Dear siblings in Christ,
For me, Lent is a “get to,” not a “have to.” Lent affords us an opportunity to pause, turn toward God, and invest in our spiritual lives as well as our relationships with God and one another. I invite every one of us to a holy observance of Lent in 2025, beginning Wednesday, March 5th. Church of Our Saviour has several opportunities I would like to tell you about as you consider how you might invest in your relationship with God this Lenten season.
I invite you to a Shrove Tuesday dinner and celebration on Tuesday, March 4th, from 6 to 8 pm. As always, we’ll serve up pancakes and a talent show! Also, this Sunday, March 2nd (after the 10 am services), we will be burning last year’s palms from Palm Sunday to be used as the ashes for Ash Wednesday, so please bring your palms and palm cross if you have them.
Participating in Ash Wednesday services is a great way to start a season of prayer and spiritual conversion. We will be offering three Ash Wednesday services on March 5th. I strongly encourage you to join your community of faith for a part of this holy day.
7:00 am Ash Wednesday Service without Holy Eucharist (spoken)
11:30 am Ash Wednesday Service with Holy Eucharist (spoken)
7:30 pm Primary Ash Wednesday Service with choir and Holy Eucharist
Please join the Rev. Brian O’Rourke and me each Wednesday during Lent, beginning March 5th at 12:30 pm in Cleaver Hall. Please bring a bag lunch and a copy of Henri Nouwen’s book Life of the Beloved, and think about inviting friends!
For the five Sundays in Lent, I will be teaching the Sunday Forum, along with members of our wonderful clergy. The schedule will be as follows.
Sunday, March 9th – Get to know the Rev. Brian O’Rourke
Sunday, March 16th – Introduction to Liturgy
Sunday, March 23rd – Instructed Eucharist
Sunday, March 30th – Different Choices Our Clergy Make During liturgy and Why
Sunday, April 6th – The Liturgies of Holy Week
Juli Kennedy will again organize a daily Lenten practice of Praying for Our Parish, in which participants will pray every day for a small group of fellow parishioners. Email julikennedy@me.com to be part of this Lenten COS tradition!
Last, one of the great gifts of our Anglican heritage is our worship during Holy Week. In addition to Ash Wednesday, I strongly urge you to worship with us during Holy Week as well:
Sunday, April 13th Palm Sunday (8:00 am and 10:00 am)
Thursday, April 17th Maundy Thursday (7:30 pm)
Friday, April 18th Good Friday (Noon Stations and 7:30 pm liturgy)
Saturday, April 19th The Great Vigil of Easter (7:30 pm)
Sunday, April 20th Easter Sunday (8:00 am, 10:00 am, and 4:00 pm)
However you choose and however you are able to participate this year, I encourage you to invite God into your life this Lent. Inviting transformation requires intention, openness, and community. I pray this season finds you able to authentically and wholeheartedly enter into the story of our Christian faith.
Faithfully,
The Rev. Jeff Thornberg
Rector of Church of Our Saviour
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