Bob & Donna Weber, Mickey Federico, Yasso Herath, Peter Lubeck, Catherine Lubeck, Shirley Federico, Courtney Hoenveld, Janet, Thomas Humeston, Elaine MacPhee, Tankert Mahler, Marie Haynie, Jack Seeman, Evelyn, Miranda Pinckert, Adele, Clinton Taplin, Dominique Rhoklin, Fred Teyan, Marie Stay, Marie Young, Peggy McCann, Peggy, Madeline Schnalzer, Peter Zakrepine, Betty Mettler, Marvin Spruck, Jeannie, Lyn Casey, Kathryn Lehman, Rosemarie Buri, Louise Bohr, Carl, Meredith Gilmor, Sally Sarvent, Alexandra Mettler, Barbara DelPizzo, Sharon, Dr. Roufa, Sophie Weber, Helen Scalici, Jeff Adams, Rosemary Owen
Readings [We are using Track 2 of the indicated readings.]
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Reflection
Ever since God breathed into our nostrils the breath of life, we have been both living beings and the dust to which we return. While this dust seems at first to be only the dry remnant of a life ended, in fact it's the fecundity of a God who creates life from void, who breathes God's self into earth to bring forth us, the creature. The same God who brings forth living water from God's own broken humanity.
Our journey is in the desert. Following Christ, we leave our false oasis of instant gratification, indulgence of every whim and stuff-lots and lots of stuff. The body of Christ is not an oasis in the desert but a desert in the oasis. In our diabetic coma of self-absorption, we are at times vaguely, silently aware that we have gorged on the promises of the American Dream and are left hungry.
We go to church on Ash Wednesday to be told that we are dust and to dust we shall return; the collagen-injected lips turn to dust, even the pilates-lengthened muscles, the 12 essential vitamins and minerals and the bottled water. We are told that we can live forever with the right combinations of exercise, diet and elective surgery. But we know-in those inevitable moments of disquieting silence-that the oasis is not all it's cracked up to be, and so we enter the desert where we can no longer turn from the inevitable dust, where the seemingly impossible happens: destructive self-centeredness is transformed into cruciform living.
4:00pm Choral Evensong & Organ Meditation - John Bate
Followed by a reception in Memorial Hall
Ongoing Programs During Lent
SHADOWS & LIGHT - Lenten Reflections from the Community of Grace Church Now Online
See a selection from the daily lectionary and read the personal reflections on the passage written by Grace Church parishioners. Each essay is special - heartfelt, funny, sad, comforting, thought-provoking - and a way to bring our Grace community into your Lenten devotions.
CLICK HERE to read today's entry online, or go to our Facebook page to find links. Hard copies are available at church, or you can download the entire book HERE.
THE 2015 GRACE LENTEN PROGRAM: The Cup of Life
Join us on three Wednesday evenings - February 25, March 4, March 11 from 6:00-7:45pm. Each evening Begins with a simple meal of soup and bread, followed by a program of prayer, meditation, reflection on short readings, & small group discussion led by members of the Adult Spiritual Formation Commission. Based on The Cup of Our Life by Joyce Rupp, Ave Maria Press, 1997 (purchase not required.) CLICK ON THE IMAGE AT LEFT FOR MORE.
To help us plan for meals, please register on clipboard in the foyer of the church, email us, or call 845-358-1297.
EVENING PRAYER AND ORGAN MEDITATIONS DURING LENT
Grace Episcopal Church offers a Lenten series of Evening Prayer followed by thirty-minute Organ Meditations by our esteemed organists.
Evening Prayer begins at 4pm and the Meditations begin at 4:30pm*.
THIS SUNDAY, February 22: Brandon Beachamp Organist-Choirmaster, Grace Church
Sunday, March 1: John Bate Director of Music, St. Peter's UMC, Ocean City (NJ)
Sunday, March 8: Jan Valentine Organist and Choir Member, Grace Church
Sunday, March 15: Cleveland Kersh Organist-Choirmaster, Holy Trinity, NYC
Sunday, March 22: Richard Kuczkowski Assisting Organist, Grace Church
Announcements & Reminders
GAME NIGHT AT GRACE Saturday, February 28
Enjoy playing board games, Scrabble, trivia or card games?
Love jigsaw puzzles?
Suffering from cabin fever?
Come to Grace's Game Night Fun(d)-Raiser on February 28 for some fun and games!
Come for games, good company, and snacks anytime from 4:00 to 9:00 pm. A light supper of soup & salad will be served at 6:00. Free-will donation, with half the proceeds going to a charitable organization.
NEXT SUNDAY, MARCH 1 - Another great CYSM Breakfast - 9-12:30 in Memorial Hall Plan to join us next Sunday for a hearty breakfast cooked up by members of the Senior Youth Group. A variety of Fair Trade items will also be available for purchase, and all proceeds go to support this summer's Church Youth Service Mission trip to West Virginia.
Parting Thought
Primary Wonder
Denise Levertov
Days pass when I forget the mystery. Problems insoluble and problems offering their own ignored solutions jostle for my attention, they crowd its antechamber along with a host of diversions, my courtiers, wearing their colored clothes; cap and bells. And then once more the quiet mystery is present to me, the throng's clamor recedes: the mystery that there is anything, anything at all, let alone cosmos, joy, memory, everything, rather than void: and that, O Lord, Creator, Hallowed One, You still, hour by hour sustain it.
GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
130 First Avenue.Nyack.New York.10960.845-358-1297
