Highlights from The Focus, the monthly
newsletter of
the Church of Our Saviour
March 2009
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From the Rector…
Remember "Mite Boxes"? Many of us are familiar with “mite boxes.” Mite boxes, so named after the “widows mite,” her two penny offering of all she had, have been an important part of our Lenten discipline in Episcopal circles for many years. I grew up with the discipline of “filling my mite box” each Lent and remember well the service at which all those mite boxes were presented at the altar the Sunday after Easter. But Im wondering: What about “mite boxes” now? Do any of us even take one? Do we fill it? Do we bring it back in? And…what is the “mite box” discipline about in the first place? I suppose the underlying question is even more significant. And, it is one about which I am frequently asked: “What is a Lenten discipline?” That, of course, begs yet another question: “What is it we are attempting to achieve through a Lenten discipline?” What are we attempting to achieve through a Lenten
discipline? We are attempting to discipline our lives in such a way as to
be more effective witnesses of the Easter Resurrection. There are several ways to answer that question, I suppose. But here’s my stab at it: We are attempting to discipline our lives in such a way as to be more effective witnesses of the Easter Resurrection. This is a time for examining all aspects of our lives and see ourselves not only as God sees us, but in the ways that people who also want to follow Jesus will be encouraged to join us in our journey to the cross and then to the empty tomb. Our goal should also be to learn to live without in order that others can live with more. If I give up eating candy bars for Lent and then gorge myself on candy bars on Easter day, what have I achieved? However, if I give up eating candy bars and put the money I would have spent on candy bars in my mite box and then give that mite box back to the church to be used as part of our response to the needs of the poor (specifically through the ministry of Episcopal Relief and Development), I have through my discipline become a part of the solution to poverty. If I decide to intentionally reduce the number of times I eat out during Lent and then put a check for the amount my bill would have been in my mite box, I am doing something about hunger. If I do the same thing for movies or any other form of entertainment I choose to live without, I am redirecting that money to something that enables others “ say, in Haiti “ simply to live. |
However, that’s not all.
Lenten disciplines “ if they’re really accomplishing what they are meant to accomplish “ really don’t end when Easter morning arrives. The disciplines we choose should continue beyond the season’s close. We can vow to start exercising in order to take care of God’s gift to us of a physical body “ but that discipline needs to continue day after day if it is to be of any value. Attending a Bible study or reading a book on spirituality needs to be not only a Lenten discipline, but something we find ways of doing year round.
If you look in the Narthex this Lent, on the literature table, you will find a display of what we used to call ―mite boxes.” They don’t call them that anymore “ they now call them ―hope chests” “ and they don’t quite look like the ones I grew up with (I remember them being bright red). But their function is the same. Take one home and talk with your family about what kinds of things might go into your family mite box/hope chest. Think about the kinds of things Episcopal Relief and Development might do with the monies that come in through all our mite boxes. And, while you’re at it, take with you one of the little ―2010 Lenten Meditations” booklets that go with the boxes. You might discover a wealth of things to nourish your Lenten journey as it continues throughout the month of March.
If you need help with where to begin, or what to do, come by and see me. Let’s fill those mite boxes up and discover the value of a good old fashioned Lenten discipline. And then, on the Sunday after Easter, let’s bring them in and discover how much, together, we’re able to do to be the hands and feet of Christ for the benefit of people around the world.
Your friend and Rector,
Fr. Chip
Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday to be observed on March 21
Join us in celebrating Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday on March 21st. At both services that day, we will remember our brothers and sisters in need worldwide through our prayers and hymns. We will learn more about the life-changing work of Episcopal Relief & Development and will collect a special offering to support this vital work. In our baptismal covenant, we are called to respect the dignity of every human being, and Episcopal Relief & Development is our own faith’s compelling, effective means of doing this. We are the hands and feet of Christ, working to heal a hurting world. Join us on March 21st to pray, learn, give, and connect.
Give us grateful hearts, our Father, for all thy mercies, and make us mindful of the needs of others…
— Book of Common Prayer, page 835
Lent 2010 at the Church of Our Saviour...
Rowan Williams' book, "Where God Happens" is the focus of this year's "Soup and Bread" series
Monday evenings at 6:30 p.m.
