Preaching the Paschal Mystery as Ecological Reality

There is life underneath all this snow and ice. Not long from now, when winter has loosened its grip, preachers will stand in front of people during Holy Week and somehow try to connect their lives to the larger story of life. The most important thing one can do to prepare for that experience is to listen to our own experience of Life. This Lent, preachers are invited to come away to Claggett for a brief retreat to explore these questions with Rev. Mark Wastler. Wastler, a farmer and Episcopal priest, is rooted in the Benedictine way and living intentionally in communion with nature.

Wastler invites you, “The Paschal Mystery, life—death—new life, emerges from nature. It percolates up from the soil and from the seas. Nature proclaims this mystery in the daily experience of all living beings. The more attune we are to this deep pattern woven into the fabric of the cosmos, the more we can help other people be aware of it in their own lives. The ancients used this theological language to name ecological realities. Join me at the Claggett Center for just twenty-four hours, and we will listen to scripture together, have stimulating conversation, and celebrate a contemplative, expansive Eucharist in the barn at night. No other groups will be here so there will be lots of quiet in the buildings and the landscape. Don’t hesitate—register now. This will be good for each of us.”