News and Notes

Annual Acts of Giving
It is time for our annual collection for the Aurora House (Manokin Manor). 
The items requested are toiletries (deodorant, lotions, toothpaste,
toothbrushes – sorry no bars of soap), boxes of tissues, crew socks
(men & women), warm-up clothes (women size medium and large,
men large to 2x, and word search books.  We plan to deliver them to
the nursing home during Holy Week.

February 20 through March 10  Collecting canned goods to donate to the Seton Center
in Princess Anne.  Please place your donations inside the church entrance.

                                                                                                                 Sundays During the Season of Lent

          Our Christian faith and life are centered in the Person and Teachings of Jesus Christ. It is by his life, death, and resurrection that we receive the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life with God. During the season of Lent, we are called to repent and reorient our lives so that we are following Jesus in the way of Love that leads to union with God. But do we really know who Jesus is? What does it mean to follow him? What does it mean to surrender to him as Savior and Lord?On Sundays in Lent we will explore the answers to these questions in a special preaching series, Who Is Jesus? Please make the commitment to attend Mass each week of Lent, as we move away from our sinful selves, and closer to God.

          The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. In many languages the word for Lent implies ‘forty’: Quaresima deriving from quaranta (forty) in Italian; Cuaresma coming from cuarenta in Spanish; Carême deriving from ‘quarante’ in French. The English word ‘Lent’ has another, very beautiful derivation. It comes from the Anglo-Saxon (early English) word meaning to ‘lengthen’. Lent comes at a time when the hours or daytime are ‘lengthening’, as spring approaches, and so it is a time when we too can ‘lengthen’ spiritually, when we can stretch out and grow in the Spirit. Just as the sun was seen to do the work of ‘lengthening’ the days in spring, so it is the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who does the work of ‘lengthening’ in our spiritual growth.



News and Notes about parish activities, and important information about noteworthy events in the diocese and the Episcopal Church.

Presiding Bishop’s statement on Tree of Life tragedy October 27, 2018
 
Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has issued the following statement:
 
Dear Friends, 
 
I’m here in Des Moines, Iowa at the convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa. It’s Saturday, and several hours ago you learned, as did we all, that a gunman entered Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. A number of people have been killed and wounded. Our Jewish neighbors, our brothers and sisters, are fearful and we must stand with them and provide comfort and support for them and for all. It is reported that the gunman not only ranted anti-Semitic sayings, he has also ranted and spoken against immigrants and refugees and other peoples.
 
We must pray, we must pray for him, we must pray for the spirit of our nation, that a spirit of love and compassion and goodness and decency would pervade, and that spirits of hatred and bigotry would be cast away. But, above all, at this time, pray for those who have died and for their families and their loved ones. Pray for those who are wounded. Pray for the first responders, pray for our brothers and sisters in the Jewish community. Pray for the Tree of Life synagogue. Pray for the City of Pittsburgh. Pray for America. Pray for us all.
 
And then, go out and do something. Do something that helps to end the long night and helps to bring in the daylight. Visit a neighbor. Remind our Jewish brothers and sisters that they do not stand alone. Care for someone. Love. Stand for what is right and good. Then pray. And then act. 
 
And pray: 
 
Our Father, who art in heaven,
            hallowed be thy Name,
            thy kingdom come,
            thy will be done,
            on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our trespasses,
            as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
            but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, 
            for ever and ever. Amen.
 
God love you. God bless you. And may God hold us all in those almighty hands of love.
 
The Most Rev. Michael Curry
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church