The cornerstone of our program of prayer and study this year will be a five-week consideration of Archbishop Rowan Williams’ book, Where God Happens. This lovely little book, which will be available for sale Feb. 7, 14 & 21 after church (as well as on the first night of the course), draws upon the wisdom of the early Desert Fathers and distills their insights for our modern world. In it, Williams comments: “What we think we want is spirituality, the cultivation of a sensitive and rewarding relationship with eternal truth and love. And this is where the desert monastics have an uncompromising message for us: relation with eternal truth and love simply doesn’t happen without mending our relations with ‘Tom, Dick and Harriet.’” Williams continues by stating that we “win our neighbor” when we become “by God’s gift a means of connecting another with God.” Then we have done the job we were created to do.
In today’s troubled world, it is often difficult to discern the presence of God. We can learn a lot about this process, says Archbishop Desmond Tutu in his foreword to the book, by turning to the Desert Fathers and Mothers who established monastic communities in Egypt, Syria, and Palestine in the third and fourth centuries. They sought to “grow in holiness” and to live for God.
It is a widespread misconception that the Desert Fathers and Mothers fled to the desert to escape the world and all its follies. But in fact, by isolating themselves in the wilderness, these monastics were brought into closer contact with their neighbors. Williams explains: “Insofar as you open such doors for one another, you gain God, in the sense that you become a place where God happens for somebody else.” Think about that for a while. Each day we have many opportunities to become a place where God comes alive in another person’s life because of our actions, words, or deeds. That is why kindness, compassion, and love are so central in the sayings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers.
“Where God Happens”
Our Lenten Study for 2010
Each session begins with soup and bread supper at 6:30
p.m.
Those who desire to walk the Way of the Cross are invited to do so at 7:15
p.m.
The study then follows, ending at 8:30 p.m.
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Monday, Feb. 22: Preface; Chapter 1 “ Life, Death, and Neighbors |
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Monday, Mar. 1: Chapter 2 “ Silence and Honey Cakes |
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Monday, Mar. 8: Chapter 3 “ Fleeing |
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Monday, Mar. 15: Chapter 4 “ Staying |
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Monday, Mar. 22: Chapter 5 “ The Monastic Wisdom of the Christian Desert |
Some highlights of our Holy Week and Easter observances
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ALM SUNDAY, MARCH 28, 9:45 A.M. — PROCESSION ON THE OVALThis blessing and procession, for young and old alike, begins at 9:45, so that we arrive at the Church of Our Saviour at 10:00. The mood of the service changes dramatically as we hear the story of Jesus’ betrayal, trial, and crucifixion in the Passion gospel. We then gather at God’s Table for the Eucharist, and thereby remember Christ’s offering of himself for us. While our 8:00 service is only slightly modified to accommodate the Liturgy of the Palms, our 10:00 Palm Sunday service begins with the blessing of the palms and carrying them in procession, singing, as we walk from the Oval to the church, weather permitting.
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UESDAY, MARCH 30, 7:00 P.M. — TENEBRAETenebrae is an extended meditation on the suffering of Christ, through reading psalms, portions of the book of Lamentations, and writings of St. Augustine. The name comes from the word for ―darkness‖ or ―shadows‖ and is in embodied the gradual extinguishing of fourteen candles. A fifteenth candle is hidden and all the lights of the church are put out as we remember Jesus’ crucifixion. A loud noise is made, representing the earthquake at the time of the resurrection, and the hidden candle is replaced, by whose light the congregation departs.
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AUNDY THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 7:00 P.M. — HOLY EUCHARIST WITH FOOT WASHING AND THE STRIPPING OF THE ALTARMaundy Thursday begins the Triduum, the three holy days in which we enter into Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection. Although we have separate services on these days, they are tied together by the fact that there is no dismissal until the end of the Easter Vigil.
The Maundy Thursday gospel is the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, and we follow his example by washing one another’s feet, in this act of service and humility. We then celebrate the Eucharist, the last supper of Jesus, where he offered his body and blood. The service concludes with the stripping and washing of the altar, remembering Jesus being stripped before he was crucified. An overnight prayer vigil, our own version of the disciples praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, follows through early Good Friday morning.
GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 7:00 P.M. — THE GOOD FRIDAY LITURGY
The Good Friday Liturgy includes the passion gospel from John, solemn prayers for the world for which Christ died, beautiful music, and the veneration of the cross. There is also a noontime ecumenical service at Messiah Lutheran Church.
