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Link to the reports from Jan 15 Annual Meeting
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Saints of the Week, March 12 – March 19
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12
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Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome, 604 |
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13
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James Theodore Holly, bishop of Haiti and Dominican Republic |
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14
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15
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16
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17
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Patrick, Bishop and Missionary of Ireland, 461 |
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18
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Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, 386 |
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19
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Saint Joseph |
March 12 – Lent 2
From Last week…
The Week Ahead…
March 15 – 10:00am, Ecumenical Bible Study
March 15 – 3:30pm, Village Harvest Food Distribution
March 19 – 10:00am, Christian Ed – Godly Play (preschool through 2nd grade)
March 19 – 10:00am, Christian Ed – Five Marks of Love (children 3rd grade and up, adults
March 19 – 11:00am, Morning Prayer, Rite II
March 19 –Readings and Servers
St. Patrick, Saint, March 17
St. Patrick, apostle of Ireland, was born in England, circa 386. Surprisingly, he was not raised with a strong emphasis on religion.
When St. Patrick was 16 years old, he was captured by Irish pirates and brought to Ireland where he was sold into slavery. His job was to tend sheep. He came to view his enslavement of six years as God’s test of his faith, during which he became deeply devoted to Christianity through constant prayer. In a vision, he saw the children of Pagan Ireland reaching out their hands to him, which only increased his determination to free the Irish from Druidism by converting them to Christianity.
The idea of escaping enslavement came to St. Patrick in a dream, where a voice promised him he would find his way home to England. Eager to see the dream materialize, St. Patrick convinced some sailors to let him board their ship. After three days of sailing, he and the crew abandoned the ship in France and wandered, lost, for 28 days—covering 200 miles of territory in the process. At last, St. Patrick was reunited with his family in England.
Now a free man, he went to France where he studied and entered the priesthood. He never lost sight of his vision: he was determined to convert Ireland to Christianity. In 431, St. Patrick was Consecrated Bishop of the Irish, and went to Ireland to spread "The Good News" to the Pagans there. Patrick made his headquarters at Armagh in the North, where he built a school, and had the protection of the local monarch. From this base he made extensive missionary journeys, with considerable success. To say that he single-handedly turned Ireland from a pagan to a Christian country is an exaggeration, but is not far from the truth.
Continue reading about St. Patrick
Make your reservation for the Shrine Mont retreat in May!
Once again Christ Episcopal has extended an invitiation to St. Peter’s to join them on the mountain at Shrine Mont. It will be in the first week in May 5-7. Signups are due by March 26
Catherine designed last year’s program around the 2007 movie Lars and the Real Girl, the story of a shy young man in search for a real relationship and staring Ryan Gosling. 2016 was the third year we had one this. There were 10 from Christ Episcopal and 9 from St. Petere’s. The retreat which typically has been the last weekend in April or first in May.
Save the Date! April 22, 2017 – 7pm. Our Second Spring Concert, Magical Strings!
We are pleased to welcome Magical Strings on tour from California to bring us a Celtic inspired concert. They are following last year’s concert from the Portland Guitar Duo.
MAGICAL STRINGS centers around the Celtic harp and hammered dulcimer of Philip and Pam Boulding, at times augmented by violin, cello, pennywhistle, percussion and various instruments from around the world. Philip also designs and builds the harps and dulcimers, and has handcrafted more than 2,500 instruments since 1971
Together, Magical Strings has toured nationwide and abroad since 1978. They have recorded eighteen albums on four labels.
You can find selections of their music on Youtube.
Enjoy an outdoor reception and then hear this lovely music offered up in the acoustically wonderful space and light of St Peter’s. An evening not to be missed.
The concert is free. We are accepting donations to help continue this concert series.
Lent Began March 1
Lent is a 40 day Christian festival beginning Ash Wednesday and concluding on Easter (Sundays are not counted). The word "Lent" comes from the old Anglo-Saxon word lengten, which means "springtime," named so for the time of the year in which it occurs. The five Lenten Sundays are followed by the Sunday of the Passion, Palm Sunday, which begins Holy Week, when we relive the events of Jesus Christ’s suffering and death.
What we now call Lent was originally a period of fasting and study for catechumens who were to be baptized on the Saturday before Easter. The purpose of this extended fast was to practice self-denial and humility. This was to prepare oneself for receiving God’s grace and forgiveness in baptism, given on Easter Saturday or Easter Sunday.
