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Easter Sunday – dogwoods in bloom,

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Easter Sunday, Year C

April 17 – 11:00am, Easter – Join here at 10:45am for gathering – service starts at 11am Meeting ID: 869 9926 3545 Passcode: 889278

• Bulletin April 17, 2022
• Lectionary for April 17, 2022
• Easter Sermon April 17, 2022
• Commentary April 17, 2022
• Easter Videos
• Easter Photos

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April 20 – Bible Study 10am-12pm

April 20 – Village Harvest food distribution 3pm-5pm

If you would like to volunteer, please email Andrea or call (540) 847-9002. Pack bags for distribution 1-3PM, Deliver food to client’s cars 3-5PM.

April 23 – Riverbank cleanup 10am-11:30am

Sat. April 23, 10am-11:30am Gather behind the rectory ready to clean up the trash and weeds at the edge of the river. Wear long pants and old sneakers. Bring a rake or clippers if you have them.

April 24 – 11:00am, Easter 2 – Join here at 10:45am for gathering – service starts at 11am Meeting ID: 869 9926 3545 Passcode: 889278 Susan Moss, preaching; The Rev. Catherine Hicks, celebrating.

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Save the Date!
May 11 Shred-it

Gather your older sensitive documents to be securely shred now

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 We are in Eastertide until Pentecost, June 5

Eastertide is the period of fifty days, seven Sundays from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday. Easter is not a day but a season and it is one to examine the Resurrection, more broadly and deeply.  There are a number of questions.

Is Resurrection just about death has been swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54-56) ? Is Resurrection of Jesus is a precursor to your own resurrection (1 Corinthians 15) ? Does it say something about our own ability to expect to see Jesus (Luke 24) ? How does the new Christian community begin to function making Christ the central part of daily life ? (Acts 2)  

Jesus physically appears in Easter 2 and 3 making the Resurection tangible. The shepherding part of his ministry is explored in Easter 4. From Easter 5-7, Jesus must prepare the disciples for his departure. He is going to leave them. Jesus prepares his disciples for continuing his ministry without his physical presence.  Themes explored include the holy spirit, the Prayer of Jesus and God’s glory through His Son and the church.

Christ ascends on the 40th day with his disciples watching (Thursday, May 5th). The weekdays after the Ascension until the Saturday before Pentecost inclusive are a preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit.This fifty days comes to an end on Pentecost Sunday, which commemorates the giving of the Holy Spirit to the apostles, the beginnings of the Church and its mission to all  peoples and nation.  Note that the Old Testament lessons are replaced by selections from the Book of Acts, recognizing the important of the growth of the church.  

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Earth Day, 2022 – April 22

Earth Day, April 22 -8 steps

Earth Day originated in 1970 after Sen. Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin witnessed the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. He hoped it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. It did lead to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the passage of the Clean Air Act and a dialogue on a host of issues.

The Earth Day 2022 Theme is Invest In Our Planet. What Will You Do?   The site has “52 Ways to Invest in our Planet” https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-tips/    We have invested in our planed with Shred-It. The 10^th Shred-It scheduled May 11, the same day as the Village Dinner

1  Plant more trees.

Canopy project – For every $1 donated a tree gets planted The Canopy Project partners with groups around the world to ensure that your donation sustainably plants trees for a greener future for everyone.  This charity has a four star rating on Charity Navigator.  https://donate.earthday.org/donate_to_the_canopy_project

Locally. Tree Fredericksburg has planted 7,500 trees in the city since its founding in 2008  https://treefredericksburg.org  They have a donation project to donate free trees to individuals or business.  Tree Fredericksburg always needs volunteers

2. Conservation landscaping

Also, Virginia provides financial incentives to help with environmental issues on your property.  The Virginia Conservation Assistance Program (VCAP) is an urban cost-share program that provides financial incentives and technical and educational assistance to property owners installing eligible Best Management Practices (BMPs) in Virginia’s participating Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs). 

These practices can be installed in areas of your yard where problems like erosion, poor drainage, or poor vegetation occur. This website provides more information.  https://vaswcd.org/vcap

Examples  include conservation landscaping to create a diverse landscape that helps to protect clean air and water and support wildlife. A part of this is planting more native plants   https://vaswcd.org/conservation-landscaping .  Native plants do not require fertilizer, use less water than lawns and help prevent erosion

3  Help with a clean-up.   Cleanups outside reduce waste and plastic pollution, improve habitats, prevent harm to wildlife and humans and even lead to larger environmental action. It’s out there – let’s get rid of it!   No community cleanup is scheduled in the spring. Is it worth considering for this area ? The Earth Day site has tips – https://www.earthday.org/your-first-cleanup-what-to-know-and-expect-15-tips-for-first-time-volunteers

Read more…

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Clean up the River Bank, April 23, 10am-11:30am

Gather behind the rectory ready to clean up the trash and weeds at the edge of the river. Wear long pants and old sneakers. Bring a rake or clippers if you have them.

Two short videos to show the location and consider the possibilities.

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Lectionary, Easter 2

I. Theme –  Joining resurrection faith with experiences of community 

 "Incredulity of Thomas" –  Duccio, di Buoninsegna (1308-1311)

The lectionary readings are here  or individually:

Old Testament – Acts 5:27-32
Psalm – Psalm 118:19-24  OR Psalm 150
Epistle –Revelation 1:4-8
Gospel – John 20:19-31 

Today’s readings celebrate the power of the risen Christ demonstrated in the faith and life of the early Christian community.

As we enter into the season of Easter, we read from the Acts of the Apostles, remembering how the early Christians fared in the days after Jesus’ resurrection. We hear the beginnings of the early church, the house-meetings, the agape love feasts, the witnesses and martyrs, and all of the disciples of Jesus. John, in his Revelation, attests to the love of the triumphant Christ for the faithful. In today’s gospel, Jesus promises greater blessings for those who believe in him though they do not see him.

Divided into two major segments, the Festival Half, and Ordinary Time, the Church Year has now reached the mid-point of the Paschal Cycle in the Festival Half of the year. Eastertide extends from the Great Vigil of Easter to Pentecost, some fifty days later. Eastertide is constructed as a “Great Lord’s Day” with each of seven Sundays named as a “Sunday of Easter”

The first two Sundays emphasize appearance stories Details introduced into appearance stories are generally limited to making one of two essential points. Some stress discontinuity between Jesus’ risen body and his previously imperfect, earthly frame. Other details, emphasize essential continuity of the glorified Lord with the historical Jesus of Nazareth — here, gaping wounds which recall His Passion.

Jesus came not to upbraid us for faithlessness or to condemn but only to bestow "peace," full reconciliation with God that replaces fear of deserved judgment, with eschatological "joy." This is accomplished through an efficacious sign — "breathed upon them" — interpreted by words. The same divine life by which Jesus had been resurrected was not passed on to His disciples, through whom it is further mediated. These represent the Church, the divinely intended means through which Jesus offers forgiveness to all willing to accept it. Thus, the Church’s mission of bringing reconciliation to the world comes to concrete expression through word and sacraments.

Thomas represents all who would demand a personal appearance of the risen Lord in order to ground their own faith commitment. Jesus summoned Thomas — and through him, all succeeding generations — to a mature and well-grounded belief founded on the testimony of reliable eyewitnesses, rather than a personal encounter. Today’s reading makes two foundational statements about the Church. First, it is the official witness to the reality of Jesus’ Resurrection for every generation. Second, the Church alone is empowered to determine the requisite conditions for reconciliation, and even more, the only means to effectively bestow it upon an alienated humankind.

Read more from the lectionary 

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Who was Thomas ?

Thomas’ name has come down to us as "Doubting Thomas. "  He’s been labeled a "doubter" for his inability to understand Christ’s resurrection from the dead following his crucifixion.  It’s not so much that he doubted the resurrection but that he needed a personal encounter with Jesus to make the resurrection real. His request that he see the wounds on Jesus’s hand left by the nails before he would actually believe that he was speaking to the risen Christ, has provide/ad us with the phfont-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pxrase "Doubting Thomas."   That makes it appear to doubt is not a part of faith which it is. 

National Geographic – "Thomas’s moment of incredulity has proved a two-edged sword in the history of Christian thought. On the one hand, some theologians are quick to point out that his doubt is only natural, echoing the uncertainty, if not the deep skepticism, felt by millions in regard to metaphysical matters. How can we know? That Thomas challenged the risen Christ, probed the wounds, and then believed, some say, lends deeper significance to his subsequent faith. On the other hand, his crisis of doubt, shared by none of the other Apostles, is seen by many as a spiritual failure, as a need to know something literally that one simply cannot know. In the Gospel of John, 20:29, Christ himself chastises Thomas, saying, "Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Loyalty was closer to his character. As one of the disciples, when Jesus announced His intention of going to the Jerusalem area, brushing aside the protests of His disciples that His life was in danger there, at which Thomas said to the others: "Let us also go, that we may die with him." (John 11:7,8,16) If Thomas was pessimistic, he was also sturdily loyal and determined. He wanted to get it right

Before the Doubting Thomas episode, he was honest and sincere. At the Last Supper, Jesus said: "I go to prepare a place for you…. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." Thomas replied: "Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way?" To this Jesus answered: "I am the way, the truth and the life." (John 14:1-6)

Thomas is mentioned again (John 21) as one of the seven disciples who were fishing on the Sea of Galilee (Sea of Tiberias) when the Risen Lord appeared to them. Aside from this he appears in the New Testament only as a name on lists of the Apostles. A couple of centuries later a story was circulating in the Mediterranean world that he had gone to preach in India; and there is a Christian community in India (the Kerala district) that claims descent from Christians converted by the the preaching of Thomas.

Following Christ’s ascensio, the apostles divided the world for missionary purposes. Thomas was assigned to travel to India to spread Christianity. He objected to this group decision. He said he wasn’tt healthy enough to travel. But he couldn’t possibly be successful there, he told the others, contending that a Hebrew couldn’t possibly teach the Indians. It’s even said that Christ appeared to him in a vision encouraging him to travel to India. Thomas remained unmoved by this revelation as well.

A merchant eventually sold Thomas into slavery in India. It was then, when he was freed from bondage that this saint began to form Christian parishes and building churches. It’s not surprising that to this day, St. Thomas is especially venerated as The Apostle in India. According to legend, Thomas built a total of seven churches in India, as well as being martyred during a prayer session with a spear near Madras around the year 72 C.E.  

He is often pictured holding a spear. Paintings of martyrs often show them holding or accompanied by the instruments with which they were put to death. 

A recently discovered work called the Gospel of Thomas is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus,

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The Legacy of Thomas in India

The National Geographic -"He traveled farther than even the indefatigable Paul, whose journeys encompassed much of the Mediterranean. Of all the Apostles, Thomas represents most profoundly the missionary zeal associated with the rise of Christianity—the drive to travel to the ends of the known world to preach a new creed."

"Thomas is said to have raised the first cross in India and performed one of his earliest miracles: When he encountered a group of Brahmans throwing water into the air as part of a ritual, he asked why the water fell back to Earth if it was pleasing to their deity. My God, Thomas said, would accept such an offering. He then flung a great spray into the air, and the droplets hung there in the form of glistening white blossoms. Most onlookers converted on the spot; the rest fled."

"St. Thomas still stands as the direct link between his converts in Kerala and the founding Christian story on the shores of the Mediterranean, clear across the known world of the first century. Unlike later Christian groups in Asia who were converted by missionaries, Thomas Christians believe their church was founded by one of Christ’s closest followers, and this is central to their spiritual identity. "They are an apostolic church," Stewart said, "and that’s the ultimate seal of approval for a Christian group."

"The community was historically united in leadership and liturgy, but since the 17th century have been split into several different church denominations and traditions. 

"Historically the Saint Thomas Christian community was part of the Church of the East, centred in Persia.They are a distinct community, both in terms of culture and religion. Though their liturgy and theology remained that of East-Syrian Christians of Persia, their life-style customs and traditions were basically Indian.  

"In the 16th century the overtures of the Portuguese padroado to bring the Saint Thomas Christians into the Catholic Church led to the first of several rifts in the community and the establishment of Syrian Catholic and Malankara Church factions. Since that time further splits have occurred, and the Saint Thomas Christians are now divided into several different Eastern Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, and independent bodies, each with their own liturgies and traditions." 

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April 3, 2022. John 12:1-8 tells of the anointing at Bethany. In John’s version, this is Mary, of Mary and Martha (in Mark and Luke the woman is unnamed, and in Luke she is a “sinner”), who chooses to anoint Jesus. This is Mary who witnessed Jesus raise her brother Lazarus from the dead.

Fifth Sunday in Lent

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April 3 – 11:00am, Holy Eucharist, Lent 5 – Join here at 10:45am for gathering – service starts at 11am Meeting ID: 869 9926 3545 Passcode: 889278

• Bulletin April 3, 2022
• Lectionary for April 3, 2022
• Commentary April 3, 2022
• Videos April 3, 2022
• Photos April 3, 2022

April 3 – 12:00pm, Coffee Hour

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April 6 – Bible Study 10am-12pm

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Clean up the River Bank, April 23, 10am-11:30am

Gather behind the rectory ready to clean up the trash and weeds at the edge of the river. Wear long pants and old sneakers. Bring a rake or clippers if you have them.

