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Order of Service: May 2, 2021
It is the 5th Sunday of Easter. For those who will watch the service from home, here is the bulletin to follow along.
Mental Health Sunday, May 2, 2021
Mental Health Sunday (the first Sunday in May) is part of the United Church of Canada’s effort to create communities of radical belonging for all people, including those living with mental health challenges. It ushers in Mental Health Awareness Week, May 2-9.
Below is an insert containing useful tips on how we as church can make the world a little better for our neighbours who struggle with mental illness. Find more resources on the UCC website.
Verdun Then and Now
I came across these photos on a Facebook page called Verdun Citoyen/Verdun Citizen. They are not dated but the horse and buggy in the first one would suggest they are from at least a century ago. On a sunny day I decided to take a bike ride and try to reproduce these Verdun scenes as they appear today.
I was standing at the corner of Claude and De l’Eglise (the address indicated on the historical picture) but I’m not sure I’ve got the right spot.
The picture above was taken on Wellington street from the block between Gordon and Galt, looking “east”* towards Notre-Dame des-Sept-Douleurs church.
Remember when we figured out that the Chinese Laundry shown in an old Verdun photo would have been across the street from Verdun Methodist church on Gordon? And a couple of people said there had been a Chinese restaurant next to the laundry with its front door facing Wellington? If we could pull this picture back just half a block we might just see that restaurant. That corner is occupied by the Friperie Renaissance now. I’m not sure but I think the part of the Renaissance building that you can see in my photo below is the same building housing Lafleur Furniture in the historical picture. Do you suppose any of that nice detailing is still there underneath the siding?
- Amy
Beryl's Blog: Thoughts on the Apocalypse
We may have gotten it all wrong!
Lately, I have been hearing the word “apocalypse” bandied about in regard to this world-wide pandemic we are living through.
So often, this word conjures up visions of the rapture, fear, a vengeful God, and violent and exclusive religion. It is an overwhelming judgment on Western Christianity that it is drawn to such beliefs. But despite its misuse, the biblical meaning of apocalypse holds a somewhat different image.
If we look at the origins of the word, we find that kaluptein is the Greek word for “to cover” and apo means “un,” so apokaluptein means to uncover or unveil. While we primarily use the word “apocalypse” to mean to destroy or threaten, in its original context, apocalypse simply meant to reveal something new. The key is that in order to reveal something new, we have to get the old out of the way.
As a subscriber to Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation (From the Center for Action and contemplation) I found myself drawn to the poetic words from Neale Donald Walsch (Facebook post July 22, 2014) that put this quite nicely.
“Yearning for a new way will not produce it. Only ending the old way can do that. You cannot hold onto the old all the while declaring that you want something new. The old will defy the new; the old will deny the new; the old will decry the new. There is only one way to bring in the new. You must make room for it.”
Viewed in this way, I am convinced that this pandemic is an Apocalypse of sorts. But what does the Bible say about apocalypse?
In Matthew 24:8, hidden there in the middle of the wars and earthquakes it says, “All this is only the beginning of the birth pangs.” Apocalypse is for the sake of birth not death. Yet most of us have heard this reading as a threat. Apparently, it’s not. Anything that upsets our normalcy is a threat to the ego but in the Big Picture, it really isn’t.
In Luke 21, Jesus says right in the middle of the catastrophic description: “Your endurance will win you your souls.” Falling apart is for the sake of renewal, not punishment. Such a telling line to keep in our sights.
In Mark 13, Jesus says “Stay awake” four times in the last paragraph (Mark 13:32–37).
In other words, “Learn the lesson that this has to teach you.” It points to everything that we take for granted and says, “Don’t take anything for granted.” An apocalyptic event reframes reality in a radical way by flipping our imagination.
Father Richard Rohr, OFM** states that “we would have done history a great favor if we would have understood apocalyptic literature. It’s not meant to strike fear in us as much as a radical rearrangement. It’s not the end of the world. It’s the end of worlds—our worlds that we have created. In the book of Revelation (also called the Apocalypse, or Revelation to John), John is trying to describe what it feels like when everything falls apart. It’s not a threat. It’s an invitation to depth. It’s what it takes to wake people up to the real, to the lasting, to what matters. It presents the serious reader with a great ‘What if?’”
As I have been doing of late, I find myself turning to our own Voices United for comfort and found the following hymn to be one of great hope. May it be of comfort to you too as we face the uncertainties of these apocalyptic days.
VU 278 In The Quiet Curve of Evening
In the quiet curve of evening,
in the sinking of the days,
in the silky void of darkness, you are there.
In the lapses of my breathing,
in the space between my ways,
in the crater carved by sadness, you are there.
You are there, you are there, you are there.
In the rests between the phrases,
in the cracks between the stars,
in the gaps between the meaning, you are there.
