What do you do when you can’t make it to church?
With the forecast looming over the weekend, I had someone ask me earlier in the week what the plan was for church on Sunday. In my Alaskan brain, I thought, “snow...of course you go to church in the snow.” And then I was kindly and graciously reminded of the large amounts of ice, the lack of infrastructure for winter storms, bad drivers, the lack of winter gear (i.e., studded tires and four-wheel drive cars), and power outages. So, with that in mind, I decided that we will have a said service at both 8 and 10:15, with a homily at the latter. I would much rather people be safe and watch online than feel forced to endanger themselves trying to get to Church. However, if the forecast is wrong or the roads are safe enough, you are welcome to join me at church.
While I greatly dislike offering online watching as an alternative for the whole church, there are times when there are “just impediments” that prevent us from attending church. However, this creates a question: What do you do when you can’t make it to church?
At the end of the service for “Communion of the Sick” in the Prayer Book, there is a rubric that says:
“But if a man, either by reason of extremity of sickness, or for want of warning in due time to the Curate, or for lack of company to receive with him, or by any other just impediment, do not receive the Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood: the Curate shall instruct him that if he do truly repent him of his sins, and stedfastly believe that Jesus Christ hath suffered death upon the Cross for him, and shed his Blood for his redemption, earnestly remembering the benefits he hath thereby, and giving him hearty thanks therefore; he doth eat and drink the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ profitably to his soul's health, although he do not receive the Sacrament with his mouth.”
We should notice that the normative practice and implicit call upon the Christian is that they attend the service in person and receive the Sacrament with their mouth. The spiritual reception of Communion is in extreme cases where there is a just impediment that prevents you from coming to church or receiving Holy Communion...one might suggest that dangerous road conditions be included in that.
The reason I dislike suggesting people to watch via YouTube is that too quickly the liturgy (coming from the Greek leitougia, meaning work of the people) becomes entertainment and something you just watch. Rather than worship being the worship and work of the people, it becomes the worship and work of an individual. To prevent this, I encourage you, if you find yourself at home on Sunday, to participate as best you can. While there is beauty, it is a beauty that you participate in. So, follow along in the Prayer Book, standing, kneeling, and sitting accordingly (that is, if the power is not out and we can broadcast the service). And, secondly, have Morning Prayer; the rubrics are there to help you. If you are unfamiliar with leading it yourself, I recommend to you Cradle of Prayer, which you can find via a podcast provider or by going to our church’s website, look under “Additional Resources,” where you will find a link to their website.
The practice of Spiritual Communion emphasizes the grace of God to us in difficult times and the giving of his love to us by uniting us to himself in the midst of difficult circumstances. Yet, this is not a one-to-one correlation where the Sacrament and gathering together as the body of Christ are made null. Let us then be grateful for the mercy and grace of God, that he descends to us to meet us in our limitations, and let us look forward with even more anticipation to next Sunday when we might all gather together and receive Christ in the fullness of Word and Sacrament.
Stay safe this weekend. Hopefully, we will have milder weather than forecasted. Please let me know if you need anything.
God’s Peace,
Fr. Aaron