Two short videos to show the location and consider the possibilities.

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More information

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Holy Week Links

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Bishop Curry sets the scene for Palm Sunday, April 10

"It’s taken me some years to realize it, but Jesus didn’t just happen to be in Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday. He wasn’t on vacation. He wasn’t just hanging out in town. Jesus was in Jerusalem on purpose. He arrived in Jerusalem about the time of the Passover when pilgrims were in the city. When people’s hopes and expectations for the dawn of freedom that Moses had promised in the first Passover might suddenly be realized for them in their time.

"Jesus arranged his entrance into Jerusalem to send a message. He entered the city, having come in on one side of the city, the scholars tell us, at just about the same time that Pontius Pilate made his entrance on the exact opposite side of the city. Pilate, coming forth on a warhorse. Pilate, with soldiers around him. Pilate, with the insignias of Rome’s Empire. Pilate, representing the Caesars who claimed to be son of god. Pilate, who had conquered through Rome the people of Jerusalem. Pilate, representing the Empire that had taken away their freedom. Pilate, who represented the Empire that would maintain the colonial status of the Jewish people by brute force and violence.

Read more with a video link.

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Palm Sunday, April 10, 2022

We are nearing the end of Lent. Lent proper began on Ash Wednesday and ends on Palm/Passion Sunday, a day that in turn inaugurates Holy Week. 

While Palm Sunday marks Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem,  the events of that day set in motion Jesus’ death 5 days later before the Passover begins. Zechariah had forecast "Zion’s king" coming "righteous and victorious" on a donkey. It looked like Jesus was proclaiming himself King of Israel to the anger of some of the Jewish authorities.

Palm Sunday has two liturgies – the Liturgy of the Palms where we consider Jesus arrival in Jerusalem from Galilee and the Liturgy of the Passion, a foreshadowing of Holy Week.   

At 10:45am we will meet in the yard beside the parish house for the Blessing of the Palms followed by our Palm Sunday procession into the church which will feature the Liturgy of the Passion.

Palm Sunday is the hinge between Lent and Holy Week. Lent has been the 40 day season of fasting and spiritual preparation intended to understand in practices, ritual and disciplines critical to living in the way of Jesus and Holy Week. Holy Week is a time of more intense fasting, reading and prayers in which we pay particular attention to the final days, suffering, and execution of Jesus.

Here is a page of the significance  Palm Sunday– meanings, the path and art of this important day.

The following week is Holy Week.  We have both a timetable and links to this most important week in our tradition.

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Palm Sunday: The Setting: "We are going up to Jerusalem"

From Killing Jesus – Bill O’Reilly, Martin Dugard 

"Jerusalem is just a forty-minute walk from the village of Bethany, where they stop for the night. They stay at the home of Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha, rather than risk traveling after sundown and on the start of the Sabbath. This will be their base throughout Passover week, and Jesus and the disciples plan to return here most nights for the promise of a hot meal and easy rest.  

"Just on the other side of Bethpage, the two disciples stand waiting. One holds the bridle of a donkey that has never been ridden. The animal is bareback. A disciple removes his square cloak and lays it across the animal’s back as an improvised saddle. The other disciples remove their cloaks and lay them on the ground in an act of submission, forming a carpet on which the donkey can walk. 

"Following this example, many of the pilgrims remove their own cloaks and lay them on the ground. Others gather palm fronds or snap branches off olive and cypress trees and wave them with delight. This is the sign everyone has been waiting for. This is the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy. “Blessed is the king!” shouts a disciple. The people join in, exalting Jesus and crying out to him. “Hosanna,” they chant. “Hosanna in the highest.” 

Read more from Killing Jesus 

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Voices about Palm Sunday

1. David Lose – The Key to the Story

"Jesus suffers, that is, so that when we are suffering we know God understands and cares for us. Jesus is utterly alone by the end of the story so that when we feel alone we know God understands and is with us. Jesus cries out in despair so that when we become convinced the whole world has conspired against us and feel ready to give up, we know that God understands and holds onto us. Jesus dies because so that we know God understands death and the fear of death and reminds us that death does not have the last word. "All that we see and hear, all that we read and sing, all of this is for us.

Read more…  

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Why was Jesus Killed ? 

Arland J. Hultgren

"People colluded to have Jesus killed. The most certain fact we have about Jesus as a historical person is that he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, just as we say in the Apostles’ Creed. Even though he had no intentions of being an earthly king, some people thought that that was what he wanted to be. The title on the cross says it all: "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews" (27:37). As such, his crucifixion was a political act by the Roman government. If Jesus claimed to be King of the Jews (which Pilate does not actually think, but others in power do), that was treasonous, requiring his death."

Mark Roberts –

From a Roman perspective, why did Jesus have to die?

• Because he disturbed Roman order.

• Because he spoke seditiously of a coming kingdom other than that of Caesar.

• Because he allowed himself to be called “King of the Jews.”

• Because he made a nuisance of himself at the wrong time (Passover), in the wrong  place (Jerusalem), in the presence of the wrong people (Pilate and the temple leadership under his command).

 • Because his crucifixion would be a powerful deterrent that might keep other Jews from following in his footsteps.

 Father Jim Cook 

"Jesus was executed for three reasons, says Luke: "We found this fellow subverting the nation, opposing payment of taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King" (Luke 23:1–2). In John’s gospel the angry mob warned Pilate, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar" (John 19:12).  

"In short, "He’s subverting our nation. He opposes Caesar. You can’t befriend both Jesus and Caesar." They were right, even more right than they knew or could have imagined.  "

Read more…  

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 Lectionary, April 10, Palm Sunday

I.Theme –   "Strength is concealed in humility, pain is hidden in triumph, victory, in defeat, life, in death, God, in human form" -Diedrik Nelson 

"Palm Sunday" – Giotto (1305-06)     "Betrayal & Arrest of Christ" – Fra Angelico (1450)

The lectionary readings are here or individually: 

Old Testament – Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm – Psalm 31:9-16 Page 623, BCP 
Epistle –Philippians 2:5-11 
Gospel – Luke 22:14-23:56

"Borg and Crossan (The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus’s Final Days in Jerusalem) imagine not one but two political processions entering Jerusalem that Friday morning in the spring of AD 30. In a bold parody of imperial politics, king Jesus descended the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem from the east in fulfillment of Zechariah’s ancient prophecy: "Look, your king is coming to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey" (Matthew 21:5 = Zechariah 9:9). From the west, the Roman governor Pilate entered Jerusalem with all the pomp of state power. Pilate’s brigades showcased Rome’s military might, power and glory. Jesus’ triumphal entry, by stark contrast, was an anti-imperial and anti-triumphal "counter-procession" of peasants that proclaimed an alternate and subversive community that for three years he had called "the kingdom of God."

This week has two liturgies – Liturgy of the Palms and Liturgy of the Passon.

"The church is called to reckon with paradox on this week: triumph and rejection, death and rebirth." So writes Melinda Quivik in Working Preacher. The week begins with Jesus triumphant arrival and by the end of the week he is killed.  Next week we trace the path day by day.  God is sacrificed by those he brings life. 

"Strength is concealed in humility, pain is hidden in triumph, victory, in defeat, life, in death, God, in human form" -Diedrik Nelson 

The theme is established by the first lesson. The servant is disciplined by suffering so he may bring strength and refreshment to the oppressed, but there are those who oppose him. Willingly he submits to those who torture and humiliate him. But God is his helper, so he is not disgraced or shamed. God vindicates him, no one can convict him.

The servant willingly suffers humiliation at the hands of his adversaries. He is not disgraced or put to shame because Yahweh vindicates him and helps him; no one can declare him guilty.

The servant of the Lord is opposed (Isaiah), is obedient to death (Philippians). He is betrayed, tortured and crucified by those who should have listened to him, and is seen as an innocent man by a centurion (Luke). He will be vindicated (Isaiah), exalted by God (Philippians), and honored by the unexpected one of the criminals- (Luke).

Read more…

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 Parallel Traditions:  The Passion Narratives 

This year we concentrate on Luke’s story of the Passion (last year Mark) who used Mark as a source. 

Each of the Gospels stresses something different about the event according to Catholic writer Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.:

• Mark: the suffering of Jesus, how he was tragically rejected, unfairly condemned, viciously beaten, horribly insulted, and cruely mistreated by multiple groups .
• Matthew: the kingship of Jesus, how the de-facto ruling powers (esp. Pilate & Caiphas) conspired to get rid of someone they saw as a political threat.  
• Luke: the innocence of Jesus, how Pilate said he did not deserve death, and others (Herod Antipas, centurion, repentant thief) also recognized his innocence.
• John: the exaltation of Jesus, how he remains in charge, driving the all action, completing the will of the Father, and being glorified as he is lifted up.

Episodes Only In Luke and John, but not Mark or Matthew: 

• Much longer dialogues at the Last Supper (Luke 22:24-38; John 13–16)
• Pilate stresses Jesus’ innocence (Luke 23:4, 13-16, 22; John 18:38b; 19:4, 6, 12)

Episodes Only in Luke:

• Jesus is tried before the Sanhedrin at dawn (Luke 22:66-71).
• Jesus is taken and questioned before Herod (Luke 23:6-12).
• Jesus speaks with women on the Way to Calvary (Luke 23:26-33a).
• Jesus forgives those who are crucifying him (Luke 23:34a).
• Jesus speaks with the “repentant thief” (Luke 23:39-4.

Episodes Only in John

• Jesus washes his disciples’ feet (John 13:1-20).
• Jesus’ long prayer to the Father (John 17:1-26).
• Jesus has a much longer trial before Pilate (John 18:29–19:16).
• Jesus’ last words on the cross (see above; John 19:26-27, 28, 30).
• After Jesus’ death, his side is pierced, but his bones not broken (John 19:31-37).

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Luke’s Passion Narrative – 6 key themes

1.   The passion narrative is part of the Journey. Together with Jesus’ predictions of his own death, the death of a prophet – 9:31, 51; 12:50; 13:32-33; 17:25, it forms the climax of a journey to the cross upon which Luke has taken us.

2.  Jesus dies an innocent man, a victim of injustice. Pilate states three times that Jesus is innocent, or has done nothing wrong. The thief on the cross declares that Jesus has done nothing wrong. Finally, in one of Luke’s most interesting redactions, the centurion at the foot of the cross declares that Jesus is innocent (as opposed to being the Son of God, as in Mark and Matthew).

3. Jesus is in control of his fate , accepting it and triumphing in it as opportunities for forgiveness and renewal of those He came to save arise. However healso says his death fulfils scripture

The Jesus who calmly faces death is one who had already set his face deliberately to go to Jerusalem (9:51), affirming that no prophet should perish away from Jerusalem (13:33). In the Lucan account of the ministry, Jesus showed tenderness to the stranger (the widow of Nain) and praised the mercy shown to the Prodigal Son and to the man beset by thieves on the road to Jericho; it is not surprising then that in his passion Jesus shows forgiveness to those who crucified him.

And, of course, Jesus’ death and the manner of it fulfils Scripture. In his account of the last supper, Luke (alone) has Jesus quote Isa 53, identifying himself with the suffering servant, who is counted as a criminal (numbered among transgressors) although he is innocent, for his sheep. The risen Jesus explains that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer all of these things in order to ‘enter into his glory’. And old Simeon’s prophecy to Mary is fulfilled as she suffers the pain of seeing her child on his cross, pain like a sword entering her heart.

4. Jesus also dies for the thieves on the cross and for those who crucify Him, although only two of them understands this. In one of the most famous sayings of Jesus reported only in Luke, he asks His Father to forgive those who are crucifying Him, on the grounds that they do not understand what they are doing. To the thief who takes pity on Him as He hangs, an innocent man, on the cross, the promise is greater. ‘Today you will be with me in Paradise.’ Jesus’ authority to forgive penitents has been a theme throughout the gospel -see the story of Zaccheus – and reaches it’s climax here.

As Jesus is dying he prays for his executioners (above), promises paradise to the penitent thief calls God ‘Father’. This is exclusive to Luke, and reflects the intimate and trusting relationship that Luke protrays between Jesus and the Father, seen most strongly in the words of Ps 31:5 quoted at 23:46 ‘Father into your hands I commit my spirit’ – a prayer said by Jews (and many Christians) as they settle down to sleep

5. His death brings a reaction too that only Luke reports. Some leave the scene of his death ‘beating their breasts’, a classic symbol of admission of guilt and request for repentance. (23:48) Perhaps these are some of the ones who are converted at Pentecost (Acts 2:23; 37)

6. Luke’s merciful depiction of the Disciples

Luke, who has described the disciples/apostles with extraordinary delicacy during the ministry (unlike Mark who dwells on their failures and weaknesses), continues a merciful portrayal of them during the passion, never mentioning that they fled.

