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March
2008
It is
Webster’s older “archaic” usage that finds me exclaiming “awesome” and
“spot
on!” From passio, “real
passion” is redemptive suffering with and for someone, in the manner of
a lover
who’s commitment is “for better for worse, for richer
for
poorer, in sickness and health, until death us do part” to cite some
other
increasingly archaic language. The emphasis is upon the
“redemptive” more than upon the “suffering” because by this definition,
passion
carries on over, under, around and through the suffering to a more
glorious,
very risky, and often unknown outcome. Used in this manner, we describe
God’s
love affair with us as Passionate! Should we settle for
less? Whether
speaking through the Prophet Hosea as the jilted lover who forgives and
welcomes the profligate spouse (cf. Hosea 3:1, 7:4); the writer of
Proverbs
warning against harlotry (6:20ff.); or Jesus (John 7:53-8:11)
with the
woman caught in adultery (and, we do well to ask, “where was the
man?”); God is
unflinching in mercy and passionate in seeking us out when we abuse and
take
this Love for granted. That’s the sort of passion I want more
of in my
life. That’s the sort of Passion which moved the likes of
J.S.
Bach to compose the most exquisite music of this season. That’s the
sort of PASSION
the world is in desperate need of and, all too often, the Church
(bearing
Christ’s Name) is not dispensing enough of. Human
passion (my own included) is far too feeble and fallen to dignify the
word that
describes Jesus’ love, and the events which we
rehearse
in this holiest of seasons; events which properly bind us together in
Faith and
Hope if we will fully enter into their meaning for our lives
today. The
“Propers” of Holy Week remind us over again [“O God, who by the passion
of thy blessed Son didst make an instrument of shameful death to be
unto us the
means of life...mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the
cross, may
find it none other than the way of life and peace.” BCP p. 168] that we
are
missing the point of it all when we, as a child said to me recently,
“skip over
the painful parts and just get to the good parts.” Is it any
wonder that
churches are virtually empty on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, yet
filled to
over flowing on Easter Day? As the
last verse of the popular Lenten Hymn (#142) we recently sang says so
well:
“Abide with us, that so, this life of suffering over past, an Easter of
unending joy we may attain at last!” Why would we not want
to begin
partaking of such PASSION right now? Surely God has more
than
enough to go around, and why should we settle for less than what God
has made
so abundantly available to us? Come, partake of all the events of
Passiontide
- even, and especially, the painful ones - that “an Easter of unending
joy” you
may attain, not only “at last” but “now, in the time of this mortal
life,” in
which our Lord “came to visit us in great humility.” (BCP
159) Michael+
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$ 59,882 2008 Pledges
Prepaid in
2007 $14,040 (Recognized in 2007 due to cash basis accounting) 2007 Pledges
Postpaid in
2008 $ 4,200 (Recognized in 2008 due to cash basis
accounting) 2008 Pledges
Paid in 2008
$44,399 Total Pledge
Income in 2008
$48,599 The more people
who join
the March
2008 It is
Webster’s older “archaic” usage that finds me exclaiming “awesome” and
“spot
on!” From passio, “real
passion” is redemptive suffering with and for someone, in the manner of
a lover
who’s commitment is “for better for worse, for richer
for
poorer, in sickness and health, until death us do part” to cite some
other
increasingly archaic language. The emphasis is upon the
“redemptive” more than upon the “suffering” because by this definition,
passion
carries on over, under, around and through the suffering to a more
glorious,
very risky, and often unknown outcome. Used in this manner, we describe
God’s
love affair with us as Passionate! Should we settle for
less? Whether
speaking through the Prophet Hosea as the jilted lover who forgives and
welcomes the profligate spouse (cf. Hosea 3:1, 7:4); the writer of
Proverbs
warning against harlotry (6:20ff.); or Jesus (John 7:53-8:11)
with the
woman caught in adultery (and, we do well to ask, “where was the
man?”); God is
unflinching in mercy and passionate in seeking us out when we abuse and
take
this Love for granted. That’s the sort of passion I want more
of in my
life. That’s the sort of Passion which moved the likes of
J.S.
