July 3, 2017

I trust the summer warmth is bringing you pleasure and rest.

In Sunday worship we acknowledged Canada’s sesquicentennial with 150 years of popular hymns. Yes, we could still be singing! I chose a few favourites, though, that took us from 1867 to the present.

The scriptures we read were Psalm 100 (All People that on Earth do Dwell & Make a Joyful Noise), Micah 6 (Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God), John 13 (I give you a new commandment: love one another), and Psalm 72 from which the concept of Canada as a Dominion sprang. One of the Fathers of Confederation found it in his morning devotions: “Give the king your justice, O God … May he have dominion from sea to sea.”

The favourites we sing change from generation to generation. Did you know “What a Friend we have in Jesus” was written in Canada? Perhaps you grew up singing “Jesus Loves Me”. Some of our children now request the spiritual “Over My Head” and “Like a rock God is under our feet, like a starry night sky God is over our heads”. We are teaching them that God is with them everywhere.

God is with you everywhere. God is with you at all times. As you lean into the summer warmth, maybe you offer a prayer of gratitude. As you see the sun rise in the early hours, maybe you say a prayer for all God’s children everywhere. As a favourite hymn comes to mind, please know that your church holds you in love, peace, & prayer.

Many blessings,


Rev. Dr. Catherine MacLean

March 9, 2017

I trust bright sunlight and warm friendships are keeping you cosy in these chilly March days. The season has shifted and we are coming close to Daylight Savings Time, St. Patrick’s Day, spring, and Easter. Anticipating Easter, we find ourselves in Lent now, with opportunity to reflect on life and love.

We treasure many things in this life: bright afternoons, tea with a friend, photographs of days gone by, security, health, hope.
Treasure was a theme for us Sunday. God desires good things for us: “I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret places,” Isaiah reminds us in 45:3.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also," Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:2. Where is your heart these days?

Included in this letter is a small image of a treasure box. Denise tells me the image on the top means happiness! Sit with it in your hand, and call to mind what is in your heart.

Possibly it is a treasured loved one, lost to everyday life. Perhaps it’s the memory of being the treasure someone else found in their dark place when you brought friendship and hope. Maybe it’s the dilemma of aligning your treasure and your heart-ethics.

Here’s one more thing: God treasures you. You are valued for who you are, loved as you are, cherished always. Rest assured of that.

Warm, bright blessings to you,

Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

December 1, 2016

It was the 60th anniversary of the sanctuary in November. Joan took the cover picture for the bulletin from the church balcony. Warren Mack played a Bach piece on the organ, the choir sang “Family of Faith”, we welcomed fifteen new members, and when Jill sang the first line of the duet, Jennifer responded with the second line from up high in the balcony, from the perspective you have in Joan’s picture.

I want to remind you that you are a valuable part of this congregation. This is your spiritual home and we cherish you.

Christmas music is all around us now. The carols tell the Christmas stories. The magi observed a star at its rising, and it shone so brightly they were able to follow it. That has inspired us: You will notice a white tree on the bulletin cover. During Advent people will put stars on that tree as we sing carols. The silver stars will shine.

The heritage of faith shines in our lives:
God has always loved us. God will love us, always.

I hope the brilliance of Christmas decorations and music remind you of the star that guided the wise ones so long ago, and reassure you that the warmth of God’s light shines on your path too.

Many blessings to you,


The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

October 5, 2016

The Flower Committee has a large pot of yellow and golden chrysanthemums at the front of your church. They seem to glow. When the sun shines over the choir loft and down on the flowers,
they are radiant.

You are rather like that, I think: you are made in the image of God, so you shine with God’s presence. When you are touched by
joy, you are radiant.

Here is a prayer for you:

Light within all light
Soul within all souls
Joy within all joys
Peace surrounding all peace:

At the breaking of dawn we watch for you
At the breaking of bread we pray with you
At the breaking of our hearts we call on you
At the return of joy we say thanks.

Bless our homes and our loves ones in this Thanksgiving time.
Bless our world where craven at this needy time.
Bless the harvest and the eating.
Bless the Love at table seating. Amen.

Sunday, the yellow and golden mums will be surrounded with pumpkins and maple leaves. I will include you in my silent Thanksgiving prayers.

In the name of Jesus, Love incarnate, many blessings to you.

