Abstract
Ash Wednesday is a great time for an all-age liturgy. A time when God’s children of every age can reflect on their actions as they live out God’s two great commandments. At St. Mary’s young people have always been invited to the celebratory and joyful Shrove Tuesday event but have never been encouraged to attend the solemn and reflective Ash Wednesday ritual. One of the goals of St. Mary’s in the last few years has been to renovate the solemn adult liturgies so that they maintain a theological depth while becoming accessible to every age. The motivation for this is two-fold.
First, to build a bridge between Sunday School and the general liturgies so that young people begin to have a church experience common to the majority of God’s Great Family.
Second, to offer older people an opportunity to pray with the younger ones and become mentors in faith.
In our experiments we have found that this goal has enriched the liturgical and theological depth of the congregation.
The following liturgy is meant for an All-Age Shrove Thursday or Ash Wednesday gathering. The liturgy uses techniques meant to engage non-readers so that it can be enjoyed by every age. These techniques include repeat-after-me prayers, repetition, brevity and extroverted involvement. As always, it is important that children experience worship in the primary worship space of the congregation.
The framework for this liturgy is an abridged version of the Gospel lesson for Ash Wednesday, Matthew 6:2-6, 16-18. The gospel lesson invites us to reflect on our actions and respond to God’s love by sharing, praying, and eating. Advertisements for this liturgy should include an invitation for congregation members to bring a donation for the local food bank or other local charity as discerned by the community. The liturgy can either move into a festive Shrove Tuesday supper or a simple Ash Wednesday meal.
The refrain and prayers are taken from Prayers to Complete the Day (David Taylor, © 2012). These songs are repeat-after-me and require a leader confident in singing. Other refrains can be used according to the custom of the community.
This is a repeat-after-me prayer.
The Presider says each line, which is then repeated by the congregation.
All-loving God,
You love everything you make
And forgive all our sins.
Create new hearts in us,
So we can follow your commandments:
To love you with our whole heart
And to love our neighbours as ourselves;
Through Jesus Christ
Our Friend and Helper.
Amen
Matthew 6:2-4 (suggested translation in italics)
Jesus said, “whenever you give, do not sound a trumpet before you, like pretenders do, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
[whispered] God has given us good things. Let us give thanks to God!
The peace of God be always with you.
As the peace is shared, donations to the local food bank or other charity can be brought up and placed around the altar, or the liturgical centre of the room. The refrain, or another song can be sung until all the gifts are collected.
Matthew 6:5-6
“And whenever you pray, do not be like pretenders; for they love to stand and pray so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
[whispered] God has made us from the dust of the earth. May these ashes remind us that we live and move and have our being by the breath and Spirit of God.
A cross of ash is marked on each forehead with the whispered words, “You are dust filled with the Spirit of God”. The refrain, or another song, can be repeated until all have been marked.
Matthew 6:16-18(19-21)
“And whenever you fast, do not look depressed, like the fakers, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, wash your face and your hair, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
[whispered] Let us give thanks to God who gives us food to eat. We remember those who go hungry and pray for God’s peace.
If the meal is being eaten in the same room as the service, sing the grace and repeat the refrain until the meal service is complete. If the meal is being eaten in a different room than the service, sing the entire grace and the refrain once and move to the other location for the following prayer.
This is a repeat-after-me prayer.
The Presider says each line, which is then repeated by the congregation.
Loving God,
We are your children
Made of dust,
Filled with your spirit.
May we always follow Jesus:
Generous to all people,
And trusting in your help.
Through the same, our Friend and Helper.
Amen.
Go in peace and observe a Holy Lent.
Food Exchange and Matthew’s Social Location
James P. Grimshaw, The Matthean Community and the World: An Analysis of Matthew’s Food Exchange, SBL 111 (Frankfurt am Main/New York: Peter Lang, 2008. €65.60/$91.95/£55.00. pp. xiv + 276. ISBN: 978-1-4331-0083-3).
This monograph is a revision of Grimshaw’s doctoral dissertation, which was written at Vanderbilt University. The goal of this study is to explore ‘the Matthean community’s relationship with the world through the lens of food exchange’ (p. 3). The thesis is arranged in four parts. The first part seeks to problematize previous studies on Matthew’s social location. Instead Grimshaw argues that ‘the Matthean texts can be read as evidence for the relationship between the Matthean community and the world’ (p. 10).
Part two focuses on three key texts Matt 6:1-21, 25-34; 7:7-11 with consideration of Matt 4:1-11, texts which are seen as reflecting food exchange issues within the Matthean community. In the first passage it is suggested that food exchange occurs within a kinship group between a father and his children (p. 55). Grimshaw argues that the type of food exchange in 6.25-34 envisages a scheme where food exchange goes beyond biological needs, and instead results from seeking first for the kingdom. By contrast in Matt 7:7-11 the focus is upon the family unit, and consequently is seen as speaking of the strengthening of social bonds within the community. Part three looks at two texts (Matt 10:5-11.1; 12:1-8) as depicting food exchange outside the community. It is argued that while ‘the Matthean community may, in part, be exerting its own independence, it also understands itself as part of and participating in the larger world around it’ (p. 150). The last part highlights two passages (Matt 14:13-22; 15:29-39), which are seen as combining perspectives on food exchange both within and outside the community. It is suggested that in this section the Matthean community moves forward from seeing itself in a liminal relationship with the world, to understanding its responsibility to provide for those outside the community. It is perhaps surprising that in this section there is no use of the Canaanite woman’s perspective that even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the table (Matt 15:27).
Overall the thesis argues that ‘food exchange [progresses] into areas that include characters at greater and greater kinship distance from the Matthean community’ (p. 187). In the final section (pp. 189-190), Grimshaw argues that his reading ‘recognizes the complex and positive interactions between the community and the world and attempts to avoid portraying frozen relationships of domination, subordination and exploitation; rather the interpretation encourages the depiction of relationships of cooperation and mutual support’ (p. 190). While this reading may have suggestive significance for contemporary society, there remains an ongoing doubt as to whether food exchange is actually an appropriate heuristic device for understanding the historical setting of the Matthean community.