CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL An Episcopal Community in the Heart of Houston, Texas
JUNE 2020 CHRISTCHURCHCATHEDRAL.ORG
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“What does brave look like?” The 2020 Christ Church Cathedral Reads program
Coming off a wildly successful inaugural year last summer, the Cathedral Reads program kicks off again this June. While last year’s program chose one book to read, the southern classic To Kill a Mockingbird, this year, the Cathedral community is invited to read one of two books, or both. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, published in 1989, is Irving’s This year’s Cathedral Reads program features two award-winning novels to dive into. bestselling novel in The Cathedral Reads program was inspired every language. Wonder by R.J. Palacio is a book geared to younger readers, published in by Dean Thompson’s time in Roanoke, VA, 2012, and still a bestselling book. The theme and his participation in its citywide readfor Cathedral Reads this summer is “What ing program called “Roanoke Reads.” The CATHEDRAL READS, page 6 does brave look like?”
Covid-19 challenges The Cathedral’s At Risk Youth Ministry BY LINDA MURPHY
On April 7, the ministry At Risk Youth was deluged with recurring tidal waves of COVID-19 cases beginning with this one: A mother of five children, a model tenant for several years, was laid off from her two long-term positions as a nanny. To make ends meet, she also gathered cans for recycling reimbursement. Because she must shelter in place and care for her children, she is unable even to do that. She received an eviction notice and was terrified. A mother of three, recently indefinitely furloughed from her position as a grocery store
AT RISK MINISTRY, page 7
At Risk Youth provides immediate financial assistance for working poor families with children enrolled in public schools who have experienced an unexpected crisis.
COVID-19 is nearly depleting the capacity of At Risk Youth to respond to this urgent situation, and the pleas for help just keep on coming from those whose jobs have evaporated for the foreseeable future.
Evolving into the stature of Christ I love podcasts, and one of my favorites is Radiolab, where in each episode the hosts tackle some issue of science, the cosmos, or life and always dig so deep as to ultimately address unexpected existential questions. As our collective coronavirus saga continues, VERY REV. I recall an episode of THEBARKLEY Radiolab that aired sevTHOMPSON eral years ago, entitled “Shrink.” The podcast focused upon a strange virus discovered by accident and named “Megavirus.” Usually, viruses are tiny, exponentially smaller than bacteria (think "mouse" compared to "elephant," no kidding). But Megavirus is huge, so big that it dwarfs many bacteria in size. At first, scientists contemplated how and why a virus would have become such a giant, until in a eureka moment they realized that they were thinking about things in reverse order. Maybe Megavirus hadn’t grown big. Rather, maybe Megavirus is the vestigial remnant of what all viruses likely once were. In other words, viruses may have devolved over time — evolution gone backwards. Viruses may have once been normal single-celled organisms but gotten smaller and simpler until now they are really nothing at all, just a snippet of genetic material surrounded by a protein shell. It is even debatable among scientists whether viruses are “alive.” Outside of a host body, a virus is inert; it can’t do anything. Only in a host does a virus spring into action and do its dirty work. It is the ultimate parasite. This strikes me as theological. A virus is the exact contrary to God’s hopes and
STATURE OF CHRIST, page 3