Ordinary Time

Life is very short. To get the most out of it, we must begin to attend to its spiritual dimensions without which life is only half lived. Holiness is in the Now but we go through life only half conscious of it, asleep or intent on being someplace other than where we are. We need to open our eyes and see things as they exist around us: what is valuable and what is not, what enriches and what does not, what is of God and what is not. It may be the neighborhood we live in rather than the neighborhood we want that will really make human beings out of us. It may be the job we have, rather than the position we are selling our souls to get, that will finally liberate us from ourselves. It may be what we do rather than the prayers we pray that will finally be the measure of our sanctity.God is calling us to more than the material level of life and God is waiting to bring us to it. All we have to do is live well with others and live totally in God. All we have to do is to learn to listen to the voice of God in life. And we have to do it with heart, soul, and body.–from The Rule of Benedict: Insights for the Ages by Joan Chittister (Crossroad)

We Bless Each Other

"To give someone a blessing is the most significant affirmation we can offer. It is more than a word of praise or appreciation; it is more than pointing out someone's talents or good deeds; it is more than putting someone in the light. To give a blessing is to affirm, to say 'yes' to a person's Belovedness." A quote about Blessing from Henri Nouwen in The Heart of Henri Nouwen by Rebecca Laird and Michael Christensen. To read a complete review of the book at Spirituality & Practice, here.

This Pentecost

"We celebrate the fact that through the Holy Spirit’s presence within us God directs us to ways of living and ministering that welcome all people, that recognize that we need each other, that acknowledge that we all have gifts and abilities which are given to us so that we might share them, so that we might be good stewards of them. We are called to use all that we have, our physical, emotional, financial, and technical skills, to serve others and to glorify God. On this Pentecost we rejoice in the hope that we are not alone but instead are joined together by water, the Holy Spirit, and the presence of the living Christ in the bread and wine of the Eucharist." (From the Pentecost Day sermon by The Rev. Peter Swarr. Read the entire sermon here.)

Morning Prayer

"... And therefore praying with others really does help; it really is part of the authentic thing that you're doing not just an extra. So that if you have a group of people praying in silence you don't have six people facing their own personal brick walls, you have a shared attempt to come into the life and action of Jesus Christ, and as you do it, as you try and settle down, whether you know it or not a common activity is being shaped – something that you're all doing together – and actually sometimes that really does register." (From the Archbishop of Canterbury's thoughts on prayer, and the services of Morning, Evening and Night Prayer. Read it all here.

Morning Prayer
Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:00 a.m.

Begins April 29, 2008 at

St. John's Episcopal Church

Again Returns The Light

A Prayer For You

May your journey
through the universal questions of life
bring you to a new moment of awareness.
May it be an enlightening one.
May you find embedded in the past,
like all the students of life before you,
the answers you are seeking now.
May they awaken that in you
which is deeper than fact,
truer than fiction,
full of faith.
May you come to know
that in every human event
is a particle of the divine
to which we turn for meaning here,
to which we tend for fullness of life hereafter.

By Joan Chittister
— from Welcome to the Wisdom of the World (Eerdmans)

Pascha Nostrum

Christ our Passover Pascha nostrum
1 Corinthians 5:7-8; Romans 6:9-11; 1 Corinthians 15:20-22

Alleluia. Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast, Not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Alleluia. Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death that he dies, he dies to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So also consider yourselves dead to sin, and alive to God in Jesus Christ our Lord. Alleluia. Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. Alleluia.

Gentle

To be gentle is to unmask the inequities around us without destroying those who prefer to maintain the masks. Gentleness implies that we will do no name-calling. Gentleness implies that we will not ridicule. Gentleness implies that we will do no harm in our zeal for good. Gentleness implies that we will not become what we say we hate. (From "Ideas in Passing" by Joan Chittister, read it all here.)

Stations of the Cross

... for Global Justice and Reconciliation

"The Stations of the Cross (also called the Way of the Cross) is a traditional liturgical devotion commemorating the last day of Jesus’ life. The devotion originated with pilgrims in Jerusalem retracing the traditional steps Jesus is believed to have followed on Good Friday. Since not all Christians could make pilgrimages to Jerusalem, however, the custom arose of replicating the devotion in congregational and individual settings, often with images or carvings on the walls of a church to commemorate each of the traditional 14 stations (or stops) on the Way of the Cross." (from EPPN) Click here to visit and pray the Stations of the Cross from the Episcopal Public Policy Network.

Burgeoning Life

"Lent is an ancient word for springtime; it designates a season of burgeoning inner and outer life. Too often Lent has been misunderstood as a time of grim repentance, but it is meant to be a time of joy, the joy of a fresh start, the joy that greening meadows and blossoming trees proclaim each spring." From User-friendly Lent: Sharpening spiritual focus by Bro. David Steindl-Rast O.S.B. Visit Gratefulness.org and read it all here.

EPPN, Lent 1

"The destruction we see around us is not an accident.
But then, neither is the fact that you and I have
been placed here to do something about it."
-Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston

"Our climate is changing – and that means different things in different regions around the world. In some places it means droughts, in others extreme storms, and in still others melting ice. What it means for all of us is a degradation of the amazing beauty that God created for us. It means that we should be doing all we can to slow these changes in our environment." Read more here.