Read more…

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Spring, March 27, 2022

Fourth Sunday in Lent

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March 27 – 11:00am, Holy Eucharist, Lent 4 – Join here at 10:45am for gathering – service starts at 11am Meeting ID: 869 9926 3545
Passcode: 889278

• Lectionary, March 27, 2022
• Bulletin March 27, 2022
• Commentary March 27, 2022

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March 30 – Bible Study 10am-12pm

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It’s tulip season and the earlier part of the week was just right for taking them in. In late 2021, Bloomia, a King George wholesale florist donated 65,000 bulbs to be be planted in Fredericksburg. I took in Hanover Street and the residents were extremely proud of the results as they should be .

The beauty would be something I would expect to find in the Bible. However, the Bible does not mention tulips specifically. Biblical scholars now tell us that the phrase “lilies of the field” refers to many different kinds of flowers, including the tulip. The more than 6,000 varieties of tulips are a testament of the creativity of gardeners to breed special varieties and the earth to make them prosper.

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Easter Gifts – Lily and donation to the Endowment Fund

 

Here’s the form. Easter Lilies are due April 3, $10 a lily.

Please send the form and the funds to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, P. O. Box 399, Port Royal, VA 22535.

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Lent 4, March 27, "Mothering Sunday"

The fourth Sunday in Lent is traditionally known as “Mothering Sunday” or Refreshment Sunday. In some parts of Great Britain, the custom was to return to the “mother church” or the cathedral for a special service on this day, and it also became customary to celebrate or pay special respect to one’s own mother on this day, a sort of Anglican “Mother’s Day.”

Another custom is the relaxation of austere Lenten observances on this day, the baking of simnel cakes (light fruit cakes covered in marzipan), and in some places the replacement of purple robes and liturgical hangings with rose-colored ones. Simnel cakes are called such because of the fine flour (Latin "simila") they were made of.  
 

Children of all ages were expected to pay a formal visit to their mothers and to bring a Simnel cake as a gift. In return, the mothers gave their children a special blessing. This custom was so well-established that masters were required to give servants enough time off to visit out-of-town mothers – provided the trip did not exceed 5 days! This holiday became Mother’s Day in America.

A recipe for Simnel cake is here. 

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Lent at St. Peter’s 2022

Information about Lent, 7 Lenten Practices, Events, Christian Ed in 2022 and 2021 during Lent, Special topic including web resources, family activities in Lent, Lenten Prayers and music as well as giving to the Endowment Fund during Lent.

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Focusing in on Luke’s Prodigal Son parable (Lent 4)

Luke 15 , the Gospel reading for March 27, starts out with 3 parables, the Prodigal son the third.

First, he imagines a shepherd who leaves his flock in order to find one errant sheep ("Lost Sheep"). Second, he describes a woman who loses a coin ("Lost Coin"). These parables are about being lost and now found. The first two have three common threads running through each. 1) Something or someone is lost. 2) The lost is sought for. 3) Great joy is shared at the recovery of the thing (person) found. The third parable, the Prodigal son, is slightly different. In it, the one who is lost returns to where he came from.

The prodigal son is Luke’s best known parable and also the longest.  It is one with an ending that seems not fair. The word "prodigal"  basic meaning is "wasteful"–particularly with regard to money.

There are many levels of the story. It is a story of the consequences of sin both in terms of what happens to us but also the promise of the return from separation from God. It is a story of welcome and reconciliation. This story is found only in the Gospel of Luke

We see a progression through the three parables from the relationship of one in a hundred (Luke 15:1-7), to one in ten (Luke 15:8-10), to one in one (Luke 15:11-32), demonstrating God’s love for each individual and his personal attentiveness towards all humanity.

The parable is Jesus response to the Pharisees and Scribes since they believe his behavior is an affront to the community. Jesus is associating with the’ wrong people." He is welcoming those who have been cast out; and honoring those who have been shamed by sharing a meal . To invite a person to a meal was an honor that implied acceptance, trust and peace. Jesus response is not to rebuke the Pharisees and scribes but to teach through parables.

The parable has 3 scenes with the first part focusing on the younger son and the last two parts on the father

(1) the negotiations of the younger son with his father and his subsequent departure to a foreign country where he is wasteful and becomes impoverished (15:11-19);

(2) the homecoming of that son and the welcome by his father (15:20-24); and

(3) the interchange between the father and his older son (15:25-32).

Read more…

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The Prodigal Son in Art- Rembrandt

One of the most famous depictions of the Prodigal son was by Rembrandt toward the end of his life.

Rembrandt’s painting was done in 1669 and features his characteristic dark with light shining on the main characters of the father and prodical son. It is a striking painting that brings the emotional return of the son’s return to life

From a site on Rembrandt’s painting- 

Read more…

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Lectionary, April 3, 2022, Lent 5

I. Theme –  The celebration of new life on the road.

 “Christ in the House of Mary and Martha" – Jan Vermeer (1654-55)

"But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?" (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, "Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."

The lectionary readings are here  or individually: 

Old Testament – Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm – Psalm 126
Epistle – Philippians 3:4b-14
Gospel – John 12:1-8      

Today’s readings celebrate the new life God grants through Christ. Isaiah speaks of the “new thing” God will do—life-giving, restorative, renewing. Paul asserts that all his personal achievements are worthless compared to the new life to be gained in Christ. Jesus reveals that his death and resurrection not only invite judgment but call us to compassion, forgiveness and conversion—that is, to new life!

Over the past weeks we have been looking at the pattern in the readings of the Lectionary during Lent. One aspect of that pattern has been the recurring notion of pilgrimage – an active journey to a holy site, a journey from tyranny into freedom, an interior journey into our own faith, or the journey from spiritual moment to spiritual moment, such as the Stations of the Cross.

What can you do to show your journey in the cause of freedom or betterment ? Give someone a gift of flowers, a home-cooked meal, or an unexpected note of appreciation. Use your hands and heart to their fullest, trusting that God can use even the smallest actions to unbind life and set it free. As you become the change you seek, let your goal be to participate in the many resurrections God unleashes all around, today and tomorrow

In Judaism (as well as in later Christianity) we hear of such journeys.

The Bible sees the journey of Abraham and Sarah from the Ur of the Chaldeans as not a mere relocation, but a journey guided and informed by God. Similarly the journey of Israel from Egypt to the promised land is not only a political reality but is peppered with spiritual moments of learning at various points along the way. With the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the people saw an opportunity to make a pilgrimage to a holy place, learn and experience there, and to return home. Even before this Temple, shrines and holy places in ancient Israel drew pilgrims to experience God on the journey. The Psalms of Ascent (Psalm 120-134) literally give voice to the sacred journey of people to the Temple and worship.

Since Luke 9 in the Gospel Jesus has "set his face to Jerusalem", his final pilgrimage. He has been tested after his baptism in Lent 1 by the devil. In Lent 2, Jesus reminds his audience that, as a prophet, his destiny awaits him in Jerusalem after being warned that Herod wants to kill him. During Lent 3, continued his teachings on repentance and confronted his critics with the Prodigal son in Lent 4. The hope of Christ gets connected in the resurrection and the life.

Christians began their own journeys; Paul’s being the most notable as he moved from place to place honoring the Gospel. Early Christians traveled back to the source as we read about the journeys of Origin, Helen, and Jerome. During this season, it might be interesting to read about the pilgrimage of Egeria, a Gallic woman, to Jerusalem during the Holy Week of (ca.) 381. Later Christians would journey to not only Jerusalem but to Santiago de Compostela, Canterbury, Rome, and many other places. The journey is the heightened human experience, often written down for the benefit of others. Let us continue our journey during this Lent.

Read more..

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Tomb, Perfume, Feet, Devil – John 12:1-8 (April 7)

John’s Gospel is a collection of signs and symbols. In particular, John 12, Mary Annoints Jesus at Bethany, in this week before Palm Sunday and Passover concentrates on life and death. Take four seemingly unconnected words – Tomb, Perfume, Feet, and Devil within this scripture and their meanings are intertwined: 

1 Tomb – Passover is near, and so too is Jesus’ "hour" (see 13:1). He spends time with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus soon after the pivotal scene of Lazarus’s revivification (11:1-44). That is the "sign" that brings many to believe in him (11:45; 12:9-11), many to flock to him (12:17-19), and others to plot his death (11:47-53). When Jesus mentions his burial in 12:7, this confirms that his end is coming. Yet Lazarus’s presence at the table confirms that death does not speak the final word.

2 Perfume.  Jesus forges the connection between the anointing and his burial in 12:7 Jesus suggests that Mary’s keeping the perfume in her possession and using it on him now have consequently achieved a greater, more meaningful purpose that she perhaps intended: announcing the nearness of Jesus’ death and preparing for his burial.

3 Feet – Mary’s wiping of Jesus’ feet prefigures the time when he will wipe the feet of his disciples (13:5). This reveals her as a model disciple, for the washing and wiping of feet expresses a unity with Jesus (13:8) and reflects his command (13:14-15).  

4 Devil – Readers know from 6:70-71 that Judas is "a devil," but John chooses this point in the narrative to reveal him as a thief (compare 13:29). 

Back to the words. You can connect the following- 

Tomb and perfume –  The sweet smell of Mary’s perfume counters the stench of Lazarus’s tomb (11:39). Life and death, wholeness and corruption remain contrasted throughout both scenes.

Feet and Devil represent the contrast between Mary and Judas This creates a clear opposition between him and Mary. He is false; she is true. He is greedy and self-serving; she is generous and ebullient in devotion.

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Holy Week

“We approach the passion story assuming God is just like us – liable to terrible and merciless wrath, but all capable of amazing grace. But that’s not what the Passion tells us. We’re a mixture of good and bad, but God is good all the way down, all the time , all the way beyond for ever and back.Holy Week is the story of what happens when our mixed-up lives come in touching distance of goodness that goes beyond for ever, what happens to that goodness – that goodness – and what happens to us. The Passion of Christ shows that Jesus is stretched out between heaven and earth, hanging by a thread between the limitless possibility of human goodness and the fathomless horror of human depravity… Jesus is the hanging thread, the violin string stretched out between heaven and earth. And the music played on the string is what we call the gospel.”

– Samuel Wells, Hanging By a Thread: The Questions of the Cross

Various Holy Week links

Holy Week between Palm Sunday and Easter is the most sacred time of year. It’s remembering Jesus’ triumph, suffering and resurrection. Ultimately it’s about ours. From our Baptism liturgy- “We thank you, Father, for the water of Baptism. In it we are buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in his resurrection. Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.” Every Sunday is an Easter.

From early times, Christians have observed the week before Easter as a time of special prayer and devotion. As the pilgrim Egeria recorded in the late fourth century, numerous pilgrims to the holy city of Jerusalem followed the path of Jesus in his last days. They formed processions, worshipped where Christ suffered and died, and venerated sacred sites and relics. From this beginning evolved the practices we observe today on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.

Complete introduction

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Holy Week services

-Sunday, April 10, Palm Sunday, 10:45am, Liturgy of the Palms and Procession. 11AM Holy Eucharist in our church building

Service is also available through Zoom. Meeting ID: 869 9926 3545
Passcode: 889278

-Friday, April 15, Good Friday 7PM, the church

Service is also available through Zoom. Meeting ID: 832 3455 0813
Passcode: 713746

-Sunday, April 17, Easter Day, 7AM, Sunrise Service at the Long’s residence at the end of Water Stret.

-Sunday, April 17, Easter Day, 11AM, Holy Eucharist our church building

Service is also available through Zoom. Meeting ID: 869 9926 3545
Passcode: 889278

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Other Events during Holy Week

Bible Study 10am-12pm on Wed. Feb. 13

Feb. 13 – 4:30om-6pm, Village Dinner . Take out only. Please contact Susan Linne von Berg for a reservation.

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Sunday, April 10 , 2022– Palm Sunday

Giotto di Bonde, Entry into Jerusalem (1304-06), Fresco, Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua

2022

Bulletin 2022

Service Readings 2022

Commentary on Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday sermon

Palm Sunday photo gallery

Palm Sunday videos

2021

From Left to Right, Top to Bottom”
1. “Magnolia soulangiana” in bloom
2. Communion lining up during the pandemic rather than kneeling at the altar
3. Hymn board today
4. Passion reading
5. Litany of the Palms and Litany of Thanksgiving for re-entering the church
6. Quince and cherry in the windows today

Bulletin 2021

Service Readings 2021

Palm Sunday sermon

Palm Sunday photo gallery and meanings

Palm Sunday videos

2020

Palm Sunday Branches and Flowers, 2020

Bulletin 2020

Service Readings 2020

Passion Narrative PowerPoint

Prayers of the People, March 28, 2020

Sermon, March 28, 2020

Photo Gallery Flashback to Palm Sunday 2017

2019

Service Review 2019 

Sermon 2019 

Photos 2019

Videos 2019

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Palm Sunday is the hinge between Lent and Holy Week. Here is a page that uncovers the meaning of the day

Bishop Curry sets the scene

Entry into Jerusalem. Marjorie George, Episcopal Diocese of West Texas

Palm Sunday in scripture

Jesus, at the Mount of Olives, sends two disciples to secure a donkey and a colt; makes his “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem; weeps over Jerusalem

The Trek from the Mount of Olives
Luke 19:28-40
Matthew 21:1-11
Mark 11:1-10
John 12:12-15

Some Greeks seek Jesus  John 12:20-36

Jesus enters the temple area, then returns to Bethany
Mark 11:11
Matthew 21:17

Commentaries

Video Introduction to Palm Sunday

Holy Week Timeline – Palm Sunday

What happened on Palm Sunday ?

