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Mark 9:30-41 

³⁰ They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; ³¹for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.’ ³²But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

³³ Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ ³⁴But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. ³⁵He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ ³⁶Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’

³⁸ John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone^* casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’³⁹But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. ⁴⁰Whoever is not against us is for us. ⁴¹For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

I think the disciples did understand what Jesus was telling them but they didn’t want to hear it. I imagine they were just beginning their journey with Jesus and a)didn’t want to hear they Jesus expected to die and b)were thinking they had just given up everything to follow him and what will their future be if he died.

We often don’t want to hear the truth even when we know it in our hearts. It can be natural to avoid bad news because facing reality often requires some action on our part or at least requires us to imagine a different reality.

We are facing a difficult reality and uncertain right now. Feeling safe requires us to have faith that our leaders are doing their best for us. We can rejoice in knowing our faith in Jesus Christ gives us the strength to do our best for each other.

Dear Sisters & Brothers in Christ,

Many people have asked us how they can help out in this time.  As we continue forward in this time of crisis and unknown, there are many people in our community who are facing uncertain futures in terms of their income and employment.  

Some of you might know that we have what is called a discretionary fund. It is a fund to be distributed at the discretion of the clergy, specifically to help people who have some financial need, such as help with rent, paying bills, buying food. 

Instead of contributing this Lent to our outreach offering, and in lieu of contributing to Easter Flowers & Music we are asking those of you who are able to contribute to our discretionary fund.  Please give as generously as you are able. Our discretionary fund currently has $2,000.  In order to meet a variety of needs, we hope that balance will increase with your generous donations. 

Donate

Requests to our Discretionary Fund: If you are experiencing any financial distress during this time, please get in touch with us. Any requests to us are strictly confidential.

We also want to thank everyone who is still able to give their contributions online via Realm.  We appreciate your continued commitment to Holy Apostles during this time.  If you would like to switch to online giving, please let us know and we can help you set that up or you can contribute HERE.

We are so grateful for this community especially during this time and we hope that we are able to help each other out as much as possible.

In gratitude with love,

The Mothers

¹ Corinthians 13: 1-13

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ²And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast,^* but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant⁵or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;⁶it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. ⁷It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. ⁹For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; ¹⁰but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. ¹¹When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. ¹²For now we see in a mirror, dimly,^* but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. ¹³And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

I can’t really imagine a more important message to hear today than the one of this text. For this reflection, I rewrote the verses to suggest how this message belongs with us this Saturday afternoon, March 28^th, in the middle of a pandemic:  

If I speak in the power of governors, world leaders, and politicians, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ²And if I have medical training, and understand all mysteries of this virus, and if I have all the medicines, vaccines, supplies, so as to remove this illness, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³If I sacrifice my food or time in quarantine to help others,^* but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient: It recognizes the gift of simplifying right now; it is gentle with our children, family, friends as we all sometimes poorly navigate this difficult time. Love forgives.

Love is kind: It compels us to pray for others, think of others, cry for others

Love is not envious or boastful or arrogant⁵or rude: Love finds peace with limitations, accepting that we are where we are—quarantined, isolated, or still going outside to go to work—and chooses to find breath, stillness, courage.

It does not insist on its own way: Love releases control, trusting God and inner resilience

it is not irritable or resentful;⁶it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth: Love is genuine, honest, embracing all the parts of ourselves that show up in scary times—the grief, fear, anger, gratitude, panic, hope.  

⁷It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things: ⁷It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends: It never ends