Reconciliation

"The sacrament of reconciliation, which is in our Book of Common Prayer, offers the penitent, the opportunity to confess the sin of things done and things left undone as well as my personal favorite "all the other sins which I cannot now remember." It is a rich service in which we bring our troubles to the table placing them there to be healed by God. It’s not about casting blame or suffering from ill placed guilt, it is about coming back to the God who loves us, the God who is there for us, the God who wants us to live life to the fullest, and the God who wants us to be a part of a reconciled world, and not just a part but a leader." From a sermon by the Rev. Dorian McGlannan. Read the entire sermon here.

True Sanctity

"True sanctity... consists in using God's creation in such a way that everything we touch and see and use and love gives new glory to God. To be a saint means to pass through the world gathering fruits for heaven from every tree and reaping God's glory in every field. "

By Thomas Merton, in Seasons of Celebration (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1950): 137. See also, The Merton Institute for Contemplative Living.

Resolution or Rule

Over at the Episcopal Cafe, the Daily Episcopalian features an essay by the Rev. Kit Carlson. It reads, in part:

"As I enter Lent this year, I am trying to not just make a resolution. Rather, I hope to make a Rule. I have been asking myself: what is lacking in my relationship with God? Or: how am I failing to honor myself as the person God created me to be? Or: what practice would make me more mindful of the presence of God? Or: what is standing in the way of my being able to love God and love my neighbor?"

Read the whole essay here.

Ash Wednesday

This Ash Wednesday is an invitation to all of us to deeper, fuller life. We are invited to walk this road together, as a Church community, to find together the incredible mercy and love of God. This beginning of Lent is our opportunity not to be overcome with guilt and regret, but instead to be filled as individuals and as a community with the joyful realization that our God is beckoning us, calling us. "Now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation." Read the entire meditation by Fr. Peter Swarr, here.

... at St. John's Episcopal Church, Plymouth,
Michigan click here to see video; Detroit News article, here
photo above © by Dan Mears

Keeping A Holy Lent

"The Church gradually took on the discipline of Lent in solidarity with those preparing for baptism at the Easter Vigil. That preparation work has traditionally been summarized as prayer and study, fasting, and almsgiving. Today we might remember the origins of Lent, take in our traditional understandings, and use these 40 days plus Sundays to prepare to renew our own baptismal vows. This ancient understanding of prayer, study, fasting, and almsgiving shapes the lives we lead. Each of us is baptized into a life of relationship with God (prayer), relationship with self on behalf of others (fasting), and relationship with all the rest of creation (almsgiving). Lent brings a regular opportunity to tune up our Christian life and relationships. "

From the Presiding Bishop's Lenten Message: Keeping a holy Lent: prayer, fasting, almsgiving. By Katharine Jefferts Schori, February 5, 2008. Read it all here at Episcopal Life Online

Ash Wednesday Services at St. John's Episcopal Church

10:00 a.m. Stations of the Cross

10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Healing Service, Imposition of Ashes

7:00 p.m. Holy Eucharist and the Imposition of Ashes

Many and Various Ways

Sisters and Brothers, just as Jesus was not limited as he lived on earth but displayed the glory of God in many and various ways—through healing, through teaching, through prayer, through his transfigured glory on the Holy Mountain—so too is our journey of faith not limited, not restricted to one way of being. God meets us time and again in so many different ways. God meets us time and again to call us ever more into ministry. God meets us time and again to remind us that we are not following cleverly devised myths but the very truth of God. God meets us and supports us time and again so that we might be attentive to the truth of God "as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." From a sermon by Fr. Peter Swarr. To read the entire sermon, click here.

As seen above, "The Soul Takes Flame" by Brie Dodson

A Sacred Space

"As we sit with Christ in prayer, we enter a sacred space of solitude, love, and inner peace. In time, we may wonder how we survived without prayer. Prayer becomes the air we breathe. We need it to live in peace." From a sermon by Cynthia Leidal. To read the entire sermon, click here.

We Are ...

"... we are a group called together to rejoice in who God has made us. We are a people called to join together in praise and thanksgiving to the Giver of all good gifts. We are a people called to shine forth with the radiance of Christ. It sounds like a lofty calling, it sounds like something that doesn’t apply, but it DOES APPLY TO YOU AND ME." From Fr. Peter Swarr's sermon on the Second Sunday after Epiphany, January 20, 2008. You can read the entire sermon here.

Grace

"... is an unmerited gift from God of
himself. It's 'on the house.'
It comes free and it comes whether
or not you know you need it."
Frederick Beuchner

Read the entire interview from Grace Cathedral here.

Epiphany

The story of the Epiphany seems to be woven of mystery and possibility, destination and return; leading to and trailing from a miraculous birth to baptism to wedding feast. And in the cyclic pattern of nature it repeats, offering for as many times as we might observe it, a path that we might all follow.

The painting shown above, "Epiphany Times Three" is by Kathrin Burleson (www.kathrinburleson.com). It is part of the current ECVA (Episcopal Church and Visual Arts) exhibition "Feasts for the Eyes."

Some further insights regarding the Feast of the Epiphany can be found at Speaking to the Soul at the Episcopal Cafe.

Diocesan Council 2008

"Diocesan Council met twice since Diocesan Convention and will meet again on Tuesday, January 8, at Trinity Church, Belleville. The meeting, which begins at 6 p.m., will address the budget process for 2009. On December 1, council created a new committee called the Diocesan Program Committee that will look at the five diocesan priorities, the commitment to the eight Millennium Development Goals and how to live into the challenge of Bishop Wendell Gibbs to be 'a people of common prayer expecting uncommon results.' " Read the entire story here.

In the photo above: Bishop Wendell Gibbs flanked by Council President Dorian McGlannan and Canon to the Ordinary Lisa Gray. (Photo: Herb Gunn)