Ash Wednesday

At SouthWest, we don't always do things in a traditional way. Take the lead-up to Lent, next week. In the Christian tradition, Tuesday is Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, also known as Shrove Tuesday, when traditionally families ate rich, fatty foods to sort of "stock up" before the fasting of Lent. The extent of "fasting" varies among Christian groups, and often means giving up meat, or sweets, or alcohol - or all three - for the forty days leading up to Easter. In modern times we may give up things other than food: everything from cigarettes to social media.

Regardless of what you give up, the day after Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, is traditionally the first day or deprivation. I'm not sure when it started, but at SouthWest we like to do a mash-up of those two days on the Wednesday. So we invite all and sundry to enjoy pancakes and sausages in the church basement, followed by a simple celebration with ashes to officially start us on our Lenten journey. Rev. David will be back from vacation and we hope to see many of you out, weather permitting. After all, it's a SouthWest tradition!

Wednesday, February 14, pancakes at 6PM, followed by celebration.
1445 Clemenceau, Verdun

Lent isn't in the Bible

Lent is one of the oldest observations on the Christian calendar. Like all Christian holy days and holidays, it has changed over the years, but its purpose has always been the same. The word Lent is an old Saxon one meaning “spring,” and I have not found it in the Bible. However, the path of Lent—prayer, fasting, and generosity over a period of time—is heavily emphasized by the writers  and characters in the Bible, including Jesus. I think the Bible asks for a lifestyle of worship and devotion that looks like Lent. So, while the word  may be absent in the Bible, the idea and practicing of Lent is woven throughout the whole of Scripture.

The Bible is filled with specific times set aside for devotion to God, including ones that last 40 days. Moses fasted for 40 days when he met with the Lord on Mount Sinai (Ex. 34:28), Elijah fasted for 40 days on his journey to meet God at Horeb (1 Kings 19:8), and, of course, Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert to prepare for his public ministry (Matt. 4:1–11). So, the practices of Lent - prayer, fasting, and almsgiving - are indeed biblical and Christ-centred 

I ask myself, “Why should I give up something for 40 days that I wouldn’t for the rest of the year? » »If this path is good for Christians, why not make it all year round? »

 In Lent, we learn to confess our sins, practice self-denial, and take on the humility of Christ. In Easter, we learn to rejoice, exult, and feast in Christ’s victory. All Christians are welcome to put in practice what they learned in Lent at any time. Setting time aside for certain practices allows us to focus more intently on God and to develop more « Christian » habits, like love Jesus Christ, cherish his gospel, and live under the teachings of the Bible. It’s a season of spiritual devotion with roots in Jewish worship, the teachings of Jesus, and the practices of the apostles and early church. This season of repentance is a gift to all Christians, and good medicine. It might be tough to swallow; like taking Buckley’s cough syrup, it might not taste pleasant but it might make you feel better. 

Address your fears, tears, jeers and acknowledge cheers!!  Alléluia 

Darlene

LENT begins this year on February 14th, Ash Wednesday. As usual, there will be casual worship in the church basement at 6PM, with ashes made from last year's Palms. All are welcome.

Celebrating "Pops" 1928-2018

I welcomed a minor into my home as a foster parent in the fall of 2016, a youth from Nigeria abandoned at the Dorval airport. He ended up in downtown Montreal, alone and vulnerable. Dans la Rue sheltered him in "The Bunker" where he was safe at night until social services could find a longer term solution.

I remember when Father Emmett "Pops" Johns borrowed money at age 60 to buy the van to become a missionnaire de la rue in 1988 . Thirty years later at his death (on January 13th) he is being remembered for his vision, determination and his large family of street kids in Montreal; his kids, our kids.
Generosity incarnates the best of faith, hope and love. It moves into action at a time when some think of retirement and "Pops" lived into a new career. St. Francis said: "Preach the Gospel always, and when necessary use words."
Thank you, Pops, for your feet, hands, heart and vision to love our street kids. You inspire me to practice a radical hospitality in the everyday.
You were for so many "Le bon Dieu dans la rue".

This African-American spiritual is my prayer as I am inspired by Father Emmett Johns' example:

I'm gonna live so God can use me, anywhere Lord, anytime.
I'm gonna live so God can use me, anywhere Lord, anytime.
(I’m gonna: work, pray, sing!)

