Join us during the season of Lent!
Daily Reflections
“We worship you, Lord
We venerate your cross
We praise your resurrection
Through the cross, you brought joy to the world
May God be gracious and bless us
And let his face shed its light upon us.”
Good Friday liturgy
“How splendid the cross of Christ. it brings life, not death; light not darkness; Paradise, not its loss. It is the wood on which the Lord, like a great warrior, was wounded in hands and feet and side, but healed thereby our wounds. A tree has destroyed us, a tree now brought us life.”
Theodore of Studios, 9th Century
“I
am poured out like water ,And all my bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It is melted within my breast;My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
You lay me in the dust of death.”
Psalm 22
“Not by annihilating the wicked, by forcibly eliminating evil from among humankind is righteousness to be realized; the Lord wills to rehabilitate the world by turning sinners from evil ways that they may live. And we must admit that this is more difficult than the use of force.”
John McKenzie
“One of the 12, who is called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What will you give me if I betray him to you?’ They paid him 30 pieces of silver and from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray Jesus. “
Matthew chapter 26
“Look down, O Lord, on your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ did not hesitate to be betrayed into the hands of the wicked and to undergo the torment of the cross.”
Roman rite
“Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew.”
1 Peter chapter 1
“God, of your goodness give me yourself for you are sufficient for me. I cannot properly ask anything less, to be worthy of you. If I were to ask less, I should always be in want. In you alone do I have all.”
Julian of Norwich, 14th century
Day 3
“Mary took a liter of costly perfume oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.”
John chapter 12
“It is no accident that Chrism, the noblest of the three oils, should be used for the sign of the cross in confirmation. It is produced by adding aromatic essences to olive oil. Paul says of Christians, that they should be ‘the aroma of Christ’. Wherever Christians lived their baptism in an authentic way, they emit, as it were, ‘a strong and wholesome fragrance.’”
Balthasar Fischer
Day 34
“I regard everything is loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him ……. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one this thing I do:, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians chapter 3
“We too, then, when we suffer anything for Christ’s sake, should do so not only with courage, but even with joy ….. if we provide for the poor, let us regard ourselves as the recipients. Anyone who does not give in this way, will find it difficult to give it all. So, when you wish to distribute alms, do not think only of what you are giving away; think rather of what you are gaining for your gain will exceed your loss.”
John Chrysostom 4th Century
Day 33
“For you have delivered my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
My feet from stumbling.
I walked before the Lord in the land of the living.
I kept my faith even when I said,
I am greatly afflicted.”
Psalm 116
“Those struck down by affliction are at the foot of the cross, almost at the greatest possible distance from God. It must not be thought that sin is a greater distance. Sin is not a distance. It is turning our gaze in the wrong direction.”
Simone Weil
Day 32
“My child when you come to serve the Lord,
Prepare yourself for testing.
Accept what befalls you,
And in times of humiliation,
be patient, for gold is tested in the fire,
and those found acceptable, in the furnace of humiliation.”
Sirach, chapter 2
“May my song rise like incense in the presence. And for us may it be a perfume of consolation, of goodness and grace, so that these fumes will drive out every phantom from the mind and body, leaving us, as the apostle Paul phrased it, smelling sweetly of God. May all the attacks of demons fly from this incense, like dust before the wind, like smoke before the dancing flames.”
Anglo-Saxon blessing of incense
Day 31
“We have this treasure in clay jars so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way; but not crushed, perplexed; but not driven to despair, persecuted; but not forsaken, struck down; but not destroyed, always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus made me made visible in our mortal flesh.”
2 Corinthians chapter 4
“When we are really honest with ourselves, we must admit that our lives are all that really belong to us. So, it is how we use our lives that determines what kind of people we are.”
