March 2, The Last Sunday After Epiphany
Wednesday, February 26, 2014 at 5:53AM Hung on the Jury
As By Way of Reminder goes to press, Fr. Bob is on a jury in a case pending at the Courthouse in Pasadena. Baring a last minute plea bargain, Fr. Bob’s jury service will take this week and next. He’s available early mornings before 10 a.m. and after 4:30 p.m.
Episcopal Visitation: Thank Yous
Thank you to everyone who made last Sunday’s Episcopal Visitation with Bishop Diane Bruce so enjoyable for her and for all of us. Thank you too:
Bishop Diane herself, for heartfelt and personal prayers and blessings for those confirmed, received, or reaffirmed their baptismal vows, and for a homily that deeply touched us all.
Chris Ortiz for coordinating the Potluck and all who assisted him in the preparation and set up.
Everyone who brought wonderful food. Bishop Diane says we do the best Church potlucks she’s ever attended.
Pam Irwin and Hands of the Angels for making the scarf and wrap for Bishop Diane.
Altar Guild and Choir who make the liturgy go
Robin Gaestel for cleaning the Parish Hall Windows
Hillsides maintenance staff for stripping and waxing the Parish Hall Floor
Everyone who participated in the conversation with Bishop Diane between services
Those who were confirmed, received, and reaffirmed their baptism vows
Sabine Vener, Gudrun Farkas, John Henning, Eric Jones, Melissa Stanley, Lolly Johnson, Bill and Wendi Moffly
Secret Handshake Class: Last Meeting for Now: Sunday March 2, 9:00 a.m.
Given the Episcopal Visitation being so early in the year, there wasn’t sufficient time to finish Secret Handshake before Bishop Diane came. On Sunday we’ll finish the class for now. (There’s always more to learn) We’ll conclude the film The Story of Anglicanism, and wrap up with questions and future directions.
Chitra Rao to Lead a New Class:
Sundays between Ash Wednesday and Holy Thursday at 9am in the Parish Hall
Very soon we will leave ordinary time to journey through the season of Lent. The journey is an invitation to reflect on what it means to be in community with one another and with God. In asking the deeper question: "what is God asking of me at this time in my life?," we are responding to the invitation to step out of our daily patterns to take time to listen to the “still small voice” (I Kings 19:11-13) On the Sundays between Ash Wednesday and Holy Thursday at 9am in the Parish Hall you are invited as a community to a time of intentional reflection on sacred texts (Lectio Divina). We will listen to the text. We will respond and react through conversation and creative expression. Finally, in response to that which we have received we will practice sitting in silent meditation.
O Lord, our Lord, you have created us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.
The prayer of St. Augustine
The Young Person’s Guide to Love and Wealth Management Part 2 Sunday March 2, 2014
Bill & Rebecca Woods and Fr. Bob will once again offer their Young Person’s Guide to Love and Wealth Management following the 10:15 Liturgy on Sunday March 2. We’ll gather for lunch in the Parish Hall.
Following lunch, Rebecca Woods and Fr. Bob will give a presentation on relationships that hopefully lead to life long love and marriage.
The Young Person’s Guide to Love and Wealth Management is intended for the young adults in the congregation and also for those who are seniors in High School and preparing to go to college in the fall. Veterans of previous Love and Wealth Management meetings are welcome to join in as well.
For information speak to Fr. Bob or Rebecca Woods
Coffee Hour:
The Sign Up Sheet for Coffee Hour will be outside Church on Sunday. It is also attached to By Way of Reminder. You can sign up by Email.
We need Sign Ups for: 7:45 a.m. March 30, All of April
10:15 a.m. March 2, 16, 30, April 13, 27
Emmaus Road Monday Evenings 7:00 p.m. Parish Hall Living Room
Emmaus Road begins a new book: Iscariot by Tosca Lee. This is a novel portraying the life of Judas Iscariot. A novelist’s take on this mysterious figure in the Gospels should be interesting and give us a lot to think about. The book is available from Amazon. Everyone is welcome to participate.
Lent is about to begin
Shrove Tuesday: March 4 Annual Shrove Tuesday Dinner at 6:00 p.m.