The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

April 12, 2016

This Sunday the bulletin featured the St. Paul stained glass window, which is right at the front of our sanctuary, and I thought you might like a copy. You will see inside, on the order of service, that we sang “Open My Eyes that I May See”, one of our beloved heritage hymns.

Paul was blinded by the Light at his conversion. When one of the disciples, Ananias, laid hands on him, his sight was restored. Then he saw the world God loves in a different way, and he began to follow the Way of Jesus. He became the biggest missionary the world has ever known.

Paul went into many places where Christ’s love, peace and relationship-building were new. Our St. Paul’s United Church was built in a new neighbourhood, and continues to discern how the Word and the Way of Christ can bring love, peace and relationship-building in new ways.

You are part of this is hopeful and inspiring holy community of faith. Thank you for the ways you have shared God’s love over the years. I trust that love sustains you now.

This is your church and we think of you with warmth and love.

Many blessings to you,

The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

February 18, 2016

Valentine's Day was Sunday. With this letter you will find a bookmark we created for the occasion. The Sunday morning Welcomers gave one to every person, young old and in-between, so they that every time they opened the book they're reading, they will remember that God loves them and their church loves them.

I want you to know that you are loved, too. You are an important part of our congregation, and you are deeply valued.

When I was growing up in the church I learned that God is love. You may remember the sticker from the 1970s that teenagers like me stuck on clipboards, bookcovers, and purses. It was a psychedelic image in purple and blue and pink, with the words live and love entwined. Our lives are woven with love, through the good times, the rough times, and the ordinary times.

Live love: that is the ethic by which we live.

God is love: that is the assurance by which we live and die and live again - surrounded by, encountering, sharing, and carried by love.

Many blessings of love to your holy life,

The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

January 15, 2016

Perhaps you are as aware as I am these days of the play of light and dark. On cloudy days when the sun is covered as well as distant, I turn on a lamp in my study. Daily, there is increasing light on my late afternoon drives. My amaryllis seems to glow orange at suppertime against the dusk in the dining room window.

The cover picture on the bulletin I am enclosing is the pulpit banner for worship in these brightening weeks. The play of silver and navy blue is lovely, and the velvet texture is warm. This is the image in your church every Sunday morning in January.

Perhaps like me, you find darkness and light not so much opposites as complementary. Some say that darkness represents bad things. Often in our scripture, though, darkness is the time of love and hope: out of the darkness covering the earth God says “let there be light”; the shepherds kept watch over their flocks by night and were sent to the Christ Child; by sunup on Easter morning the resurrection had occurred: as they say on the east coast, “there he was, gone”. Loving, hopeful, creative, transformative things happen under cover of darkness.

We went to Yellowknife after Christmas. Our children were born there. In the north the beauty of the night sky is transformed very slowly by the rising sun, pink and orange herself. Later the daylight is absorbed by twilight and northern lights playing against the deepening darkness.

My hope for you is that in the play of light and dark this winter you are finding rest, beauty, and joy. My hope is that in the mix of our daily lives - meals, conversations, anxieties, realizations, love – that the good life God has given you feels to be part of a long fulfillment of God’s promises. May you find peace in the betwixt-and-between nature of our holy lives.

Blessings to you.

April 16, 2015

Easter has come – and stayed. We celebrate the Easter season till mid June at church, and every Sunday as an Easter people. Did you know every Sunday is a little Easter? Christianity is a faith of resurrection, hope and love.

This upcoming season is one of study for me. I have been awarded a grant to examine many of the ways we in the United Church of Canada speak of God. I am also part of a writing team for an upcoming textbook: my chapter is about how God has been understood in different periods of United Church history. I will be reading, writing, and interviewing colleagues, historians and theologians.

The way we speak of God reflects not only what we think about God, but also what we expect God thinks of us. It is the crucible for our understandings of human relationships, our place in the world, and our treatment of the earth. It is the basis of our faithful response to life.

That may sound heavy! Or it may sound intriguing. In any case, I wanted you to know why I am away from St. Paul’s for a while. I will be back August 25, looking forward to the next season of life and faith together with you.

Meantime, may you find blessing in the warmth of summer.
May you feel blessing in the family and friends who love you.
May you know blessing in the prayers that hold you in church, and the Spirit of God in your everyday life.

