An Unusual but Very Special Roman Catholic Mass...in Antarctica

Chaplain Laura and Mary, Catholic Eucharistic Minister

I really wanted to tell this story on my blog when I was deployed to Antarctica in 2010, but was asked to wait awhile, as "Rome (the Vatican) might become upset!". 

Hmmm.  (Yes, I am really concerned about the Vatican becoming upset.  I am a female priest, Episcopal priest that is!) 

But, in the spirit of respect and collegiality, I have waited a few years before now sharing this story on my blog.

So here was the situation.  While I was serving as the "Protestant" Chaplain at the Chapel of the Snows in McMurdo Station, my Roman Catholic colleague, Fr. Ron, a civilian priest from New Zealand, was to rotate back to New Zealand after serving 4 weeks in Antarctica.  His replacement was to come down and serve for 4 weeks.  Us Protestant Chaplains were in the Air National Guard, and served for 8 weeks. So during my 8 week tour, I would serve with two different Roman Catholic priests. 

About the last week or so Fr. Ron 's 4 week tour of duty, we found out that his replacement was not able to come down to Antarctica due to health issues.  No substitute could be found.  So, basically in a few days, we would have no Roman Catholic priest.

The Catholic mass was held every Sunday at 9 am, and the Protestant service at 10:30 am, which I led.   We tried to think of a way to still hold a Catholic service for the Catholics serving at McMurdo Station. And this is what we came up with....

Fr. Ron asked a young lady, (Mary, in the photo above) if she would like to be a lay Eucharistic minister and lead the service.  She wanted to, but was a bit nervous as she had not done anything like this before.    I offered to give a homily for the Catholic mass, as I used the lectionary for my homilies too, and we were on the same schedule for scripture readings as the Roman Catholics.

And so, Fr. Ron gave Mary a crash course in leading a lay Eucharist Catholic service. 

As for music, another Catholic laywoman played guitar and sang and was very, very good.  Mary seemed a bit more relaxed knowing we would all be doing this together.  

Before each little "mass" we led, all three of us would pray together, and then go and lead the Catholic service.

And so, for two or three Sundays, three women led the Roman Catholic mass there in McMurdo Station.  Me, the "Protestant" Chaplain giving the homily, Mary as the Lay Eucharistic Minister, and the other lady leading the music! 

And all were happy at the Chapel of the Snows, Catholic and Protestant alike!

And all was good!



(And I would be willing to bet, the Vatican would be happy about this too!)

More Stories from the Edge..."Ministry of Presence"

Seven Sands Chapel, SW Asia  2009

As a chaplain in the military, we go where the people go.   The ministry is primarily what is called "ministry of presence", meaning, being with the people.  The ministry is done in hallways, visiting people at their various places of work, in their offices, on the flight line, in the hangars, in the clinics, in the training areas, and so forth.  The ministry is highly relational.  It may seem like just hanging out, but that is where you get to know people, they get to know you and relationships are built.

 Chapel Tent, FTX Gila Bend  2006

Being that we go where the people go, a military chaplain can lead worship from some unusual places.   For example, I have led services ranging from a chapel in Arabia called "Seven Sands Chapel", to a chapel near the South Pole at McMurdo Station, Antarctica appropriately named "Chapel of the Snows"!  

Chapel in a Conex, Ft Irwin FTX 2001

When we go on an FTX (field training exercise) I cannot tell you how many times I have led worship in a Chapel Tent.

And of course there are the many chapels at airbases where I have served; Luke AFB, the USAF Academy, etc.   

And for those places where there is no chapel, well you make do.   Classrooms, outside, board rooms, gyms, even conexes can become makeshift chapels!    

When it is 120 degrees outside, anything that has AC, of which this conex did, will do! 

Three musical chaplains, Ft Jackson, 2000

In this photo, we are leading a rockin' musical worship service in a giant gym to at least 2000 Army Basic Trainees at Ft Jackson, SC.  Yes that is me playing the djembe. 


Yes, where the people are, there we be!

 

Spirituality and Weeds

Working in a vineyard

Lent.  

