Welcome to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in City Heights. As you can see we are trying out video messages again in our newsletter. We hope that you enjoy this and find this alternative way of communicating as a new way of expressing the Holy Spirit, which is bountiful at St.Mark’s.
We are of course entering into the season of Lent. We marked the beginning of Lent with our Ash Wednesday, with Ashes To Go out in the community and then during our evening service. I hope that by now you have received your Lenten packages. If you haven’t or if you would like to receive one then please contact Thérèse Carmona, the address is in the newsletter (theresec@stmarks-cityheights.org).
One of the things that you will find in the package is a Mite box, a place where you can collect your loose coins. And at the end of Lent we will be gathering them up and then sending all of the contents, everything that we have raised, to the Interfaith Shelter. This year because of the pandemic we will not be hosting a set of guests, like we have in previous years, but Interfaith Shelter will be putting them up in hotels. So, anything that you can spare, in your Mite Box, will be out to good use. I invite you to join us in this spiritual practice.
Lent of course is a solemn season, where we look, we think, we reflect, we pray. We mark the forty days that Jesus fasted in the dessert. I wonder what will you be fasting on during this season of Lent? For me, I sometimes can find that I live in this cloud of negativity and so my fasting is to put that negativity aside and during this season to look for positive images around, look for God at work and really take notice of it. What will you be doing?
Also, in the package that we are sending you is a book Grace Unbounded – Devotions for Lent and I invite you to, as a daily practice, read each devotion and then spend some time thinking, maybe journaling, or drawing, or praying. Bishop +Susan has invited all of us to use the season of Lent as a time for deep prayer and there is so much that needs our prayer at the moment. We remember especially all those that are affected by the war in Ukraine and indeed for anyone who is affected by conflict around the world.
For our first Sunday of Lent, we have a very special visitor at St. Marks. Canon Jason Evans, the Canon for Mission will be joining on Sunday and will be sharing his word and his message and we really look forward to that and I encourage you to attend St. Mark’s on Sunday at 10:15 a.m. to hear Canon Jason.
In the little information sheet that comes with the Lenten package there are some suggestions on how to use it. One of those maybe is that you want to say a sentence, sing a song or read a verse and we give this example.
Let us pray. From the song Lead me, guide me from the Rejoice hymnbook.
Lead me, guide me, along the way.
For if you lead me, I can not stray.
Lord, let me walk each day with you.
Lead me, my whole life through.
Blessings to you on this day and remember, at St. Mark’s, all are welcome, wherever you are on your journey of faith, God has made you perfect in every way.
Richard+