Sojourner Truth Headstone- Oakhill Cemetery (Photo credit: battlecreekcvb)
Sojourner Truth, half-length portrait; hotographic print on carte de visite mount : albumen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Psalm 36:5-11 Isaiah 42:1– 9
Hebrews 9:11-15 John 12:1-11
Religion without humanity is very poor human stuff.
—- Sojourner Truth
Psalm am: 118, 1-2, 19-29
pm: 31:9-16 Isa 50:4-9a Philippians 4:5-11
am: Matthew 26:14-27:66
pm: Matthew 27:11-54
A Prayer by Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador
It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God‘s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
Amen
Angel of Grief
Psalm am: 137, 144
pm: 42, 43 Jeremiah 31:27-34
Romans 11:25-36 John 11:28-44 or
12:37-50
My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’ . . .
I will say to God my rock, ‘Why have You forgotten me? —-Psalm 42:3, 9
You give us as sheep to be eaten
And have scattered us among the nations.
You sell Your people cheaply,
And have not profited by their sale. —-Psalm 44:11-12
Today’s psalms recount the experience of Israel’s exile in Babylon—a nation of
people ripped from homes that no longer exist, families torn apart and relocated as
refugees, strangers in a strange land. Calls for continued hope in the midst of tragedy
mingle with cries of bitterness culminating in the famous wish of 137:9—that
someone would bash in the Babylonian babies’ skulls against a rock in retribution.
Above all the pain of military defeat and forced resettlement though lingers the
questions, “Why God?”; “Where were you, God?”; “How could you, God?”
While only some of us know the pain of war and estrangement from our homelands,
I would wager that at one point or another most of us have felt abandoned
by God and questioned God’s role and presence in the midst of some overwhelming
pain. Shattered dreams . . . broken promises . . . abandonment . . . betrayal . . .
disease . . . death. In a broken world, these are experiences with which we are all
too familiar, and so we wonder, how can such things occur in a world created and
sustained by a loving God? When belief in the goodness and ever presence of
God collide with the darkness of this world’s reality, sometimes all we are left
with is a cry of lament. I don’t know about you, but I’m thankful for Scriptures that
not only condone but also teach us how to express such cries. I’m thankful not to
be alone in such experiences, and I thankful for a Bible that doesn’t teach me to
put a happy face on the horrors of life, to pretend like they don’t exist when they
really do.
Meg Ramey
Traveler, Teacher, and Questioner
March 24, 2013
10:00 AM
Palm Procession
The Reading of the Passion
Holy Eucharist
English: The Altar of Repose at St James Episcopal Church, Columbus, Ohio following Maundy Thursday services during Holy Week 2009. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
March 28, 2013
7:00 PM
Footwashing
Holy Eucharist
Stripping of the Altar
March 29, 2013
The Good Friday Liturgy
12:00 PM
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
4620 Linglestown Road
Harrisburg PA
With Reserved Sacrament from St. Paul’s and St. Andrew’s
The Seven
Last Words
12:00 PM
St. Stephen’s Cathedral
221 N Front Street
Harrisburg, PA
Pastor Kate Harrigan preaching
Veneration of the Cross
Stations of the Cross
7:00 PM
In participation with St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
Service held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
248 Seneca Street
Harrisburg, PA
March 30, 2013
Participating with St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Harrisburg
at St. Paul’s
7:00 PM
Lighting of the New Fire
The Reading of the Exsultet
Holy Eucharist
English: Easter egg at the Palm Sunday fair in the Village Museum, Bucharest (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
March 30, 2013
10:00 AM
Holy Eucharist
This image was selected as a picture of the week on the Czech Wikipedia for th week, 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Holy Week Fast
Fasting has great witness in both the Old and the New Testaments and, far from having little value to us in the 21st century, fasting today, with the spiritual purpose of re-gaining Holy Discipline, can be a true spiritual adventure. We will journey together as a group, eating no solid food but drinking water, fresh juices, herbal teas and vegetable broths to nourish and fully provide all the sustenance we need.