The Problem of Palm Sunday

Progression of Faith Blog – Palm Sunday

Holy Week Visual Timeline

Palm Sunday procession in Jerusalem

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Special -Remembering the Belfry construction,  2012 – Jim Heimbach’s photos. Easter week is a time of remembrance. In that spirit it is appropriate to present these pictures to celebrate this achievement.

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Monday, April 11, 2022 – The Temple

Jesus Cleansing the Temple

On Monday morning Jesus and the Twelve leave Bethany to return to Jerusalem, and along the way Jesus curses the fig tree

Fig Tree is cursed –

Mark 11:12-14

Matthew 21:18-19

Jesus enters Jerusalem and clears the temple

Temple Protest –
Mark 11:15-19

Matthew 21:12-13

Luke 19:45-46
John 2:13-17

In the evening Jesus and the Twelve leave Jerusalem (returning to Bethany )
Mark 11:19

Focus on Holy Week – Art of Holy Week 

Commentaries

Video Introduction, Monday
Holy Week timeline, Monday
Holy Week Timeline- Monday and Tuesday
What happened on Monday of Holy Week?

No turning back (Monday)

Progression of Faith Blog – Monday

Brothers of St. John the Evangelist- Praying Monday in Holy Week

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Tuesday, April 12, 2022 – The End Times

Titus Destroying Jerusalem (Wilhelm von Kaulbach)

Jesus’ disciples see the withered fig tree on their return to Jerusalem from Bethany. As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.

Fig Tree part 2 –
Mark 11:20-25,

Matthew 21:20-22

Jesus engages in conflict with the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem

There are 4 confrontations :

1. Jesus Authority challenged (Matthew 21:23)

2. Parable of the troublesome tenant (Matthew 21:33)

3  Paying taxes to Caesar (Matthew 22:15)

4. The Greatest commandment (Matthew 22:23)

Matthew 21:23-23:39

Luke 20:1—21:4

Mark 12:1-44

The Disciples marvel at the Temple; Jesus delivers the Olivet Discourse on their return to Bethany from Jerusalem about the Temple and end times.

Prophecy about the Temple – Mark 13:1-2
Prophecy about the Future –
Mark 13:3-37, Mathew 24:3-25:46,
Matthew 26:1-2
Matthew 24:1-25:46
Luke 21:5-36
John 12:20–38

Today, Judas was working on the details of the betrayal of Christ and was paid 30 pieces of silver.
Matthew 26:14-16

Commentaries

Video Introduction, Tuesday
Holy Week Timeline- Tuesday

Holy Week Timeline- Monday and Tuesday

The Four Traps on Tuesday

What Happened on Tuesday of Holy Week ?

Progression of Faith Blog – Tuesday

Brothers of St. John the Evangelist- Praying Tuesday in Holy Week

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Wednesday, April 13 – The Plot and the Perfume 

Jesus continues his daily teaching in the Temple

Luke 21:37-38

With Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread approaching, the chief priests, elders, and scribes plot to kill Jesus

Plot to Kill Jesus

Mark 14:1-2
Matthew 26:3-5
Luke 22:1-2

The anointing at Bethany – Mark 14:3-9

Satan enters Judas, who seeks out the Jewish authorities in order to betray Jesus for a price

Judas goes to meet with chief priests –
Mark 14:10-11
Matthew 26:14-16
Luke 22:3-6

Commentaries

Video Introduction to Wednesday
Holy Week Timeline- Wednesday
Holy Week Visual Timeline- Wednesday, Thursday
Spy Wednesday
What Happened on Wednesday of Holy Week ?
Brothers of SSJE comment on betrayal
Progression of Faith Blog – Wednesday
Brothers of St. John the Evangelist – Praying Wednesday of Holy Week

2021

In 2021 and 2022, we did not do Tenebrae

Tenebrae This service introduces the events of Holy Week and provides an opportunity to meditate on those events through the words of the Psalms. The most conspicuous feature of the service is the gradual distinguishing of candles until only a single candle, considered a symbol of our Lord, remains.

Background to Tenebrae

Bulletin 2019

Service Readings for Wednesday

Photos 2019 

Description 2019 

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Thursday, April 14, 2022 – The Arrest

Jesus instructs  Peter and John to secure a large upper room in a house in Jerusalem and to prepare for the Passover meal

Preparations for the Meal – Mark 14:12-16
Matthew 26:17-19
Luke 22:7-13

In the evening Jesus eats the Passover meal with the Twelve, tells them of the coming betrayal, and institutes the Lord’s Supper

The Last Supper –
Mark 14:17-31,
John 13.1-17.26, 
Matthew 26:20-29,
Luke 22:14-30

After supper Jesus washes the disciples’ feet, interacts with them, and delivers the Upper Room Discourse

John 13:1-17:26

Jesus foretells Peter’s denials

Matthew 26:31-35
Mark 14:27-31

Luke 22:31-34

Jesus and the disciples go to Gethsemane, where he struggles in prayer and they struggle to stay awake late into the night

Gethsemane, the arrest – Matthew 26:47-56
Gethsemane, the arrest –
Luke 22:47-53
Gethsemane, the arrest –
Mark 14:32-52

Progression of Faith Blog – Thursday

Passion Gallery – Thursday

Focus on Leonardo DaVinci’s Last Supper

Commentaries

Video Introduction to Thursday

Holy Week Timeline- Thursday

Greatest Prayer in the World

What Happened on Thursday of Holy Week ?

Progression of Faith Blog – Thursday

Gethsemane (poem) – Mary Oliver

Brothers of St. John the Evangelist – Praying Maundy Thursday

2022
We have not scheduled Maundy Thursday in 2022

2021

2021 Bulletin

Sermon

Photo gallery and description

2020

Washington Cathedral, 7pm

2019

Maundy Thursday . At this service, we focus on the institution of Holy Eucharist, given to us by Jesus at the Last Supper, the gift of love in the sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood. We also focus on the law of love, the demonstration of self-giving which is symbolized in the washing of feet. This service is the beginning of the celebration of the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Bulletin 2019

Photos 2019

Description 2019 

Service Readings

Sermon 2019 

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Friday, April 15, 2022 – The Execution

Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested by the authorities (perhaps after midnight, early Friday morning)

Matthew 26:47-56

Mark 14:43-52

Luke 22:47-53

John 18:2-12

Jewish trial, phase 1: Jesus has a hearing before Annas (former high priest and Caiaphas’s father-in-law)

Interrogation by Annas –
John 18:12-15,

John 18:19-24

Jewish trial, phase 2: Jesus stands trial before Caiaphas and part of the Sanhedrin

Night Trial –

Mark 14:53-65

Matthew 26:57-68

Peter denies Jesus

Peter in the Courtyard –

Mark 14:66-72
Matthew 26:69-75
Luke 22:55-62

John 18:15-18, 25-27

Perhaps after sunrise, phase 3 of Jesus’ Jewish trial: final consultation before the full Sanhedrin; sent to Pilate

Morning Council Meeting –
Mark 15:1,
Luke 22:66-23.1 

Matthew 27:1-2

Phase 1 of Jesus’ Roman trial: first appearance before Pontius Pilate; sent to Herod Antipas

First hearing before Pilate –

Luke 23.1-7  ,
Mark 15:2-5 ,
Matthew 27:11-14

Phase 2 of Jesus’ Roman trial: appears before Herod Antipas; sent back to Pontius Pilate

Interrogation by Antipas – Luke 23.8-12

Judas hangs himself – The Death of Judas  – Mathew 27:3-5

Phase 3 of Jesus’ Roman trial: Jesus’ second appearance before Pilate; condemned to die

Second hearing before Pilate –
Luke 23.13-23  

Mark 15:6-15
Matthew 27:15-26,
John 18:28-19:16

The flogging – Mark 15:16-20

Jesus is crucified (from approximately 9 AM until Noon). The crucifixion –
Mark 15:16-32  ,

Matthew 27:27-54  

Luke 23:26-49.

John 19:16-37

Darkness at noon – Mark 15:33
“It is Finished” –
Mark 15:34-47 

Joseph of Arimathea –

Mark 15:42-47,
John 19:38-42

Progression of Faith Blog – Friday

Passion Gallery – Friday

Focus on the Music of Good Friday – St. Matthew’s  Passion, St. John’s Passion

Commentaries

Video introduction to Friday

Holy Week Timeline-  Friday

Holy Week Visual Timeline-Friday

It is Finished

What Happened on Friday of Holy Week ?

Progression of Faith Blog – Friday

Society of St. John the Evangelist – Praying Good Friday

2022.
The Good Friday service is at 7pm at St. Peter’s on Good Friday, April 15, 2022.

Service is also available through Zoom. Meeting ID: 832 3455 0813
Passcode: 713746

Lectionary readings for Good Friday

The bulletin is here for 2022.

Description

Meaning for Good Friday

Sermon 2022

Good Friday videos

Good Friday photos

2021. We were inside the church for this service at 5pm.

The bulletin is here for 2021.

The Good Friday service was a Stations of the Cross

Good Friday description and gallery

2020

Good Friday bulletin, 2020

Service Readings

Good Friday powerpoint

Sermon

Description 2020 

2019

Good Friday, 7pm.  This service is a time of prayer and reflection as we meditate on Christ’s passion and death. At this service, we will hear the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John. A large cross will be brought into the church and we will have time to meditate on Christ’s passion and death during the Veneration of the Cross.

Mary Peterman’s Stations of the Cross

Bulletin 2019
Photos 2019 
Description 2019 

Service Readings
Sermon 2019

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Saturday, April 16, 2022 – The Silence

The Women prepare for annointing Jesus

After the crucifixion on Friday, the focus shifts to Jesus’ tomb and the women prepare to anoint his body

It is a day of waiting. Jesus is in Joseph of Arimathea’s family tomb which was typical of the time and cut into rock. This was a tomb for the wealthy based on the work that had been done to create it. It was forecast by Isaiah but well above Jesus station in life.

The earliest Biblical Gospel, Mark, says nothing about Saturday of Holy Week. There are some other references elsewhere about a mythological type of spiritual journey by Jesus into hell and releasing of the saint’s spirits (from 1 Peter 3) but that might refer to the ascension. Nothing historical is mentioned anywhere. The disciples are laying low probably fearful that the same thing might happen to them as did Jesus.

Luke notes that the women returned home “and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56). The preparing of the body would have been the main activity and typical of burial customs of the time.

Pilate Posts Guard – Matthew 27:62-66

Women prepare for Anointing – Mark 16:1

Commentaries

Video introduction to Saturday

Holy Week Timeline-  Saturday

Holy Week Visual Timeline- Sat/Sun

Let His Blood Be On Us

What Happened on Saturday of Holy Week ?

12 things you need to know about Holy Saturday


Progression of Faith Blog – Saturday

Passion Gallery 3 – Saturday


“Holy Saturday – the Forgotten Day – David Lose

Great Vigil of Easter Service, 7:00pm Washington National Cathedral

The Great Vigil of Easter, when observed, is the first service of Easter. It is celebrated at a convenient time between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter Morning and is the climax of three days of Triduum (Thursday, Tenebrae, Friday, Saturday. Followers of Jesus began celebrating his Resurrection with the Easter Vigil service very early on. By 215 CE, we already have descriptions of services and liturgical prayers that the early Church was using.  It was revived by our current prayer book.

The service normally consists of four parts:

1. The Service of Light. The service begins after sundown with people gathering outside in the dark. A new fire is kindled  then blessed. Then the new Paschal Candle is blessed and lit.  Once the Paschal Candle is lit, its flame is shared with all who light their taper candles from its flame. Then a candlelight procession is lead into the darkened church, stopping periodically to declare “The Light of Christ,” to which all respond “Thanks be to God!”   The very ancient Exsultet is chanted by the deacon or other minister.

2. The Ministry of the Word.  Then, in the candlelit darkness, lessons are read. There as a few as 4 and as many as 9 or even 12 in some services.

3. Baptism or the Renewal of Baptism.  After the lessons, any candidates for Baptism are presented by their sponsors. In the midst of the gathered faithful, they take their baptismal vows and then the whole assembly renews their Baptismal Covenant with them.

4. The Ministry of the Sacrament.  Then there is a loud noise in the darkness, reminiscent of the sound of the stone being rolled away from the entry to Jesus’ tomb, and everyone blows noisemakers or rings bells joyously as we celebrate the moment of Resurrection. All the lights are turned on and the candles at the altar are lit. Then the Gospel reading, telling the story of the first Easter morning, is told, followed by a  homily. The first Eucharist of Easter is presented.

