Back to School

I've always loved fall. Back-to-school meant new school clothes, textbooks that SMELLED new and cracked when you opened them for the first time, and relief from the oppressive heat of the Florida summer. So, I'm really happy that I'm going to be getting a hint of that experience again. With the end of summer vacations and the beginning of the parish's program year, we will be launching our exciting new Christian formation program, Hogwarts Academy, based on the magical world of Harry Potter. After attending the Evangelism Matters conference this past March, I realized that the Church has to do a better of job of inspiring people to engage with the Christian faith in a deeper, more personal way.

Back in the day, bookstores organized elaborate midnight launch parties for the latest Harry Potter books that were media events, with lines winding down the block, filled with kids and adults dressed as favorite characters from the wizarding world. The books encouraged a new generation of young people to pick up a book and read, sometimes all night, because they just couldn't get enough of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, Dumbledore, and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Lord Voldemort. The Harry Potter phenomenon tells us something important: that people are ravenous for a world of enchantment and imagination. The contemporary world has starved us of magic, and we need to be fed.

The Church is by nature conservative, cautious, risk-adverse. Stepping outside of established norms is uncomfortable. We sometimes feel that if we give in to popular culture or try to spin who we are in a different way, we are sacrificing essentials, diluting our identity, or dumbing down the faith. But I don't think it has to be that way. I'm not proposing that we give in to fads, but rather that we take a hard look at how well we've communicated our passion for the Christian story and identity. The epic tale of God's salvation of humanity and Jesus's self-giving love for us on the Cross is as compelling as anything J. K. Rowling has put on paper.

So, the fault lies with us, and now that we know that, we can do something about it. And the big advantage for us is that unlike the magical world of Harry Potter, our story really happened. When we gather together as a community, when I dress up in robes of red, purple or gold, when we say incantations over bread and wine or each other, we are not play-acting. We are doing a real thing, for we know that real magic lies in God's infinite, real power to transform us and the world. And this power is not God's alone. God has given us the power to be co-creators with him, by giving us a range of spiritual gifts. As Paul says in his First Letter to the Corinthians, "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good."

Those of you who are familiar with the Harry Potter books or films may remember that each of the four houses at Hogwarts is known for specific gifts, based on the virtues of their founders. Hufflepuffs are loyal. Ravenclaws are smart. Slytherins are resourceful. And, of course, Gryffindors are brave. The Christian tradition likewise credits certain people who have gone before us with spiritual gifts, known as charisms, that have inspired and strengthened subsequent generations. We look to these people to serve as exemplars of holiness and companions for us on our own journeys of faith. Their stories help us to understand our stories better, to see where God may be calling us to serve.

Therefore, one of the fundamental goals of our Christian formation this fall is to help each person identify his or her spiritual gifts and to discern how God is asking us to use them. It's not magic, just attentive listening to God's voice and going where it leads us. Our journey of discernment as individuals and as a community of Christians begins today. And for those who will undertake this journey, they should be mindful when the Sorting Hat is placed on their heads that they are making a commitment to learn and grow into a new creation. So, let's ask God to activate our imaginations and get sorted into our houses!

Abundant blessings,
Fr. Ethan+

Plenty to Go Around

This week's reading from the Gospel of John features the famous story of the feeding of the 5000. Jesus knows that his disciples will assume that there isn't enough food to feed everyone, and indeed Philip and Andrew fulfill our Lord's expectations. Philip admits that the needs are more than they could possibly meet-- particularly with only 5 loaves of bread and two small fish, Andrew chimes in. But, of course, Jesus proves that their assumptions of scarcity are false. There is more than enough for everyone, with twelve baskets of food left over! Jesus is simply showing his disciples how to let go of their usual ways of thinking and perceiving so that they can embrace other possibilities. Last week, we had an honest conversation about what it means for everyone in the parish to feel spiritually fed. At times, the needs of so diverse a community of faith can seem overwhelming--balancing English and Spanish; satisfying personal tastes around music, liturgy and Christian formation; responding to the needs of different generations. These conversations will continue in the coming weeks as we plan for the return to our normal Sunday pattern of worship and learning. And we have already created some new opportunities for Christian formation and outreach to feed people during the week. What Jesus asks of us is generosity, to consider the needs of others, as well as our own needs--to share our loaves and fishes with each other, so that all are fed. Generosity fosters a belief in abundance, and that builds community, the Body of Christ. Your rector and friend, Fr. Ethan+

Open Hearts

Have you ever had a week where you feel good energy emanating from everyone, and everything seems in harmony? That's how I felt this past week. I'm not exaggerating. So much good is happening at St. Helena's that I am convinced the Holy Spirit is leading us toward an abundant new life. I am absolutely glowing with pride.

