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Father John Walsted’s Sermon, Sunday

March 29, 2009

As we look toward Palm Sunday and HolyWeek, the lessons prepare us to contem-plate those mighty acts whereby God hasgiven us life and immortality. It is not apreparation that seems all that attractive atfirst.The Old Testament lesson tells us whatthe result is going to be - a new covenantof converted and transformed hearts. Andwhat will transform our hearts? It will bethe knowledge that God has forgiven andforgotten all our shortcomings and mis-takes, and all the wrongs that we did onpurpose. The old covenant was based onlaw and punishment. The new covenantwill be based on hearts transformed byforgiveness.The Epistle and Gospel lessons tell us howwe get to the new covenant - and here'swhere things start to seem a little unat-tractive. We get to the new covenantthrough voluntarily submitting to unjustsuffering. That's what Jesus did. After theagony in the Garden of Gethsemane, theinnocent Jesus submitted to the humilia-tion and torture of crucifixion.And that changed everything. The Romanshad the power to put people to death withthe maximum pain. That's how they terri-fied the peoples they conquered. God in Jesus undermined and overturned thatpower by submitting to the horrible deaththey could inflict and then by demonstrat-ing that death is not the last word.We no longer have to fear death. The re-lationship God established with us in bap-tism is indissoluble. That relationship will

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Father Walsted’s sermon

Lent 5

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Upcoming Events

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Changes by Christopher Still

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Lenten Prayers

NSIDE

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ISSUE

Upcoming events

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Announcements

4survive our death, and we will be with God. Andif we don't have to fear death, then we don't haveto fear anything.And if we don't have to fear anything, then wedon't have to be defensive and angry and tryingto get as much as we can for ourselves. Becausethere's nothing to fear, we can be generous andpatient and self-forgetful. We can receive God'sforgiveness as the gift it is. And when God's for-giveness has transformed our hearts, we'll under-stand that we don't have to hold onto grudgesand resentments. We can forgive one another.That's the glorious result - a new, undying rela-tionship with God, a relationship based on love,not on law, on desire, not on compulsion, a rela-tionship where wrongs are forgiven, not pun-ished.And the way Jesus got to that glorious result was by suffering as an innocent victim. That's how Jesus could say in John's Gospel that the verymoment of His humiliating death is hour of theSon of man's glorification and the moment whenthe world is judged and the ruler of the worldcast out. The suffering of the innocent victimturns everything completely upside down.The suffering of the innocent victim still turnsthings upside down. What ended centuries of legalized racial discrimination in less than a gen-eration? It was non-violent civil disobedience--that is, people voluntarily submitted to the penal-ties for disobeying unjust laws. The innocentsuffering shocked the conscience of the nationand led to changes no one could have imagined inthe days of Jim Crow.This is the pattern Jesus left us. It isn't easy. Infact it's against everything we're formed to thinkis smart. But who has built an enduring marriagewithout learning the power of an apology? Athome, on the street, and at work, in matters

Continued page 4

Thursday April 9

Maundy Thursday, 7:30pmThe Lord Jesus, after he had supped with his disciples andhad washed their feet, said to them, "Do you know what I, your Lord and Master, have done to you?

Friday April 10

Good Friday liturgy, 7:30pm We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by yourholy cross you have redeemed the world.

Saturday April 11

Great Vigil Of Easter, 7:30pmThis is the Passover of the Lord, in which by hearing his Word and celebrating his Sacraments, we share in his vic-tory over death.

Sunday April 12

Easter Day Mass, 10:15am Alleluia Christ is Risen The Lord is Risen indeed Alleluia!!!

