St Luke’s,

First and foremost, a blessed Eastertide to you and yours. Easter, as you know, is celebrated for 50 day as a season in the church year. These Great 50 Days remind us of the preeminence of the Resurrection in the perspective of our faith. The truth and promise of the resurrection are not fleeting or ancillary to our life as disciples of the Risen Christ. The resurrection is the very bedrock of our faith. Even as we grieve, worry, and cope together and in our individual lives, we proclaim Alleluia! Sickness, isolation, even Death itself cannot separate us from the love of God in Christ.

I’ve been thinking about the words ‘community’ and ‘communion‘ the last few days. Due to physical distancing measures in place, we cannot gather as the body of Christ to make our individual communion at the altar, in the Eucharist. And yet, the entire point of receiving the body of Christ in the sacrament is to transform us more deeply into Christ’s body in the world. St Augustine said it this way:

“If you wish to understand the body of Christ, listen to the Apostle as he says to the faithful, ‘You are the body of Christ and His members.’ (1Cor 12:27)

If therefore, you are the body of Christ and His members, your mystery has been placed on the Lord’s table, you receive your mystery...

For you hear, “The Body of Christ,”
and you reply, “Amen.”

Be a member of the body of Christ
so that your “Amen” may be true.”

The Eucharist we celebrate each week is not just for our own comfort and strength. The Eucharistic action of the altar is that which binds us together into one body as we share in the one bread.

Our communion makes us a community.

What does this mean practically?

St Luke’s, you are the body of Christ for one another in this time when we cannot gather to partake of Christ’s body. You are that communion, that nourishment, that sacrament of God’s presence in the world.

In this time of distance and isolation, I encourage you to reach out, to share, to pray, and to connect. Check in on your fellow parishioners. Ask if they have needs you can pray for; share your needs so others can lift them up in prayer.

All of the masses, all of the individual communions made prior to this pandemic have been preparation for this long and difficult road we now walk together.

Continue to be the body of Christ for one another now.

And please know, should you need support, a listening ear, or anything at all, your clergy are still here, still in the office, and are always happy to answer an email or take a phone call. We are pleased to do whatever we can to support this community in the midst of this pandemic.

As always, you remain in my prayers daily. I can’t wait to see you all on the other side of this.

Peace,
Fr Bo