Lent is:
• A time for looking at the things we do that are wrong or that tempt us, asking God’s and other people’s forgiveness;
• A time for giving up things that keep us from being loving people;
• A time for doing extra things that will help us grow closer to God;
• A time to be more aware of what it means to love as God loves us;
• A time to ask God to help us to be more loving, remembering
that God is always ready to strengthen us.
We have a dedicated Lenten part of the website – Lent at St. Peter’s 2017 which has the events listed. Highlights include:
- Introduction to Lent
- Our own Lenten Calendar
- Ash Wednesday– Wednesday, March 1, 7pm
- Sunday, March 5-April 9, Five Marks of Love", 10am intergenerational Christian Education
- Sunday, March 5, Lent 1 – Great Litany 11am
- Thursday, March 16, Lenten Quiet Day , ECW at Roslyn,
- Holy Week, April 10-16.
If this is not enough, we have other links to various Lenten resources
Hymn of the week – March 19, 2017 "Rock of Ages"
"Rock of Ages" was written by the Reverend Augustus Montague Toplady in 1763 and first published in The Gospel Magazine in 1775.
From wikipedia – "Traditionally, it is held that Toplady drew his inspiration from an incident in the gorge of Burrington Combe in the Mendip Hills in England. Toplady, a preacher in the nearby village of Blagdon, was travelling along the gorge when he was caught in a storm. Finding shelter in a gap in the gorge, he was struck by the title and scribbled down the initial lyrics on a playing card.
"The fissure that is believed to have sheltered Toplady is now marked as the "Rock of Ages", both on the rock itself and on some maps, and is also reflected in the name of a nearby tea shop.
Read more about this famous hymn
Lectionary, March 19, Lent 3
I.Theme – Water provides life in a physical sense and in a spiritual sense (affirmation, love, hope) as well as a pathway to the divine.
"Christ and the Samaritan Woman" – Stefano Erardi (1630-1716)
The woman`s reaction of surprise is expressed by her hand placed against her chest as though in disbelief, while Christ points out a finger, not in accusation, but to communicate his innocent request for some water, with an expression of humility and compassion for the woman.
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Exodus 17:1-7
Psalm – Psalm 95
Epistle –Romans 5:1-11
Gospel – John 4:5-42
This lectionary readings this week address water both as a commodity and in a symbolic sense.
The people under Moses had escaped from Egypt where they had become slaves in providing the economic base for Egyptian power. But the desert to which they had come in their bid to secure freedom – trusting that God through Moses would lead them to new life – was an inhospitable place. It was arid, dusty, hot – and seemed to be endless. As a group they railed against Moses. Maybe Egypt had deprived them of dignity, but at least they had had food and water. A crisis in leadership was emerging
There is a subtheme in obeying God. Moses did what he was told, struck the rock at Horeb and there was water. He had in the past trusted in God and not been let down. He trusted that this trust would once again not be misplaced – and the water flowed.
The Gospel pits Jesus with the Samaritan woman in drawing water. S. Michael Houdmann contrast this passage with the Nicodemus a week ago. "While Nicodemus needed to see himself as a sinner in order to understand grace, the Samaritan woman, who knew she was a sinner, needed to see herself as a person of worth and value."
Water is more than life giving but is life transforming. She had had a difficult with five husbands and is an outcast. In trusting her he uplifts her and gives her back her self-esteem. He accepts her talking about this “living water” . Well water is necessary for life and is temporary. Living water is necessary for eternal life and is everlasting. This is the water of revelation, love and spirit. This water is giving is life affirming and life enhancing. In the end she is doing more than the disciples in bring the word of Christ to the many. The Samaritans flock to hear Jesus.
The Epistle doesn’t mention water directly. Paul goes into the benefits of justification by faith, including peace, hope and reconciliation with God. Howver, God’s love is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit like water – evident in baptism into His death and rising. . We were restored to God’s favor by Christ’s death and be given eternal life (“saved”) by the risen Christ.
The Psalm is a shout toward the power of God echoed from the Epistle – as a great god above all other creator of worlds, shepherd sustaining them. There is a reference to Exodus and the conditions of lack of water with the disobedience of the people. Failure to adhere to God’s ways will have dire consequences, as it did for the Israelites during their “forty years.” In the end he sustains them physically.