Bach to compose the most exquisite music of this season. That’s the
sort of PASSION
the world is in desperate need of and, all too often, the Church
(bearing
Christ’s Name) is not dispensing enough of. Human
passion (my own included) is far too feeble and fallen to dignify the
word that
describes Jesus’ love, and the events which we
rehearse
in this holiest of seasons; events which properly bind us together in
Faith and
Hope if we will fully enter into their meaning for our lives
today. The
“Propers” of Holy Week remind us over again [“O God, who by the passion
of thy blessed Son didst make an instrument of shameful death to be
unto us the
means of life...mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the
cross, may
find it none other than the way of life and peace.” BCP p. 168] that we
are
missing the point of it all when we, as a child said to me recently,
“skip over
the painful parts and just get to the good parts.” Is it any
wonder that
churches are virtually empty on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, yet
filled to
over flowing on Easter Day? As the
last verse of the popular Lenten Hymn (#142) we recently sang says so
well:
“Abide with us, that so, this life of suffering over past, an Easter of
unending joy we may attain at last!” Why would we not want
to begin
partaking of such PASSION right now? Surely God has more
than
enough to go around, and why should we settle for less than what God
has made
so abundantly available to us? Come, partake of all the events of
Passiontide
- even, and especially, the painful ones - that “an Easter of unending
joy” you
may attain, not only “at last” but “now, in the time of this mortal
life,” in
which our Lord “came to visit us in great humility.” (BCP
159) Michael+
Status & Details Pledge Budget
$251,500 Amount
of pledge revenue needed to balance the budget Unrestricted
Pledges
$242,906 122 pledges included in annual pledge goal Restricted
Pledges
$ 9,300 3 pledges not included in annual pledge goal All pledges
$252,206 125
pledges Pledge Budget
$257,700
Amount of pledge revenue needed to balance the budget Unrestricted
Pledges
$197,818 94 pledges included in annual pledge goal Restricted
Pledges
$ 9,240 2 pledges not included in annual pledge goal Additional
Pledges Needed
$ 59,882 2008 Pledges
Prepaid in
2007 $14,040 (Recognized in 2007 due to cash basis accounting) 2007 Pledges
Postpaid in
2008 $ 4,200 (Recognized in 2008 due to cash basis
accounting) 2008 Pledges
Paid in 2008
$44,399 Total Pledge
Income in 2008
$48,599 ¨ The more people
who join
the Holy
Week Services
Evensong—Stainer The Crucifixion at 5.00pm
Wednesday, March
19
Noonday Prayer and Holy Eucharist
Thursday, March 20
Maundy Thursday Liturgy at 7.30pm
Friday, March
21
Good Friday Liturgy at Noon
Sunday, March 23
Easter Day at 8.00am & 10.00am MUSIC NOTES
The period leading up to Easter is always a particularly
busy one
for church choirs; and this year, with Easter coming so early,
the
pre-Easter ‘prep’ time is proving to be a particularly hectic one,
sometimes
producing a rather dazed atmosphere in the choir room. ‘What?’, you sometimes
hear a
choir member exclaiming, ‘you mean Evensong is next
week!
But didn’t we just have one last week?’ And so it goes
on.
Nevertheless, given the choir’s dedication and musicianship, I’m sure
we’ll
rise to the challenges coming up over the next few weeks. A few highlights: On Sunday, the 16th of
March
(Palm/Passion Sunday) at 5 PM, the choir will sing at Evensong John
Stainer’s
tremendously moving meditation on the Passion of Jesus, The
Crucifixion. The offering of this beloved work has become
something
of a tradition here at Then, on Maundy
Thursday, the
20th of March, at our evening Eucharist celebration, the choir will be
singing
Healey Willan’s wonderful - and unaccountably seldom heard -
Tenebrae
Responses for Maundy Thursday. The following afternoon, the music
for
Good Friday will include a starkly stunning setting of Were You
There by
Bob Chilcott, and Come, Heavy Souls by Robert Elmore. And, of course, the
adult choir
will be joined on Easter Morning by the Choristers of Saint John’s for
a joyful
celebration of the Resurrection.
The
tradition continues this year with John Stainer’s deeply moving Meditation
on the Passion of the Holy Redeemer The
Crucifixion Sung
by the Choir of Saint John’s Evensong Sunday
of the Passion, 16 March 2008 5pm A
truly wonderful way to begin your journey through the
most profound week of the Christian Year
Interim
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