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April 17, 2022 – Easter, the Resurrection  

Some women arrive at Jesus’ tomb near dawn, probably with Mary Magdalene arriving first.

Matthew 28:1,
Luke 24:1 ,
John 20:1

Mary and the other women, instead of finding Jesus’ body, are met by two young men who are angels; one of them announces Jesus’ resurrection.

Matthew 28:2-7, 
Mark 16:4-7 ,
Luke 24:2-7 ,

The women, fearful and joyful, leave the garden—at first unwilling to say anything to anyone about this but then changing their mind and going to tell the Eleven.

Mark 16:1-8,
Matthew 28:8

Mary Magdalene likely rushes ahead and tells Peter and John before the other women arrive.

John 20:2

Mary Magdalene has an encounter with Jesus in the garden.

John 20:11-18

The other women, still en route to tell the disciples, are met by Jesus, who confirms their decision to tell the Eleven and promises to meet them in Galilee.

Matthew 28:9-10

The women arrive and tell the disciples that Jesus is risen.  Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion

Luke 24:8-11

Peter and John rush to the tomb (based on Mary Magdalene’s report) and discover it empty.

John 20:3-10 , 

Luke 24:12

That afternoon Jesus appears to Cleopas and a friend on the road to Emmaus; later Jesus appears to Peter

Luke 24:13-35

That evening Jesus appears to the Ten (minus Thomas) in a house (with locked doors) in Jerusalem. The Upper Room.

Luke 24:36-43,

John 20:19-23

Commentaries

Video introduction to Sunday
Holy Week Timeline- Easter Sunday
What Happened on Easter Sunday of Holy Week ?

Have You Found What You’re Looking For?

Progression of Faith Blog – Easter Sunday

Society of St. John the Evangelist – Praying Easter Sunday

Easter Voices, Year B 

2022

7am Sunrise service at the Long’s residence at the end of Water Street.

We will be in the church for Easter Sunday at 11am.

Easter bulletin, 2022

Easter Lectionary

Easter Lectionary discussion

Zoom link for Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday photos

Easter Sunday videos

2021

We were in the church for Easter Sunday at 11am. There was no sunrise service.

Bulletin, April 4

Sermon, April 4

2020

Bulletin, April 12

Powerpoint and videos

Easter Gifts.

Sermon

2019

Easter, 6:30am Sunrise Service, 11am Service St. Peter’s (10:45 lighting of the Paschal Candle)

Bulletin 2019 
Service Readings 2019
Photos 2019

Sunrise Service Photos 2019

Sermon
Description

Holy Week Geography   

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Third Sunday in Lent

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March 20 – 11:00am, Holy Eucharist, Lent 3 – Join here at 10:45am for gathering – service starts at 11am Meeting ID: 869 9926 3545 Passcode: 889278

• Bulletin March 20, 2022
• Commentary March 20, 2022

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March 23 – Bible Study, 10am-12pm

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March 24 – Sacred Ground, 7pm

The Sacred Ground Scholarship.A scholarship fund has been established which will help minority students pay for education after high school. Contribute by donating to St Peter’s and put “Sacred Ground Scholarship” on the memo line. We have collected $6,100 towards that scholarship.

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Easter Gifts – Lily and donation to the Endowment Fund

 

Here’s the form. Easter Lilies are due April 3 $10 a lily.

Please send the form and the funds to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, P. O. Box 399, Port Royal, VA 22535.

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Quarter 1, 2022 Village Harvest – Holding our own

Putting together a Village Harvest involves a team to transport the food from Montross and then bag it using both plastic and paper bags

This quarter we served 296 clients providing 14.20 pounds average per person. We served 91 in March, 2022 compared to 90 last month.

The positive trend is that we reversed a decline in the numbers of clients going back to 2019. Over 3 years, 2019-2021 we lost over 90 clients. This year we actually increased our clients. It was only by 1 but was a positive trend nevertheless.

Total pounds provided this quarter were 4,196 but which was 146 less than first quarter 2021. Much of it is in March where pounds declined from 1,635 to 1,480. Quarter one’s food was the first decline since Q1, 2020. The value per shopper was just under $88 down just under $91 last year maintaining a positive experience.

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Lent at St. Peter’s 2022

Information about Lent, 7 Lenten Practices, Events, Christian Ed in 2022 and 2021 during Lent, Special topic including web resources, family activities in Lent, Lenten Prayers and music as well as giving to the Endowment Fund during Lent.

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So How’s Your Lent Going ?

We are halfway through Lent with Lent 4, 5 and Palm Sunday to go before getting to Holy Week.

So what are you doing for Lent and how it is going? What should you be doing? Lent is a journey – part of it is looking inside, removing things and taking on new things – building up. The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby suggested the following in 2015- "At the individual level it draws us to see what we have been saved from, and what we are being saved for."

"A good Lent makes space for hope by leading us afresh into encounter with the holiness of God." A good Lent starts with us.

"A good Lent begins with paying attention, with beginning to make straight the way of the Lord by listening… We cannot listen while we fill our ears with our own self-confidence and our own self-worth. 

"So, how do we listen? Read Luke’s gospel, taking a small chunk each day, and ask yourself as you read it three simple questions: What does it say? What does it mean? What am I going to do about it? Very simple.

"And what do I do about it? Ask yourself: “How do I make my life more open to Christ because of what this is saying to me?”

"For myself, such reading is part of my own daily discipline of prayer, which includes a lot of other things as well. Time is spent and at the end of jotting down whatever banal or very occasionally less banal thoughts I have, I always put in a couple of lines of what I can do about it.

"Sometimes it is very practical writing to someone or speaking to someone who I may have offended. It may be very simple, merely saying a prayer of sorry, or thank you, or petition for something of which I need reminding.

"A good Lent must overflow in generosity. How do we live a good Lent with those whom we live with? The bumps in the road we need to smooth out for the Lord to come? Relationships that have been neglected and therefore are full of clutter that needs removing?

"They can be very difficult: broken relationships may be easily mendable, little irritations – or it may be that we need, in a good Lent, to take the first step to clearing away a major landslide.

"How do you do it in practice? Openness, transparency, and also go back and use the same approach to scripture as I suggested a few moments ago. One has to treat each person and situation different

"Let me suggest one other. As individuals, even short periods of complete silence during Lent, fasting from noise and conversation and distraction, will be of great value. How little we do of it.

"I’ve had to learn, and I’m still very much learning, that I do not need to do anything in that time. I need only to be willing to listen. It is a time of meditation and reflection, of discovering the God who – all the time – is saying: “Here I am.”

"The discipline of a good Lent is to find again how we welcome the stranger, how we practice hospitality, how we listen.

"A good Lent starts within us. It moves through those most closely around us. It comes into the church and it must be so generously experienced that it overflows into society. We will not really have a Good Lent until that chain is complete, and for that, we pray, may your Kingdom come."

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Lectionary, March 27, 2022, Lent 4

I. Theme –  Our individual and collective reconciliation with God

 “Return of the Prodigal Son" – Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1667-1670)

"He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’"

The lectionary readings are here  or individually: 

Old Testament – Joshua 5:9-12
Psalm – Psalm 32
Epistle – 2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Gospel – Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32      

Today’s readings invite us into the welcoming, forgiving arms of our loving God. In Joshua, the people of Israel celebrate their home-coming in the promised land, eating, for the first time, of the produce of Canaan. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul describes our reconciliation to God in and through Christ. The gospel story tells of a father’s prodigal love for his lost sons.

Although the focus shifts just a little bit, to themes of forgiveness and reconciliation. . This week’s readings, however, bring together the individual and the communal. Our reconciliation with God leads us into the “ministry of reconciliation.” Our forgiveness brings wholeness, not just to ourselves, but to others through us. This connection between the “me” and the “we” is such an important theme of the Gospel, and a good place to linger in this week’s worship, while also looking at the implications of the practice of forgiveness for justice in our world.

The theme this week stands out very clearly in these readings – God removes disgrace; God forgives and restores; the prodigal is welcomed home and reconciled to his family; God reconciles us to God’s Self, and to each other, and we are called to do the same. Forgiveness flows from God’s infinite and unconditional grace, and is received through honest confession and repentance. But reconciliation with God, as much as it brings personal healing and restoration, is not only personal. It is also social, drawing us back into reconciliation with others, and into passing on to others the healing and grace we have received

Read more..

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Focusing in on Luke’s Prodigal Son parable (Lent 4)

Luke 15 , the Gospel reading for March 27, starts out with 3 parables, the Prodigal son the third.

First, he imagines a shepherd who leaves his flock in order to find one errant sheep ("Lost Sheep"). Second, he describes a woman who loses a coin ("Lost Coin"). These parables are about being lost and now found. The first two have three common threads running through each. 1) Something or someone is lost. 2) The lost is sought for. 3) Great joy is shared at the recovery of the thing (person) found. The third parable, the Prodigal son, is slightly different. In it, the one who is lost returns to where he came from.

The prodigal son is Luke’s best known parable and also the longest.  It is one with an ending that seems not fair. The word "prodigal"  basic meaning is "wasteful"–particularly with regard to money.

There are many levels of the story. It is a story of the consequences of sin both in terms of what happens to us but also the promise of the return from separation from God. It is a story of welcome and reconciliation. This story is found only in the Gospel of Luke

We see a progression through the three parables from the relationship of one in a hundred (Luke 15:1-7), to one in ten (Luke 15:8-10), to one in one (Luke 15:11-32), demonstrating God’s love for each individual and his personal attentiveness towards all humanity.

The parable is Jesus response to the Pharisees and Scribes since they believe his behavior is an affront to the community. Jesus is associating with the’ wrong people." He is welcoming those who have been cast out; and honoring those who have been shamed by sharing a meal . To invite a person to a meal was an honor that implied acceptance, trust and peace. Jesus response is not to rebuke the Pharisees and scribes but to teach through parables.

The parable has 3 scenes with the first part focusing on the younger son and the last two parts on the father

(1) the negotiations of the younger son with his father and his subsequent departure to a foreign country where he is wasteful and becomes impoverished (15:11-19);

(2) the homecoming of that son and the welcome by his father (15:20-24); and

(3) the interchange between the father and his older son (15:25-32).

Read more…

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The Prodigal Son in Art- Rembrandt

One of the most famous depictions of the Prodigal son was by Rembrandt toward the end of his life.

Rembrandt’s painting was done in 1669 and features his characteristic dark with light shining on the main characters of the father and prodical son. It is a striking painting that brings the emotional return of the son’s return to life

From a site on Rembrandt’s painting- 

Read more…

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Second Sunday in Lent

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March 13 – 11:00am, Morning Prayer, Lent 2 – Join here at 10:45am for gathering – service starts at 11am Meeting ID: 869 9926 3545 Passcode: 889278

• Bulletin March 13, 2022
• Sermon for March 13, 2022
• Commentary March 13, 2022
• Photo gallery

Lent 2, March 13. All the readings talk about the future. In Genesis, God seals a covenant with Abraham, a promise full of images of hope. The first image is of the stars and their staggering number. So shall Abraham’s descendants be. In the Gospel, having been warned that Herod, the ruler of Galilee, wants to kill him, Jesus reminds his audience that, as a prophet, his destiny awaits him in Jerusalem.

We had a small congregation with adverse weather yesterday and continuing cold conditions. That didn’t stop nature – future day lilies stalks are appearing and the river was picturesque with ice. Guest preacher the Rev. Deason Salli Hartman spoke on the Gospel with that image of a mother hen. Jesus invokes the image of the mother hen gathering her chicks together. Here, the power that Jesus describes is to gather and protect, unlike the power in Jerusalem that was used to rule and dominate. The power that comes from God is a power of protection, of bringing together, of healing and hope

We also celebrated the birthday of one of our youngest parishioners which also speaks of hope.

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March 16 – Bible Study 10am-12pm

March 16 – Village Harvest food distribution 3pm-5pm

If you would like to volunteer, please email Andrea or call (540) 847-9002. Pack bags for distribution 1-3PM, Deliver food to client’s cars 3-5PM.

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The Gospel this Sunday – Jesus as a mother hen!

Dr. Kathy Bozzuti-Jones, Trinity NY. Image “Mother Hen. Mosaic, Jerusalem”. Unknown

“In a striking woman-centered image of God, Luke’s Gospel invites us to contemplate Jesus as a mother hen, gathering her chicks under her wings in a loving, maternal, and open-hearted posture of mercy. But her children will not come home to her for shelter. And, by referring to Herod — an icon for the murderous powers of death — as a fox, this vulnerable hen, bereft and struggling with failure, declares that it will not run away. Jesus digs in, defiantly. He is resolved to move toward Herod and into Jerusalem for the completion of his saving work of healing and deliverance — his fiercely compassionate mission from God — despite all impending threats. Jesus must be on his way, now, even as he laments his certain rejection: Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills prophets.”

