an online publication of the
Church of the Holy Nativity, Aina Haina
April 1, 2020
HOLY WEEK
at Holy Nativity:


Worship this Sunday, 
April 5, 2020
Palm Sunday
Blessing of the Palms, Passion Gospel Reading & Morning Prayer -- 9am
ONLINE


Maundy Thursday Liturgy
Thursday, April 9
630pm
ONLINE

Good Friday Liturgy
Friday, April 10
12noon
ONLINE
 

EASTER DAY!
April 12, 2020
Morning Prayer -- 9am
ONLINE

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Thursday Centering Prayer
Thursday afternoons (4-5pm)
Join us online using "Zoom." Go to www.zoom.us and click on the phrase,"Join a Meeting."  When prompted, type in the Meeting ID, which is 330990103.


(Please note that our Wednesday 10am Eucharist
postponed until further notice; please pray for one another during this time!) 


Serving this Sunday 
April 5)  
Palm Sunday

9am Morning Prayer
Officiant: 
     The Rev. Libby Berman
Deacon:
     The Rev. Robert Steele

Student in Formation: Frank Condello
Lectors: 
Prayers of the People: 


Serving next Sunday 
(April 12)   
Easter

9am Morning Prayer 
Officiant: 
     The Rev. Libby Berman
Deacon:
     The Rev. Robert Steele

Student in Formation: Frank Condello
Lectors: 
Prayers of the People: 
The Sunday Readings


 
Rector
The Rev. Libby Berman
hncrector@gmail.com

The Vestry
Sr. Warden: Austin Nakoa
Jr. Warden: Joe Kindrich
Treasurer: Jean Steele
Clerk: Nancy Thomas
Members at Large: Justin Donahue, Rich Miller, Lila Johnson, Jeff Taylor, Ed Moore, Wyn Aubrey-Child, Nina Livingston, Tusi Mayer, Gretchen Yamaguchi

Office Hours-Staff may be working from home; please call ahead to make sure someone is in the office; thank you!
Monday-Thursday, 9am-1pm
(808) 373-2131
hncparish@gmail.com
www.holynativityhawaii.org
 
Parish Bookkeeper
Kathy Kia
hncoperationsmanager@gmail.com
 
Parish Administrator
Punahele Coldwell
hncparish@gmail.com
 
Prayer List

In our parish, we pray for Lora V.,  Frank, Dorie, Rita, Wayne, Victoria, Sandee, Ronny, Donna, Sylvia, Blake, Bruce, Helen, Wes, Terri, Kendall, Bob, Yoko, Lola, Robert Y., Bobby Y., Lois C., The King Family, June A., Diane M., Pamela F., Heather, Richard P., Guthrie, Teri, and for those who have contracted the Corona virus. 

 

We are posting a day by day meditation from Forward Movement.  This is a great way to start your day with prayer.  Please consider clicking on the website above. 
Interim Head of School 
Jeanne Wilks

Rooted in the Episcopal tradition, Holy Nativity School is dedicated to excellence in education within a small and personalized environment. Built upon principles of respect and inclusion, Holy Nativity School values each child's individuality as it develops principled citizens who recognize their role in the local and global community.  


Holy Nativity Thrift Shop
(808) 373-3744

Our Thrift Store currently is closed until at least April 13, given the COVID-19 outbreak.  Please check here or on the website for more information.  Take care; we hope to see you soon!

Click here to visit the Thrift Shop webpage.



AGAPE LOVE: In Literature & in our Lives

(Many thanks to Ed Moore, now retired after many decades of teaching English Literature at Punahou School, for this week's reflection.)

I love chocolate chip cookies; I love the Boston Red Sox (especially when they are winning); I am sure if I had pets I would love them, too. I love God and Jesus.  But something is wrong here; the verb used to express my feelings for a food, baseball team or Fido and Kitty is the same as the word used to express my feelings toward the Lord and Christ.