Once again we will have our Shrove Tuesday Dinner and we hope everyone will participate.
All Catholic and some Protestant countries traditionally call the day before Ash Wednesday Fat Tuesday. The name predated the Reformation and referred to the common Christian tradition of eating special rich foods before the fasting season of Lent.
. Shrove Tuesday, in many parts of the world Mardi Gras – “Fat Tuesday” – is the day we clear our cupboards of all those things we’re not supposed to eat during Lent – like bacon, butter, cream and sugar. So it’s not wasted, we try to eat it all in one decadent dinner the night before Ash Wednesday. This year our decadent dinner will star crêpes, the French pancake from a Julia Child recipe, with a choice of rich fillings like chicken a la king, ham and brie, spinach-mushroom-bacon (and a spinach-mushroom-Swiss for the meat-free among us.) A green salad too. For dessert, fill another crepe with fruit and whipped cream, Nutella, a variety of preserves. Or just powdered sugar and butter. Lots of butter. It’s Fat Tuesday, remember? If you’d like to help, or have questions, contact Chris Askew at 626 200-5209, or christopher.askew@gmail.com.
Please join us for the fun and festivity before we start our Lenten observations!
The sign up sheet for Shrove Tuesday will be outside Church on Sunday.
Ash Wednesday: March 5,
7:00 p.m. Imposition of Ashes and Holy Eucharist
Ash Wednesday is one of the most solemn and significant events of the Church Year. It marks the beginning of Lent which is the period of preparation for Easter. The Preface for the Eucharistic Prayer in Lent puts it this way:
You bid your faithful people cleanse their hearts and prepare with joy for the Paschal Feast, that fervent in prayers and in works of mercy, and renewed by your Word and Sacraments, they may come to the fullness of grace, which you have prepared for those who truly love you.
There is a lot here. The word “cleanse,” is also used in St. John’s Gospel in Jesus’ discourse on the True Vine where it means “pruning” “Every branch that does not bear fruit he cleanses, or prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” So you have the idea of getting rid of things that get in the way of our flourishing, or, “The glory of God is Man and Woman fully alive.” It is not a pleasant experience, particularly when the cleansing involves things deeply rooted and long standing. “Prepare with joy for the Paschal Feast,” that is get ready and anticipate and begin to live from the joy that comes to us at Easter. We’re getting ready for something wonderful, the most wonderful thing there is. “Fervent in Prayer and in Works of Mercy,” tells us that Lent is not just about “giving things up,” its about taking things on, good things like expressions of love for God in prayer, and love for one another in actions that are kind and compassionate. “Renewed by Word and Sacraments,” that is what they are for, and Lent is a time to focus deeply on that and receive all they offer. Finally, the “Fullness of Grace,” which is we are made ready to share fully all God wishes to bestow, which is his whole self to us.
Lent is not an easy season. We ponder what it is about us that makes it necessary for Jesus to lose his life and to lose it in the way he does. It’s not so much about listing our faults as acknowledging our afflictions, those we endure and those we perpetrate in what one writer has called, “the hell of self knowledge. We can do that and believe it or not do it with joy because the Good News is that words of the imposition of ashes, Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return, is not the last word, but only the first and that Ash Wednesday leads us to Easter and our sharing in Christ’s Risen Life.
Food For Thought
On the Food For Thought table this weekend two different articles on two very different subjects. Both articles are taken from recent issues of The New York Review of Books.
1. The Brave Catholics in China. This is a review of two books, The Missionary’s Curse and Other Tales from a Chinese Catholic Village, and Christian Values in Communist China. Both give a different take on the evangelization of China than we normally think, showing how Christianity is more indigenous than first thought. It also gives us a view of the value of Christian values to society as a whole, something we may very well take for granted.
2. Marijuana: The High and the Low. This is a book review by Jerome Groopman, a physician and writer. He is reviewing the book A New Leaf: The End of Cannabis Prohibition. Dr. Groopman is a frequent contributor of articles to magazines and newspapers. In this review he shows how little we really know about Marijuana. As the legalization of it gains ground in the society, this article that is not partisan on the side of prohibition or unfettered access is a welcome look at the subject.