February 18, 2015 Ash Wednesday
Tonight: 7:00 p.m. Liturgy for Ash Wednesday
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.
Shrove Tuesday: Reprise
Tuesday, February 17, 6:00 p.m.
Thank you to Chris Ortiz for coordinating the Shrove Tuesday dinner. Thanks to everyone who brought the ingredients to make the Mexican pancakes, and thanks to everyone who participated. It was a fun event with lots of good conversation and laughter.
Lent Begins
What it is.
The English work “Lenten” derives from the lengthening of days, and it underscores an understanding of Lent as a time of spiritual growth and renewal. The observance of Lent as an ecclesiastical season has its origins in the preparation of candidates for baptism in the ancient Church when Easter was the only time in the year when baptisms were regularly administered. Not surprisingly, the days running up to Easter held a particular significance for catechumens (those being instructed in the faith) It represented the final stage in their long preparation of Christian initiation, with baptism occurring the context of the Easter liturgy.
Lent was also a time of preparation for those who had been excommunicated for grave and public sin. The lapsed were reconciled and the excommunicate readmitted to the Church’s sacramental life in time for Easter after the completion of a period of penance.
It was not long before the Church came to recognize the benefit to all Christian people of such a period of preparation for the celebration of the death and resurrection of Christ at Easter. Typically, such preparation came to be marked by penitence, fasting, almsgiving, and prayer. In antiquity, fasting was not only about negation and denial. Like anointing with oil, it was thought to be a purifying and strengthening practice—preparation for some challenge yet to come. Significantly, the popular idea of “giving things up for Lent” was always balanced in the ancient Church by the requirement to give to the poor: You cannot claim to love the God whom you have not seen if you do not love the poor at your door whom you do see. The tradition of Lent as a conscious reenactment of our Lord’s time in the wilderness was a later, if distinctive theological development.
From Celebrating the Seasons
Give Me that Old Time Religion
As has been our practice in recent years, we will make modifications to the Sunday liturgy in Lent. We will add into our liturgy “classic texts” from our Anglican heritage.
Instead of doing the Confession and Absolution immediately before the Peace, we will move it to the beginning of the Liturgy with the Penitential Order. This will be a recitation of the Ten Commandments, followed by what Jesus called, “The Two Great Commandments.” From here we’ll go into the Confession, Absolution, and the Comfortable Words, then launch into the Liturgy proper.
We’re going to hear a different confession from the classical texts. Instead “Our manifold sins and wickedness which we from time to time most Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevously have committed, we will use the Confession from the traditional Morning Prayer service that talks about “We have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep, we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts.” Some of you may remember these wonderful turns of phrase from a long time ago.
The Eucharistic Prayer will be the one that has been in the American Book of Common Prayer from 1789, which itself came from the earlier English versions of 1662, 1559, 1552, & 1549. It reminds us that Although we are unworthy to offer unto thee any sacrifice, yet we beseech thee to accept this our bounden duty and service, not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offences.
And finally of course, it wouldn’t be Lent without that all time favorite, The Prayer of Humble Access. “We are not worthy so much as to gather up the Crumbs under thy table.” One parishioner once said, I never really liked the Prayer of Humble Access until after about 9 years of marriage, when it really began to speak to me.” It ends of a wonderful note: “Grant us therefore gracious Lord, so to eat the Flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ and to drink his Blood, that We may evermore dwell in him and he in us. Is that cool or what! It is bracing, what St. Paul would say is not milk, but solid food for the mature.
Catechesis of the Good Sherpherd
February 22, 2015 Lent 1
Level I Atrium
The Color Purple
In the Level I, II, and III atria, we begin the Lenten season with the change in color from green to purple. For the next 40 days, we will be preparing for the celebration of the Light of the Risen Christ.
In the Level I atrium, we will change our prayer table cloth to purple and use purple aprons at our work. The flower arranging table will go quiet, as it does in the main sanctuary. We will set aside the word “Alleluia” and keep it in a dark place, as we do in the main church.
During this time, we go deeper into knowledge of the Good Shepherd through parable lessons and work with materials that help to bring us into fuller participation with the Liturgy. We will revisit the Good Shepherd parable, this time with a Lost Sheep. We will have an extended work on the mystery of life through the lens of a wheat seed. We will practice gestures such as those demonstrated by Fr. Bob when preparing the Eucharist and practice making the sign of the cross. Finally, we learn about the cenacle or the “Last Supper” with Jesus and his disciples. We continue to use our Bible for scripture lessons.
Unlike Advent, there are no candles to light each week. We wait, perhaps not unlike those “who walked in darkness” (Isa 9:2) a long, long time ago. This time it is our growing knowledge about the Good Shepherd and our deepening understanding of God, sparked by our faith, which leads us directly to the “great light” as He is revealed in John:
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 NRSV
There is no wandering this time. We know where we are going.
Amen.
Ms. Georgie
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd: “Level 4”
Sunday, February 22, 9:00 a.m.
Actually there is no such thing. However we have young people “aging out” of Level 3 which is for ages 9-12. So we are beginning a program for them. Fr. Bob will meet with these young people to continue their Christian formation. Last week he met with two, Oliver Riker and Adam Woolery. From that he’s formulated a way to proceed as follows:
I met with Adam Woolery and Oliver Riker two Sundays ago for our first get together between the services. It was a nice chance to get acquainted with them and we had a good discussion.