Blessings to you,


The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

January 9, 2015

Bright sunny days are part of the pleasure of living in Edmonton. Days are short, but they are breathtakingly clear.

Every day I cross the Groat Bridge. The sky is bright above, the river is icy white below, and between them lies the dark silence of the riverbank.

Life is like that. On the surface is the bright and shining face in which I see your character. Underneath is the flow of stories you may choose to tell or to keep to yourself. In between is your daily life: breathing in and out, walking to the mailbox, talking with a friend by phone, preparing toast and tea.

In Christ God became human like you and me. He knew the surface appearances of people, the deep human need, and the daily path.

May you find blessing in the clarity of the sunlight.
May you feel blessing in the innermost currents of your personal life.
May you know blessing in the everyday tasks of our ordinary living.

Knowing that God is with us in these winter days,
Blessings to you.

The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

April 23, 2014

Early in the day, beauty shines.

Sometimes we sleep right through it. Other times we are awake with restlessness, or guilt, or worry. Funny how it’s the tough times that keep us awake – and then there it is: beauty.

Sometimes others see the beauty and tell us about it. Diana Bacon took the glorious photograph on the bulletin cover, right here in Belgravia. Right here in our own place. Right here in our own lives.

Christ’s resurrection was like that. Some slept through the early morning and missed it. Others watched through the night only to hear from others what had happened. The rest of us, this late in time, rely on the accounts from long-since vanished ancestors in faith.

Yet right here in our own place, right here in our own lives, astonishing things happen. We wake up. Love is offered. People forgive us. We find a new way to come at an old problem. Someone prays for us. Death stops being scary and starts to look like another adventure.

Christ is Risen. Early in the day, beauty shines. I’m going looking for it. Join me?

Blessings,


The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

February 12, 2014

Friday is Valentines’ Day. Flowers, chocolates, cards, memories, …
One of the stories about St. Valentine is that he was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry. Sound at all familiar? Another legend tells of a priest who ministered to Christians, who were persecuted by the Roman Empire.

Saints tread where courage and love beckon. You and I have walked into places where love was needed. We brought the gift of courage when fear was shadowing the lives of friends. I have indeed, and I know you have.

Sunday in worship, Beth Wishart MacKenzie spoke about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in late March. As we consider our First Nations neighbours and the Love that sustains us, the artwork on this week’s worship bulletin is poignant hope. Would you agree with me that hope is a primary ingredient in courage?

I trust that the courage you need comes to you, the beauty around you brings you hope, and the Love that beckons to us inspires you to pray for all who also need courage. Tread fearlessly; Love is with you.

Blessings on you – blessings of courage and hope and love
The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

December 5, 2013

In the snapping cold I am aware of holiness: the beauty of the brilliant clear sky, the pressure of the dark of night, the warm sanctuary that is indoors. Even cherishing the sheepskin on my steering wheel, the pleasure of my mittens, and the snow piled high alongside the walkway, I am aware of holiness. When I am aware of holiness, I am in prayer.

This Thursday evening at Day 5 we read a lot of prayers. Some famous prayers have lasted hundreds of years: lasted because they speak to the soul, famous because someone spoke them aloud and kept them alive.

The soul needs words. The soul needs many things, and certainly we need words to express sorrow, gratitude, joy, and milestones along the quotidian journey.

Here is a prayer that may speak to your soul, bringing you closer to God’s Holy Presence. It comes from a Gaelic source.

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the gentle night to you:
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you.
Deep peace of the watching shepherds to you.
Deep peace of Christ, the light of the world, to you.
Deep peace to you.

Enjoy. Settle in and read it aloud. Then listen. You may hear God speaking back.

