Preaching Joy

Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary use words.

Although it is uncertain whether this well-known phrase was actually uttered by St Francis of Assisi, it captures the spirit of what the great fifty days of Easter have been for me this year. Everyone and everything around me is preaching a tub-thumper of a sermon about joy, in a delightful variety of ways.

Here at St John’s, Paschal joy bursts forth as the Gloria is intoned at the first Mass of Easter. Suddenly, the dark church is illuminated, the organ returns in triumphant fanfare, and two thurifers do round-the-worlds en alternance. In this moment, I experience the Resurrection in every fibre of my being. This was my first Easter as a Priest at the altar of an Anglo-Catholic church, and I was completely overwhelmed.

The celebration continued on Easter Day. Our large congregation included a number of new faces (as Fr. Alain likes to say), some of whom have returned and brought their friends. The jubilant mood carried into the Parish Hall, where we feasted and chatted happily well into the afternoon. I arrived home glowing yet exhausted, ready to curl up with my cats and catch my breath for a lesser marathon during Easter Week. Beginning on Monday, I said Mass on three consecutive days in two languages using two different rites. I had never celebrated so often in such a short space of time. My concern that the mysterious would become rote – despite the diversity of Liturgies – was totally unfounded. Low Masses are intimate and prayerful, and no two are ever alike.

People outside the Church were also preaching joy. Jenni, my Zumba instructor, organized a Dance-a-Thon to raise funds for Auberge Shalom, a shelter for abused women and their children. Imagine spending two hours dancing with 165 happy people, and making a significant contribution to help victims of domestic violence.

When my trainer Kenny saw me proudly sporting my Zumbathon en Violet camisole, he told me how the Spirit had moved him to assist vunerable people. At the end of the term at McGill, he noticed that his fellow students were throwing out clothing in good repair. He organized a collection for the Old Brewery Mission, and was grateful to receive quite a few men’s garments, which are scarce and in high demand.

At home, one of my neighbours has taken the initiative to assist a colony of stray cats who live behind our building. Since last fall, I have been feeding them, naming them, and gaining their trust with the intention of getting them to the vet. My neighbour has connected with the SPCA and is making an honest Cat Lady of me! We have captured Leila and Prudence, had them sterilized and vaccinated, and brought them back home. Now it is Minuit and Daphne’s turn. After this, our relationship will be regularized and I can provide them with food, water, and shelter as long as we five shall live.

Joy, like spring, is bursting out all over. It is contagious. I hope that we can all catch it and share it in our own distinctive fashion.

Wendy +