themessenger Monthly Newsletter of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church FEBRUARY 2015
IN THIS ISSUE: Stewardship Update and End-of-Year Finance Report Page 2 Lenten Offering Page 3 Adult Formation Page 4 Music Notes Page 6 Youth News Page 6 Children and Families Page 8 News from the Diocese Page 9 Birthdays Page 10 Memorials Page 11
ST. MARK’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH 315 E. Pecan St. San Antonio, Texas 78205 (210) 226-2426 www.stmarks-sa.org stmarks@stmarks-sa.org Office hours: Monday thru Friday 9:00a.m.-5:00p.m. Emergency Pastoral Care: 210-507-0256
VOLUME 104
ISSUE 2
FROM THE RECTOR
Preparing to Walk the Way of Lent I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by selfexamination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word. - Ash Wednesday Liturgy BCP
Each year out liturgical rhythms give us an opportunity to pause and reflect on how to deepen our Christian faith journey. It is often an invitation to re-center ourselves in the mystery of Christ. Lent is one of my favorite seasons as we gather as a community on Ash Wednesday to support one another as a community in acts of self examination. It is through these acts we repent, or turn, again towards the grace of God. When I first joined the Episcopal church I had a very negative view of repentance and so Lent seemed a bit difficult at first. It seemed like a chance to engage in self-hate or criticism to make myself smaller before God. I had struggled with self-confidence enough in my early adulthood that this seemed like an invitation I could easily refuse. What has become a great gift of my own journey is coming to see these opportunities as anything but diminishing. They have been an opportunity to re-order myself in relation to my loving creator. If I think I am supposed to accomplish everything on my own and then become frustrated with a lack of confidence to do so, there is a need for reconnecting with God. Not because I have gotten overly cocky (though that is always a possibility!), but rather because I have taken on burdens that much more comfortably reside with God.
When I was preparing for my thirty day Ignatian retreat five years ago, I was most
concerned about the week in the spiritual exercises where I would have to pray the passion. I feared that I would experience it as the ultimate sadness to see my own limits and realize what a disappointment I must be. The grace of that time was exactly the opposite. I recently sent a reflection I wrote of that time to a good friend who is currently praying the exercises. It was a timely reminder of what a gift Lent and Holy Week can be. I wrote at the completion of my time, “In this time I have seen the Passion of Christ with very different eyes. I had a deep sense of Christ’s love for me and all of us each step of the way. Fully knowing we would run away and desert him, he spent his time teaching and loving us. At the time of the Resurrection, he comes offering peace and an invitation to live without fear. There are no recriminations but an invitation to abandonment and joy.” My hope for each of us and the community of St. Mark’s is that as we enter Lent, we give ourselves the time and opportunity to fully steep ourselves in the gift of Jesus Christ. It will put us in a beautiful place to experience the joy of resurrection in a new way. Peace,
Beth+