Sunday, March 20, 2016 - Sunday of the Passion/Palm Sunday

Sunday, March 20, 2016 - Sunday of the Passion/Palm Sunday

Spring Equinox

Worship: 8 & 10:45 am

Readings: Luke 19:28-40; Is. 50:4-9a; Ps. 31:9-16; Phil. 2:5-11; Luke 22:14-23:56

Gospel Acclamation: Christ humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name. (Philippians 2:8-9)

Impleta sunt, quæ concinit                 (That which the prophet-king of old

David fideli carmine                           hath in mysterious verse foretold

Dicendo nationibus                            is now accomplished, whilst we see

Regnavit a ligno Deus.                       God rule the nations from a tree.)

All down the windy woods, along the throbbing hedge,

And in the starting sedge,

Yea, in all choirs and places where they sing,

I hear its growing cadences that ring:

Noblest of the processionals of earth,

The great Vexilla Regis of the spring:

And topping the soft hill

With sudden joy of emerald fluttering,

Against the sky's bright edge

I see the mighty banners of the King…

…Lo! on these eager branches shall be hung

That Life of which the woods have ever sung;

Making themselves soft harps for the hand o' the rain

To whisper of his pain,

And 'neath the poignant bowing of the wind

Subdued to move,

Crying to all mankind

The secret of the sacrament of love.

Yea! from a Tree

God shall shine out at thee;

For this doth Nature grow,

To this the kingly banners forward go.

            Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), "March Music"

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Community Meal: 12 noon, Undercroft

Joseph, Guardian of Jesus

Reading: Philippians 2:5-11

Philippians 2:9 "Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,…"

            The path out of the desert now comes into view. The church approaches Holy Week and the Three Days.  These Lenten days, which began with ash and confession, reach their culmination in Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, his new commandment, his death, and – behold! I am doing a new thing! – Christ’s rising from the grave. Out of winter, spring. Out of the wilderness, a river. Out of darkness, light. Out of barrenness, fruit. Out of sorrow, joy. Out of death, life.

            Christ will step out into the spring morning with a new day and a song of joy for all those who have experienced trials, dust, dryness, fear, sorrow, death. “Rise, heart, thy Lord is risen; Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise with him mayst rise.” (George Herbert)

O God, our springtime, blessed are you, for you fulfill your promise of new life. May we all, baptized in your living water through Christ, live as radiant signs of your grace, mercy, and steadfast love, for your glory shines through all ages of ages. Amen

• Place a candle at the grave of someone you love. (Lazarus Saturday)

Friday, March 18, 2016

Friday, March 18, 2016

Commemoration of Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem

Reading: Luke 19:28-40

Luke 19:37-38 "As he was approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully saying, 'Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven!'"

            In their book The Last Week, Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan portray day by day the last week of Christ Jesus' earthly life. On what we call Palm Sunday, they describe two contrasting processions entering Jerusalem: one from the east, one from the west. From the west, the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate would be travelling from his palace at Caesarea on the Mediterranean. It was the prefect's responsibility to be in Jerusalem to keep order during the Jewish pilgrimage holidays, and he brought with him military reinforcements - foot soldiers and cavalry, chariots and war-steeds - to represent the empire and the force of Caesar Tiberius, divine emperor, claiming the title Son of God. To the east, descending the Mount of Olives on the Jericho road, Jesus rode on a colt of a donkey, the sign of a ruler of peace and mercy (Zechariah 9:9-10). Power, domination, and violence enter in procession from the west. Compassion, mercy and peace enter in procession from the east. Before which procession, they ask, do we lay down our cloaks?

O God of compassion, lead us in the way you would have us go. Amen

• Eat no meat or oil today.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Commemoration of Patrick, bishop and missionary to Ireland, 461

Reading: Philippians 2:5-11

Philippians 2:5,7 "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who…emptied himself, taking the form of a slave."

            A room cannot be of use unless it is first empty. A cup cannot hold water unless it is first hollow. A mind that is overfull with preconceptions and certainties has little room for newness. A heart that is overfull with bitterness and spite has little room for divine love and forgiveness. In the journey of transformation we call Lent, we have been travelling with Jesus Christ, through wilderness, through Galilee, now up to Jerusalem. And to make room for the Easter newness God desires for us, we will learn from Christ this lesson: to empty ourselves, to let go. To let go of treasured hurts and disappointments - from parents, religious leaders, traditions, friends. To let go of protective hardness of heart. To let go of fear. To let go now even of Lent, and take the hard steps into Holy Week toward the cross.

O God of compassion, so surround us with your lovingkindness that we may fearlessly become the people you desire us to be. Amen

• Let go of a hurt or a habit or an attitude that has become a burden. Write about it or draw it or sculpt it and place it on your altar. 

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Worship: Noon, soup meal follows; 7 pm, soup meal at 6 pm.

John 12-:1-8

John 12:3b "The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume."

            Martyred Archbishop Oscar Romero is said to have remarked that people need beauty in their lives as much as they need bread. The Little Brothers of the Poor take not only meals to people in poverty, but bouquets of flowers also. Jesus in this story is the recipient of an act of beauty and love from Mary of Bethany, an act with no ulterior motive, no in-order-to. Beauty for beauty's sake, love for love's sake, is a gift for the whole universe, not just the direct recipient. As we read in this passage, the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume that Mary used to anoint Jesus' feet. Everyone was blessed by the beauty of what was truly an extravagant act of love.

O God of compassion, so fill us with your love that our every act may proclaim your loving presence in the world. Amen

• Do something beautiful today.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Isaiah 42:16-21

Isaiah 43:19 “I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.”

            Wilderness times are like wandering in the Negeb, a desert in southern Israel, west of the Dead Sea. The Negeb receives less than 8” of rain in a year. And God is going to make a river? Here?

            What is so amazing is what happens in the desert when water does come. The silvery, spiny, low-growing plants bloom. Cactus puts out leaves and flowers. Desert frogs emerge after spending ten months burrowed underground. Even 3,000 year old peas found during excavation of Tutankhamen’s tomb have blossomed and produced purple pods of edible peas.

            “Behold, I am doing a new thing,” proclaims God. What miracles could happen when water flows into our wilderness?

O God, our springtime, may we never lose hope in you. Amen

• Memorize a scripture verse.

Monday, March 14, 2016

Orthodox Great Lent begins

π Day (Pi Day 3.14…) Bake a pie! Write a Pi-ku:  3 syllables, 1 syllable, 4 syl.

John 12-:1-8

John 12:3 “Mary took a pound of costly perfume… anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair.”

            Kings were anointed. Priests were anointed. Prophets were anointed. The rich dead were anointed. Sacrifices were anointed. The healed and sick were anointed. Which of these was Jesus?

            Heads were anointed. The healed parts of the sick were anointed. Why, then, Jesus’ feet?

            Priests anointed priests. Priests anointed offerings. Priests anointed kings. Prophets anointed prophets. Why Mary?

            Here is a new thing: a woman anoints a prophet, priest, and king, but on his feet. Why?

            Poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote, “You must learn to love the questions themselves.”

O God, our springtime, even when we think we know, we do not know. Help us to love the questions themselves. Amen

·       Place a small amount of olive oil in a bowl. Anoint your eyes, your forehead, your lips, and any other parts of your blessed body with the sign of the cross. Give thanks to god.