For more information about the Holy Week Fast please email apruett@state.pa.us
or phone (717) 421-7753
Psalm 21, Initial D. In: Albani-Psalter (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Psalm am: 22
pm: 141, 143 Jeremiah 29:1, 4-13
Romans 11:13-24 John 11:1-27
or 12:1-10
People notice peacemakers because they dress funny. We
know how the people who make war dress – in uniforms
and medals, or in computers and clipboards, or in absoluteness,
severity, greed, and cynicism. But the peacemaker is
dressed in righteousness, justice, and faithfulness – dressed
for the work that is to be done. —-Walter Brueggemann
Psalm am: 131, 132, 133
pm: 140, 142 Jeremiah 26:1-16
Romans 11:1-12 John 10:19-42
The priests, the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah say this in the Lord’s house
and, when he came to the end of what the Lord had charged him to say to them, the priests
and prophets and all the people seized him and threatened him with death —-Jeremiah 26 v 7-8
As I read and re-read the reading from the life of the prophet
Jeremiah assigned for this day, I tried to feel the passion with
which Jeremiah pleaded to the inhabitants of Jerusalem to turn
back to the One True God. The tender-hearted Jeremiah loved
his people so much and was compelled to speak out even although
he was persecuted, ridiculed and even threatened with
death. Called by God to be a prophet, God gave Jeremiah specific
things to say and put a fearlessness into his heart that he
might accomplish the work God set before him. Most of us are
not called by God to put our lives in danger but we are asked to
take risks – go beyond our comfort zone and if we stay close to
our true companion, the Spirit of our Savior Jesus, and ponder
the Living Word of God, we will be inspired and guided to do
the work God has for us to do. All God asks of us is a willing
heart and He will supply all we need to accomplish the task.
Anna Pruett
-a humble worker in the Lord’s Service.
Kazakh shepherd with dogs and horse (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Psalm am:119:145-176
pm: 128, 129, 130 Jeremiah 25:30-38
Romans 10:14-21 John 10:1-18
I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father
knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep, I
have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also, and
they will listen to my voice and there will be one flock with one shepherd. —-John 10:14-16
Relating this passage to humans, reminds me of the many times that I had to
use my leadership abilities to get people to become members of various organizations
in providing beneficial programs, including serving as Chairman of the Department
of Christian education for the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania for over
twenty years. As a community volunteer, I continue to do the work that God
wants me to do.
I am also reminded that I have a responsibility to bring people into our church
so they can know and understand the Gospel of the Lord. These are the unchurched
people who should be part of the congregation. There is only one God, and we are
his children and belong to him.
Dr. George H. Love
Husband, Father, Grandfather,Bridge Player, Traveler, Gardener, Fisherman, Scientist,
Education Consultant
English: Liszt k Rimlánczom (Epistle to the Romans) from the prekmurian Nôvi Zákon (1848) Magyar: Liszt k Rimlánczom (A rómaiakhoz írott levél) a vend Nôvi Zákonból (1848) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Psalm am:121,122,123
pm: 124, 125, 126 Jeremiah 25:8-17
Romans 10:1-13 John 9:18-41
What does it say, then? The word is very near to you; it is in your mouth
and in your heart, that is, the word of faith, the faith which we preach… —-Romans 10:8
This passage reminds me of the power of words. We don’t value
them like we should. We all know that once something is spoken it
can never be taken back. The word spoken into my soul, which is
continually echoing in my mind is that I am “God’s Beloved”. I am
known, loved and blessed by the one who sacrificed his life for
mine. God gives me a purpose even if I don’t always know it.
But this is not only true for me but it is true for you as well. May it
be spoken and never be taken back: you are “God’s Beloved”! You
are known and loved intimately by our creator and redeemer. You
too have a purpose in God’s unfolding plan.
Joshua J.D. Moritz
Husband, Farmer, Beloved
Bartolo, Andrea di, 1360/70 – 1428
Psalm am: 31
pm: 35 Jeremiah 24:1-10 Romans 9:19-33
John 9:1-17
We cannot merely pray to you, O God,
to end war;
For we know that You have made the world
in a way
That man must find his own path to peace.
Within himself and with his neighbor.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
to end starvation;
For You have already given us the
resources
With which to feed the entire world,
If we would only use them wisely.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
to root out prejudice;
For You have already given us eyes
With which to see the good in all men,
If we would only use them rightly.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
to end despair,
For You have already given us the power
To clear away slums and to give hope,
If we would only use our power justly.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
to end disease;
For You have already given us great minds
With which to search out cures and healing,
If we would only use them constructively.
Therefore we pray to You instead, O God,
For strength, determination and will power,
To do instead of just pray,
To become instead of merely to wish.
Jack Riemer
Likrat Shabbat
The Ship's Blog 