I have on my right arm a tattoo that reminds me every day why I serve as a priest in the Episcopal Church.

I grew up in Leicester and spent nearly every weekend at my Great Grandmother’s house, an old red farmhouse with a big barn and a large field that has been fallow for a couple of generations. On Sunday mornings, we would go to the little Episcopal Church on the hill in town. This is where my theological imagination was first sparked and nurtured by the women who raised me. In the Episcopal Church it is common for communities to gather together to celebrate the Eucharist, also known as Communion or the Lord’s Supper, every Sunday. Day after day, week after week, we take simple things, little wafers of bread and a small cup of wine, as we ask God’s blessing to transform these simple gifts into something profound — love made tangible, the real presence of Jesus in our midst.

As a child, I knew that there was something special about how we ate this holy meal, and it got me thinking about how we share all of our meals. A seed planted in my mind and my heart sent me on a journey to learn how to feed my neighbors. I wanted to become a farmer when I grew up, so I went to a small rural college in the town of Unity, Maine, to study sustainable agriculture. I began to work with a group of community members who grew food for the local food bank and several smaller food pantries in the surrounding towns. We mostly grew storage crops for the long Maine winters: carrots, cabbages, potatoes, beets, and most importantly, onions.

It was while standing in a field of onions with a group of volunteers that I realized there was something holy happening. The way we were living and working in community seemed to be part of that childhood curiosity I had a decade before. How are these onions, these people, connected with that living bread I have come to know and love over the years?

So, this is why I have a tattoo of an onion and three stalks of wheat on my right arm, to remind me each day that loving my neighbor by sharing simple gifts and simple meals is the purpose of my ministry. The love of God incarnate is mine to share, and mine to receive, without reservation.

Just as it takes time for seeds to germinate and grow into the fullness of what they were made to be, so it is with people and communities. We are all growing, we are all changing, we are all called to be more fully who we are, and this takes time and careful attention. In the Episcopal Church, we believe that the Holy Spirit is mysteriously breathing new life into our communities — I see that divine activity out in the streets and in the farm fields of this beautiful Valley.

The interplay between the spiritual nourishment of sacramental community, fed by Jesus’ outstretched hand, and the physical nourishment of life with others, fed by our own hands reaching out, is something that will always give me strength, even on the most difficult days. At the Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew here in Greenfield and at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Athol, we gather together for worship, service, and fellowship, seeking to feed and be fed by our neighbors. So, the question I have for all of you is this: what are you hungry for?

If you are looking for a spiritual community to support you as you ask this question, please join us as we seek God in the midst of life, around the Holy Table, and around the lunch table.

The Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew is located at 8 Church St. in Greenfield. Sunday Services are at 10 a.m. and  Wednesday Services are at 9 a.m. Meal Ministries happens Sundays 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and Mondays 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.

St. John’s Episcopal Church is located at 15 Park Ave. in Athol. Sunday Services are at 9:30 a.m. and Meal Ministries for veterans takes place the fourth Tuesday of each month from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.