Cesar Chavez
Day 30
“I wish to know Christ and the power flowing from his resurrection ; likewise, to know how to share in his suffering by being formed in the pattern of his death.”Philippians chapter 3
“We can of course shake off the burden which is laid upon us, but only find that we have a still heavier burden to carry— a yolk of our own choosing, the yolk of our own self. But Jesus invites all who travail and are heavy laden to throw off their own yolk and take his yoke upon them— and his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. The yoke and the burden of Christ are his cross.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Day 29
“I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. And I did not know it was against me that they devised schemes, saying, ‘Let us destroy the tree with its fruit. Let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered.’”
Jeremiah 11
“God in heaven, you have helped my life to grow like a tree. Now something has happened. Satan, like a bird has carried in one twig of his own choosing after another. Before I knew it, he had built a dwelling place and was living in it. Tonight, my Father, I am throwing out both the bird and the nest.”
Nigerian prayer
Day 28
“Remember, Jesus Christ raised for the dead, a descendent of David—that is my gospel, for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained.”
2 Timothy Chapter 2
“Behold, it is a time of war,
And we have been enlisting,
Emmanuel we’re fighting for,
And Satan we’re resisting.
We have not in this war begun
To turn our backs as traitors,
But we will all unite as one
Against our carnal natures.”
Shaker hymn
Day 27
“The Lord used to speak to Moses, face-to-face as one speaks to a friend.”
Exodus 33
“Look at the Lord and be radiant.
Do not let your face look ashamed.”
Psalm 34
Day 26
“In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee, called Nazareth, to virgin engaged to a man whose name is Joseph, of the house of David. The Virgin‘s name was Mary, and he came to her and said, Greetings, favored One, the Lord is with you. But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, do not be afraid Mary, for you have found favor with God, and now you will conceive in your woman and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Luke chapter 1
“Oh, my lady, the holy Virgin Mary, thou didst confine the Unconfinable and carry him whom none has power to sustain. What an unheard-of thing, for the potter to close himself in a clay vessel or the craftsman in a handicraft. What humility beyond words for the Creator to cloth himself in the body of a human creature!”
Ethiopian prayer
Day 25
“Do not fear for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you,
For I am the Lord your God,
The holy one of Israel, your Savior.”
Isaiah chapter 43
“‘Tis a gift to be simple,
‘Tis the gift to be free,
‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place, just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
to bow and to bend, we shan’t be ashamed,
to turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.”
Shaker song
Day 24
“As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him: Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind. Jesus answered, neither this man nor his parents sinned. He was born blind, so that God‘s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of the one who sent me while it is still day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he said this, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, go wash in the pool of Siloam. Then he went and washed and came back able to see.”
John, Chapter 9
“The only reason for Jesus to mix clay with spittle and smear it on the eyes of the blind man was to remind you that he who restores the man to health by anointing his eyes with clay is the very one who fashioned the first man out of clay, and that this clay that is our flesh can receive eternal life through the sacrament of baptism.
You too should come to Siloam, that is, to him who was sent by the Father. Come and be baptized. It is time. Come quickly and you too will be able to say, I was blind and now I see.”
Ambrose of Milan, 4th century
Day 23
“To you, Oh Lord, I cried
And to the Lord, I made supplication:
What profit is there in my death
If I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
Here, oh Lord, and be gracious to me
Oh Lord, be my helper.”
Psalm 29
“This is why the church has great conflicts: it accuses of sin. it says to the rich: do not sin by misusing your money. It says to the powerful: do not misuse your political influence. Do not misuse your weaponry. Do not misuse your power. It says to sinful torturers: do not torture. You are sinning. You are doing wrong. You are establishing the reign of hell on earth.”
Oscar Arnulfo Romero
Day 22
“Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt. Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus: God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and I give a 10th of all my income. But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying: God, be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other: for all who exult themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Luke Chapter 18
“Oh Lord, you have condemned the Pharisee who justified himself by boasting of his works, and you have justified the publican who humbled himself, and with cries of sorrow begged for mercy. For your reject proud minded thoughts, but do not despise a contrite heart. Therefore, in abasement we fall down before you, Jesus who suffered for our sake, grant us forgiveness and great mercy.”