Questions for reflection:

“Does this caring, protective image of God confirm or expand your own image of God? Might it be a powerful image for our times? What does it say about the Christian call to radical vulnerability? What other images of God help you to understand God’s mercy and care, in this moment?”

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St. Patrick, March 17, 2022

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. 

Read more…

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The Call to A Holy Lent

“Our liturgy directly invites us into a holy season of specific practices aimed at helping us reconnect with God in preparation for the celebration of Easter. “I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent.” (Book of Common Prayer, page 265)

A. By self-examination. This means setting aside time to intentionally reflect upon one’s thoughts and actions, acknowledging the ways in which we fall short of God’s goodness and love.

B. By repentance. To repent means to have “a change of heart” and to “turn around” from actions and attitudes contrary to God’s will. This means honestly confessing our sins to God and receiving his forgiveness.

C. By prayer. This calls us to take part in the Church’s corporate acts of worship as well as the setting aside of time for personal prayer.

D. By fasting. To fast is to abstain from certain foods or all food for a period of time. Fasting separates you from the distractions of this world and it brings us into a closer union with God. It allows us to hear God better and fully rely upon Him.

E. By self-denial. Denying oneself in Lent means giving up certain luxuries, even legitimate pleasures, in order to focus oneself spiritually.

F. By reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. In Lent, believers are especially called to read and reflect on Scripture in a daily way.

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Lent at St. Peter’s 2022

Information about Lent, 7 Lenten Practices, Events, Christian Ed in 2022 and 2021 during Lent, Special topic including web resources, family activities in Lent, Lenten Prayers and music as well as giving to the Endowment Fund during Lent.

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Lectionary, March 20, 2022, Third Sunday in Lent

I. Theme – We are called into faithful obedience

 “Parable of the Barren Fig Tree" -Alexander Master (1430)

"Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’"

The lectionary readings are here  or individually: 

Old Testament – Exodus 3:1-15
Psalm – Psalm 63:1-8
Epistle – 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Gospel – Luke 13:1-9     

Today’s readings call us to faithful obedience. One way to do this is to clear a space for God.

This week, try clearing space in your life for being in solitude with God. Like clearings in a forest, where suddenly the stars and moon above come into view, such solitude can rejuvenate and strengthen us for full-hearted life.

Be ambitious: remove every obstacle in your path. Turn off the TV, unplug the radio, shut down the computer, put away your phone (especially at mealtime!), light candles, revisit your favorite music, read aloud your favorite poem, or take a walk in the woods under the night sky.

Whatever clearings you choose, let your goal be to deepen your awareness of God’s companionship and serene presence all around.

In the first reading, God’s promise to rescue the faithful summons us to a new relationship. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul looks at the experiences of God’s people in the past to show his readers how to live in obedience now. In the gospel, Jesus advises us to respond to calamities with a spirit of personal repentance.

Much of the text deals with the challenges of the wilderness, the hot desert in the Old Testament and Psalm and the need for new relationships . We who are given much squander our resources.

In any season, the garden is an organic model for a spirituality that is alive and growing. Each garden comes to maturity in its own time, producing its unique crop: figs or artichokes, pansies or sunflowers. Within each person lies this secret, sacred space. One person’s inner terrain cannot be compared to another’s; most people know intuitively which ground is barren, which is fruitful. Ultimately, like the fig tree, we are spared for our potential, not for anything we have done.

And if we are fortunate, kind gardeners sometimes intervene on our behalf. Friends “hear us into speech.” Coworkers make allowances. Someone takes us seriously; someone laughs with us; someone squeezes our hand in a tight spot. Family members forgive our all-too-obvious warts. Each gesture of respect and camaraderie stays the hatchet another degree, hoes the ground and manures it. With God’s grace fragrant as rain, we can come gradually to fruition. Sometimes, we can even become the compassionate gardener for another person.

The other bit of good news contained in this reading is Jesus’ interpretation of swift, violent death. While his hearers might be quick to read it as punishment for sin, Jesus knows that death will apply to himself as well. He who is sinless will also die a brutish death at the hands of Pilate.

We who hear about a disasters the moment after they happen can learn from Jesus that these events are not punishment for sin, but impetus for reform. 

Read more…

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The word “Lent” comes from an Old English word that means “length”. It refers to the lengthening of daylight in Spring. As the physical world experiences an increase of light and the sprouting of new life (crocus, daffodils, Lenten Rose above), we are reminded that light beats darkness, and that the restoration of life is on the way, our restoration as we move from ashes (sin) to alleluias to reside in Christ’s glory at Easter.

Lent 1

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March 6 – 11:00am, Holy Eucharist, Lent 1 – Join here at 10:45am for gathering – service starts at 11am Meeting ID: 869 9926 3545 Passcode: 889278

• Bulletin March 6, 2022
• Sermon for March 6, 2022
• Commentary March 6, 2022

March 6 – 7:00pm, Compline on Zoom – Join here at 6:30pm for gathering – service starts at 7pm Meeting ID: 878 7167 9302 Passcode: 729195

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March 7 – 6:30am, Be Still Meditation – Join here 6:30am 20 minute group time of prayer Meeting ID: 879 8071 6417 Passcode: 790929

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March 9 – Bible Study 10am-12pm

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Ash Wed. Photo Gallery

Link to the gallery

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Lent began March 2 with Ash Wednesday

Lent is a 40 day Christian festival beginning Ash Wednesday and concluding on Easter (Sundays are not counted).  The 40 day fast of Jesus in the wilderness was responsible for the number 40 being chosen .  It was said by Athanasius in 339 AD to be celebrated the world over.

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.

• A time to let go of our normal routine, try a new spiritual practice, to step out of our box, to reflect on ourselves, to reflect on a relationship with God. It can be a very creative time. At a later time these practices may help us endure trying of challenging times. Lent gives us a chance to practice facing our fears, journeying in the wilderness, confronting the dangers and difficulties we find there, and reaching out for Jesus’ hand the entire trip.

"The forty days of Lent serve as a time for Christians to return to the Sacred Presence, to the God who has never left us, even though at times we have been far away. Lent is a time to renew classic disciplines of prayer and reflection, as well as ancient practices such as fasting and Bible study. All of this is designed to renew a right spirit within us and to prepare us for the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection at Easter." ‐The Rev. Gary Jones, St. Stephens, Richmond

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The Call to A Holy Lent

“Our liturgy directly invites us into a holy season of specific practices aimed at helping us reconnect with God in preparation for the celebration of Easter. “I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent.” (Book of Common Prayer, page 265)

A. By self-examination. This means setting aside time to intentionally reflect upon one’s thoughts and actions, acknowledging the ways in which we fall short of God’s goodness and love.

B. By repentance. To repent means to have “a change of heart” and to “turn around” from actions and attitudes contrary to God’s will. This means honestly confessing our sins to God and receiving his forgiveness.

C. By prayer. This calls us to take part in the Church’s corporate acts of worship as well as the setting aside of time for personal prayer.

D. By fasting. To fast is to abstain from certain foods or all food for a period of time. Fasting separates you from the distractions of this world and it brings us into a closer union with God. It allows us to hear God better and fully rely upon Him.

E. By self-denial. Denying oneself in Lent means giving up certain luxuries, even legitimate pleasures, in order to focus oneself spiritually.

F. By reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. In Lent, believers are especially called to read and reflect on Scripture in a daily way.

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Lent at St. Peter’s 2022

Information about Lent, 7 Lenten Practices, Events, Christian Ed in 2022 and 2021 during Lent, Special topic including web resources, family activities in Lent, Lenten Prayers and music as well as giving to the Endowment Fund during Lent.

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Lectionary, March 13, 2022, Second Sunday in Lent

I. Theme – We should trust in God’s covenants

“ Fox and the Hen"

The lectionary readings are here  or individually: 

Old Testament – Genesis 15:1-12,17-18
Psalm – Psalm 27
Epistle – Philippians 3:17-4:1
Gospel – Luke 13:31-35     

Today’s readings invite us to trust in God’s covenant promises. Each of the readings speaks about a future, a not yet. This week, try letting your heart break for the world in a new way, knowing that God will transfigure and transform every valley, every sorrow, and every cross knowing that God. is already doing to transfigure despair into hope, mourning into dancing, hate into love. Let your goal in your prayers this week be to deepen both your compassion for the world and your trust in God’s transforming presence all around.

Abraham’s involves continuation of the tribe and of the name, and of the covenant.  His confidence in the lord’s promise is counted as righteousness. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, trusts in the coming of the Savior and the transformation of our bodies.    Paul wants his readers to be tied to the future that is the Kingdom of Heaven, and the future of Jesus is the future of the true prophet who delivers God’s final word on what will be. The gospel reminds us that although God’s covenant promises are for everyone, nevertheless our effort is required if we are to participate.  

While Advent calls us to awareness, awakening and alertness, Lent helps us appreciate the cloud, the shadow, the wisdom of deep sleep. God’s covenant with Abram is not forged beneath the brilliant blaze of noon but in a deep and terrifying darkness, after the sun has set. That such an important event should happen at night prompts us to question our usual assumptions that everything good occurs in the light.

Jesus introduces another puzzle when he implies that the order of sanctity may not be as rigid as we might think. “Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” He turns this twist into a concrete example in his lament over Jerusalem: site of the magnificent temple. To his listeners, it’s grandeur must seem close to heaven. Yet it is the city that kills the prophets; it will be the scene of his death.

Furthermore, the people most revered in that society, its religious leaders and scholars, wait outside a closed door, seething in bitterness and frustration. Because they have rejected Jesus’ overtures, they have missed their chance to enjoy the banquet of God’s reign.

The question must come to our minds as it did to Jesus’ first hearers. If the elite don’t get in, who does? Perhaps those who are willing to be gathered like chicks, those who admit their vulnerability, those who do not pride themselves on their virtue, those who know they don’t have a corner on truth.

As we grow in loving God, we become more skeptical of the idols that compete for our loyalty. When bureaucrats are inefficient and heroes corrupt, when the traffic is crazy, when time and energy dribble away, when we lose our favorite project, our finest self or our dearest love, when the oppressors triumph, the greedy profit and the innocent are bludgeoned, then we remember Paul’s claim that “our citizenship is in heaven.”

Too much is awry in this world to ever claim it for permanent residence or lasting citizenship. Knowing that the terrestrial stakes are small and the earthly city doesn’t last forever helps us “stand firm in the lord” as Paul would have the Philippians do.

So do not lose heart, as we are reminded in 2 Corinthians. Lent is a journey, and our spiritual lives are a journey. We do not see the end but we know the way we are going. Living for Christ means living for others and not for ourselves. Living for Christ means following God’s ways of love and justice and seeking justice for others. Living for Christ means knowing that the way of this world—to put ourselves first, to seek earthly success and gain, to “have it all”—means to lose it all in the end. Living for Christ means we trust in God, we trust in the hope of God for us, as Abraham and Sarah did so long ago, as Jesus taught us, and as the psalmists sang and Paul preached—we know we shall see the goodness of God in our lives, and we share that hope with others.

Read more…

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Today Tomorrow, and the Third Day (Luke 13: 31-35)

Today where sun rises on hills of fresh sorrow
tomorrow where stars set upon fields of old pain
we will do the day’s work to bring comfort and healing
for this is Christ’s labour, fulfilled the third day

Today where souls suffer, despairing and fearful
tomorrow where whole lives are crushed under strain
we will do the day’s work to bring peace, to bring courage
for this is Christ’s labour, fulfilled the third day

Today where the parched and scarred earth yields no bounty
tomorrow where war-weary ground gives no grain
we will do the day’s work to bring hope to the hungry
for this is Christ’s labour, fulfilled the third day

Today where the foxes of evil still threaten
tomorrow where tenderness so often is maimed
we will do the day’s work to bring love and compassion
for this is Christ’s labour, fulfilled the third day

Today where the forces of greed rule the kingdoms
tomorrow where powers of death hold their sway
we will do the day’s work to bring justice and caring
for we are Christ’s labour, fulfilled the third day

– Andrew King

Lent begins this week with our Ash Wednesday service 7pm, March 2 at St. Peter’s.

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Last Sunday after the Epiphany

Feb. 27 – 11:00am, Morning Prayer – Join here at 10:45am for gathering – service starts at 11am Meeting ID: 869 9926 3545 Passcode: 889278

• Bulletin Feb. 27, 2022
• Sermon written Feb 27, 2022
• Commentary Feb. 27, 2022
• Videos Feb. 27, 2022

Feb. 27 – 7:00pm, Compline on Zoom – Join here at 6:30pm for gathering – service starts at 7pm Meeting ID878 7167 9302 Password 729195

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Feb. 28 – 6:30am – Be Still Meditation group in a 20 minute time of prayer Meeting ID: 879 8071 6417 Passcode: 790929

March 1 – Shrove Tuesday at Home

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March 2 – Bible Study 10am-12pm on Wed. March 2

March 2 – 7:00pm – Ash Wednesday Service

• Bulletin March 2, 2022
• Join Zoom meeting for 7pm service, March 2 Meeting ID: 890 3908 9514 Passcode: 438980

• Ash Wednesday sermon
• Commentary

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Shrove Tuesday, March 1- at Home

Pieter Aertszen’s The Pancake Bakery, circa 1508.

