A Liturgy (i.e. Work of the People) for the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic Week of March 29-April 3 in Worcester, Massachusetts
When evening came, the disciples approached Jesus and said, “This place is deserted, and it is already late. Send the crowds away ... " “They don’t need to go away,” Jesus told them. “You give them something to eat.” “But we only have five loaves and two fish here,” they said to Him. “Bring them here to Me,” He said. Then He commanded the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. Everyone ate and was satisfied. ... + Matthew 14:15-20a
Below is a "liturgy for the week" (here are links to weeks March 8-14, March 15-21, and March 22-28) including encouragement, connection points, prayer focuses, discipleship practices, articles, songs, quotes, a special series, and more.
We can't overcome this desert of disease on our own. We can't overcome the distress on our own. But we can die with Christ to our fears, and by His Spirit, surrender to the Deliverer who overcomes and resurrects.
+ ECC Facebook Live Palm Sunday Weekend Message: Jesus, the Deliverer Who Provides What We Need Even When It Looks Like Defeat
Mass featured call to worship, prayers of confession and assurance based on Psalm 103:8-14, 42:11, message, Eucharist, Lenten Creed, Benediction, and songs recommended including Wondrous Love, All Praise, This Glorious Grace, Lord, I Need You, and Break Every Chain | Fill Me Up
+ Nouwen Quote from Christ & the Coronavirus April Fool's Day Reflection
I came to see that I should not worry about tomorrow, next week, next year, or the next century. The more willing I was to look honestly at what I was thinking and saying and doing now, the more easily I would come into touch with the movement of God's Spirit in me, leading me to the future. God is a God of the present and reveals to those who are willing to listen carefully to the moment in which they live the steps they are to take toward the future. + Fr. Henri Nouwen
+ 5 Q&As to Help with Confession, Encouragement, and Prayer Together During Virtual Connections:
When did you choose this week to enter into the always available gift of rest in Christ (Matt. 11:28-30, 12:8; Heb. 4:1)?
What are you thankful to God our Father for right now (Colossians 3:17; 1 Peter 1:3-5)?
How did the Spirit of God move in power in your life this past week (Acts 1:8)?
Where did you behold the beauty of our Lord Jesus displayed (Isaiah 33:17)?
Whom did you give to or receive from grace and forgiveness recently (James 5:16; Ephesians 4:32)?
+ Holy Week Neighbor Love Intentionally (Created by CRC Missional Leader Developer Dr. Karen Wilk)
Sunday, April 5: Rest
Monday, April 6: Order or make a gift for a neighbor in isolation and drop it off (anything that would brighten their day, show them that they are being thought of).
Tuesday, April 7: Write 3 positive online reviews for local businesses that you like.
Wednesday, April 8: Phone a relative or friend whom you haven't spoken to recently.
Maundy Thursday, April 9: Order a food package or ‘take-out meal’ to be delivered to a neighbor’s home.
Good Friday, April 10: Consider the sacrifice of others: Send an email or drop off a note of appreciation and encouragement for the emergency service, grocery, or other front-line workers of your choice.
Holy Saturday, April 11: Give a book/album/Spotify playlist/DVD, etc. to a friend or neighbor in quarantine.
Resurrection Sunday, April 12: Make something special for your neighbor, decorate it with Easter ‘ribbons and bows’ or put it in an Easter basket and secretly drop it off at their door.
+ International Justice Mission (ECC Partner) Stories of Hope Link + 2 Articles to Consider Reading + John Krasinksi's (director of "A Quiet Place" & Jim from "The Office") "Some Good News" Vlog
IJM: Stories of Hope: Moments of Joy that Keep Us Going + IJM: Response to COVID-19
T: Christianity Offers No Answers About the Coronavirus. It's Not Supposed To.
R: Lent in the Season of Coronavirus
JK Vlog: Some Good News with John Krasinski on March 29, 2020 (15:43 minutes featuring many smiles and maybe a happy tear or two)
+ Story of the Resurrected Faith of Dr. Lorenzo in Italy Battling the COVID-19 Epidemic
“We who were atheists until yesterday, now pray to God for peace.”
Lulian Urban Lorenzo is a thirty-eight-year-old doctor in Italy, where coronavirus is especially virulent. He has released this statement, which was translated into English: “Until two weeks ago, we and many of my colleagues were atheists. One hundred percent believed that science excludes God because we are doctors. I used to look at my parents at church and mock them. A seventy-five-year-old clergyman arrived here nine days ago. A poor man. He was struggling to breathe. But he always had a Bible in his hand. He reads it to the patients who are dying ... He places the Bible in the hands of some and we looked at it intently.”
Dr. Lorenzo and his colleagues came to see that “as human beings, we have reached our limits. There is nothing we can do except increase the death toll of the people we care about.” Then, he says, “We began to notice his work. We began to feel that God begins where man ends. Slowly we approached the priest.” As a result of his influence on them, “We who were atheists until yesterday, now pray to God for peace. Pray for us to help care for the sick. The courage that was supposed to be lost has somehow returned. We are more energetic now."
“Yesterday, that seventy-five-year-old priest died. That means 120 deaths in three weeks. He helped to give us the peace we never expected in just nine days, when all hope was shattered. Remembering that we were helped by his weakness . . . the good shepherd went to the Lord.”
Dr. Lorenzo closes: “Now I realize I am nothing on this earth. But I will live like that priest until my last breath for others.”
+ Reported by Dr. Jim Denison
+ Common Prayer: In Time of Great Sickness and Mortality + For Trustfulness + For Quiet Confidence
Most mighty and merciful God, to whom alone belong the issues of life and death, in this time of grievous sickness we run to You for relief. Deliver us, we urgently ask You, from our peril and give strength and skill to Your ministers of healing. Bless the means of cure; and grant that, perceiving how frail our earthly life is, we may apply our hearts unto Your heavenly wisdom which leads to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. ... Most loving Father, will us to give thanks for all things, to dread nothing but the loss of You, and to cast all our care on You who cares for us. Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, and grant that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which You have manifested unto us in Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. ... God of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and rest we will be saved, and in quietness and in confidence will be our strength, by the might of Your Spirit lift us, we pray, to Your presence where we may be still and know that You are God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Christ is all,
Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan
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