May 2nd and May 9th

Flea Market Fundraiser at St. Paul’s

-see Suzanne Ainslie orStephanie Woodley for details

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NCARNATUS

For the Parish

Almighty and

everliving God, ruler of allthings in heavenand earth, hear our prayers for this parishfamily. Strengthenthe faithful, arouse the careless, and re-store the penitent.Grant us all things necessary for our com-mon life, and bringus all to be of one heart and mind within your holy Church;through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.For Guidance

O God, by whom the

meek are guided injudgment, andlight

riseth

up in darkness for the godly:Grant us, in allour doubts and uncertainties, the grace to

UPCOMING MASSES

AND

VENTS

ENTEN

RAYERS

FOR

OUR

PARISH

ask what

thouwouldest

have us to do, that the Spirit of wisdom may saveus from all false choices, and that in

thy

light we may seelight, and in

thy

straight path may notstumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

For Quiet Confidence

O God of peace,

who hast

taught us thatin returning andrest we shall be saved, in quietness andconfidence shall beour strength: By the might of

thy

Spiritlift us, we pray

thee

,to

thy

presence, where we may be still andknow that

thouart

God; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Sunday April 5

Palm Sunday, 10:15am

Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peacein heaven and glory in the highest.

Sunday April 5

3:30

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4:30pm Holy hour order for eveningsilent meditation.

Well here we are again almost at theend of our lenten journey. We arealways on a journey in our separatelives with family friends and career.However every year the church invitesus to go on a corporate one with ourfellow sisters and brothers in thechurch universal. We are invited

“ to

the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and Meditating on God's holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of re-

pentance,” BCP1979

This is a season of change, a time of letting go, and of taking on. It might be the change of attitude or habit, of letting go of grudges, or of ways of thinking. And replacing them, takingon new healthier ones. Jesus began his Fast of 40 days andnights, what we would call the firstLent, By this example of the Son of God, taking the time to be alone withGod the Father, his Father, our Father.To strengthen the connection betweenthem and become focused on what hewas called to do is one of the mostpowerful examples he left us Withoutgoing through this spiritual exercise, Jesus would not have been able tocomplete his mission. Not just his pas-sion but the daily struggle of preachingto the crowds, healing the sick, and

teaching the Gospel to God’s people

and his Disciples. After all this was achange for him, he went from living athome with his mother and working as acarpenter, to the life of his public min-istry.

So there’s that word change again, notalways a welcomed word in people’s

lives. Some people fear it others wel-come it. Sometimes we become soroutine in the different aspects of ourlives we do not even realize it. Nowon a personal note I am not good with

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My Lenten Journey

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Changes by Christopher Still

change, although I am getting better.And there has been a lot of change inmy life. For example I no longerhave my immediate family and haveeven lost some close friends. But outof this has come other families of friends. When I was diagnosed withdiabetes, which was a huge changethat I struggled with in my eatinghabits, being a junk food junkie thatwas tough. However I made itthrough these changes, by the Graceof God with prayer and thanksgiving.The biggest change in my life, which Ihave to admit is still happening with a

lot of work on the Holy Spirit’s part,

is learning to let go and let God. To

get out of God’s way, and allow him

to lead me on my journey. To listento that small voice and trust that eve-rything will be ok. My Mother told

me just before she died, “ Christo-

pher you allow your self to be guided by others, and not trusting yourself tolisten to what your heart is telling you

or what God is telling you.” I,

thought about this for quite a whileand began to realize just how often I

do get in God’s way, and from that

point have been working on letting goand letting God.

Here at St. Paul’s we as a community

have gone through and are goingthrough Changes. From the suddenretirement of Father Blasingame, whomwe wish well on his Journey during thistime in his life, To condensing to one

service at 10:15 so the 8:00 o’clock

congregation has been coming to the10:15, which is a whole different ser-vice with music. We have had differentclergy; first two visits from the Dio-cese and then Mother Rhoda whom wewish a speedy recovery and then FatherWalsted who is with us now, both oldfriends of the parish. We have a mid-week service of Evening Prayer onThursdays at 7:30 pm. Mid- week ser-vice used to be on Tuesday and stationsduring Lent were on Wednesdays butnow are on Thursdays. Which is aslight change. The liturgy of the Masshas gone through some changes withdifferent prayers, and every so often themusic for the mass setting changes. Butwe are a strong group and have cometogether working through the power of the Holy Spirit. I believe we will travelthis journey together, some of us un-comfortable with changes and others okwith it. But together, Loving, caringand supporting each other, is a beautifulthing to watch and be a part of and tosee the Holy Spirit in action, working in

all of us carrying out God’s will andChrist’s teachings of love and commu-

nity. God bless us all as we continue onthis journey of change, in this Holy sea-son of Lent and beyond.Your Brother in ChristChristopher Still