First of all, the very fact that we were able to celebrate LGBTQ Pride on Sunday is a huge achievement. Many parishes would be afraid even to mention the word "gay" or "lesbian," but I was proud of those who set aside any personal discomfort and showing up for Mass with open and generous hearts. I have been delighted, moreover, by the visitors we have had over the last few weeks, which testifies to the good energy we are generating. I was also proud on Sunday when one of our youth was unexpectedly injured while the adults were in the vestry meeting, and everybody--Anglos and Latinos--pulled together to care for her. Coming together in a moment of crisis is one of the things we do best. And I was incredibly proud that we were able to be honest at the vestry meeting about the "pinches" we are all feeling as a result of the changes we are implementing. Nobody said it would be easy.

Then, on Wednesday night our longstanding book/discussion group engaged once again in a completely improvised discussion that began with "why do bad things happen to good people?" and concluded with a discussion of the sacrament of reconciliation, after having covered sin, gluttony, biblical anthropology, and the skeptical approach to Biblical interpretation called "the hermeneutic of suspicion!" It was a vibrant and energizing discussion, and my conversation partners shared with me that, after years of trying a variety of formats, what we had just done was exactly what they needed to feel spiritually fed during the week. A slam dunk.

I also continued my ministry of presence this week at the Starbucks on Lagrange Road in Countryside, where I've been keeping office hours three afternoons a week. The number of people who have stopped for the "free prayer" on my table sign, and have shared with me their deepest concerns--for refugee children divided from their parents at the border, for their own children unable to find jobs after college, for their personal desire to follow Jesus faithfully--has been awe-inspiring. The good energy is building and I am so amped for what the future holds for us. Again, nobody said change was easy, and there will continue to be challenges and disagreements, anxieties and uncertainties. But I ask you to keep your hearts open and TRUST that God is leading us somewhere very, very good.

Abundant blessings,
Fr. Ethan+

Open Wide Your Hearts

On Wednesday of this week, I walked into the Starbucks on the corner of Lagrange and Joliet Roads in Countryside to do some work on my laptop and just be visible to the community. This was only my second visit, but the barrista had remembered my order from two weeks before, because she said she remembered the large cross I wore around my neck. After about an hour, a man came and sat next to me. "José!" I shouted. This was the same man with whom I had spoken two weeks ago on that first visit. I asked him how his preparation for his mechanics certification exam was going, and then he opened up about his concern about our current political and social climate.

In the midst of our conversation, a mom with two kids, probably about 6 and 8 years old, named José and Antonio, came up to me. The mom said she and her boys would like one of my free prayers. "What should we pray for?" I asked. "We'd like to pray for all of those children being taken away from their families at the border." My heart was crushed. So, we stood in the middle of Starbucks, our hands on each others' shoulders, and prayed for those children being imprisoned in an abandoned Wal-mart, heartlessly ripped away from the comfort and safety of their families. Even through the sadness, I felt joy that we could share our anxiety and prayers together.

Our reading from 2 Corinthians this week ends with the words, "We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. In return--I speak to you as children--open wide your hearts also." There is so much Christ can do, if we only open our hearts wide to the anxieties, experiences, and needs of others. José's and Antonio's request for a prayer is a sign of a need for comfort in a time of crisis and despair. In a similar way, our celebration of Gay Pride is a recogntion of the adversities that LGBTQ persons have suffered and an affirmation of the truth God has led them to embrace. As the Lord says in 2 Corinthians, "at an acceptable time I have listented to you, and on a day of salvation, I have helped you." May we open our hearts to receive the salvation that God is offering us through each other.

Blessings,
Fr. Ethan+

An Easter People

The last several weeks have been extremely busy for all of us preparing for and experiencing the most important liturgies of the Church's year. As wonderful as Holy Week and Easter Day are, they are also emotionally and physically exhausting, and so when the vestry members and I arrived at the Nicholas Center for our vestry retreat, I wasn't sure how much energy we would have left to do the hard work of planning for the parish's future. Perhaps it would have been more sensible for us to rest for a couple of weeks before tackling this huge responsibility; but the retreat center was available, that weekend was the most convenient for the vestry members, and we didn't want to wait too long and risk losing the momentum and intimacy we had built during Lent.

