Palm Sunday

Regular Service Times: Saturday at 5,

Sunday at 8 & 10

Wednesday of Holy Week

7:00 pm Tenebrae in the chapel

Maundy Thursday

7:00pm Maundy Thursday Eucharist with

foot washing and stripping of the altar

8:00pm-8:00am Maundy Thursday Vigil

Good Friday

12:00 Stations of the Cross

Church will remain open until 3:00pm for

prayer and reflection 

7:00pm Good Friday Liturgy

Holy Saturday

5:00pm Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday

10:00am Holy Eucharist

Schedule of Holy Week Services

A Holy Lent

by The Rev. Charlotte LaForest

The liturgy for Ash Wednesday includes aninvitation to the observance of a Holy Lent, “byself-examination and repentance; by prayer,fasting and self denial; and by reading andmeditating on God’s holy word.”

It can seem like an intimidating list ofrequirements, and for many, it seems like morethan they can possibly accomplish in thebusyness of everyday life.  Isn’t it just easier togive up chocolate for a few weeks? (um, no.) In the gospel readings leading up to the seasonof Lent, we’ve heard from Jesus in the Sermonon the Mount asking his disciples to live in sucha way that they are contributing to life andflourishing of all people.  I’d like to take sometime together to explore together this Lent whatit really is we are being called to do, and how wemight experience a Holy Lent in such a way thatleads to life and flourishing, for others and forourselves.

The Celebration of A Holy Lent

A Special Lenten Publication of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church

MARCH 2020

Self Examinationand

Repentance

Self-examination is a practice of taking stock of ourlives, of being honest with ourselves and with God:What are the things that we do that help ourselves andothers to flourish? What draws us closer to God? Whatbrings peace? How are we loving others? And then also:What are the things that we do that are harmful to ourown and others’ flourishing? What draws us away fromGod? How do we cause conflict and destruction? Howare we buying into the hatred that’s rampant in ourculture?

Repentance follows closely on the heels of selfexamination.  It's a process or turning around, turningaway from the path we've been on. If we recognizeaspects of our lives that are not contributing to the lifeand flourishing of all people, repentance involvesnaming the harm we have done, as well as making acommitment to change harmful behavior. What iscalling for change in your life?

Resources for Reading and Meditating

on God's Holy Word

Try out a regular practice of reading scripture this

Lent. Choose one book of the Bible to read and

learn about, or perhaps read one Psalm a day.

Imagine yourself inside a story of scripture. Gospel

stories work well for this. Where are you in the

scene? What do you see? Here? Smell? How do you

feel? What does Jesus say to you?

Try out the ancient practice of Lectio Divina (Holy

Reading) with a short passage of scripture (10-15

verses). See the steps below.

Reading and Meditating on God's Holy Word

We hear lots of scripture being read during church eachweek, but the invitation of the season of Lent is for adeeper, more personal engagement with the Bible.

The Bible follows the story of God and God's people,from the very beginning up through today and to theend of time. The Hebrew Scriptures are filled withaccounts of the people of Israel learning what it meantto be in relationship with God. The Gospels tell thestory of God's time on earth. The Epistles tell the storyof the newly forming church, and the book ofRevelation imagines the end of days.

The Bible is our story too, as people in relationship withGod. As we read the scriptures, we learn about God'slove for us, and we encounter wisdom that can guidedecisions in everyday life. In this way, as we meditate onwhat the scriptures say to us today, the Bible remainsthe living word of God.

The Examen is an Ignatian prayer practice designed to aididentifying the presence or absence throughout the day.

There's an app for that! Try the free "Regimagining the Examen" app for

creative ways to engage in this prayer practice 

The Book of Common Prayer offers two Rites of Reconciliation(Confession) on p. 447 and 449. The policy on confession in the

Episcopal Church is that "All may, none must, some should"Contact Rev. Charlotte if you'd like to set up an appointment

during Lent, or any time during the year.

Recommended Reading:

Reconciliation: Preparing for Confession in the Episcopal Church 

by Martin Smith

Reimagining the Ignatian Examen: Fresh Ways to Pray from Your Day

by Mark Thibodeaux, SJ

Resources for Self Examination and Repentance

Prayer is the way that we communicate with God. There are so many different types of prayer and waysto do this.  You could pray words you’ve hadmemorized since childhood.  You could read prayersthat someone else has written that capture what’s onyour heart.  You could ramble stream-of-consciousness prayers to God while you drive or gofor a walk (This once might have caused people towonder about your mental state, but now they’ll justassume you’re talking to someone on Bluetooth!). 

