King Tide
The Solemnity of Christ the King, the Feast of St. Andrew, and the accord of nature
Last Sunday we Catholics celebrated the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. Today, the last day of the liturgical year, we celebrate the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, the brother of Simon Peter, both of whom were fishermen. Andrew is known as the Protoclete, the “First-Called.” According to the Gospel of John, Andrew was the first of the apostles to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. He immediately introduced his brother to him.
In the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, Andrew with his brother Simon Peter, were called together to be “fishers of men.” St. Andrew is the patron saint of fishermen and fishmongers, and a traditional way to honor his feast day is to prepare a fish stew. St. Andrew, like all the other apostles except John and Judas Iscariot, was martyred. He is said to have been crucified in Patras, Greece on an “x” shaped cross.
This past month on the Island, the salmon have returned to our streams. Coho, chum, and trout are back, and Islanders have been watching for them. We cheer their return!
As for myself, now that I’ve found Christ, I find him everywhere. Even the life cycle of the salmon proclaims the Good News and God’s immense generosity. From creatures to humans, and even forest and waters, the salmon, literally, feed everything.
King Tides are the highest tides that occur during each winter season, when the sun, moon and Earth are all aligned. The King tides and the waters swollen by rains aid the salmon, after years in the ocean, in their journey upriver back to their birth place. There, they spawn and die. The eggs hatch, and the life cycle continues afresh.
Advent begins this Sunday, and in that “-tide” unfolds the time of preparation and waiting. From basking in the mystery of Christ the King as celebrated on the last Sunday of Ordinary Time, we shift to preparing for Christ’s second coming at the end of time, as well as to preparing for his birth, recalling the prophecies and events and ancestors and Mary’s “yes” that brought him to our collective shore. During the next few weeks many feasts and recollections take place, and much prayer and reflection. One liturgical year ends, and another begins.
Even the trees of the forest and rivers clap their hands, and the mountains sing.
King Tide - A Salmon Liturgy
By Jane Valencia
Salmon will do
whatever it takes
to birth the new creation
In their vast wanderings
where they evade predators
and banquet on ocean riches
the summons comes at last:
One morning, they cannot help
but heed the call home
And they hurl themselves
past impossible barriers,
and feed everyone along the way.
Eagle, heron, and wolf snatch them up
Bear drags the carcass across
the forest floor
The multitudes gorge
Even the trees, insects, and streams
feast on the Word -
Salmon crucified
These original apostles spawn and die,
and newborns in Christ-life spring forth,
furred or feathered, scaled and finned
Those who carry the net
and those who tend the coals
It matters not who we once were
or what we once did,
when we tumble into the river
trembling in the
full flood of the Good News
And with the sun, moon, stars, and land -
we with one voice
proclaim
what the tide reveals:
He came to feed us
The King is risen
Rejoice!