It can seem austere, perhaps a bit too penitential.   But Lent can be a special time of spiritual renewal and growth. 

Lent reminds me it is time for cleaning out my 'spiritual closet', so to speak.   Our spiritual vineyards or gardens need to be cleared out every so often... get those dead plants and brush out of there...otherwise how can new life grow?

The days get longer and warmer.  In fact the word Lent means "lengthening".   Springtime!   And this time of year …. rain, rain rain. 

And then come the weeds.  Everywhere!  All over my yard. And every year, there I am, pulling those weeds!  

Oh, it would be so much easier to just hire someone to clean my yard and pull the weeds. Or, I could just ignore the weeds, but then they will overtake my yard! 

Weed pulling can be a kind of "zen thing".  I feel a spiritual solace as I pull up the weeds, slow and painstaking as it may be.  For as I uproot the weeds in my yard, I am trying to uproot the spiritual weeds growing in my heart.

What weeds may be growing in your spiritual garden?  

Has the weed of anger popped up in your garden?  Or how about the weed of resentment?  Or perhaps the weeds of fear & worry are abound in your garden.    Or maybe you may have the weed of impatience growing in your spiritual vineyard!   Perhaps some of us may have the weed of arrogance ...or the weed of despair.   Or do you have the weed of not being able to forgive all over your yard?   What about the weeds of cynicism, negativity, mean-spiritedness?    On it goes.

What are your spiritual weeds?

Is time for a little spiritual weed pulling in your garden?

The Silicon Valley Guard

Space Shuttle over Golden Gate Bridge

The next time you are in San Francisco know there is an Air National Guard unit located down at the southern end of the bay quietly doing its job; rescuing people and saving lives. 

Located in between Sunnyvale and Mountain View, it is the heart of the infamous "Silicon Valley".

Last September the Space Shuttle did a fly-by over the SF Bay including Moffett Airfield on its way to its permanent home in LA.  It was pretty incredible to see!

An Air Rescue over SF Bay (129th Air Rescue Wing)

See the photo to the left, a rescue being performed just in front of the Golden Gate bridge in the chilly waters of the SF Bay!

Since 2005, the unit has logged over 900 rescues!

The unit's motto is "These things we do that others may live".

I have to admit, it is a pretty cool mission.  


Moffett Field began as a Navy base back in the 1930s.  This was when the surrounding area, Santa Clara valley was still mostly orchards.  The mission was for lighter than air aircraft.  Blimps!

Moffett from the sky, notice the three oblong blimp hangars

The base has three oblong and very strange looking hangars, blimp hangars!  If you look closely at the photo to the right you will see them. 

The  active duty Navy left in the 1990s and  Moffett is now mainly "owned" by NASA.   The NASA Ames Research Center is also located at Moffett and has had a big part in Silicon Valley.  

Moffett has been and continues to be a big part of the activity here.  In fact, Moffett probably helped create Silicon Valley.  As businesses began to pop up all around it and research breakthroughs were made with the transistor and later the integrated circuit, military contracts were big business.

Google, in Mountain View, CA

Google is just outside of Moffett on one side and Microsoft the other.   Yahoo is just a few blocks away.  Hewlett Packard is across the street.   And within very close proximity is Apple, eBay, Intel, Facebook, and a miriad of other electronics, computer and internet based businesses.   Stanford University is just a few miles up the way in Palo Alto.

Street names such as "Innovation" and "Enterprise" well describe the culture of Silicon Valley.

My military assignments have taken me so many places. Moffett is one of them.

Eons ago when I was flying to basic training, to Lackland AFB, I had no idea I would be in the military this many years.  That I would go to all these places....meet and work with so many incredible people...learn and experience so many things...

Yesterday as I took my physical fitness test and speed walked down the road that is next to one of those oblong hangars and with Hewlett Packard right outside the base fence, I could not help but contemplate how wonderful it was to be here and be able do this.  It was a beautiful day.  I gave thanks.

The military doctor the day before reviewed my medical records and stated, "You are very lucky".

More than luck, I thought.  Much more than luck!