February 22, 2023

I hope you got enough to eat last night as we celebrated the end of the Epiphany season with a traditional dinner of pancakes, eggs, and sausage. Everyone who attended seemed to have a good time and we all enjoyed the food and decorations. That festive feeling, though, now gives way to the penitential season of Lent and the Ash Wednesday services of today.

Today we pray that God will create and make in us new and contrite hearts. Today we are invited to a season of self-examination and repentance; a season of prayer, fasting, and self-denial; a season of reading and meditating on Holy Scripture; and a season of reconciliation and forgiveness.

On this day we are also reminded of our mortality: Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

On this day we are called to make a right beginning.

During this season of Lent, may you find time to explore the wilderness, may you identify that which pulls you away from God and set that aside, may you find that which draws you closer to God and pick that up, may you rend your heart not your clothing, and may you be restored to wholeness of body, mind, and spirit.

Ash Wednesday Services:

Parking Lot – 10, 2, and 4

Church – 12:15 and 7:00

Personal Confessions by appointment

May you have a holy Lent,

Todd+

February 15, 2023

How you live your life today is how you live your life.

I heard this quote the other day on a podcast I was listening to. I think it stuck out to me because Lent begins next week with Ash Wednesday.

You are all familiar with the Lenten tradition of a seasonal discipline; whether that is the discipline of abstinence (abstaining from sweets, television, social media, coarse language, etc.), or whether it's a discipline of acquisition (daily prayer, reading scripture, healthy eating, exercise, attending worship, etc.), the idea is to use our chosen disciplines to draw closer to God. We shouldn't opt for a discipline simply to be miserable for 40 days in order to celebrate a return to “normal” on Easter. Instead, these disciplines of abstinence or acquisitions should be taken on with some forethought as to how a particular change will draw us closer to God.

Maybe you tend to snack without thinking. Maybe you might think that abstaining from sweets/snacks will help your overall health. Maybe not buying snacks gives you some extra money. Maybe you answer God's call to feed the hungry by donating that money to the food bank or Micah's Backpack. There are any number of ways that your discipline of abstinence or acquisition can be used to move your focus from the self to God and/or those around you.

The overall goal of a Lenten discipline is to change our overall behavior for the long-term.

But if we really pay attention to the above quote, it's telling us something interesting (and probably something we've all heard before in a different form): the past is gone, the future doesn't exist, and there is only this moment.

We don't live in the past. We can't live in the future. We can only live moment-to-moment in the present.

Doing things to change how we live in the future isn't really the point of making changes, whether they be Lenten disciplines or New Year's resolutions. It is only by changing how we live our lives today that will determine how we will live our life.

As you begin to prepare for Lent and a discipline of abstinence or acquisition, spend some time discerning how you would like to live your life today; and then abstain from or acquire one thing that will help bring you closer to God today.

February 8, 2023

After last week's Wednesday Word, several people wanted to know more about praying with prayer beads. As I pointed out on Wednesday, the Anglican rosary doesn't have set prayers, per se, but leaves it up to the individual to create their own system.

While this may be frustrating at first (we want to make sure we are doing it “right,” and even the disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray”), that openness leaves room for adjustments. Not every prayer works for us every time. Sometimes we can only pray simple prayers; other times we are more open to longer prayers. It all depends on where we are physically, spiritually, and emotionally. For instance, I made a hospital visit yesterday to a parishioner in ICU – that was not the time to offer up one of those long, beautiful prayers from the BCP. I instead offered a short prayer of healing and comfort.

There are times when long, beautiful prayers are appropriate. There are also times when short, blunt prayers are appropriate. The beauty of the rosary is that, no matter which end of the spectrum you find yourself, it helps keeps you focused as you move through the beads.

Here is a short guide, so to speak, of how you might pray the rosary:

1. At the cross, say an opening prayer

2. At the invitatory bead, say a prayer inviting God into your presence

3. At each large cruciform bead (4 around the rosary), recite a piece of scripture

4. At each small week bead (7 between larger beads), use an easily repetitive prayer

5. At the completion of one or three circuits, return to the invitatory bead with a closing prayer

6. End at the cross with a concluding prayer

As I said, there are as many different forms as there are people praying the rosary. Here is my system:

1. Cross: O God, make speed to save us; O Lord, make haste to help us. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

2. Invitatory: Be present, be present, O Jesus our great high priest, as you were present with your disciples.

3. Cruciform: I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where is my help to come? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

4. Each Week bead: Holy God, holy and mighty, holy immortal one, have mercy upon us.

5. Invitatory: Personal prayers

6. Cross: the Lord's Prayer

If you are looking for more resources, here are a few websites that may be helpful:

https://www.unspokenelements.com/pages/how-to-use-anglican-prayer-beads

http://www.kingofpeace.org/prayerbeads.htm

https://sgnsource.weebly.com/uploads/2/4/2/6/24265184/prayer_beads_handout.pdf

https://ahearttoknow.com/anglican-prayer-beads/

Praying the rosary isn't necessary for a good prayer life; what's necessary for a good prayer life is to make time to pray. May you find the time to pray in whatever form that looks like for you.

February 1, 2023

In saying the rosary, the mechanical element frees the mind to rest in the mysteries, or more simply to find its repose in God. – Robert Llewelyn, A Doorway to Silence

I don't know where I came across this book, but it's a guide, so to speak, on the use of the rosary. Mr. Llewelyn was not Roman Catholic, but served as Chaplain of the Julian Shrine at Norwich. Over his time there he came to appreciate praying the rosary on a daily basis. As I've mentioned before, I discovered the rosary and began one while I was in Oregon. When the open-carry of weapons became legal, I decided that wearing a rosary would be a better open-carry option.

There is a difference between a Catholic rosary and an Anglican rosary, primary of which is the Catholic rosary is made up of “decades” (ten bead sections) while the Anglican rosary is made up of “weeks” (seven bead sections) – please, no jokes about us being “Catholic-lite.” Another difference is that the Catholic rosary often makes use of set prayers (such as the Hail Mary), while the Anglican rosary leaves it up to the user to develop their own prayers.

I've developed my own system over the years which includes the opening acclamation from Holy Eucharist, the Trisagion, and the Lord's Prayer.

This repetitive prayer at first holds the mind's attention; it gives us something to focus on so that our minds don't wander willy-nilly, leaving us to wonder why we were even praying. The repetitive prayer, if said often enough, eventually becomes an anchor, holding us secure but allowing the mind to drift within the mystery of God, engaging God in ever deeper levels.

In some sense, then, our Sunday liturgy might also be seen as a type of rosary. There are elements that change from week to week (hymns, Collects, and readings), but even those things that change are in always-familiar places. And there are elements that rarely change (Holy Communion).

For people new to the Episcopal church, the repetitive nature of the liturgy can hold their attention or get them to focus on worship. Which book we use (red or blue), what page we're on, and whether we're singing S-120 or Hymn 120 all take concentration. Eventually, though, as a person becomes familiar with the service, the repetitive words and actions become more and more familiar, allowing the liturgy to become an anchor while they begin to contemplate the mystery of God and engage with God in ever-deepening levels. Both the rosary and liturgy have also been described as a safe, protective blanket, allowing one to be wrapped up in God's love.

So whether you are praying the rosary or praying the liturgy, I encourage you to see those things as anchors to your faith that allow you to lose yourself in the mysteries of God without getting lost.