Blessing of the Fleet

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Today is a very special day. Today is the second Sunday in the Easter season. Today we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Easter is a time for new beginnings.

We have a number of new beginnings going on. The weather has changed and the snow is (mostly) gone. Crocuses are springing up along with the snowdrops. New greenery is emerging on the trees and the gardening club is getting organized. Spring has emerged from winter. Nature is being reborn as it is every year.


The tourist season is just around the corner. Many people are getting ready to go back to work. Soon we will once again have restaurants. Soon the road will be busy with people we don’t know. Soon will come the time when we grieve the loss of our quiet community and embrace the new life and business which comes with that change.


Some new births are much more painful. Right now our prayers need to be with Poland and all her people. They are a nation who will have little time to grieve their great loss yesterday as they struggle to rebuild their government. In yesterday’s plane crash they also lost much of their living history. It is impossible for us to truly feel their pain, but we can pray for them and be thankful for what we have.


In our own community, we have more new births. Last week we baptized three new members of the Body of Christ; Jeremy, Sean, and Landon. With each person who is baptized, the Body of Christ gains a new image of God. With each of the baptized, the church is one step closer to being complete; one step closer to the Kingdom of God. As members of the Body of Christ, we need to see each other as reflections of God. Each and every one of us worthy of love and needing each other’s support.


Our community is also growing in our relationship. As we make our way together through this first year of my ministry here, we are learning about each other. We are coming to new realizations about ourselves, about our strengths and our weaknesses. We are learning where we need support and where we can give support. We are learning about different traditions. Struggling with unspoken assumptions. Finding new faith and understanding on the other side.


Saturday is a big day. I’m sure you all know that the crab fishery opens on Saturday. Today we are blessing the fleet. What does it mean for us to bless them?

First of all, it means that we are asking God to make his presence known to them. That no matter what happens this season, God is their companion while on land and at sea. No matter what happens, God is sharing their successes and their failures, the good times and the bad. God is with them.

We are also praying for their safety and for abundance in the seas. We are praying today and promising to pray throughout the season. We will be providing a symbol of these prayers and God’s presence to be carried on each of the boats.


We will be remembering two of the Saints that come from deep within the tradition of the Christian church.

First, we remember Saint Andrew. St. Andrew was the first fisherman to follow Christ. He gave up everything for his faith, including his life. Andrew is an example for us of what it means to follow Christ. It is to St. Andrew that Jesus said “I will make you fishers of men.” St. Andrew shows us that what we do in Jesus’ name has much greater meaning than anything else we can do. St. Andrew is the patron saint of fishermen and of Scotland. Fishermen and all who call him their patron call upon St. Andrew for guidance and other needs.

Second, we remember Saint Christopher. The name Christopher means Christ bearer. Saint Christopher is remembered for helping travelers of all sorts. It is said that he once helped a child cross a river by lifting him up on his shoulders and carrying him across. He found the child unbelievably heavy. The child, according to legend, was Christ carrying the weight of the whole world. St. Christopher is called upon to protect us whenever we travel, whether near or far. We call upon him specifically to protect us from storms while at sea.

There is a long history in the Anglican church of praying through the saints. By choosing a saint and directing our prayers through them, we are better able to focus our prayers. It helps us to be clearer to ourselves and to God. This is why we are calling upon St. Andrew and St. Christopher in our blessing today. When we ask for abundance and safety during this season’s fishery. It is also why we are providing St. Christopher’s medals as tokens. We pray that they will carry with them the focus of our prayers. That those who carry them will know that they are not alone. That they will have confidence that they are in God’s hands.

We do all this because we have faith that God is with all of us and listens to our prayers.

Thanks be to God.