Byzantine Matins
Day 21
“I pray that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the Saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Not to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”
Ephesians Chapter 3
“To love is good; love being difficult. For one human being to love another, that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation. For this reason, beginners cannot yet know love, they have to learn it. Learning time is always a long, secluded time and so is loving for a long while, ahead and far into life.”
Rainer Maria Rilke
Day 20
“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
The desert shall rejoice and blossom;
Like the crocus, it shall blossom abundantly ,
And rejoice with joy and singing,
For water she’ll break forth into wilderness,
And streams in the desert;
The burning sand she’ll become a pond,
And the thirsty ground springs of water.”
Isaiah Chapter 35
“We must remember the original meaning of Lent as the church’s holy spring in which the catechumens were prepared for their baptism and public penitents were made ready by penance for the restoration to the Sacramental life in a communion with the rest of the Church. Lent is then a season of punishment as much as one of healing.”
Thomas Merton
Day 19
“Now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ.”
Galatians Chapter 3
“How beautiful are those and how blessed they be
Who in deep tribulation daily follow me
I have a robe divinely fair for such children to wear
And a crown, shiny bright they shall wear with delight
When done with the fading things of time.”
Shaker hymn
Day 18
“My footsteps hold fast to your well-worn path;
and my feet do not slip.
I call upon you O God for you will answer me;
Incline your ear to me and hear my words.
Show me your marvelous, loving kindness, Saviour, of those who take refuge at your right hand from those who rise against them.
Keep me as the apple of your eye;
Hide me under the shadow of your wings.”
Psalm 17:5-6
“I sing as I arise today
I call on my Creator’s might:
The wheel of God to be my guide
The eye of God to be my sight
The word of God to be my speech
The hand of God to be my stay
The shield of God to be my strength
The path of God to be my way.”
Patrick of Ireland, 5th century
Day 17
“In the day of my trouble, I seek the Lord;
In the night, my hand is stretched out without wearying;
My soul refuses to be comforted.
I think of God and I moan;
I meditate and my spirit faints.
I consider the days of old,
and I remember the years of long ago.
I commune with my heart in the night,
I meditate and search my spirit.”
Psalm 77:1-6
“Whatever may be the mode and measure of self-denial that God asks of us, and this is a matter that cannot really be decided without prayer and spiritual direction. All Christian fasting is characterized by wholeness and by balance. Christ admits of no division.”
Thomas Merton
Day 16
“Oh God, you are my God I seek you,
My soul thirsts for you;
My flesh faints for you as in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.
So I have looked up upon you in the sanctuary, be holding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on your name.”
Psalm 63:1-4
“And down to earth Hebrew, to meditate is to chew one’s cud. The familiar cattle of Hebrew existence proved a useful image for the develop believer, ‘whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who ponder God‘s law day and night,’ Psalm 1. The browsing cow nibbles constantly at the lush pasture, and when it has filled its stomach lies down, regurgitating what it has gathered and chews “meditatively” on its cud until the cud is fully assimilated.”
William G. Storey
Day 15
“All, look to you to give them their food and do season;
When you give to them, they gather it up;
When you open your hand, they are filled with good things.”
Psalm 104:28
“The pretzel is a very ancient bakery item which traditionally was eaten only during Lent. It appeared each year on Ash Wednesday and disappeared on Good Friday. It goes back at least to the fifth century. There is a Roman manuscript in the Vatican library dating from that period which shows a Lenten pretzel. As to the shape; it is made in the form of two arms crossed in prayer. Little arms in German “Bretzel”, then became “pretzel”. These early Christians ate no dairy products in lent so the pretzel was made only of flower salt and water. It was as simple as it could be.”
Evelyn Birge Vitz
Day 14
Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than a great treasure and trouble with it.