During the week before Lent, sometimes called Shrovetide in English, Christians were expected to go to confession in preparation for the penitential season of turning to God.

In the Anglican tradition, Shrove Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday) was the day all households used up all milk, eggs, and fat to prepare for the strict fasting of Lent. These ingredients were made into pancakes, a meal which came to symbolize preparation for the discipline of Lent.( An article about Scottish Shrove Tuesday maintains this may have faded out in the mid-eighteenth century, at least in Scotland.)

Other names for this day include Carnival (farewell to meat) and Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday of the French tradition). Ironically, masks play an important role in many celebrations of Carnival around the world.

1. On Tuesday, March 1 cook your pancakes at home with your family. Your conversation around the table could include the following Shrove Tuesday themes.
2. Recall a past Shrove Tuesday. Share with the others what your plans are for Lent—do you plan to give up something or to take up something with the intent of growing closer to God and to creation? How do you plan to focus on God?
3. Choose a devotional reading to share. One possibility is “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.” Psalm 51:10-12 (NRSV)

   Psalm 51 is described as a prayer for cleansing and forgiveness. Why is forgiveness important? What does having a clean heart mean to you?

4. Consider adding a service opportunity during the 40 days of Lent. It may be for a sick or dependent neighbor. Or do something for the neighborhood like picking up trash or planting a tree.

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Lent Begins March 2 with Ash Wednesday

Lent is a 40 day Christian festival beginning Ash Wednesday and concluding on Easter (Sundays are not counted).  The 40 day fast of Jesus in the wilderness was responsible for the number 40 being chosen .  It was said by Athanasius in 339 AD to be celebrated the world over.

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.

• A time to let go of our normal routine, try a new spiritual practice, to step out of our box, to reflect on ourselves, to reflect on a relationship with God. It can be a very creative time. At a later time these practices may help us endure trying of challenging times. Lent gives us a chance to practice facing our fears, journeying in the wilderness, confronting the dangers and difficulties we find there, and reaching out for Jesus’ hand the entire trip.

"The forty days of Lent serve as a time for Christians to return to the Sacred Presence, to the God who has never left us, even though at times we have been far away. Lent is a time to renew classic disciplines of prayer and reflection, as well as ancient practices such as fasting and Bible study. All of this is designed to renew a right spirit within us and to prepare us for the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection at Easter." ‐The Rev. Gary Jones, St. Stephens, Richmond

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The Call to A Holy Lent

“Our liturgy directly invites us into a holy season of specific practices aimed at helping us reconnect with God in preparation for the celebration of Easter. “I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent.” (Book of Common Prayer, page 265)

A. By self-examination. This means setting aside time to intentionally reflect upon one’s thoughts and actions, acknowledging the ways in which we fall short of God’s goodness and love.

B. By repentance. To repent means to have “a change of heart” and to “turn around” from actions and attitudes contrary to God’s will. This means honestly confessing our sins to God and receiving his forgiveness.

C. By prayer. This calls us to take part in the Church’s corporate acts of worship as well as the setting aside of time for personal prayer.

D. By fasting. To fast is to abstain from certain foods or all food for a period of time. Fasting separates you from the distractions of this world and it brings us into a closer union with God. It allows us to hear God better and fully rely upon Him.

E. By self-denial. Denying oneself in Lent means giving up certain luxuries, even legitimate pleasures, in order to focus oneself spiritually.

F. By reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. In Lent, believers are especially called to read and reflect on Scripture in a daily way.

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Lent at St. Peter’s 2022

Information about Lent, 7 Lenten Practices, Events, Christian Ed in 2022 and 2021 during Lent, Special topic including web resources, family activities in Lent, Lenten Prayers and music as well as giving to the Endowment Fund during Lent.

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Ash Wednesday, March 2, 7pm service at St. Peter’s

We impose ashes at this service. Although the imposition of ashes is not a sacrament like baptism or the Eucharist, receiving ashes on the forehead on Ash Wednesday is a valuable reminder of several things. Receiving ashes reminds us that we are created from the earth, and that God’s grace gives us life. Our life is linked to the earth from which we were created.

Receiving ashes reminds us that we are connected the rest of humanity and to all living things. We are ALL made from the earth. We ALL dwell in skin, bone, blood, and cartilage. And we will return to the earth at the end of our lives here on earth. Ashes on our forehead remind us to sit with our own mortality, an important exercise in humility.

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Conversation about Ash Wednesday

Two priests from All Saints Episcopal Church in Frederick Maryland discuss the Ash Wednesday experience. (click the picture)

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Art for Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent

Art expresses the key themes of the season – conflict between secular and religious, the forces of temptation and selfishness affecting all of us, the importance of retreat, repentance, and conversion in this season. We have three pieces of art thanks to the Loyola press

1. Pieter Brueghel the Elder, “The Fight Between Carnival and Lent,” 1559

Sometimes when the spiritual and the secular clash, we can see the hand of God at work. In Pieter Brueghel’s The Fight Between Carnival and Lent, there is a clash of contrasts happening in this 16th-century Dutch village. Near the center of the hustle and bustle a curious pair is ready to spar: “Carnival,” represented by a well-endowed man riding a barrel, wears a meat-pie hat and is ready for action with a spear loaded with roasted pork. “Lent” faces him, personified by a clear-eyed but gaunt woman on a spare cart, wearing a beehive and holding out two fish on a peel. She is surrounded by loaves, pretzels, and a basket of mussels.

See for two more pieces of Ash Wednesday art

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Voices of Lent

1.  Desmond Tutu   from In God’s Hands

And humans were given dominion over all creation. That is why we were created to be God’s viceroys, to be God’s stand ins. We should love, we should bear rule over the rest of creation as God would. We are meant to be caring in how we deal with the rest of God’s creation. God wants everything to flourish. It gives us a huge responsibility – that we should not ravish and waste the natural resources which God places at our disposal for our wellbeing. 

 2. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry

Lenten Message

Clarence Jorden of the Koinonia Movement many years ago wrote this:
Jesus founded the most revolutionary movement in human history, a movement built on the unconditional love of God for the world, and the mandate to those who follow to live that love.

The season of Lent is upon us. It is a season of making a renewed commitment to participate and be a part of the movement of Jesus in this world. You can see some of that in the Gospel lesson for the first Sunday of Lent where Luke says that after the Baptism of Jesus he went into the wilderness, there to be tempted of Satan.

After the Baptism. Baptism is the sacrament of commitment to the Jesus Movement. It is to be washed, if you will, in the love and the reality of God, and to emerge from that great washing as one whose life is dedicated to living that love in the world.

In this season of Lent, we take some time to focus on what that means for our lives, whether it is as simple as giving up chocolate candy or as profound as taking on a commitment to serve the poor or to serve others in some new way. Whatever it is, let that something be something that helps you participate in the movement of God’s love in this world following in the footsteps of Jesus.

And the truth is, the fact that Jesus was baptized and began that movement in the world and immediately found himself tempted by the devil is an ever-present reminder that this movement is not without struggle. It is not easy. The truth is, this movement is difficult. It’s hard work. It’s work of following Jesus to the cross. And it’s work of following Jesus through the cross to the Resurrection. To new life. And new possibility. That is our calling. That is the work of the movement. To help this world move from what is often the nightmare of the world itself into the dream that God intends.

So I pray that this Lent, as they used to say many years ago, might be the first day of the rest of your life. It might be a new day for this world.

Read more voices…

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Lectionary, March 6, 2022, First Sunday in Lent

I. Theme – Developing strength and hope in the face of temptation and evil

“ Christ in the Desert ” – Nikolas Kramskoy (1872)

“After his baptism, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. ” –Luke 4:1

The lectionary readings are here  or individually: 

Old Testament – Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Psalm – Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
Epistle – Romans 10:8b-13
Gospel – Luke 4:1-13     

Today’s readings offer strength and hope in the face of temptation and evil. Deuteronomy recalls God’s great deliverance and encourages Israel to depend solely on God. Paul declares that salvation comes to those who call on Jesus as lord. In today’s gospel, Jesus trusts solely in God and thus defeats the temptations presented by the devil

Lent begins as a journey to the cross, a journey of repentance and self-denial, a journey of serving others. We are also reminded that our ancestors were sojourners, that we are called not only to seek forgiveness but to forgive and reconcile with others, and that we have faith in the same God, the same Christ, and when we are seeking God, we are seeking relationship with each other. The journey reminds us that we are in this together, pilgrims to the cross, where we put to death what has separated us from God and live in the hope of resurrection.

The journey begins with where we are now and that we are the beloved of God. This week, focus on our most basic routines: eating, drinking, and washing. Try a new pattern of life for a day, a week, or the whole Lenten season. For example, adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet, with every bite reducing suffering and caring for creation. Or, whenever you wash your face, your body, the dishes – whenever you encounter water, intentionally recall the waters of baptism. Remember Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan, and hear again God’s voice proclaiming the truth of the Gospel to you: “You are my beloved, in whom I am well pleased.”

We are not alone in facing life’s challenges as Jesus was in Luke. Although we might raise the question about how the indigenous Canaanites felt about the coming of the Hebrews, the key element of this passage is its affirmation that God hears, responds, and acts. God is influenced by our cries of anguish – God hears the cries of the poor, oppressed, and vulnerable. God is present in the soup kitchen, the unemployment line, and the bedside. God does not control the outcome of our quests for wholeness, but is a factor in bringing about moments of comfort, possibilities of change, and the movements of liberation and affirmation.

Jesus Christ, our Champion against the devil, endures and overcomes “every temptation” (Luke 4:13) on our behalf. He worships the Lord, His God, and serves Him only by trusting the Word of His Father: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). Jesus’ victory is now ours through His gracious Word, which is not far away but near us — in our mouth and in our heart, in the proclamation of repentance and faith

Read more…

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Arts and Faith – Lent 1, Year C

The scene below of the temptation of Christ comes from the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, a 15th-century book of hours, or personal devotional book created especially for Duke Jean de Berry. The book offered meditations based on the time of day, as well as the feasts and seasons of the liturgical calendar. As the Latin text on the bottom tells us, this scene comes from the Gospel for the first Sunday of Lent.

Read more…

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Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany

“Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers” -Peter von Cornelius 1816/1817. Cornelius was using the old style of creating frescoes. He wrote “This work makes me the happiest of people, and even if I only had one crust of bread left, I would not change it …. This is from the Genesis reading this week – Genesis 45:3-11, 15.

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Feb. 20 – 11:00am, Holy Eucharist, – Join here at 10:45am for gathering – service starts at 11am Meeting ID: 869 9926 3545 Passcode: 889278

• Bulletin Feb. 20, 2022
• Sermon Feb 20, 2022
• Commentary Feb. 20, 2022
• Videos, Feb. 20, 2022

Feb. 20 – 7:00pm, Compline on Zoom – Join here at 6:30pm for gathering – service starts at 7pm Meeting ID 834 7356 6532 Password 748475

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Feb. 21 – 6:30am – Be Still Meditation group in a 20 minute time of prayer Meeting ID: 879 8071 6417 Passcode: 790929

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Bible Study 10am-12pm on Wed. Feb. 23

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The Sacred Ground Scholarship.A scholarship fund has been established which will help minority students pay for education after high school. Contribute by donating to St Peter’s and put “Sacred Ground Scholarship” on the memo line

Sacred Ground meets on Zoom, Feb. 24, 7pm

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Larry Saylor’s new guitar – the one he made himself!

Larry has been building his first guitar over 3 years. He played his new creation this morning on a piece “Praise You in This Storm.” Thanks to Linda Kramer for taking some of these pictures from the gallery.

Listen to the piece he played.

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From Epiphany to the Transfiguration

This week we are moving to Last Epiphany on February 27, the last Sunday before Lent begins.

Epiphany is about 2 revelations – Christ to the world through the wise men as well as revelation of Christ to us through baptism. On the first Sunday after the Epiphany, we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord. His baptism is seen as the primary baptism, the one on which all baptisms follow, the recognition that his followers belong to God as “Christ’s own forever.”

During the three to eight weeks after the Epiphany, we learned in the gospel lectionary readings about Jesus’ miracles of healing and his teachings. This is a continuation of the theme of the revelation of Christ to his followers. “Come Follow Me”. Jesus has not only arrived but through him the kingdom of God as one who fulfills and extends God’s teachings through the Sermon of the Mount. The last Sunday in Epiphany, the transfiguration can be seen as the bridge between Epiphany and Lent.

At the beginning of the Epiphany season, at the Baptism of Jesus, the liturgical color was white. In the Gospel reading in Matthew at his baptism said, “And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” In the Transfiguration which we will celebrate on March 3, the 8th Sunday after Epiphany, the Gospel of Matthew records, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” The liturgical color once again is white.

