September 2015 – A Seminarian’s Letters Home

To the membership of Circle of Faith Parish:

Greetings to you all from Evanston, IL! I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it, but every year, summer seems to go by that much faster! We’ve gotten through another summer of synod assembly, weddings, a different worship schedule, those fantastic Mission on the Prairie gatherings, and over a month of celebrating Holy Communion every week. Now, as the ELCA, we’re moving toward God’s Work, Our Hands Sunday in early September. I think this ties together really well with what we’ve spent the last month doing.

When I’ve been authorized to preside at Communion at Circle of Faith, right after the Lord’s Prayer, I usually break the bread and say, “Behold what you are. Become what you receive – the body of Christ.” It’s a quote from St. Augustine, but I think it’s also a good point to remember when we come to Communion. We don’t just come to the meal to receive forgiveness of sins (although that’s certainly part of it, and we need it all the time). We come to become vessels for grace. When we eat that bread and drink that wine, we then leave church and are empowered by that food to be the face and hands of Jesus for somebody else.

We break the bread in church and give it away, and then we go out and are broken and given away ourselves. When we bring a hotdish to someone who just had a death in the family, when we work on making a quilt to be given away for Lutheran World Relief, when we welcome our guests to Harvest Homecoming by feeding them and teaching them and introducing them to farm animals, we’re doing what our baptism made us to do. Communion keeps us going in that journey. May our month of celebrating weekly Communion keep us conscious of that as we hit the streets to do God’s work with our hands.

Heading into our harvest season and autumn’s colors, let us pray for God’s blessing, using these words:

Abundant God, we give you thanks for the fruitful earth, which provides what is needed for life. Bless those who work in the fields; grant favorable weather to all engaged in agriculture; and help us to ensure that all people share the fruits of the earth, rejoicing in your goodness; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. [ELW, Agriculture]

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Your fellow member and pilgrim,

Carl P. Rabbe, M.Div.