Blessings on you – blessings of warmth, prayer and Holy Presence,

The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

November 8, 2013

Is there a song that pops into your mind unbidden? Do you find yourself humming as you vacuum or whistling as you reach for the mail? I do. I find myself humming hymns, and singing songs – sometimes I don’t know the words so I make them up. It can be quite funny, or embarrassing, especially when I find myself doing it out loud at London Drugs or the grocery store. Sunday in worship Susan Farrell, our Music Director, spoke about a song that she’s been singing since she was a child in church: “Like a Sunflower”. Betty Simmonds talked about “Take Time to Be Holy” and how it was with her in her teen years and in nursing, and it still inspires her today. I was in worship singing “When Morning Gilds the Skies” and I could hear my Dad’s bass lines – all the way from Nova Scotia! Song carries us. It matters whether we sing a song with uplifting words, or one of honest lament, or a different one that pulls us into the mire. I hope the song you sing lifts your spirit and connects you with the Love in the world. Whether you get the words right or not, I hope Love is the tune. Blessings on you – blessings of song, word and heart, The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

27 September 2013

Sometimes life gets out of hand. In the old days when the people had seen mighty works, the country was strong, and the rulers tried to be faithful, there was a sense of a golden age. Then along came new governors, new technology, and a feeling of entitlement. That may sound familiar, but it’s the ancient time after King David and King Solomon I have in mind – days so long ago they are buried in mystery and myth. Life got out of hand. No-one cared about the widows and orphans – the litmus test of ethics – and one king after another suffered from swollen head syndrome, figuring they were larger than life. Then along came Elijah, poof! out of nowhere and told royalty to get it together. He said they’d done wrong. Then God told him to run away, run away fast. Have you ever had to do that? To call a friend on their behaviour, stop a shameful act, put a pin in the balloon of selfishness, speak truth to power? I expect you have. And I expect it was difficult. Elijah did. And God sent him away to absorb the magnitude of what he had done, and to prepare him for more. While Elijah was hiding out, God sent ravens to feed him. Relax, Elijah, the ravens will bring you breakfast and supper. I hope you have time to relax, to absorb the important things you have done, and let others look after you. Blessings on you – blessings in the hand and over your head, The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean 1 Kings 17: 1-16 as told in The Message And then this happened: Elijah the Tishbite, from among the settlers of Gilead, confronted Ahab: “As surely as God lives, the God of Israel before whom I stand in obedient service, the next years are going to see a total drought—not a drop of dew or rain unless I say otherwise.” God then told Elijah, “Get out of here, and fast. Head east and hide out at the Kerith Ravine on the other side of the Jordan River. You can drink fresh water from the brook; I’ve ordered the ravens to feed you.” Elijah obeyed God’s orders. He went and camped in the Kerith canyon on the other side of the Jordan. And sure enough, ravens brought him his meals, both breakfast and supper, and he drank from the brook. Eventually the brook dried up because of the drought. Then God spoke to him: “Get up and go to Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I’ve instructed a woman who lives there, a widow, to feed you.” So he got up and went to Zarephath. As he came to the entrance of the village he met a woman, a widow, gathering firewood. He asked her, “Please, would you bring me a little water in a jug? I need a drink.” As she went to get it, he called out, “And while you’re at it, would you bring me something to eat?” She said, “I swear, as surely as your God lives, I don’t have so much as a biscuit. I have a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a bottle; you found me scratching together just enough firewood to make a last meal for my son and me. After we eat it, we’ll die.” Elijah said to her, “Don’t worry about a thing. Go ahead and do what you’ve said. But first make a small biscuit for me and bring it back here. Then go ahead and make a meal from what’s left for you and your son. This is the word of the God of Israel: ‘The jar of flour will not run out and the bottle of oil will not become empty before God sends rain on the land and ends this drought.’” And she went right off and did it, did just as Elijah asked. And it turned out as he said—daily food for her and her family. The jar of meal didn’t run out and the bottle of oil didn’t become empty: God’s promise fulfilled to the letter, exactly as Elijah had delivered it!

July 12, 2013

The thunderstorms are awe-inspiring. Late afternoon, right after supper, midnight, five in the morning: the sky turns cloudy, then indigo and grey-green. Delphinium and peonies bow under the hail. Cars drive through water rising halfway up their tires. Sirens shriek and dogs howl. Lightening seems to flash right down my spine. Old Testament voices spoke of the holy power of storms. Something awesome this way comes: power, might, change. They had something right. Not a personification of God, but an awareness of change. What comes to mind for you in the strength of the storm? Is it something you fear? Some change you anticipate? Worry for our environment and our stewardship of the earth? Childhood memories of storms in campgrounds, or a gentle voice singing you lullabies through the thunderclaps? In the life of faith God calls us to examine our responsibilities, face our fears, encourage our friends, comfort our children and step up to the power we have. The questions that come to mind in the seconds between the lightening and the thunder often lead us into those deep reflections. Blessings on you in the spiritual moments of these summer storms. You are not alone, The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