It turns out that we still had energy--A LOT OF ENERGY--for the work before us. We did talk about mission and evangelism, including multigenerational Latino ministry, but mostly we shared deeply personal things about our lives; and we discovered as we told our stories, that each of us had arrived at St. Helena's, because someone had invited us. That was a key discovery, and we agreed that our primary focus moving forward needed to be an exploration of different ways to invite new people to join us, just as we had been invited.

We realized that telling the stories of our spiritual journeys and inviting people were intimately connected, and once we had connected those dots, we began to connect others. Our imaginations ran wild, and we began writing all of our hopes for the church on a white board, from grandiose projects for improving the building to smaller goals like holding hands during the Lord's Prayer at 9 am or restoring the labyrinth. This twenty-four-hour conversation was only the first of many, and we will be encouraging all of you to imagine and dream with us. There is virtually no limit to the things we can create, if we simply give ourselves permission to believe in them. That is what it means to believe in the new life that Jesus's resurrection has made possible. That is what it means to be Easter people.

Easter blessings,
Fr. Ethan+

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Alleluia! Christ is risen! What a joy and relief it is to say those words after the long journey through the Lenten wilderness. We encountered despair, doubt, fear, death, and much more during Lent and Holy Week, and now that all that unpleasantness is behind us--now that we have survived our walk with Jesus to the Cross and death--what do we do next? We focus on the new life that Christ's death and resurrection have made possible.

This Holy Week and Easter Day have been the best of my life, because all of you responded to my invitation to be vulnerable and to share your deep stories of faith. You have showed me and others, your feet, your wounds, your scars, and your Good News of new life, as I have showed you mine. Vulnerability and authenticity are best foundations I know for building a healthy and vibrant congregation. We have survived much, and that has given us the strength to explore this new life at St. Helena's, which we marked on Sunday with the dedication of our new sign, a wonderful gift from our sisters and brothers at Grace Episcopal Church in Hinsdale.

During Eastertide, we will be focusing on our new life in a variety of ways. Today, our vestry will begin its two-day retreat on evangelism and mission at the Nicholas Center downtown. Adult and children's formation will focus on deepening our understanding (and practice) of our Baptismal Covenant. We will host a number of community events, including our Day of the Children celebration with a kung fu demonstration and folkloric dancers on April 29, followed by the Blessing of the Bikes on May 6. And we will begin our work on our evanglism grant from the Episcopal Church on sacred storytelling. I hope that all of you will help us to continue the momentum of our Lenten and Holy Week experience, so that we can all be signs of the abundant life that Jesus has given us.

Easter blessings,
Fr. Ethan+

I Will Go, Lord.

On the Tuesday of Holy Week, Bishop Lee, the clergy, and laity gathered at St. James Cathedral for the annual renewal of ordination and baptismal vows. The bishop also blessed the holy oil called chrism for use in baptisms. The closing hymn of the Chrism Mass was "Here I Am, Lord," and it was very moving to sing the chorus, "Here I am Lord. Is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart." Those verses have always resonated with me in a very personal way, much as the words of another hymn we sang at that liturgy, "Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God, he to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood."

The essential message of those hymns is that, left to our own devices, we wander aimlessly, but if we rely on God to lead us, he will lead us toward new life. We are all called to serve, and God leads each one of us to serve in different ways; but as we enter the Easter Triduum, we must not lose sight that we are taking this journey together, with Jesus and with each other. We will wait together in the Garden of Gethsemane. We will walk together along the path to Calvary. We will witness the crucifixion and mourn together. And we will greet the resurrection with abundant joy--together. And through it all, we must be attentive to God's promptings to each one of us to go where God directs, and respond, yes, "I will go Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart." God calls each of us. Where is God leading you? That is part of the Paschal mystery that we will explore together.

Abundant blessings,
Fr. Ethan+

A Sign of New Life

On Tuesday, we received and installed our new sign for Wolf Road (see video), which I hope will tell everybody in the neighboring community that great things are happening in our parish. Many thanks to our mission partner, Grace Episcopal Church in Hinsdale, for its incredible generosity in helping us to improve our visibility in the community, so that we may invite new people to join us and be better agents of God's boundless love.