I love the English language (there's that word again!); after all it has paid my rent for 51 years.  But it fails badly when it comes to the word love. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul uses the Greek word "agape," one of the four words the Greeks used to differentiate the four types of love.  Agape is the unconditional, self-sacrificial love for all humanity that Jesus taught and modeled-and the word he used almost exclusively. Paul writes:

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I  have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal....I am nothing." (NKJV)

Literature abounds with examples of agape: Dilsey, the Compson family's black servant, in William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, certainly is one .  Undervalued, disrespected and subject to constant verbal abuse, she continues to serve the Compson family, not out of duty but out of love.  As the Compson family decomposes, her eyes fill with tears as she leaves the Black church on Easter Sunday.  "I seed de beginnin en now I sees the endin," she laments.  Returning to the Compson house, she dries her tears, throws back her shoulders, and readies herself to do whatever she can for those who have so abused her.

The whisky Priest in Graham Greene's powerful novel The Power and the Glory is the last remaining priest in a Mexican state that has outlawed religion and which hunts down and summarily executes priests.  With a 700 peso reward on his head and reduced to abject poverty, he learns compassion and agape love for all humans in, of all places, a prison cell:  "He had a sense of companionship he had never felt in the old days when pious people came kissing black cotton glove."  Eventually he escapes to safety, only to be lured back, having been told a murderer wanted by the police and dying of his wounds wants to confess. He knows it is a trap, but he goes anyway, hoping beyond belief that he just might save a man's soul. (Spoiler alert: of course it is a trap and he is executed.)

King Lear, in Shakespeare's mammoth tragedy, finds himself on a heath in a raging storm, stripped of power, position and property.  Reduced to nothing and suffering in the storm, Lear prays: 

"Poor naked wretches, whereso'ere you are
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm, 
How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides;
Your looped and windowed raggedness defend you
From season such as these. O; I have ta'en 
too little care of this."

Then, wishing to expose himself to "feel what wretches feel," he rips off his clothes: "Off. Off, you lendings!" Like the whisky priest, he has connected with the poor, the destitute, the homeless and those staring into the darkness. With his new found empathy, Lear moves on with his journey toward compassion and agape for his fellow humans.

The whisky priest and Lear exemplify what Walt Whitman espouses in " Song of Myself" :   " Then I knew that all men were my brothers and all women my sisters and lovers and that a kelson of creation is Love."

One has only to look at the overworked,  over-whelmed, under-protected and under-equipped health care workers risking their lives as they minster to those suffering the Covid-19 virus to know this agape is alive in today's world.

We, too, can offer one another "agape" love.  We are called on as perhaps never before to think of our fellow humans by quarantining ourselves, not only to save ourselves but to keep one less person away from the ICU and not spreading the virus, and to connecting with others by whatever technological means we have at our disposal.  In doing so, we will be heeding the call of Jesus.

ONLINE WORSHIP - PALM SUNDAY

On this coming Sunday, April 5, we again invite everyone to join us for an online Palm Sunday service online (using "Zoom") at 9am.  Our last two services have gone very well; this past Sunday, we invited a new team of readers, intercessor, and musicians to join us, and managed to move from one leader to the next smoothly, even though everyone was serving from home.  To join us in coming weeks, simply go to the front page of the Holy Nativity Church website
( www.HolyNativityHawaii.org ) and press the "CLICK HERE" button that is located on the front page under "Worship Services."  If you do not have a computer or if you wish to call in using your phone, dial +1 669 900 9128 and, when you receive a verbal prompt, type in our "meeting ID," which is 537 938 292 .   We look forward to "seeing you" in church!

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Readings for Palm Sunday are on the "Lectionary Page" located in the left column of the Banyan Tree.
 
(April 12, 2020)

Join us online for our 9am celebratory service!

We hope to be able to celebrate Easter or Pentecost in person, on an upcoming Sunday when it is deemed safe for us to gather together in community, once again!
 
THE TREASURER'S TWO CENTS
(from Jean Steele)

Bishop Fitzpatrick has written to tell us "the Diocesan Council has approved the 'COVID-19 Emergency Assessment Waiver' for April and May."   Our monthly assessment is $5670;  this decision means we are relieved of an obligation of $11,340 as we go into the Spring.  This "assessment" supports the operations of the bishop's office and the various ministries supported by our diocese.  Our assessment has been waived for two months because the Council recognizes that we are not receiving contributions during Sunday services and that some congregants may be experiencing financial difficulties due to the economic impacts of this health crisis.  The Council's decision demonstrates considerable forethought and kindness; we are blessed.  