EASTER EVE, APRIL 3, 8:00 P.M. — THE GREAT VIGIL OF EASTER
The Easter Vigil begins in the dark with the lighting of the first fire of Easter, and the Paschal candle, which represents Christ’s resurrection. In the candlelight we hear the story of God, who seeks to save us time and again, respond with sung psalms and canticles, and renew our baptismal vows, remembering that we are buried with Christ in our baptism and share in his resurrected life. Then we move from darkness to light and ring bells for the holy noise as the Easter Alleluia breaks forth and we celebrate the first Eucharist of Easter. The Easter Vigil is followed by the Easter Agapé Feast, as we celebrate Christ’s resurrection.
EASTER DAY, APRIL 4, 8:00 AND 10:00 A.M. — FESTIVAL HOLY EUCHARIST
Our Easter celebration continues with Holy Eucharist, with hymns and organ at 8:00, hearing the Easter gospel and sharing the body and blood of the resurrected Christ. At 10:00, we will reflect on the Easter gospel, and our praise will be swelled with instrumental music as well as choir, as we celebrate this festive Eucharist. Nursery care is offered at this service.
Let’s say "Welcome!" to our guests
by wearing our name tagsLast September, our Conflict Transformation plenary explored some of the ways we can improve our culture of communications – and particularly our culture of welcome for those who are new among us.
One action we agreed to re-emphasize was the wearing of name tags. Now, to be sure, some of us are good about wearing our name tags – most, however, are not. And, to some extent, the problem lies as much in the name tags we have as in our discomfort at wearing them. They have yellowed over the years, many are outdated, and their current location is less than ideal – you walk right past them on arriving.
To the end of helping us get ―back in the habit,‖ the Vestry has endorsed an effort to revitalize our name tag ministry. The first step in this is a new, more attractive design that says ―welcome‖ much better than our current tags do. Secondly, we’re thinking of putting up a whole new way of displaying them – and even a new way of donning them (the ―lanyard‖ style instead of the ―pin-on‖ style).
That said, we don’t want to wait until the new ―system‖ is in place to start.
Please check the racks on either side of the main entrance in the Narthex as you arrive this Sunday – and put your name tag on. If you don’t find a tag with your name on it, there are blank extras on the shelf underneath the guest book. Make one up and slap it on! When we all are ―tagged‖ we can better welcome our guests and show them we are doing our best to create a hospitable atmosphere.
Women’s Lenten day of reflection and prayer
On Saturday, March 13, Holy Cross Church, Weare, will host a women’s day of reflection and prayer using
Lifting Women’s Voices: Prayers to Change the World, a book written by women and girls throughout the Anglican Communion. The day begins with coffee and registration at 9:30 a.m. The program follows at 10:00, and concludes at 3:00.Lifting Women’s Voices is a collection of prayers revealing a depth and power of faith and the belief that, collectively, those voices can transform and change the world. Prayers from the book have been compiled into a Lenten program of reflection and prayer featuring Eucharist, the Stations of the Cross, and original music composed by Roberta Walmsley and Ana Hernandez.
A simple luncheon of soup, bread, and fruit will be served. A free will offering will be taken to cover cost. Books are not needed, but will be available for $25.00 each. Books may be signed by authors who are present.
You may register via the Holy Cross website, www.holycross-weare.org, or by emailing dawn_richard@charter.net and putting Day of Reflection in the Subject space.
Parking is available, however carpooling is encouraged.
Two notes of thanks
I would like to thank my COOS family for all of your expressions of sympathy when my sister, Karalee, passed away in late November. It has been overwhelming to receive such support…for the beautiful prayer shawl, the altar flowers, visits, phone calls, and the many cards, I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Mary Sanchez
On Feb. 5th, I came to the end of my cancer journey by receiving my last radiation treatment. It seemed a very long time from the May diagnosis to this point, and I could not have done it without all your prayers, calls, cares, e-mails, visits, hugs, flowers, food, and the many drivers who "drove Miss Daisy" (as my son Kevin called it) to my appointments and errands.
Thank you all – God bless my parish family.
Love, Lu Abbot
Youth News...
Quiche sale to support Workcamp mission trip
Workcamp will once again be selling quiche to support their Mission Trip this summer. Watch for order forms in the bulletin in April.
Don’t like quiche? Then order one and donate it to SHARE or the Nashua Soup Kitchen. Cost: $12.00
Questions or orders can be emailed to: pattie@quixnet.net.
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Also online: Archived copies of recent issues: November 2009 December 2009 February 2010