Let’s get on with living it!
Rev. David

Going Home by Another Way

January needs a better agent. As the months of the year go, January and February are invariably the least popular members of The Twelve. But February has the advantage of brevity…and Valentine’s Day. January? January’s when the Christmas ornaments start to look ragged and winter tightens its long grip. A better agent might call public attention to January’s several charms. It’s the chronological home of neglected holidays. January gives us New Year’s Day—the biggest day of the year in some cultures. But in America, it lives in the shadow of its bacchanalian December neighbor: New Year’s Eve. January also hosts the Eighth Day of Christmas, as well as the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth. The Eastern Orthodox celebrate Christmas on January 7; they can do their holiday shopping when stores are having post-holiday sales. (Wouldn’t it be a lot thriftier if we bought our gifts on December 26 and opened them on the Twelfth Day of Christmas, January 5?) The year’s first month also brings us Martin Luther King Day. And an obscure church holiday called Baptism of the Lord—which is known only to clergy who use the lectionary. What else? My birthday is in January. And Epiphany—which celebrates the arrival of the Magi to visit the infant Jesus.

Much has been made of the story of the Magi—those wise men (of indeterminate number) who came from the East to visit the baby Jesus with strangely inappropriate gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In his well-known poem, “The Journey of the Magi,” T.S. Eliot describes their harrowing travels to discover the infant. The poems speaks not a word about the wonder, or the revelation, or the joy of it all. In fact, it asks:

« Were we led that way for birth or death?
There was a birth, certainly…
This Birth was hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death. »

Yikes. Not exactly the holiday cheer that I’d like to see. Does it not  suggest that the openhearted must make changes despite themselves. Some “progressive” preachers have pointed out that after discovering the Christ, the Magi “went home by another way.” They regained their old lives but with new insight, new light.

This is always the case when the living Christ calls us to himself, leading us with light we cannot help but follow. He’ll make us ill at ease with ourselves as we are, and the world as it is. The call of Christ is never to remain the same. It’s always to something better than we are—and yet somehow consistent with who we are. It’s something to think about as January fades into February. 

Darlene H.,
Chair of Church Council

Between Jesus' Birth and Baptism

Parents sometimes look at babies with fondness as they remember their own children's early years. They may say: enjoy them while you have them for they grow up quickly. When I think of how the Sunday lectionary reading races towards Jesus' baptism following Epiphany it feels like the post-birth years are not important, that the only focus is on Jesus the adult. It seems disrespectful of the hard work of Mary and Joseph, the growing spiritual awareness that leads Jesus to affirm later in his life vocation and call, and the great numbers of people who cared for him in his formative years.

Simeon and Anna

The 28 years of care, love, protection, questioning, exposure to another culture, religion and language are foundation blocks on which Jesus' ministry will be built.
Read some of these post-manger and growing up stories. They are not chronological and are differing episodes of Jesus' early years that each gospel writer wanted their readers to hear. Hear the influence of so many on his life, the 'village' that raised him.

Joseph the Carpenter

The wise ones find Jesus on Mary's lap in their rented house, in his 'terrible two' phase. Joseph supports his family as a carpenter. (Mathew 2:1-12).

He is circumcised a week after his birth and given the name Jesus. (Luke 2:21).

Jesus is presented in a ceremony of purification in the Temple where an offering is made; two elderly people, Simeon the priest and Anna the prophetess speak incredible words about him in their prayers and blessings. Mary being told he will be a sign of God for others but bring her much sorrow. (Luke 2:22-38).

The holy family escapes the tyrant Herod and flees into Egypt for Jesus' formative years in a different culture, language and religion. (Matthew 2;13-14).

After God speaks in a dream Joseph brings his family to Nazareth. (Matthew 2:19-23)

When Mary and Joseph return to Nazareth Luke writes that : 'the child grew and became strong, was full of wisdom, and God's blessings were upon him.' (Luke 2:39-49).

Jesus went to Jerusalem at Passover where he had his Bar Mitzvah at 12 years, becoming a man and reading the Torah in public. He engaged the Jewish teachers with questions and listened to them. Mary and Joseph were astonished at this. When they returned home Mary treasured all these things in her heart. 'Jesus grew both in body and in wisdom, gaining favour with God and with men.' (Luke 241-52).