July 5, 2013

After the rain the roses grows thick and pink. After the thunder the sky is silent. After the river has swollen past its banks and destroyed much of what is valuable to our neighbours, the impact settles like mud on dry ground. Grief and loss sink deep into the spirit. As the cleanup proceeds, your church is present. Before you knew it, people and funds were on the ground. Volunteers are showing up. Church givings are being delivered through the local congregations in  High River, Siksika and Calgary. We can make donations through The United Church of Canada website (www.united-church.ca) and through cheques mailed to St. Paul’s. Cheques should be made out to either The United Church of Canada or St. Paul’s United Church, and marked “Alberta Floods”. All the administrative expenses are covered by our Mission and Service Fund, so every donation we make goes in its entirety to relief efforts. And we are listening to the stories, offering the spiritual care Christ taught. We will shoulder some of the work, some of the grief, some of the heavy lifting. And we will pray for our neighbours.    Blessings, The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

June 27, 2013

I let my poet’s eye fall on my neighbours’ doors as I walked with my dogs this morning. A gloriously carved oak door with a wee peephole, a completely stained-glass door through which the shadows must dance in colour in the eastern light, doors open to screens to allow the rain-refreshed breeze, other doors closed tightly against street sounds and passers-by.

Who are my neighbours? The lady with the corgis, the dad who shares his love of cycling with his daughter tucking her into in a bike trailer, the recently-widowed gardener with flowers hanging over her fence. Their doorways offer a hint of their character, their hobbies, their fears.

Friends in High River have lost their front door. Water damage has shriveled and stained the friendly, bright red paint. Who knows what will be salvageable?

Thank God for friendship, I say, and generosity and compassion. Thank God for grief out loud. Thank God for the holy call to be neighbours.

Blessings,

The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

June 11, 2013

We got a letter from the mailman yesterday. A real letter, written longhand and signed. Imagine! Who ever heard of getting a letter from the mailman? Delivered by the mailman, yes, but from him?

Randy brought us the mail all winter. This spring his family chose to move to Kingston. He sent us a postcard from his new home. He wrote to Joan and me, saying thank you for time together, however brief (mail carriers move quickly!). He remembered that we had shared chocolates with him too.

This church is a place of welcome and hospitality, where each person is important. You are important. You matter.

Our mail carrier found sweets and welcome in your church. I trust you share that sweet hospitality too.

I send this letter with warmth as a reminder that you are cherished at the heart of God, and here in your church.

Blessings,

The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

April 30, 2013

Last night I went out for ice cream. Dairy Queen makes a soft ice cream cone that is like tasting clouds. The full moon was bursting through the sky to the east and the light was rushing out of the western horizon as fast as my ice cream melted in my cone.

There is so much in this life to be grateful for, to enjoy and to savour. In the midst of difficult global situations, mayhem erupting in cities and despair at hospital bedsides, there is still so much for which I am thankful. I’m not being selfish, it’s not an escape thing, or “there but for the grace of God go I”, or even about privilege. It’s the deep sense that in the verities and realities of existence, Love holds us, Faith guides us, Hope transforms us. It’s not magic. It’s not naïve. It’s real.

And so my prayer for you is that whatever travail confronts you, you know that you are loved. You are cherished. You are not alone. You are God’s beloved. 

May sweetness and light bring you delight.

Blessings,

The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

March 12, 2013

We are praying for you.

We always pray for you. During Lent, however, we are making a particular commitment to pray for one another.  

As we get acquainted, we become aware of the many ways those around us touch the city. In our congregation there are librarians and landscapers, a bus driver and a baby-group member, politicians and potters, artists and activists, researchers and reverends! Some of us are preparing for professions and others are retired. Some are mentors and others put their shoulder to the grindstone.

As we move about the city, remembering to pray for one another, we see the gifts of thoughtfulness, care, and spirit that keep us persevering in neighbourhoods, school boards, nursing homes, associations and friendships. The energy to maintain and nourish hope comes from a deep abiding place, and I for one could not keep on without it.

Or, as John Wesley said, “The best of all, God is with us.”

May the nourishment of prayer sustain you

the need to pray encourage you, and

the nearness of God hold you.

The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean