Sermons

Finding a Way Forward

A few years back, my sisters Mary and Margaret went on a knitting retreat, and women who knit often find each other. It was on one of the islands near where Auntie Mary lives, so they had to take a ferry to get there. By the end of the ferry ride, they had all found each other and were sitting in the same area, knitting and talking as women have done for centuries. There was a woman there named Penny, and Mary and Margaret were telling stories. No matter what they said, Penny’s answer was always, “Shut the front door, me too.” Our mum taught us how to knit. “Shut the front door, me too.” 

She made sweaters for us all. “Shut the front door, US too.” 

Our Mom was Haida. “Shut the front door, me too.” 

We are Haida. “Shut the front door, me too.” 

She was born in Old Masset. “Shut the front door, me too.” 

And this continued for a while longer. As they got to know each other a little better, they talked about their mums being taken, and Penny mentioned that her mom had been taken too. 

They took her to St Michael’s. Again…“Shut the front door, me too.” 

And after that, they mostly talked about Knitting because neither of our mothers talks much about what happened in the residential school. 

A couple of weeks later, Margaret was back in Minneapolis, and she got a phone call from Penny. Penny asked Hey, do you have a sister named Sandra? Margaret was a little taken aback and said yes. Then said ‘Do you have a brother named Wilfred?’  Margaret again said ‘yes. ‘

Penny’s mum knew our mum, your Nana. Mum would come back to the school on Sundays after church, bringing a basket of food to feed the Haida kids, possibly her clan, and perhaps others. I don’t know much more; I do know that Penny’s mum did not want to talk about much more. Yet she was grateful to my Mum, my awa, for coming and taking care of her. 

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches his followers to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” This simple phrase acknowledges both dependence on God and a call to meet real, physical needs each day. It is not an abstract or spiritualized hunger—it is a plea for food, for sustenance, for dignity. Jesus fed the hungry crowds with loaves and fish not to prove a point, but to show that compassion means action. He linked the kingdom of God with full stomachs, shared meals, and restored community. The prayer for daily bread challenges Christians not only to pray but to act, ensuring that others have what they need to live. 

We hear ‘Give us our daily bread.’ So we cannot turn away from the crisis in Gaza. Prayer must be paired with advocacy, generosity, and courage. This includes pressuring governments to allow humanitarian access, supporting relief organizations working in the region, and speaking out against policies that prolong suffering. It also means confronting silence and indifference—especially when human dignity is at stake. To follow Jesus is to stand with the hungry, the displaced, and the grieving, and to commit to a world where daily bread is not a desperate hope, but a shared and reliable gift. 

The food crisis in Gaza is a staggering humanitarian catastrophe. Ongoing conflict, blockades, and the destruction of infrastructure have left millions without reliable access to food or clean water. According to the UN, widespread hunger and malnutrition now threaten the lives of children and families. Markets have collapsed, aid is blocked or delayed, and ordinary people are forced to survive on minimal rations, if anything at all. The scale of the crisis reveals not only a breakdown of systems but also a profound moral failure in the global community’s response to human suffering. 

Presiding Bishop Sean issued a strong statement about the situation in Gaza and the West Bank: “We join Archbishop Hosam (Archbishop of Jerusalem) in his call for the Israeli military to end the bombing of hospitals and the siege of Gaza; for the restoration of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza under United Nations supervision; and for Israel and Hamas to release all unjustly detained people and hostages.” He called for Israel to end its targeting of civilians in Gaza. 

I was raised by a parent who knew what hunger felt like. My mum was taken to St. Michael’s, and she faced many terrible things. The residential school system was marked by terrible conditions, disease, and adults praying on children. According to a 2021 article in Scientific American, lack of food was a major factor. “In Manitoba, Indian Affairs paid $180 per year for students in residential school in 1938, while boarding schools like the Manitoba School for the Deaf and the Manitoba Home for Boys received $642 and $550 per annum, respectively, from the provincial government. American Indian boarding schools, by comparison, were funded at a per capita rate of $350.”1 

That is a starvation level of funding. As followers of the way, we hear about the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus’ ministry was filled with acts of feeding and compassion: in Matthew 14:13–21; Mark 6:30–44; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–14: Jesus feeds the multitude, demonstrating God’s abundant care. Matthew 25 “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink… just as you did it to one of the least of these… You did it to me.” In the first testament (Hebrew Bible), the prophets and the law repeatedly call for justice for the poor and hungry. Isaiah calls us to share our bread with the hungry (Isaiah 58:6–7, NRSV).

The Episcopal Church has long advocated for the alleviation of hunger and the eradication of starvation, both domestically and globally. Our General Convention has passed resolutions urging action and partnership to address hunger, such as: Resolution 2018-C021: “Encourage all Episcopalians to become involved in efforts to end hunger and to support policies that ensure food security for all people.” 

Our call is to find a way forward to alleviate suffering in our world, following the way, chasing the divine spark, and living into who we say we are. You do not have to be put in a residential school or be in Gaza to know hunger. There may well be people here and now who do not have enough. I have a friend whose whole childhood was marked by not having enough to eat. Currently, the organization SOME is in dire need of funds. We can continue to fill the baskets under the altar, write checks to fund food in the DMV, and continue to advocate for Gaza, Sudan, and other places in the world. As we live into “Give us this day our daily bread.” Acknowledging both dependence on God and a call to meet real, physical needs each day. It is not an abstract or spiritualized hunger—it is a plea for food, for sustenance, for dignity. 

May it be so. 

Amen 

1 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/canadas-residential-schools-were-a-horror/