We will dedicate our new sign on Easter Sunday. It seems appropriate that we should mark the new life of our parish on the same day that we celebrate Jesus's Resurrection. I know that St. Helena's has endured several years of struggle and doubt about its future. I can tell you that when I came to St. Helena a year ago, I experienced a parish that was suffering from grief, anger, and distress. In the year that has passed, I have watched these emotions give way to healing, hope, and increased energy for mission. That change has filled my heart with joy.

Holy Week can be a deeply painful and emotionally exhausting experience, as we find in our own lives resonances of Our Lord's suffering as he walks to the Cross on Golgotha and submits to a cruel death. What his mother, Mary, and the disciples don't know is that on the other side of Jesus's death is a life more abundant and abiding than anything than they could have ever imagined. Our new sign on Wolf Road is a symbol of the new life that you have earned through your determination to survive and grasp that glimmer of light beyond the suffering and despair. In the liturgies of Holy Week, we will descend into darkness, but we will also pierce that darkness with the flicker of light from the Paschal Candle, to affirm that Jesus descended to the dead and brought all of Creation out of the darkness to redeem them and give them a future worth celebrating. That is the legacy that we will enjoy in the first Mass of Easter, and in an act as simple as dedicating a new sign that says that St. Helena's, has be pulled out of its grief and suffering to become a new creation.

Abundant blessings,
Fr. Ethan+

We Wish to See Jesus

This past week, at the invitation of Bishop Lee, I have been in Cleveland, Ohio attending the Evangelism Matters conference hosted by the Episcopal Church. Bishop Lee nominated my friend, Mthr. Mo O'Connor, Zach Dyrda, and me as the three "evangelism catalysts" from the Diocese of Chicago to bring back ideas and learnings from the conference to inspire and share with others. We have spent the last three days with about 400 clergy and lay leaders from across the church to learn how to invite people to join us as followers of Jesus, to network and to form new friendships, but most of all to share our stories about how God has transformed our lives. That is the essence of evangelism: to share our Good News with others, ask them to share their own stories, and then invite them to experience MORE, more belonging, more acceptance, more love, more redemption.

In this Sunday's Gospel reading, the Greeks come up to Philip and say, "sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip runs to Andrew and tells him about the request, and then the two of them tell Jesus. Our Lord's response is sobering. In order to see Jesus, we have to let go of much that makes us feel safe. We have to let go of our egos. We have to let go of our mistrust. We have to let go of our sense of entitlement. We have to learn to be vulnerable, to share and entrust our stories of pain and redemption with each other, and then go out into the world to invite others to be vulnerable with us, for there is no true community without vulnerability and trust. Let me be clear, the goal of evangelism is not to grow the church, to fill our pews. The goal of evangelism is to share the Good News of Jesus Christ and bring Jesus's unconditional love to the lost, the despondent, and the discarded people of the world. With such good news to share, we hope that other people will want to join us. But the work before us is to learn to be faithful followers of Jesus by loving others as he has loved us. If we want to see Jesus, then we must speak, and walk, and live as he did.

Abundant blessings,
Fr. Ethan+

This Sunday, We Wear Pink!

Recently, I was re-watching the 2004 teen comedy, Mean Girls, in which a previously home-schooled teenager raised in Africa, Cady Heron, attends a public school for the first time. On her second day of school, Cady is befriended by a group of popular girls known as "the Plastics," who introduce her to the highly nuanced pecking order of high school and the rules of the in-crowd. One of the Plastics, Karen Smith, tells her, "on Wednesdays, we wear pink!" I laughed and remarked that we in the church have a similar set of rules. Twice a year we wear pink or rather--in the language of the Church--"rose" vestments, to signify that we are taking a much-needed break from the austerity and penitence of Advent and Lent.

Advent 3 is called "Gaudete Sunday," and Lent 4 is called "Laetare Sunday," both roughly translating as "rejoice." These Sundays are meant to remind us that even in the midst of temptation, sin, and death, there is a reason for joy, because God is with us in those moments. This Sunday will be special for me personally, because I will be presenting a gift to the parish, a new red cope, in memory of my grandmother, who died three years ago at this time. The cope will be used for the first time on Palm Sunday, when the church again changes colors, from the violet of Lent to the red of our Lord's Passion. Even in the midst of darkness, it is important to remember the light. In response to temptation, God offers us strength. In response to sin, God offers us redemption. In response to death, God offers us life. And that's a reason to pause and rejoice. So, on Sunday, we'll wear pink.

