I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD."

Psalm 122:1
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Genesis 1:1
"This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it."

Psalms 118:24
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And he shall direct your paths."

Proverbs 3:5



The Curate's Corner

Dear Good People of St. Mark's,

“The spirit immediately drove him into the wilderness.  And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to him” – Mark 1:12-13

What is Lent?  It’s a penitential season of forty days set aside by the Church before the great feast of Easter.  Following the example of our Lord we are called by God into the wilderness, into a solemn and reflective place, where we are able to face the temptation of Satan.  We are called in the wilderness of Lent to examine the “interior castle” of “ourselves, our souls and bodies” so that we may lament our sins, acknowledge our fallen state, and truly seek the forgiveness that Jesus Christ obtained for the whole world on the hard wood of the cross.

Like our Lord in the wilderness, Lent is a time for Christians to purposefully go about daily life in a different way.  A great tool to help in this undertaking is to make a rule for Lent.  They are available in the entryway of the Church.  Allow this wilderness experience to be a time for you to recommit yourself to our Lord.  Allow him to minister to you as he allowed the angels to minister to him.  Take time, as the psalmist prays, to “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) We are a society of outward activity.  Allow this season to be an opportunity for inward reflection. 

“I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, 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.”  (BCP, pg. 265)

                                                           

Faithfully in Christ,
The Rev. Charles A. Hough, IV
 , SSC



Previous Issues:
Winter 2009
Summer 2008
Pentecost 2008
Easter 2008
Lent 2008
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