In the melting down of endings,
in the cooling of the sun,
in the solstice of the winter, you are there.
You are there, you are there, you are there.
In the mystery of my hungers,
in the silence of my rooms,
in the cloud of my unknowing, you are there.
In the empty cave of grieving,
in the desert of my dreams,
in the tunnel of my sorrow, you are there.
You are there, you are there, you are there.
Be well, stay alert and stay safe
Pastor Beryl, DLM
**Father Richard Rohr is a Franciscan friar and ecumenical teacher who bears witness to the deep wisdom of Christian mysticism and traditions of action and contemplation. He is the founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) and academic Dean of the Living School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he has lived since 1986.
Order of service: April 25, 2021
For those who choose to watch from home, here is the bulletin for Sunday to follow along.
Birth Announcement!
Rev. Joëlle Leduc gave birth to a bouncing baby girl on April 18th. Jacqueline Lisa Owers-Leduc and mum were back home by Monday night and doing well. Our SouthWest community sends a big congratulations to Joëlle, Jen and big sister Katelyn!
Thank You, Nurses!
Nursing Team Recognition Week is at the beginning of May, and one Montreal nurse is asking people to send cards and letters of appreciation to nurses at the MUHC. We thought this would be a nice project to get involved with as a church, and that is why this week, people who receive the Friday newsletter by snail mail are also receiving a blank card and pre-addressed envelope. We hope many who receive the e-newsletter will be inspired to participate as well.
No one likes being hospitalized, and I sincerely hope that has not been your experience this last year. Still, all of us have spent time in hospitals at some point either for our own health issues or those of a relative.
If you have had no other contact with the health system recently, many of you have received a Covid vaccination in the past few weeks or months. Chances are it was administered by a nurse.
If you’ve ever had a nurse take the time to talk to you and answer your questions, here’s your chance to “pay it forward” by thanking a member of the hard-working team at the MUHC.
Anyone can participate in this campaign to show nurses they are appreciated. They hope to receive 5000 cards and letters. Why not take a picture of your letter before sending it and share it with us?
Some pre-addressed cards will be available to those who attend church this Sunday.
Find out more here. (CBC news story)
Cards and letters to the nurses should be addressed to:
D05.5428-1001 boul. Décarie,
Montréal QC Canada H4A 3J1
Save Fairview Forest
On April 22nd, we celebrate the 51st Earth Day. Given the Climate Change and Biodiversity Crises and resulting loss of species, it has become crucial that we preserve our remaining natural spaces
Locally, Sauvons la Forêt Fairview/Save Fairview Forest is trying to protect the forest to the west of the Fairview Shopping Centre. If you haven’t yet done so, we invite you to join the over 25,000 that have already signed the online petition.
In addition, there is a paper petition, specific for Pointe Claire residents, that must be signed, even if you already signed the online one.
If you live in Pointe-Claire, please print it (or a printed one can be supplied), complete it and drop off to:
97 Parkdale, Pointe-Claire (or pick-up can be arranged by contacting foretfairviewforest@gmail.com )
Save Fairview Forest has also planned a whole week of family-friendly activities for Earth Day.
Head to their Facebook page @Sauvons la Forêt Fairview – Save Fairview Forest for a detailed list of all the events! Hope you can join in!
The Forest thanks you !
Shared by: Merging Waters Pastoral Charge
Beryl's Blog: Springtime Resurrection
We are still in the season of Resurrection – new birth, new life, a new thread in the cosmic weaving of God’s creation.
As I searched for a hymn which would connect me with the new hope budding inside of me, I came across one in our own Voices United which I have never sung. It is numbered 632 and titled “O Blessed Spring”. Perhaps some of you may have sung it at some time.
O blessed spring, where Word and sign
embrace us into Christ the Vine,
here Christ enjoins each one to be
a branch of this life-giving tree.
Through summer heat of youthful years,
uncertain faith, rebellious tears,
sustained by Christ’s infusing rain,
the boughs will shout for joy again.
When autumn cools and youth is cold,
when limbs their heavy harvest hold,
then through us warm the Christ will move
with gifts of beauty, wisdom, love.
As winter comes, as winters must,
we breathe our last, return to dust;
still held in Christ, our souls take wing
and trust the promise of the spring.
Christ, holy Vine, Christ, living Tree,
be praised for this blest mystery:
that Word and water thus revive
and join us to your Tree of Life.
Within our own hymn book, I continue to discover words which are new and life giving.
Is that not what Resurrection is all about? New discoveries, new opportunities, new challenges, and God’s on-going invitation to reach the potential which God sees in us.
The season of Resurrection opens us to the possibility to “get it right” – to be right with God, right with our neighbor, right with creation and, to be right within ourselves.
Thanks be to God!
Pastor Beryl, DLM