As I read these growing up stories,
I pray for all families, parents and children.
I pray that we can together be the village that raises them well.
I pray we listen to Jesus' early years and appreciate the many who influenced his life and later ministry.
I pray that we continue to follow this one we call Light of the World, Mary's Child, Saviour.

Rev. David

When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the shepherds have found their way home,
The work of Christmas is begun.
'I am the light of the world, you people come and follow me.'
If you follow and love you'll learn the mystery of what you were meant to do and be.
(Jim Strathdee, 1967)
 

Minister's Message : Transforming Community Through Food

In 2017, a grant of $10000 was received from the Erskine & American Fund through our Presbytery for Mission projects (particularly the commercial freezer). As our Office Coordinator and I write a request for 2018, some of the information gathered is good news to share with all:

Food security continues to be the heartbeat of SouthWest Mission. Our Food Hub includes Breakfast Club, Welcome Wednesdays (Mini-Market and Community Lunch), Collective cooking activities for all ages, and group purchasing.

Monies received from the Erskine and American fund in 2017 were an investment in our vision offering a radical inclusive hospitality that invites all, particularly our vulnerable population, into an experience of healthy, inclusive community.

In 2017 the Mini-Market was offered every two weeks in a sustainable model. Expenditures for fresh produce were $10,503.38 with revenues of $10,688.61. It averaged 30 individual shoppers feeding 55-60 people. Mini-Market was staffed entirely by a core Volunteer team of 4. We were able to offer longer hours in the summer months (10:30 am to 6:30 pm) to better accommodate 9-5 workers and to take advantage of the plentiful local merchandise.

In August we put our publicity budget to good use to print some 5000 postcards for distribution in the neighbourhood of the Mission. 30 Youth volunteers in town for Rendez-vous did the door-to-door distribution. We had a fantastic response!

The growth we experienced in 2017 has been mainly in Food transformation and distribution. This has been made possible by the presence of a Kitchen Coordinator  who began as a volunteer over a year ago and since September 2017 has been on the payroll at 20 hours a week through a Mission Support grant. Since having a “professional” Kitchen Coordinator, as well as adequate freezer space, we have been able to receive meat from Harvest Montreal for processing into community meals and take-out. The Welcome Wednesday community lunches (every two weeks with occasional lighter meals offered on the “off” weeks) have been very well received, bringing in an average of 42 people, and a total of $2094 in donations. A team of four cooks each week transformed food under the leadership of our kitchen co-ordinator with a total of 50 different volunteers participating in 2017.

Erskine funds in 2017 allowed us to realize the dream of a Community Dépanneur. Employing a commercial display freezer, we were able to offer nutritious soups and single-portion meals at suggested prices to anyone attending activities at the Mission or just dropping in. The Dépanneur has brought in some $1500 in donations since September, 2017. These prepared meals are taken out to seniors when requested and made available to the congregation on Sunday. In addition, any “extra” food we have (milk or bread from Breakfast Club, fresh vegetables not sold) goes into our Self-serve fridge, available at no cost to anyone needing it. 

We have reached more people with reduced mobility in the last year, although not exactly in the way we had foreseen. Deliveries were undertaken by a few volunteers throughout the year, but the SouthWest Boxing Day Community Turkey meal was the main event:

A total of 290 meals were provided to community at no cost, of which 149 were eaten in two sittings at the Mission.  The 40 volunteers that were involved in preparation, cooking, serving and delivering came from both the congregation, Mission and wider community. The 61 meals delivered to people with limited mobility included 3 local HLM's and 3 senior residences, and another 40 were taken out by people who attended the meal to shut-in family members and neighbours. There is an organic growing and transformation of community that is exciting, challenging, risk taking, all at the same time. 

We are living transformation as a community of faith, living gospel in action, seeking justice for a vulnerable community, welcoming neighbours into an experience of healthy and not expensive food.  We seek to be a vibrant outreach into our wider community and offer a model of transformation to our existing community of faith.