Better is a dinner of vegetables where love is than a fat ox and hatred with it.”
Proverbs 15:15-17
“There’s a wideness in God‘s mercy like the wideness of the sea;
There’s a kindness in God‘s justice, which is more than liberty.
There is welcome for the center and more graces for the good.
There is mercy with the savior, there is healing in his blood.
For the love of God is broader than the measure of the mind;
And the heart of the eternal is most wonderfully kind.
If our love were but more faithful, we should trust God’s every word.
And our life would be Thanksgiving for the goodness of the Lord.”
Frederick William Faber, 19th century
Day 13
“Jesus told his disciples, if any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross, and follow me, for those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, will find it.”
Matthew 16:24-26
“Lord God, you offer to us this acceptable time to recover a sense of what life means and to be reconciled to you and to our neighbor.. Grant that we may walk together, day by day, in the footsteps of Christ toward the Pascal feast of joy.”
Italian sacramentary
Day 12
“A sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. Some fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some fell into good soil and when it grew, it produced 100 fold. As Jesus said this, he called out: “Anyone with ears to hear listen.”
Luke 8:5-8
“The gospels that prepare for Lent indicate the springtime labor that must be do
ne in the vineyard of the soul. The soul must be harrowed by penance and contrition in order that the divine seed of the holy season of Lent may bring forth and abundant harvest.”Rudolf Peil
Day 11
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make his face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
And give you peace.”
Numbers chapter 6:24-26
“Stay with me then, and I shall begin to shine as you shine: so to shine as to be a lie to others. The light of Jesus will be all from you. None of it will be mine. No merit to me. It will be you who shines through me upon others. O let me praise you in the way which you love best by shining on all those around me. Give light to them as well as to me; let them with me, through me. Teach me to follow for in praise, in truth, in your will. Make me preach you without preaching— not by words, but by example, and by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what I do —by my visible resemblance to your Saints and the evident fullness of the love which my heart bears to you.”
John Henry Newman, 19th century
Day 10
Day 9
Day 8
“Oh God, do not keep silence;
Do not hold your peace or be still O God
Even now your enemies are in tumult;
Those who hate you have raised their heads
They lay crafty plans against your people
They consult together against those you protect.
They say “come, let us wipe them out as a nation;
And let the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
Psalm 83:1-4
“In the very midst of life
Death has us surrounded
When shall we a help her find.
Hear his coming sounded?
For you, for you, our Lord, we’re waiting
We sorrow that we left your path,
Doing what deserves your wrath.
Holy most righteous God.
In the midst of bitter death
Sharp the hell drawn harrow
Who will break its teeth and save
Faith’s most inner marrow?
Lord, you alone our Savior
But we were grieved by our misdeed
Pity drew you to our need
Holy most righteous God.”
-Martin Luther, 16th century
Day 6
Day 4
“Yet, even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart— with fasting, with weeping and with mourning. Rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord your God, for God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding instead fast love”
Joel 2:12-13
“Oh paradise, garden of delight and beauty, dwelling place made perfect by God, unending gladness, and eternal joy, the hope of the prophets, and the home of the Saints: by the music of your wrestling leaves, beseech the creator of all to open to me the gates which my sins have closed that I may take of the tree of life which was given in the beginning.”
Byzantine vespers
Worship
Weekly Vespers
Released each Wednesday evening at 7pm
Education
Sunday School
Children can participate in Sunday School all weeks of Lent. Following the Children’s Message, children will receive a lesson from their teachers focused on a Bible story and theme for the week. Crafts and activities will emphasize the theme of the week.
There will also be a prayer chain activity that children will participate in over the Lenten season, with an activity to do at home during the week. Children and families will also be provided with a Lenten activity calendar that they can engage in together throughout the season.
Adult Study
Adult Study will be offered on Sundays during Lent at 9am in the church office. Join the group for enlightening discussion and insights.