From that experience I have formulated a tentative way to proceed. I'd like to begin with a key to understanding what is happening in church. It will be from the idea of a story expanding outward in concentric circles from The Mystery of Faith as in "Let us Proclaim the Mystery of Faith: Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again, to the Eucharistic Prayer, to the Creed, to the Church Year, to the Bible. My goal is to give them a framework that will help them remember and understand what they've been given and deepen their connection to it.
From there, I'd like to begin working on Bible Content, that is all the stories that make up our literary as well as religious tradition. I see us using a simplified Bible to get the overview, and then the real one to fill in the details.
So, I'm happy to meet with everyone between the services, in the 9-10 a.m. slot. I understand the issues of schedules and activities etc. That is not a problem. I think it is possible to be adaptable. And it's going to go on for quite awhile so there is always time to pick up what might have been missed.
Emmaus Road
Monday, February 23, 7:00 p.m.
Emmaus Road continues reading Thomas Cahill’s Heretics and Heroes. Below is a description of the book. For Monday we’ll be reading Chapters Intermission and Chapter 5.
Out Reach Committee: Mission Giving
As was said in the article above about Lent:
Significantly, the popular idea of “giving things up for Lent” was always balanced in the ancient Church by the requirement to give to the poor:
Episcopal Relief and Development Sunday: February 22
This Sunday ERD coordinator Chris Ortiz will speak at the 7:45 and 10:15 liturgies on the ministry of Episcopal Relief and Development
We invite all Episcopalians (and their friends) to gather on February 22 and through the Sunday’s in Lent to pray for those living in poverty or without the basics of life, for victims of conflict and natural disasters, and for all those around the world utilizing local resources and expertise to counter scarcity and imbalance.
2015 marks the 75th anniversary of Episcopal Relief and Development’s shared ministry with Episcopalians and friends as the healing hands of Christ in the world. ERD works with local partners in almost 40 countries. You can support this work by contributing to ERD with the response form that will be provided through Lent or online at
Global Hands of Hope, Uganda
The Outreach Committee extends a special thanks to everyone who offered to sponsor a child at Suubi Children Centre in Bukeka, Uganda. Your sponsorship makes a tremendous difference in the lives of the children at the school.
As of last Saturday, some sponsorships have been pledged but not received. We estimate that 12 people have offered to sponsor a child, but some of the forms have not been turned in. If the form got buried on your desk, we understand. Here are some options:
Let Tracy know you’ve done this by emailing her at aj575@lafn.org
We think that we need eight more sponsors. Your sponsorship and letters help the children know that someone across the ocean cares for them and is praying for them. You will also receive a letter from your child. It is a wonderful way to make a huge difference in the life of a child.
Update from Suubi: School started this past week. The picture below shows a boy at the health center having jiggers removed at Suubi Medical Clinic. Jiggers are a nasty bug that burrow into your skin and just keep burrowing deeper. They are painful and sometimes quite dangerous, depending on where they burrow. All of the children at Suubi Children's Centre are screened and treated at the beginning of each term for this health issue as well as other common problems like malaria and worms.
Children showed up for school on Monday needing new shoes. Thanks to the generosity of donors, each student receives a uniform and a new pair of shoes each school year. (Shoes cost $20 a pair.)
The Suubi staff says: This Monday we got very busy giving all the kiddos at Suubi Children Center a step ahead! To the rest of the world, the perfect pair of shoes completes the outfit. In Bukeka in Uganda, the perfect pair of shoes can be a matter of life and death!Thank you for joining us to put SMILES on their faces!!!!!
And here are those very children in front of Suubi School. We hope that their smiling faces will bring a smile to your face today!
For more information you can talk to Kelly Russell at church or contact Tracy Gaestel at aj575@lafn.org
Building and Grounds
The painting of the exterior of the Parish Hall will be complete by Thursday. It looks very nice. Next up will be the main hall.
Coffee Hour Sign Up March and April
It is time to sign up for bringing treats and hosting the coffee hour after both the 7:45 and 10:15 liturgies. It is really not difficult. Fr. Bob sets up the tables and makes the coffee before the 7:45 service. All the hosts need to do is bring some snacks and to help take down the arrangement after the 10:15 liturgy. All Sundays for March and April are open. You can sign up at Church, or email in your sign up.
Food For Thought
On the Food For Thought Table this weekend, three articles to get us going into Lent. All three are from The New York Times. (It’s not a liberal bias, it’s just that the planets lined up to give three good ones at once!)
We have two articles from columnist David Brooks. One is called, The Rigorous Act of Forgiving. Using the scandal of Brian Williams, the NBC Anchor who didn’t just report, but make up news, Brooks talks about our penchant for scandal, but also the rigorous steps involved in seeking forgiveness. His other article is called The Moral Injury and is a reflection on PTSD of returning veterans and how the issue is not just psychological, but the effect of the universe of normal moral practices of kindness and causing no pain is left behind and one lives in one of killing and capricious death. How does one recover from that?
The third article is by Kate Murphy and is titled, The Futility of Vengeance. It shows how the natural human tendency to get even for injustices really does us no good. Maybe the reason why God said, “Vengeance is mines saith the Lord,” is because we can’t do it without hurting ourselves in the process.
These are very good things to begin the reflection asked of us in the season of Lent.