A Lenten Word from the Presiding Bishop...

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word... (from the Book of Common Prayer)

The Church gradually took on the discipline of Lent in solidarity with those preparing for baptism at the Easter Vigil. That preparation work has traditionally been summarized as prayer and study, fasting, and almsgiving. Today we might remember the origins of Lent, take in our traditional understandings, and use these 40 days plus Sundays to prepare to renew our own baptismal vows. This ancient understanding of prayer, study, fasting, and almsgiving shapes the lives we lead. Each of us is baptized into a life of relationship with God (prayer), relationship with self on behalf of others (fasting), and relationship with all the rest of creation (almsgiving). Lent brings a regular opportunity to tune up our Christian life and relationships.

Read the whole article here, by our Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

Ash Wednesday Sermon

We who prayed and wept
for liberty from kings
and the yoke of liberty
accept the tyranny of things
we do not need.
In plenitude too free,
we have become adept
beneath the yoke of greed.

Those who will not learn
in plenty to keep their place
must learn it by their need
when they have had their way
and the fields spurn their seed.
We have failed Thy grace.
Lord, I flinch and pray,
send Thy necessity.

This Lenten poem by Wendell Berry invites us to consider what is God’s necessity for us and what is it we really need in our lives. We have had so much of plenty, so many things that we are ruled by them, things we do not need. We have failed the grace given to us by God.

Ash Wednesday can begin a time that is a gift from God, revealing God’s necessity in our lives. By paying attention, it gives us pause to consider who we are and how we love God (the ground of our being) and love our neighbors as ourselves.

For Jesus, it came down to four simple words.

Pray, Fast, Give alms.

Very simple devotions.

Pray, fast, give alms.

Jesus encourages their use with the right heart.

Pray, fast, give alms.

To pray is to connect ourselves with the source of life. Our prayers to God are a two way street, where we entreat God for others and ourselves and where God speaks to us. Prayer places our fellow human beings and us in community with God for it is where our heart, head, and soul communicate.

To fast is to deny ourselves, so that we can better see our lives in the midst of this world. This self-denial is for our sake and for the world, we live in. To truly see the need that is inside the world and us, and to fast from things we truly don’t need.

As Peter Chrysologus said in the 5th Century, “fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. If we have not all three together, we have nothing.” Fasting is to prayer, as giving alms (an act of love and mercy) is to fasting. For these three interplay and create opportunities for us to love and to see our mortal selves connected to all of humanity.

To give alms, is to deny ourselves and to give out of our abundance to a world in need. In a way, it is to reject the tyranny of things for the sake of love. As John Chrysostom said in the 4th Century, “almsgiving is the mother of love.”

Like God’s gift of grace, our almsgiving is a free gift we give to others in need. A gift offered out of love and hope for a better world.

It is this hope that we hear in this passage from Matthew. For the passage tells us, that Jesus wants us to place our heart and mind with God so that what we do is good for others and ourselves. Jesus tells us not to outwardly show our piety because we can lose the intention that unites us together with God. Whether we are alone or with others, the intention of our heart is what matters. For if we pray, fast and give alms out of a heart that is love, than we are living as God intended, loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves. So that what we give to others is from God’s grace and necessity in our lives.

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of our Lenten journey. We are invited to pray, fast and give alms, storing treasure in heaven and not on earth, for where our treasure is, there is our heart, and our heart needs to be set on love, for God is love.

In the words of St. Teresa of Avila,

Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing make you afraid,
All things are passing.
God alone never changes.
Patience gains all things.
If you have God
You will want for nothing.
God alone suffices.

Let us pray, fast and give alms so that we know and feel that God alone suffices, and that we can share God’s gift of love with the world. Amen.

Prayers for our world

Pray for the victims of the storms in the Southern US...

The story is here.






Pray for the victims of the terrible winter storms in China, remembering especially the orphans who are suffering (thanks to Joann for the update at church last Sunday):

The story is here.