Abundant blessings,
Fr. Ethan+

A Long Walk

Tuesday was an unseasonably warm and sunny day, so I decided to drive to one of the large neighborhoods behind St. Helena's to deliver the postcards announcing our Lenten services. The weather was beautiful, and the ground was dry and free of snow, so I wanted to take advantage of this rare opportunity to do some hands-on evangelism and outreach. I drove to the middle of each street, got out of my car, and walked to each house, leaving a postcard and one of my business cards underneath the doormat. I very much enjoyed being outside for several hours, feeling the breeze blow through my short-sleeved shirt and doing something that priests have always done, walking the streets of their parish, being visible. It gave me time to just rest and let my mind wander.

The interesting challenge of many suburbs, however, is that this neighborhood, like many others, was deserted in the middle of the day. It was like an incredibly well-manicured ghost town filled with huge houses with tidy lawns and luxury cars parked up steep semicircular driveways. I was shocked, though, to see how many houses still had Christmas decorations up at the end of February! I left cards at probably about 150 houses, and I thought that if the people in only 2 or 3 of them would visit us, it would be worth it. The only other souls on the sidewalk was the occasional person walking a dog. I felt a bit like Jesus wandering in the desert, albeit without Satan appearing, and fortunately, only for a few hours instead of 40 days. Most houses had a doormat with the word, "welcome," on it, and I wondered, that if anyone had been home, how true that message would have been. The optimist in me hopes that most people would be kind and friendly.

At the end of my walk, my shirt was sweaty and my legs ached, but in a good way. It occurred to me that my walk was a good metaphor for ministry, particularly during Lent. Despite all of our technological advances, sometimes there's just no substitute for an old-fashioned technique like walking the streets of one's parish. It's incredibly inefficient and time consuming. It's not particularly glamorous; in fact, it made me feel pretty awkward and vulnerable, as it always does. I realized that I might hear things I didn't want to hear, and so I had practiced beforehand what I would say if anyone reacted negatively to my presence. The fact is that the Lenten journey, like old-fashioned evangelism, is hard. It requires endurance and there's no getting around doing the hard work. It is meant to be fatiguing, because that's the only way we grow, by putting in the time and energy required to be transformed and to transform others. So, who wants to go with me next time?

Abundant blessings,
Fr. Ethan+

On the Mountain

This Sunday will be the last Sunday of Epiphany, when we hear the story of Jesus's transfiguration. Jesus ascends the mountain with Peter, John, and James, and then is suddenly transformed from the teacher they knew and loved to a heavenly figure in dazzling white standing between Moses and the prophet Elijah. The disciples feel both excitement and fear by this unexpected transfiguration that manifests Jesus's divinity.

In all of the media coverage this week, there is certainly excitement that St. Helena's is receiving recognition for the hard work we are doing to transform the parish and the world. Perhaps there's some apprehension, too, for all the work that lies ahead. We have committed to doing some difficult things, and despite our careful preparation, we don't know how those things will turn out. Like in the Transfiguration story, we must follow the command God gives to the terrified disciples, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" This is the same message God proclaimed to the world at Jesus's baptism.

It would be comfortable to us to do as Peter suggests, to put down roots and stay where we are: "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." But we can't just congratulate ourselves and sit on our laurels. We must constantly listen to Jesus and move forward where he beckons. God will require us to challenge ourselves and be receptive to the transformation God offers us. Next week, we will enter Lent, when God invites us to strip away the trappings and pretensions of the world and seek an inner transformation through repentance and holiness. It is hard work, but Jesus's voice will always be with us to lead us forward. I wish you all a most Holy Lent.