Transfiguration serves as the culmination, the climax, of Jesus manifesting his glory and his identity as the Son of God. From this point on, Jesus sets out to Jerusalem, to suffer, die and be resurrected. We will see this story during Lent beginning March 2. This same glory he will return to, once he has completed the saving mission for which he came. Coming full circle, we will one day be in life with Christ as “Christ’s own forever.”

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Epiphany Eucharistic Prayer

As we draw to the end of Epiphany on Feb 27, this is the Eucharistic Prayer we have been using during the season. It is drawn from several sources noted at the end of the text link

Text is here

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Lectionary, Feb. 27, 2022, Last Epiphany

I. Theme – How we can be empowered by our relationship with God 

“ The Transfiguration ” – Fra Angelico (1440-1442)

“About eight days after Peter had acknowledged Jesus as the Christ of God, Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.” –Luke 9:28:29

The lectionary readings are here  or individually: 

Old Testament – Exodus 34:29-35
Psalm – Psalm 99
Epistle – 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
Gospel – Luke 9:28-36, [37-43a]     

Today’s readings help us see how we can be empowered by our relationship to God. The Gospels speak about experiences with God and Jesus. In Exodus, we witness the physical transformation of Moses after spending time in God’s presence. In 2 Corinthians, Paul speaks of being transformed into the likeness of God. In the gospel, Jesus is transformed, his glory revealed and his mission affirmed by a voice from heaven. Ultimately the disciples will need transformation also.

The season after the Epiphany concludes with one of the most powerful epiphanies of all – the Transfiguration. This story comes at the center of Luke’s story, between Jesus’ baptism and his resurrection.

Luke’s account of the transfiguration points back to Old Testament parallels and forward to Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension. As is such it brings in a new dimension of Jesus and a new relationship that the disciples would have with him. Their experience so far has been of Jesus the teacher, the healer, the miracle-worker. Now they are seeing a new vision of Jesus, a new understanding of him as the Christ – as one who would venture to Jerusalem , be killed but then resurrected .

They are still not on board. Peter, however, still wants to avoid the difficulty of the journey to Jerusalem and its ultimate consequences. The mission of Jesus is not about worshipping at shrines or even the practice of religion. The mission of Jesus is about death and resurrection.

The disciples found the journey in the beginning was easier—they left everything to follow him, and to follow meant to learn his teachings and to live his ways. But now the journey will become much harder

Even faithful Christians wonder if God is absent at times, or busy somewhere else. Massive evil, brutal violence and rampant greed seem to smother any slight glimmers of spirituality. Luke’s audience may have had similar concerns, so he stresses for them the necessity of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem and eventual passion there. The transfiguration offers the disciples an experience of hope and confidence that will sustain them while they wait for Jesus to return.

As Christ laid down his life for us, so we are called to give of our life to him, to give up being first, to give up our wants and desires to serve others. And like Christ, we will be called to give all for the sake of God’s love of the world. How do we live this transfiguration in our lives? How do we share what our faith means to us? It is more than a conversation that can be controversial. This is our very lives. Do we let it shine, or do we hold it back? Do we still misunderstand? How will you live out your faith differently this Lenten season?

Read more…

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A Poem for the Transfiguration – “Flow Winds of Time”

Flow winds of time
Whilst the night takes a spin
Stars are falling in deep prime
As the darkness comes in
Feelings like river going
All is within dream reach
Night sky is now glowing
In its twinkling glow bleach

Flow on to a daybreak’s light
Reach the awaken call
In dreams blue and height
As the night must fall
Silvery dress of the day
Awaken in its true reality
Every dream’s now on its way
To become once more free

Flow to the sounds I heard
Whispers in the deep dark
Like ravens of a winged bird
Shadowed dancing embark
Life is like merry-go -round
Deep into their whole make
Until the light’s again found
As new cock-crows’ awake

Now is the night in its dancing
Humming a breeze melody
Dreams of bedroom romancing
For a new tomorrow to be

– Peter S. Quinn

Bruce Epperly writes of Transfiguration Sunday in broad strokes:

“God knows, there’s healing to be done, and quickly. But, healing is for abundant life and celebration not just release and relief. Transfiguration Sunday says “take off your sad rags,” “ditch the frown and the furrowed brow,” “fire the thought police and arbiters of orthodoxy,” “give the inner police officer the light off,” and invite in imaginative “lovers, lunatics, and poets” to give us visions of new selves and new heavens and earths. God knows, we need them if we are to be God’s partners in transfiguring ourselves and the world.”

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Voices of the Transfiguration

1.  Transfiguration is transformation. No one and no situation is “untransfigurable” – Dawn Hutchings

In his book, God Has A Dream: A Vision of Home for Our Time, Desmond Tutu tells about a transfiguration experience that he will never forget. It occurred when apartheid was still in full swing. Tutu and other church leaders were preparing for a meeting with the prime minister of South Africa to discuss the troubles that were destroying their nation. They met at a theological college that had closed down because of the white government’s racist policies. During a break from the proceedings, Tutu walked into the college’s garden for some quiet time. In the midst of the garden was a huge wooden cross. As Tutu looked at the barren cross, he realized that it was winter, a time when the grass was pale and dry, a time when almost no one could imagine that in a few short weeks it would be lush, green, and beautiful again. In a few short weeks, the grass and all the surrounding world would be transfigured.

As the archbishop sat there and pondered that, he obtained a new insight into the power of transfiguration, of God’s ability to transform our world. Tutu concluded that transfiguration means that no one and no situation is “untransfigurable.” The time will eventually come when the whole world will be released from its current bondage and brought to share in the glorious liberty that God intends.

Read more..

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Origins of Lent

Lent begins on March 2 with Ash Wednesday which will be celebrated in a 7pm service at St. Peter’s. What were the origins of Lent?

Over the centuries Lent accomplished two basic purposes:

1. Recommit ourselves to Christ and Deny Satan through various practices.These included prayer, fasting, merciful works (corporal and spiritual), praying with the Bible, frequent confession, the Eucharist.
2. To prepare ourselves to renew our baptismal promises

It grew in the early Christian period to bind the Christian community together to withstand various external pressures.

The practice of Lent as we know it can be traced back to the Old Testament. New Testament writers drew upon the earlier Scripture and Tradition to develop a penitential characteristic aimed at helping Christian cleanse their hearts and unite their sufferings with those of Christ on the cross. Over the past two millennia the season has remained rooted in biblical traditions and popular devotions and its development has crystallized. Yet its origins remain unclear, despite how firmly ensconced it is in Christendom.

The word “Lent” is derived from the words lencten or lente, Anglo-Saxon for “spring,” and lenctentid, or “springtide.” The Lenten structure comprises a penitential season that begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes on Holy Thursday with Vespers followed by the Mass of the Last Supper. It has been refined throughout the ages to what we now know as the forty-day period of abstinence, fasting, merciful works, and prayer.

Read more..

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Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

The expansive Rappahannock River behind St. Peter’s

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Feb. 13 – 11:00am, Morning Prayer, Zoom only – Join here at 10:45am for gathering – service starts at 11am Meeting ID: 869 9926 3545 Passcode: 889278

• Bulletin Feb. 13, 2022
• Sermon for Feb 13, 2022
• Commentary Feb. 13, 2022

Feb. 13 – 7:00pm, Compline on Zoom – Join here at 6:30pm for gathering – service starts at 7pm Meeting ID: 878 7167 9302 Passcode: 729195

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Feb. 14 – 6:30am – Be Still Meditation group in a 20 minute time of prayer Meeting ID: 879 8071 6417
Passcode: 790929

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Feb. 15 – 7:00pm – Preparing Your Legacy With Leigh Frackelton, Jr., Estate Planning. Meeting ID: 821 8558 7210 Passcode: 957811

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Bible Study 10am-12pm on Wed. Feb.

Feb. 16 – 3pm-5pm, Village Harvest

If you would like to volunteer, please email Andrea or call (540) 847-9002. Pack bags for distribution 1-3PM Deliver food to client’s cars 3-5PM.

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This week – Luke’s Beatitudes

There are two Beatitudes in the Bible, Matthew 5:3-12 and Luke 6:20-23 which is in the lectionary for Feb. 17. Both are similar in that they contain a guide for the conduct of the disciples on this earth. Of these shared beatitudes, Luke has written the equivalent of Matthew’s first, fourth, second and ninth beatitudes, in that order.

Similarities. Here is a beatitudes comparison using a table of the two accounts

1  Poor –. Matthew “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” and Luke “Blessed are you who are poor.” They will inherit the Kingdome of Heaven (Matthew) or God (Luke” Luke’s account contains some woes – “But woe to you who are rich,for you have received your consolation.”

2 Hungry – Matthew “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” and Luke “Blessed are you who are hungry”. In both cases you will be filled. The rejoinder from Luke – “Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry

3  Hate/Persecution – Matthew “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” And Luke “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.”  In both cases your reward is in heaven. Luke’s “woe” – Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their  ancestors did to the  false prophets.

Read more..

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A Powerpoint look at the Beatitudes

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Preparing Your Legacy concludes this week, Feb 15, 7pm

Tuesday, February 15, 2022, 7PM   Estate Planning 

Leigh Frackelton, Jr., Attorney

Leigh’s law practice focuses exclusively in the areas of wills, trusts, estate administration and taxation.  Leigh graduated in 1974 from Washington and Lee University where he majored in History.  He earned his law degree in 1977 from T. C.  Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond and then went on to William and Mary where he earned a Master of Law in Taxation in 1978.  He passed the Virginia CPA exam in 1989.  After finishing his formal education in 1978, Leigh began the practice of law in Fredericksburg.  From 1986 until 2021, Leigh taught full time at the University of Mary Washington and is currently a Professor Emeritus in the College of Business.  He currently practices law at Parrish, Snead, Franklin, Simpson, PLC in Fredericksburg, VA.  

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Bless a nurse at Mary Washington Hospital – contribute to the Blessing Cart

The chaplains at MWH have created a “blessing cart” for the nurses. They are collecting individually wrapped treats–energy bars, candy, mini-muffins, etc., and bottled Gatorade and water.

The collection ends on Sunday, Feb. 13

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The Sacred Ground Scholarship.A scholarship fund has been established which will help minority students pay for education after high school. Contribute by donating to St Peter’s and put “Sacred Ground Scholarship” on the memo line

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Celebrating the lives of Absalom Jones and Abraham Lincoln this week

Absalom Jones died this week in 1818 not only the first trained black minister in any denomination but the first black minister ordained into the Episcopal Church and the first to create a Black religious organization in Philadelphia. More information is here

Abraham Lincoln was born this week, 210 years ago. What was his relationship to the Episcopal Church ? No he wasn’t a member but attended St. John’s Episcopal during his years in Washington, just across from the White House. He also made time with Bishop Whipple, first Episcopal Bishop in Minn. 300 Indians has been sentenced to death in the Dakota Indian Wards. Lincoln made the decision to reduce the number to 38. Was it related to Bishop Whipple’s influence ? The historian of the event writes “it is difficult to imagine that Whipple’s visit did not count in the president’s decision.” Read the entire story on “Lincoln’s Bishop”

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Lectionary, Feb. 20, 2022, 7th Sunday after the Epiphany

I. Theme – Love Your Enemy

The lectionary readings are here  or individually:

Old Testament – Genesis 45:3-11, 15
Psalm – Psalm 37:1-12, 41-42
Epistle – 1 Corinthians 15:35-38,42-50
Gospel – Luke 6:27-38

The main idea this week is that of loving your enemy. The Joseph story gives a wonderful example of how Joseph was able to forgive his brothers, despite all they had done to him so many years before. Telling that story afresh and tying it up to Jesus’ words could be very powerful. The Psalm is a salutary reminder that evil is temporary and death is the great leveler. We need to get our attitude right if we are not going to be embittered or cynical.

That begins with God and when we reaffirm our trust in God then we can dare to engage in the adventure of faith both by living right and loving our enemies. It may have been a journey such as the Psalmist describes that took Joseph on a journey from hate to love.

The teaching of Jesus in Luke gives some concrete examples that we can
easily understand but that makes them also harder to run away from.

Read more..

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Read the Book of Exodus during Epiphany

The second book of the Bible, Exodus recounts the journey of the Israelites from slavery to freedom. We hear the great stories of Moses, from his discovery by Pharoah’s daughter on the bank of the river to the burning bush to his presentation of the Ten Commandments. Along the way, we encounter God’s covenant and explore the grand theme of redemption.

This year, we have a bonus time of scripture engagement: the Good Book Club will dive into the first twenty chapters of Exodus from Epiphany, January 6, to Shrove Tuesday, March 1. For those who want to keep reading, we’ll offer a daily reading guide and an overview of the second half of Exodus. That reading period will conclude on Easter.

Bishop Curry has written, “You can’t read the Book of Exodus without being stirred by the theme of the liberation of people. ”

Links

1. Get Involved

2. The Readings

3. Exodus primer

4. Exodus articles from Covenant

5. Resources for study

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