Most merciful God, in the midst of natural disaster we look to you in hope and trust, acknowledging that there is much in life beyond our present understanding. Accept our compassion for the suffering; bless those who are working for their relief; and show us what we can do to share in their task, as servants of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O merciful Father, who has taught us in your holy Word that you do not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men: Look with pity on the sorrows of your servants for whom our prayers are offered. Remember them, O Lord, in mercy, nourish their souls with patience, comfort them with a sense of your goodness, lift up your countenance on them, and give them peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer)

Shrove Tuesday: Eat Pancakes!

Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday (the liturgical season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday). In some countries, this day is also known as Pancake Day or Pancake Tuesday, because it is customary to eat pancakes on this day.

The reason that pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent is that the 40 days of Lent form a period of liturgical fasting, during which only the plainest foodstuffs may be eaten. Therefore, rich ingredients such as eggs, milk, and sugar are disposed of immediately prior to the commencement of the fast. Pancakes and doughnuts were therefore an efficient way of using up these perishable goods, besides providing a minor celebratory feast prior to the fast itself.

The word shrove is a past tense of the English verb "shrive," which means to obtain absolution for one's sins by confessing and doing penance. Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the shriving (confession) that Anglo-Saxon Christians were expected to receive immediately before Lent. (source: wikipedia)

Join us for our Pancake Supper - 5 to 7 PM.

U2charist Playlist

Here's the playlist from our U2charist on Sunday:

Prelude U2, Miracle Drug, 2004
Opening Song U2, Mysterious Ways, 1991
Song of Praise “Prayer of Saint Francis” by Sarah McLachlan, 1997
Psalm “The 23rd Psalm” by Bobby McFerrin, 1990
Offertory U2, Love and Peace or Else, 2004
Communion U2, One Step Closer, 2004
Communion U2, Yahweh, 2004
Closing Song U2, Beautiful Day, 2000
Postlude U2, When Love Comes to Town, 1988

“It feels like God walking through the room, and it feels like a blessing, and in the end, music is a kind of sacrament.” – Bono

Sermon: Souper Bowl Sunday & U2charist

And from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. And they all went down the mountain.

One reason I think Jesus didn’t stay up on that mountain with Peter and James and John was that he knew he had more work to do down the mountain. It would be nice to stay in some booths and revel in that glorious moment, just as Peter had wanted to do. But Jesus has more healings, more teachings, bringing Good News to the people. It was a wonderful moment of clarity for those three disciples to really understand that Jesus is God’s son, and that they do not need to be afraid of what happened or what is to come. It would be important memory for those disciples, especially after Jesus’ death, to pass on to the other faithful disciples.

But this is no hallmark moment to stop in, for the ministry of Jesus is always among the people, in the valley, in the city, Jesus may go off to a mountain for a short retreat but he never stays there long. His ministry is now our ministry, and we too cannot stay on the mountain top, build our little booths and try to keep our faith away from the grit and dirt of our everyday lives. No. Our faith is meant to be there in the earth, in our lives, in this messy world, in all there is…

I am reminded of St. Teresa of Avila and her words: “Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours, yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion is to look out to the earth, yours are the feet by which He is to go about doing good and yours are the hands by which He is to bless us now.” –St Teresa of Avila

It is we who embody Christ in this hurting world. It is not enough for us to be sympathetic for this world as a missionary in Africa said, we must be active!

“This is our moment, this is our time, this is our chance to stand up for what is right. Three thousand Africans, mostly children, die every day of mosquito bites. We can fix that. Nine thousand people dying every die of a preventable, treatable disease like Aids. We have got the drugs. We can help them.” -- Bono

We gather today for a U2charist because it is Bono and others who remind us that this is our time, our moment to do what is right. To reach out and help our brothers and sisters around the world who are hurting, who are in need, for we can help them. As Bono and BB King sing in When Love Comes to Town (our postlude music),

I was there when they crucified my Lord
I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword
I threw the dice when the pierced his side
But I've seen love conquer the great divide

When love comes to town I'm gonna catch that train
When love comes to town I'm gonna catch that flame

It is that love that came down to us in Jesus, a love given to us by the Spirit of God, a love that is so much a part of us that we are called to give it away To catch that flame, the love that conquered the great divide, and what we do is share it with the world.