Abundant blessings,
Fr. Ethan+

Telling Our Stories Differently

I am a big fan of theater and try to make it to New York at least once a year to see a few shows on Broadway. This week, I was fortunate to get cheap tickets to the Broadway sensation, "Hamilton," which is playing in Chicago at the CIBC Theatre, which many of us Chicagoans remember as the Shubert Theatre. It's a bit like the Sears Tower. It will always be the Sears Tower. Wrigley Field will always be Wrigley Field. Right? And I can never remember what we're calling Comiskey now. Let's go, Cubbies! Let's go, Sox! One of the great achievements of "Hamilton" is that it tells the story of a great American's life in a new and unexpected way, probably very differently than we had learned in high school. I don't recall my American history textbook mentioning Alexander Hamilton's infidelity, his son's death in a frivolous duel, or the shady back-room shenanigans and horse-trading that led to our current form of government. But mixed in with the brokeness, heartache, and scandal is the story of a passonate and commited idealist who was instrumental in founding our nation. "Hamilton" also challenges our established way of understanding this Founding Father by using hip-hop and R&B as the musical styles for his story and by casting African Americans and Latinos in many of the key roles, including George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, and of course, Hamilton himself. And this was true for the women, as well, such as Hamilton's wife, Eliza Schuyler. We too are going to be telling our story in different and innovative ways at St. Helena's. I am pleased to announce that the Episcopal Church has awarded us a $2,000 grant for 2018 throught its national Episcopal Evangelism Grants Program (see below). This will provide us much needed funding to grow the parish and transform lives by telling our stories, and encouraging others to tell their stories. We, too, will undoubtedly be called to see things in new ways, to name things differently; and yet the substance of who we are will remain and grow. Abundant blessings, Fr. Ethan+

A Full Week and a Full Life

This past Sunday, I had a very enjoyable conversation with a two of the teen girls in the parish and their mother. We were sitting around one of the tables in the Anderson Room after Mass, eating snacks, and one of girls suddenly perked up and said puzzled, "so, this is your only job? What do you do all week?" I used to be a bi-vocational priest, so I'm used to the notion of having to juggle more than one career, but the question took my by surprise. It was a good reminder that most people don't know that the bulk of a parish priest's work is invisible and unglamorous, and takes place on the other six days of the week. So, I explained to her that a usual week contains some fundamental tasks: preparing the Sunday bulletin, composing the weekly email newsletter, updating the parish website and social media, cleaning and organizing the building, taking care of administrative work in the office, preparing my homily, visiting parishioners in their homes and the hospital when they're sick, coordinating business with the musicians and vestry members, attending diocesan meetings and trainings, and much more. And then there are things that vary. Last week, I cleaned out filing cabinets and polished brass. This week, I created a new manual for the altar guild with a comprehensive task list and lots of cool pictures. Even though my desk is tidy on Sundays, during the week, it goes through various stages of messiness.

Every week is a full week, and a full life. A very satisfying life. So, I am incredibly grateful that donors in the Diocese of Chicago and our bishop, Jeff Lee, have provided funding that will allow me to move from 3/4 time to full time for the next two years. This will permit me to devote myself fully to the joy of growing this church, with its many weekly tasks, both glamorous and mundane. I feel blessed to be supported by you and by our diocese to fulfill the potential that God has instilled in us.

Abundant blessings,

Fr. Ethan+

Courtesy and Civility

As promised in last week's homily, I spent a lot of time this week cleaning out the parish's filing cabinets in the sacristy, Anderson Room, and office. At times, the work was tedious, but every once in a while, I would come across a piece of paper that would make me smile: an old liturgy bulletin, some pages from a Sunday school lesson with a child's drawing in crayon, or a faded newsletter about the parish's various ministries. It occurred to me in the course of my rummaging that one of the Church's critical roles in society is to serve as a school of morals. I'm not simply talking about learning the Ten Commandments or taking seriously Jesus's command to love each other. I mean teaching people--both children and adults--how to be civil and courteous to each other. When I was growing up in Florida in the 1970s and 1980s, manners and politeness were still important. We didn't call adults by their first names, and we answered questions with "Yes, ma'am" and "No, sir." And I still do. Swearing cavalierly in public was not as commonplace as it is now.

Now, I realize that some people might think I'm being old-fashioned or a prude. But the truth is that I am distressed by the crudeness and lack of respect voiced on cable news shows, social media, and even in face-to-face conversations. Cyber bullying is a devastating feature of life for today's children and youth. Government officials using profanity to describe people from developing countries is an unacceptable denigration of their human worth and dignity. People still need the Church to learn how to behave. I once had a job in a very toxic office, and so had posted above my desk, Colossians 4:6, "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone." Still excellent advice in the 21st century. It frequently cautioned me to hold my tongue and be polite when I was tempted to lash out in anger.

That is why I am so grateful to two groups with a close connection with St. Helena's/ Santa Elena: the Boy Scouts and Kung Fu. I have been deeply impressed by the ways that both groups have worked at St. Helena's to instill in youth the values of courtesy and civility, politeness and respect. Groups like these are good partners in encouraging us to develop our more generous qualities, making us good citizens in our communites, and good citizens of the Kingdom of God.

Abundant blessings,

Fr. Ethan+