Gospel for Morning Prayer on Friday in the Second Week of Lent:
This reflection was shared by Fr. Daniel at Christ Episcopal Church on Friday March 13, 2020.
What an appropriate and encouraging Gospel reading for us this morning as many of us feel tossed to and fro by a storm of fears and anxieties, including fears for our own health and our own lives and the lives of those we love. One doesn’t have to be superstitious to feel extra concerned on this Friday the 13th and as we approach the “Ides of March.” As the global storm of the coronavirus spreads, we may be wondering if our Lord Jesus Christ is indeed asleep in the stern. Our prayer might be the same honest question that the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, do you not care that we are perishing?”
I invite us to bring our honest questions and concerns to God in prayer at this time and be prepared to receive a response that will lead us into an experience of awe and wonder and deeper faith in God’s storm-calming, tempest-taming love.
This is actually not the first global pandemic that Christ Church Eureka has endured. Around the same time that our eagle lectern, our pulpit, and altar rail were given to this church by Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Henderson in honor of the Rev. William Leacock (rector from 1889 – 1898), the world was experiencing a global influenza pandemic known as the Spanish flu. In the early 20th century, Humboldt county was not prepared and certainly not immune to the dangers of the Spanish flu, which made thousands of people sick and claimed about 200 lives. However, the good people of Christ Church Eureka did not stop praying and bringing their questions and concerns to Christ. We also did not stop worshipping and glorifying our Lord who calms all storms. We remained steadfast and grew deeper in faith and looked for ways that we could help others in need, just like the Sisters of St. Joseph, who founded St. Joseph’s Hospital as a response to the Spanish flue. Today, we follow in their footsteps as we remain steadfast in our mission to glorify God, follow Jesus Christ, and serve others, as we have been doing for 150 years (and now with the help of technology like iPhones and Facebook Live.)
The Rev. William Leacock (rector from 1889 – 1898)
Our Lord Jesus Christ, who rebuked the storms, has the power to rebuke this virus and our Lord Jesus Christ will also calm the tempests in our hearts as we let his powerful and awe-inspiring words wash over us: Peace! Be still. Peace! Be still.
Peace!
Be still.
All shall be well
and all shall be well
and all manner of things shall be well.
Amen.
DANIEL DeFOREST LONDON 