Today is the Souper Bowl of Caring, reminding us even as we enjoy the Super Bowl football game and a great Patriot victory, it is the Lord who helps us be mindful of those who are without even a bowl of soup to eat on this day. The soup pots at our doors, the offertory plate, our food basket provide us the opportunity to help those who are in need of help this season. In a time when the economy is not doing so well, with foreclosures up and jobs down, there are people going hungry everyday, and we can help them.

But what we do is not just for today, we can help tomorrow too, and we can look beyond to distant shores. In the year 2000, leaders from the United States and 190 other nations came together to develop a plan to cut extreme global poverty in half by 2015. To guide this critical work and measure its success, eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were created. In 2007 - at the midpoint of this historic effort - Episcopal Relief and Development, Jubilee Ministries and the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church launched the MDG Inspiration Fund to highlight the urgency of reaching these goals.

You all will receive information on the MDG Inspiration Fund and you all are invited to participate. The income generated from the MDG Inspiration Fund will be primarily used to fight malaria, which is an objective of MDG #6, along with HIV/AIDS and other preventable diseases. Malaria is an easily treatable disease and is a high priority for many of ERD’s partners in the Anglican Communion. The fund supports of ERD’s NetsforLife program, a partnership for malaria prevention in 16 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our children supported this program last Spring with their Pennies from Heaven cans.

NetsforLife is important because the malaria prevention program uses long-lasting, insecticide-treated nets to protect people, teaches basic techniques to prevent malaria, and how to identify symptoms early and what medicines are truly effective.

So why do we do it?

Because Jesus went down the mountain, to walk among the lowest of that society, the forgotten, the castoff, the sick, the lonely, orphans and widows too. Jesus offered Good News and healing took place and people began to live new lives. What we can offer is our love, our prayers and our support to help heal this world, provide supplies that will help families be free of Malaria, so they can tackle other things, like fresh clean water or education for their children. When we do it to the sick, the poor, the needy, it is Jesus who reminds us that we are doing it to him.

Or as Bono put it…

“The poor are where God lives. God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is where the opportunity is lost and lives are shattered. God is with the mother who has infected her child with the virus that will take both their lives. God is under the rubble and the cries we hear during war time. God, my friends, is with the poor. And God is with us, if we are with them. This is not a burden. This is an adventure. Don’t let anyone tell you it cannot be done. We can be the generation that ends extreme poverty.” -Bono

Amen. Amen.

Black History Month: Episcopalians

Elizabeth Evelyn Wright
(Apr. 3, 1872-Dec. 14, 1906)

Pioneer educator among African Americans. She was born in Talbotton, Georgia. Wright was the seventh child of an African American carpenter and former slave, John Wesley Wright, and a full-blooded Cherokee Indian mother, Virginia Rolfe. Wright graduated from Tuskegee Industrial School in 1894. She was determined to open schools for the training of African American men and women. After numerous setbacks, she founded the Denmark Industrial School for Colored Youth at Denmark, South Carolina. It opened in Apr. 1897. Wright served as principal until her death. In 1902 the name was changed to Voorhees Industrial School in honor of the generosity of Ralph and Elizabeth Rodman Voorhees. Wright died in Denmark, South Carolina.

Learn more about her and her legacy, here at the Office for Black Ministries in the Episcopal Church.

From Voorhees College:

Most memorable about Voorhees history is the story of its Founder, Elizabeth Evelyn Wright. She was a black woman in her early twenties who, in spite of betrayals, arson, jealousies, threats of violence, and weariness from wandering, persevered and founded a school in Denmark, South Carolina, on April 17, 1897.

Through more than 100 years of service, the mission of Voorhees College has remained the same; it is committed to providing a top quality educational experience to young men and women and equip them to assume leadership positions in our state and nation and to provide service to mankind.

From its founding in 1897, Voorhees College has evolved into a leading four-year liberal arts college accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and affiliated with the Episcopal Church and The College Fund/ UNCF.

Read more about her legacy here.