“Forty” and Important Updates about the Coronavirus
In Holy Scripture, the number forty appears again and again: The Great Flood lasts for forty days and forty nights; the Israelites wander in the wilderness for forty years; Jesus is tempted by Satan for forty days.
In biblical speak, the number forty is not an exact extent of time. Rather, it means “a really long time,” and it always refers, whether in terms of days, weeks, or years, to a duration that taxes those enduring it almost to the breaking point. Those in the midst of such a period yearn for relief and deliverance and often call upon God for help.
I learned this week that the etymology of the word “quarantine” comes from this notion of forty, especially the forty days of Christ in the wilderness. This gives a new depth of meaning to our experience of physical distancing in these days, to our collective self-enforced quarantine, because on the other side of every biblical forty is some new grace: A renewed earth for Noah, the Promised Land for the Hebrews, and Jesus’ own ministry of healing and reconciliation for all people.
We are already experiencing grace in unexpected places. Each week hundreds upon hundreds of people are participating in online worship, more people, in fact, than usually attend the Cathedral in person. Our Cathedral Good Neighbor program is reaching out to our entire parish family, creating webs of community. Our Acts in Easter bible study is engaging scores of parishioners in formation together.
What might the other side of our quarantine, our time in this wilderness, look like? God only knows, but I hope we have a hint in Psalm 40, when we read the words of one who has emerged from his own time of trial:
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
The Lord lifted me out of the pit,
out of the mud and mire;
The Lord set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
The Lord put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Today I share with you some important developments in our response to the coronavirus, as we continue to navigate our “forty.” Bishop Doyle and I have joined bishops, clergy, and other faith leaders from Houston Episcopal, Baptist, United Methodist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran churches in writing a letter to say that, following the consensus of medical leaders in our city, we will continue to worship virtually from home until June 1. This is the right, good, and faithful thing to do. As I said in my sermon on March 15, we will continue to practice physical distance because we love one another enough to do so.
I encourage you to read the ecumenical letter, signed by more than one hundred Houston churches and leaders, here.
Looking ahead, when we do begin to gather together again, for some time longer there will be both public health and diocesan guidelines on how we can do so. Most specifically, Bishop Doyle has instructed that even the June 1 date is dependent upon the Houston area first experiencing fourteen days of decreased community coronavirus spread. Individual church services will initially be limited to fifty people or fewer. I have created a task force that will be thinking through what on-campus gatherings at the Cathedral will look like so that we can accommodate our parishioners with care. In the latter half of May, I will update everyone on those plans.
Our Bishop has been diligently imagining how our parishes must prepare before we can gather safely. Bishop Doyle’s very helpful essay, “Imagine Regathering,” can be found here.
Finally, several parishioners have lamented that we will not be together this year for May Fete. Rest assured, we are working on a fun and interactive virtual May Fete! More on that very soon.
God is with us in our “forty.” God will weave redemption through our experience of these days. We will encounter new grace, and in times to come, we will add our own story to the wilderness journeys of our biblical sisters and brothers. I continue to pray for our Cathedral family every day, and I ask that you pray for the Cathedral, too.
Easter joy to you!
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Cathedral Sunday Worship
We continue to worship together each Sunday…from home! The link to the worship services are found on the homepage of the Cathedral website, www.christchurchcathedral.org, as well as here for 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 5 p.m.
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Supporting the Cathedral
Even as we worship from home, the Cathedral is engaged in ministry. Our pastoral care, outreach, worship, and program ministries of the Cathedral carry on, and supporting Cathedral ministries is as important as ever. You can make your offering in any of these ways:
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Visit the Cathedral Give page to find out the many ways you can support our church
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Make an offering or give in other ways using PayPal
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Text the word “Give” to 888-998-1634
Grace and peace,
The Very Reverend Barkley Thompson, Dean
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