A Nurturing God

[As the COVID-19 threat looms, most churches have canceled Sunday services. This is a re-post from two years ago - a happy surprise that I encountered which bears repeating.]

Grace Episcopal Church in Woodlawn (photo from the church's website)

Last Sunday, I made a return visit to Grace Episcopal Church.  It is a parish that is Anglo-Catholic in its liturgy and is committed to its ministry to the needy with a daily soup kitchen, food pantry, and other means of relief for the poor and the marginalized.  On cold winter nights, the church opens its parish hall to provide a warming station, giving the homeless and the needy a safe warm place to sleep.  

We are in the middle of Lent.  Many churches observe the fourth Sunday of Lent as Mothering Sunday.  Mothering Sunday is traditionally a time for people to go back to the parish where they were baptized to honor their mother church.  I wasn’t thinking of Mothering Sunday as I entered that sacred space.  It was simply a time for me to attune myself to Grace in its worship and ministry.

The Sacred Feminine

I found myself unusually moved at the close of the worship service with the post-Communion prayer. It was a prayer that called to mind the feminine aspects of God in a beautifully personal way.

In the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, used in Episcopal Churches across the U.S., there are two basic post-Communion prayers.  In my experience, those two prayers had been used interchangeably at the end of each service, giving thanks to God for feeding us with the sacraments, taking strength for going out into the world.  As in:

“...you have fed us with spiritual food

in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood.

Send us now into the world in peace…”

Or,

“…we thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food

of the most precious Body and Blood

of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ…”

  

They are both beautiful prayers acknowledging God’s love for us and our role of service to humanity as living witnesses to God's eternal kingdom.* Like so many things that we say repeatedly or by rote, we sometimes fail to fully appreciate the beauty or the astounding impact of the prayers we pray in our sacred space during times of worship.

On this day, however, the post-Communion prayer had a definite impact upon me as I heard the words. It wonderfully reflected a maternal image of God.

Loving God,

as a mother feeds her children at the breast­­­­­

you feed us in this sacrament

with the food and drink of eternal life:

help us who have tasted your goodness

to grow in grace within

the household of faith;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The shift in that prayer got my attention and opened my heart in a new way. Knowing that there are maternal images of God in scripture that are often overlooked, I was thankful to have that loving and nurturing image brought forth in our time of worship.  In fact, I was so moved that I wanted to know where the prayer came from.

A Gift from the Anglican Communion

I asked the rector of Grace Church, Rev. Robyn Arnold, about the source of the post Communion prayer used that day.  She told me that it was from The Book of Common Worship, which is used by The Church of England.  I wondered if I had been blessed by this prayer because I just happened to show up on Mothering Sunday. Rev. Arnold told me, for my further enlightenment, that while it is especially appropriate for Mothering Sunday it works for any time the Church calendar or the scripture readings call to mind the nurturing qualities of God.

It is amazing what a shift toward the feminine can do for one's heart and psyche. I am reminded of such a shift that occurred for me years ago which I have written about before. That “shift” happened the first time I heard Bobby McFerrin,  also an Episcopalian, sing his version of Psalm 23. It was on a telecast with the Boston Pops Symphony Orchestra. He used  the feminine pronoun in reference to God, and that one change moved me to tears as I listened. 

At this half-way point in the Lenten season, I am thankful for my Anglican friends who can call to mind the feminine, nurturing aspects of a loving God.

_________________________

* Post-Communion prayers from the 1979 Episcopal Book of Common Prayer:

Eternal God, heavenly Father,

you have graciously accepted us as living members

of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ,

and you have fed us with spiritual food

in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood.

Send us now into the world in peace,

and grant us strength and courage

to love and serve you

with gladness and singleness of heart;

through Christ our Lord. Amen.

or the following

Almighty and everliving God,

we thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food

of the most precious Body and Blood

of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ;

and for assuring us in these holy mysteries

that we are living members of the Body of your Son,

and heirs of your eternal kingdom.

And now, Father, send us out

to do the work you have given us to do,

to love and serve you

as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord.

To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit,

be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.

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