The COMMUNICATOR St. Paul’s Anglican Church Crownsville, MD Winter 2020 A MESSAGE FROM FATHER WESLEY… On Shrovetide and Lent Fasting gives birth to prophets and strengthens the powerful; fasting makes lawgivers wise. Fasting is a good safeguard for the soul, a steadfast companion for the body, a weapon for the valiant, and a gymnasium for athletes. Fasting repels temptations, anoints unto piety; it is the comrade of watchfulness and the artificer of chastity. In war it fights bravely, in peace it teaches stillness. St. Basil the Great Greetings St. Paul’s, This past Sunday we began what is commonly called Shrovetide. Shrovetide is made up of Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima Sundays. The names are based on the Greek words for 70, 60, and 50, denoting how many days we are from Easter. The term Shrovetide comes from the Middle English word shriven and means to confess. This emphasizes that, as we prepare for our Lenten observance, it is customary to attend auricular (private) confession with a priest. While we do not begin our formal fast until Ash Wednesday, we should begin a process of self-reflection aimed at developing a strong sense of contrition for our sins, a necessary first step to making a confession. Shrovetide ends on Ash Wednesday - a day where we remember that we are dust and to dust we will return. This somber focus on our mortality sets the stage for the Lenten season. During Lent, it is customary to practice fasting and abstinence. Culturally, many people today think Lenten fasting means giving something up (like video games, sugar, or social media). It should be noted that if it is a vice, or a barrier to growing in holiness, it ought to be given up anyway and doesn’t count for a Lenten fast. Fasting means that one eats one full meal and two small meals (though this practice can be adjusted based on one’s lifestyle and duties). Abstinence means that meat is not eaten. Every day in Lent, except for Feast Days and Sundays, should be considered a day of fasting. Abstinence and fasting are practiced on Ash Wednesdays and Fridays. Snacking between meals and alcohol should generally be eliminated on days where fasting is observed. However, it should be noted that fasting should not bring self-harm or prevent one from carrying out their duty. The Gesimas and Lent are hard, especially in our day. It is so easy to overindulge and give into our passions. Passions are often at the root of sin, which occurs when we let them control us instead of vice-versa. St. Paul tells us, “the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would” (Gal 5:17; RSV). Fasting provides us an opportunity to work on mastering those passions. Most importantly, remember that fasting is a response to what God has done for us. Like Paul says in the 1 Corinthians 9 reading from Septuagesima Sunday, “I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air; but I pommel my body and subdue it.” Because God has sacrificed himself for us, we use fasting as a way to sacrifice ourselves to God, conforming us to his image, ultimately making us “living sacrifices” (Rom 12:2). We don’t do this out of a dry sense of obligation but out of love. Paul emphasizes love in 1 Corinthians 13, “If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” May God bless you this Shrovetide and Lenten season. In Christ, Fr. Wesley+ A MESSAGE FROM THE SENIOR WARDEN, CATHY GATES… It’s hard to believe that Christmas is over, a new year has begun and it’s already time for Lent! Be sure to come to the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, Tuesday, February 25, 6- 8:30. It will be a time of good food and fellowship. A free-will offering will be taken. Please SIGN-UP so we know how many pancakes to make! Lent is a time of spiritual renewal. It is time not only to prepare ourselves to honor the memory of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, but also a time to renew and recharge our relationship with God. Here are three things that have helped me in the past. Repentance – acknowledging things I do that are wrong, asking God’s forgiveness, and promising to try to do better in the future; Self-denial – giving something up like a bad habit, or a favorite food or treat, and every time I’m tempted to give in, relying on God to help me stick to it; and Spiritual discipline – taking on something like reading a chapter a day in the Bible or saying Family Morning Prayer (BCP pg 587) or Family Evening Prayer (BCP pg 589). In addition to renewing relationships with God, Lent is also a time to reach out and help those less fortunate. Our Missions Committee does a fantastic job of helping several organizations in our community throughout the year thanks to your generous support. But Lent is a great time to do a little more. This year, we’re going to have Mite Boxes available for children and adults. You may be unfamiliar with a Mite Box, but it’s based on the Biblical story of the Widow’s mite which appears in both Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 21:1-4. (A “mite” is a very small contribution or amount of money) “And he looked up, and saw rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he also saw a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: For these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury has cast in all the living that she had.” (Luke 21:1-4, KJV) So, a Mite Box is for the collection of small coins or small amounts of money traditionally used to help the poor. And putting money in the Mite Box may help you focus on your self-denial. For example, if you give up chocolate, every time you’re tempted to buy a candy bar, take the money you would have spent and put it in the Mite Box. Or maybe your children have taken on an extra chore at home. Every time they perform that extra chore, they could be making a small amount of money to put in the Mite Box to help those less fortunate. Mite Boxes will be turned in on Easter Sunday with everyone presenting their Mite Box at the altar. (More to come on that later) ** Annual Meeting April 19th, 10:00 am. Mark your calendars. May you all have a blessed Lent leading to a joyous Easter. Cathy Gates FROM THE JUNIOR WARDEN – John Schulte: Well we’re in the throes of Winter Season! It is a busy time in our church calendar year with Christmas Season, Advent, Lent and then the Beautiful Flowers that Spring brings to help us celebrate Easter! St. Paul’s historic buildings and grounds will in the Spring bring big changes too. Anne’s Garden will be receiving a much-needed re-vamping thanks to our garden Chair Jeff Conipath. Some of the interior changes will be obvious while some, not so much. We are partnering with BGE to complete the upgrades to our lighting throughout the parish buildings to LED lighting. Additionally, a VERY generous benefactor gifted us with a fantastic new storage building! (It even has its own steeple that is lighted by night)! The Chapel is scheduled to receive a long-overdue refinishing of the main floor and Altar areas. This will help to preserve our ‘Jewel’ for generations to come. The unsightly chair rack has been replaced with 2 chair carts that are hidden in the closet near the entrance just inside the fellowship hall. The look without that ugly rack made a huge difference to that area. Our hall is getting busier with now 2 AA meetings each week, Fr. Wes is teaching a Confirmation class and there are Bible Studies each week too. The Youth Group is growing and has functions there as do the Ladies Guild, Prayer Shawl ministries, Sunday School and parishioner functions. All these activities add to the wear and tear of that area and kitchen, so please, after you and your group use the hall, remember to leave it clean and straight for the enjoyment of the next event. In Mid-January, we had a break-in. While not many things were taken, our Safe, File cabinets and office carpet were destroyed or heavily damaged. The costs incurred including almost $1,500.00 just to re-key all the locks on the property and replace ALL the associated keys really cost us a sizeable amount of non-budgeted monies. With the increased use of the hall comes an increase in supplies including paper products, coffee and other drinks, trash bags, etc. The grounds up-keep throughout the property, increased dumpster emptying, repairs and up-keep, electric and heating costs all add to increased maintenance. PLEASE REMEMBER the Building Fund in your weekly basket donations to help us continue to keep St. Paul’s looking Great! I want to thank all our volunteers for their time and expertise in helping to keep everything looking ship-shape.