Prayer

The other half of the conversation of prayer islistening.  You could listen for God in the silence ofcontemplative prayer. You can go for walks and askGod to show you what God would like you to see andhear.  You could meet with your priest (hi!) or aspiritual director to discern together how God isshowing up in your life.  It may not be a boomingvoice from the heavens, but God is speaking!

Resources for Self-Denial

Simplicity:

The Freedom of Letting Go

by Richard Rohr

The Freedom of Simplicity:

Finding Harmony in a Complex World

by Richard Foster

Sabbath in the Suburbs:

A Family's Experiment with Holy Time

by MaryAnn McKibben Dana

Sabbath as Resistance:

Saying No to the Culture of Now

by Walter Brueggemann

Try the 40 Days, 40 Bags Challenge, to elimitate 40bags of clutter from your home during the season of

Lent.

Challenge yourself to add Sabbath time into yourroutine. If not a whole day, an afternoon? During the

couse of the day can you find an hour? Twentyminutes?

The idea of self-denial is often associated with fasting,but I want to invite you to a new possible way ofthinking about self-denial as the call to simplicity andSabbath. What if your practice of self-denial this Lent is to say noto all the things our consumerist culture says you musthave to be worthy or successful? To refuse to buy intobuy into the narrative that the accumulation of goodsleads to happiness or peace, and instead strive forsimplicity in your life and your home?  Ask yourselfwhat it is you truly need. Another aspect of self-denial is to say no to busynessand to create rhythms of Sabbath in your life. Sabbath isa time for rest, renewal, reconnection with loved ones,and it’s also a profound act of faith.  It requires trustingthat things will not fall apart if you stop working,trusting that God will provide for everything that trulyhas to happen.

Self-Denial

Resources for Prayer

This Lent I'm reading a book called Holy

Solitude: Lenten Reflections with Saints,

Hermits, Prophets and Rebels by HeidiHaverkamp. Many people find a Lentendevotional a helpful way to praythrough the season of Lent.

Read along with me or choose one that speaks to you, andjoin me to check in on how our our Lenten journeys aregoing in the chapel after the 10:00 service on March 15.

As a lifelong Episcopalian, my frst suggestion is alwaysgoing to be the Book of Common Prayer. Check outDaily Devotions for Individuals and Families on p. 136-140 and Compline on p. 127-135Let technology help! I love the Prayer app by MissionSt. Clare, as well as Centering Prayer by ContemplativeOutreach. Podcasts like "A Morning at the Office"offer daily recordings of Morning PrayerIf sitting still doesn't work for you, try praying whileyou walk or do dishes!Consider how prayer can be a part of a creativepractice. Take photos or draw the glimpses of God inyour day. Repeat prayers as you knit. Try starting aprayer journal.

Fasting

From writer Sarah Bessey: "Choose something to fast...to remind you of your dependence on God.Something like the traditional meat or alcohol, sugar orcaffeine or even social media. (One year, my friendRachel gave up sleeping in. Another friend gave upcomplaining, another gave up cynicism, anotherunnecessary spending.) Be creative and honest aboutyour dependencies. Look for ways to channel thatenergy into something generative and healing. P.S. youdon’t have to fast on Sundays!"* The traditional practice of fasting from food can becomplicated for a lot of people. We live in an image-obsessed, body-shaming, diet-crazed culture, and nowfasting itself has even been co-opted into a weight-losstrend called "intermittent fasting". Given the realities of our culture, be mindful as youchoose a fasting practice. Think of something youwould miss, that when you miss it, you wouldremember to turn your attention to God. Or think ofsomething you know might be getting in the way ofyour attentiveness to God. *https://sarahbessey.substack.com/p/40-simple-practices-for-lent

There are some great resources out there for carbon fastsand single-use plastic fasts.

Visithttps://ignatiansolidarity.net/ignatian-carbon-lenten-challenge/ for

more ideas and resources.

Resources for Fasting

See a great overview of fasting here:https://buildfaith.org/guide-christian-fasting/

And a video from The Most Rev. Michael Curry,

Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church:https://episcopalchurch.org/invitation-to-fast