Strength! Courage!
Don’t be timid; don’t get discouraged.
God, your God, is with you every step you take. (Joshua 1:9)

Ne tremble pas, ne te laisse pas abattre, car moi, le Seigneur ton Dieu, je serai avec toi partout où tu iras. (Josué 1.9)

Rev. David

Minister's Message: New Year's, 2018

Psalm 90 speaks to my heart as the new year has begun:

‘O God our help in ages past, 
our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast, 
and our eternal home.’ 

I had the pleasure of visiting Mom and family in Ontario and appreciated the moments of sharing and remembrance as we gathered on the anniversary of Joe’s death, January 1.

Letting go of the past and resolving to live each precious moment with gratitude is a resolution appropriate for a 2018. Have you made any? 

Use the link to the Daily Bible 2018 Reading Guide from the Canadian Bible Society as a resolution to read scripture every day (paper copies are also available): 

I also want to share this prayer and blessing:

Holy God, as we enter this new year, 
we thank you for your presence with us
in all the years of our lives.
We have known joy, and also sorrow,
success and failure,
and through it all, you have been with us—
the companion of all our journeys.
Much of life is fleeting
and so we thank you for things that endure:
the love of faithful friends,
wisdom gained from experience,
the reliability of nature,
and your steadfast love.
We thank you for this new year which awaits us;
take us by the hand, and lead us on.  Amen.

Go into this New Year: 
dance, laugh, sing, and create,
risk, explore, discover, and love.
believe, hope, struggle, and remember:
We go with the assurance of your love, O God.
Thanks be to God!

Happy New Year 2018!
Bonne Année!

Rev. David

Feast of Epiphany

Christmas comes but once a year, but it hangs around for 12 days! Today, Friday, January 5th, is the 12th day, and you know what that means, don't you? Drummers drumming! Along with the pipers and the dancers and the whole lot of them back to the partridge in the pear tree. What a racket. I am back in the office after a nice break and blissfully free of lords-a-leaping or ladies dancing, but only because the elementary school doesn't open again until Monday. (Our office is situated directly under a music classroom, so we basically get the twelve days of Christmas year-round).

The Twelve Days are immediately followed in our tradition by another holiday: Epiphany, on January 6th. Epiphany represents the Visit of the Magi, or Three Kings, bearing gifts to the newborn Christ Child. Some say we should keep our Christmas trees up until Epiphany, perhaps because the stars on top of them are symbolically guiding those famous late-comers, the Wise Men, to the stable. My tree didn't make it this year as it was so dry we feared it might spontaneously combust. So the tree is out to the curb, the garbage and recycling have been picked up, most of the cookies have been gobbled, and we just have to figure out how to keep the spirit of Christmas in our hearts for another twelve months!

At Southwest we always celebrate Epiphany on the Sunday closest to the 6th, which this year is the 7th of January, and we always have a potluck after the 10AM service. Well, it's called the "feast" of Epiphany, so why not? If you would like to contribute a dish, you can just bring it with you to church. Happy New Year to all / Bonne Année à tous!

Amy

EPIPHANY POTLUCK
SUNDAY JANUARY 7TH, FOLLOWING SERVICE (~11:30)
SOUTHWEST UNITED,
1445 CLEMENCEAU, VERDUN

Christmas, a Time to Remember

On the morning of December 24th, a Blues Christmas service featured our "prayer princess" Benita and her grandson Alexandre lighting the Advent candles of Hope, Faith, Joy, and Peace; and Steve singing  “Blue Christmas” . All present had the opportunity to write thoughts, feelings, memories on paper decorations and add them to our indoor Christmas tree.

Friends near and far made donations in loving memory to have a “memorial light” placed on the beautiful evergreen that grows in front of the church. These, lights guide and lead us toward Epiphany and the New Year.

2018 Daily Bible Readings/ Lectures bibliques quotidiennes 2018

Published by the Canadian Bible Society, here is the downloadable pamphlet (PDF format) of daily Bible readings for the whole of 2018. Copies will be available at church as of December 24th. You can also find it at https://biblesociety.ca

Voici le pamphlet des lectures bibliques quotidiennes pour l'an 2018 issu du Canadian Bible Society. Des copies seront disponibles à l'église dès le 24 décembre. Vous pouvez également le télécharger au https://biblesociety.ca