March 17, 2010

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

This Sunday is the Fifth Sunday in Lent. The following weekend is Palm Sunday as we begin the most holy week of the church's liturgical year. For the schedule of Holy Week and Easter services, please click here.

The holy season of Lent is a time to deepen our relationship with God and grow in our love of neighbor. We are assisted in our Lenten Reflection by the Rev. Henri J.M. Nouwen, who has written powerfully on the parable of the Prodigal Son. To read his reflection in our parish leaflet, This Week, please click here.

You are invited to our Wednesday evening Lenten program of worship, shared meal, discussion of "Lost & Found: Forgiveness and the Prodigal Son" and Compline. For information and schedule, please click here.

You are invited to our Film Series on Forgiveness and Reconciliation on Friday March 26 at 7 PM. For more information, please visit our homepage.

We continue to support humanitarian efforts to assist the people of Haiti after the earthquake that devastated their country. Your donations to provide medical care, food, water, clothing, and shelter to the people of Haiti are still needed. If you wish to make a donation online, please click on Partners in Health, Episcopal Relief and Development, Oxfam America and the Sisters of St. Margaret.

SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT

The reading from Isaiah tells us about the renewal that God wishes to bring to our lives and to the world: "Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise. (Isaiah 43:16-21)

Psalm 126 is a beautiful prayer of restoration of what was lost: "When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, then were we like those who dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy. Then they said among the nations, 'The LORD has done great things for them.' The LORD has done great things for us, and we are glad indeed. Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like the watercourses of the Negev. Those who sowed with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves."

In the reading from Philippians, Paul recounts his life as an observant Jew who has found salvation in Jesus: "If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead." (Philippians 3:4b-14)

The Gospel of John is the moving account on Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who anoints the feet of Jesus with costly perfume: "Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 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.'" (John 12:1-8)

Sunday's scripture readings speak of renewal, restoration, and love. You are invited to experience this renewal, restoration, and love in our worship services this weekend, Saturday at 5:00 pm and Sunday at 10:30 am.

Sincerely,

David A. Killian
Rector

Worship Services for

The Fifth Sunday in Lent, March 20-21, 2010
Saturday, March 20, at 5:00 pm: Preacher - The Rev. Laurie Rofinot
Sunday, March 21, at 10:30 am: Preacher - The Rev. Laurie Rofinot

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