 hours after he received the call Glenn’s surgery was successful and he was alert last night.

It is wonderful to be alive. It is wonderful to give a “Gift of Life” when you have an opportunity to do so.

Here are two descriptions I read from the wall of the Transplant Unit on Saturday morning.

Robert was wearing a tuxedo with a smile on his face. He looked to be in his mid 30s.

“Known as Bobby to friends and family, he was full of life and always had a smile. He enjoyed fishing, cars and being with friends. He was a loving son and a caring person with a heart of gold. He would have wanted to know that through organ donation he was still able to help another. He is dearly missed by all who knew him.”

Sarah was wearing a graduation gown and a mortar board in the photos. She looked to be about 8 years old.

“Sarah was beautiful child who stole people’s heart at a very early age. She was full of love and not shy to show it. She helped people however she could. Sarah loved to swim, fish and ride her bike. Her school planted a tree in her memory. Not a day goes by that she is not missed immensely by her family.”

It is indeed wonderful to be alive. It is truly wonderful to give a “Gift of Life” when you have an opportunity to do so.

We heard the words of Jesus remembered by the early Christians in the Community of John, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Robert, Sarah, and those who gave their organs in their death have become the bread of life for those who have received transplants – like my friend Glenn Smith and Suzanne whom I met at the hospital yesterday. People like Robert and Sarah gave opportunities for others to have their life renewed. I am immensely grateful to those who had courage to share their life through organ donations for I know what it is like to see a dear friend’s life being renewed and regenerated with hope and possibilities of a future.

In my thanksgiving for Glenn’s renewed life, I am also mindful of the death of the person who shared part of his or her body. I think of the pain the family must be experiencing as they mourn the loss of their child, parent, and love of their lives. I pray for God’s guidance and comfort as they grieve the loss of their loved one.

Jesus is remembered as the bread of life by us for we believe that Jesus is present in and through our lives as we comfort those who are in need of our care and celebrate with those who are experiencing joy in their lives.

It is good to be a friend – for Jesus is our friend. It is good to be a “Gift of Life” – for Jesus is the gift of life for us all.

On this Thanksgiving Sunday we are thankful for all those friends who are walking with us in this journey called life. We are grateful for so many who have been a source of nurturing and sustenance for us as we traverse this passage called life

We celebrate Worldwide Communion – partaking in the celebration of being part of body of hope for a renewed life in Jesus Christ. We “re-member” (bind) ourselves with people of Burma – military dictators who are spiritually destitute as well as for those who are hungering for food and for justice in their land. We “re-member” (bind) ourselves with our neighbours who are homeless and those who experience “homelessness” even when they are at home. We “re-member” (bind) ourselves with Jesus Christ as we join in his ministry of loving kindness for all God’s creatures.

Amen.