In this Issue:

Diocese of Lexington reaches out to Survivors of Katrina

St. Raphael's first ever J2A Pilgrims Rock Ireland

Part of the Heart of Our Mission: Announcements

Solo Flight ritual: the art of loving

EYE: Can You Catch The Spirit Off The Beaten Path?

Hurricane Katrina News and Notes

Commentaries

From the Bishop: Matthew Goes to College

Reflection: Finding a home in the storm

X-ercizing: Community, solidarity, and humanity

Diocesan Calendar

Past Issues

St. Raphael's first ever J2A Pilgrims Rock Ireland

St. Raphael’s J2A group made their pilgrimage to Glendalough, in the Wicklow Mountains of Ireland, the first week of July. After caravanning to Atlanta, crossing “the pond,” and seeing the best of London in five hours, we arrived in Dublin jet-lagged but joyful. Our guide, Anglican priest Marcus Losack, and our bus driver, Jimmy, claimed us and swept us away to St. Kevin’s Retreat House, where we would spend the next five days and six nights getting much better acquainted with each other and with the Holy Spirit. After a spaghetti supper we were lulled to sleep by the bleating of sheep.

July 4 was gorgeous and sunny; we toured the ruins of St. Kevin’s Monastic City. Why did St. Kevin choose this site to build his monastery? St. Kevin had begun his religious life in the desert; this part of Ireland was the “green desert” he sought to spread Christianity to the Celtic people. Within this “desert” it was all about geography — anywhere two rivers meet is a sacred place. The well near these two rivers is the sacred well, and the tree nearest the well is the holy tree.

According to tradition, if one holds up a prayer to God, ties a ribbon to the tree, and walks around the well clockwise three times, the prayer will be heard. Thus Marcus began his tales of how ancient pagan customs gave way to Christian reinterpretation. The Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone, the nature-based trinity of the Druids, was replaced by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Celebrations marking the winter solstice, the lactation of the sheep, and the first harvest became Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. We ended with an Independence Day feast of Chicken Tikka, vanilla ice cream and strawberries, red, white, and blue M and Ms, and a rousing chorus of “America” with Marcus as our guest.

The next day it rained. As we toured the area around the Upper Lake clouds of “midgies,” Ireland’s stinging gnats, were fierce. We saw the foundation of St. Kevin’s Cell, Reefert Church, and across the crystal-clear lake saw the opening to St. Kevin’s Bed, the cave where he would spend his time in the wilderness.

Wednesday we visited a Druid worshiping circle, and saw high crosses at Castledermot and Moone. These were decorated with deeply-carved drawings of Bible stories, like Christian totem poles. After a thousand years of erosion Abraham and Isaac resembled baked potatoes, but thanks to St. Raphael’s excellent Godly Play teachers, our youth could name the correct stories every time.

In Kildare, we visited St. Brigid’s Cathedral and climbed the Round Tower. We had a prayer service at St. Brigid’s Wayside Well. Brigid was the pre-Christian deity of the sacred feminine. St. Brigid established her abbey and church around 480 A.D. She embodied women’s gifts of care-giving, peacemaking, and hospitality, and her intelligence and management skills prompted the local Bishop to canonize her, naming her the only woman with the power of Apostolic Succession.

We spent Thursday in Dublin touring the Museum of Ireland and viewing the book of Kells. It was that day that the London terrorist bombings occurred, bringing our mindset out of things holy down to earthly troubles and back to heaven as we prayed for those affected. Our last day in Ireland began with a Eucharist, with time for reflection before a farewell dinner at the Glendalough Hotel.

After three years of J2A meetings and seemingly endless fundraisers, the big question: Was this long trek worth it? Bryana Boone: “I believe that to truly find God, you must first find yourself. I know that it took getting out of my usual mindset, out of my bad habits, even out of the country to do that for me.”

Rachel Bongard: “Ireland is really cool and green and beautiful. When it’s quiet and you are taking in the environment it is a really spiritual experience.”

Lauren Sevigny: “The group bonded a huge amount spiritually and physically from listening to the sounds of a Druid worshiping circle to swimming in an ice cold mountain pond — it was great.”

Alyssa McKenzie: “Our group leader Marcus showed us a different side of religion and spirituality that I never realized or thought about.”

Chris Bollinger: “Seeing how a small poor community could work together to build something that lasted over 1000 year has given me perspective on what might really be important in life.”

Dave Sevigny: “I witnessed first hand the transformation of St. Raphael’s youth into emerging adults. The J2A program has been key to our retention of youth and their families in the church. As a parent, I had my doubts about the final pilgrimage and have concluded that the pilgrimage was the most essential part of the program. Our girls came back young women with a renewed fervor and energy as a group, and as part of our community.”

—Submitted by Amy Smereck

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© 2005 The Episcopal Diocese of Lexington

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