At the same time, it has been recommended to us that our first priority should be to continue to pay salaries and  benefits for our employees;  our second priority is taxes and our third is vendors.  With the cash we have on hand, we can keep up with expenses for several weeks, but we have had to discontinue the use of the gym and have credited our renters with one month's rent.  The closure is for March 16 through April 12, but this period is likely to be extended as we learn more about the virus contagion's progress.  Our Thrift Shop is also closed.  The reality is that space rentals, wedding re-enactments and our Thrift Shop together contribute more to our budget than the contributions of our members.  Thus, we can see that we are headed toward financial challenges.  Therefore, we ask our members to keep up with your usual giving levels--if you can.  If you would like to make a special gift during these extraordinary circumstances, please let Rev.Libby know or simply send a check to our church office.

Because our parish is fortunate to have some funds invested with our diocese, we can make withdrawals as may be necessary going forward.  Nevertheless, we will do this reluctantly, preferring to use only the income from these investments and only for other ministries.  Your Treasurer plans to report to you again in a few weeks.

CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER GROUP "PRAYS ON" - EVERY THURSDAY at 4

Participants in the Contemplative Prayer group that meets at Holy Nativity on Thursday afternoon from 4-5pm invite folks to join them on Zoom for their continuing meetings.  At each gathering (online now, just as in person before) our facilitator will read a prayer and then invite viewers into 20 minutes of silence together.  After the silence, the facilitator often will continue by reading a few verses from scripture three times, inviting viewers to pray with those verses or use colored pencils to "draw their prayer."  At the end, those who would like to share their drawing or whatever came to them in prayer are welcomed to do so.  Participants may join and leave the group at any time during the hour.  If you are new to contemplative prayer, or if you have questions, please email me at hncrector@gmail.com.  I have found this group to be a source of great comfort, joy,  and strength during this time!

COMPLINE ONLINE at SSJE.ORG

The brothers of Saint John the Evangelist (from whom our Lenten Study series came) are offering Evening Services of Compline at ssje.org. They welcome folks to join them.  The text is provided.
For ongoing encouragement from our bishop and diocesan staff , go to
 
FROM THE OUTREACH COMMITTEE

ALOHA EVERYONE,

Please spend a few minutes to fill out this short survey to help us best serve you, keep in touch and keep our spirits up and faith strong during this challenging time.  How wonderful it is to be able to spend more time at home with our loved ones, and in our captivity, get all the things done around the house that we have been meaning to do for the longest time!!   

THIS SURVEY IS SO THE CHURCH FAMILY CAN BE RESPONSIVE TO THE NEEDS OF EVERYONE IN OUR COMMUNITY.

PLEASE circle YES OR NO,   so that when you call or e-mail, you will remember your answers!

QUESTION 1
BIBLE STUDY WITH ZOOM. (INTERNET.)        
YES.          NO.        (LEADER TO BE DECIDED)

QUESTION 2
WEEKLY CALLS TO CHAT  WITH EACH OTHER  USING  PHONE TREE.     
YES.       NO.   

QUESTION 3
APPOINTMENT CHATS WITH REV. LIBBY.        YES.        NO.

QUESTION 4
BOOK STUDY (WITH CHRISTIAN FOCUS) ON ZOOM. (INTERNET)       
YES.     NO.     (LEADER TO BE DECIDED.)

THANK YOU EVERYONE.  PLEASE EITHER E-MAIL ME WITH YOUR ANSWERS,   wynaubrey@gmail.com  or feel free to call with your answers at: 808-366-1386.

MAHALO,  WYN.
P.S.  If anyone has any other ideas or suggestions of how to  keep in touch, feel free to let me or any member of the Vestry know.
Applications Now Open for the Holy Nativity School Board
I f interested, please be in touch with Rich Miller for more information and the timetable.