Moving through Lent to the Easter Vigil
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ost people are unaware that
there are levels of Lent. To know the
levels is to appreciate and benefit from Lent all the more.
The first part of
Lent shows a kind of thematic progression moving from the Gospels of the first
three Sundays. That is, on the first
Sunday in Lent we hear of Jesus and the devil in the wilderness. On the second Sunday, we are told of the
Canaanite woman whose daughter was demon-possessed, and how Jesus ignores her
at first. In effect this is faith with the devil, in the wilderness. Then on the third Sunday in Lent we hear of
Jesus casting out demons. The cumulative
message here is that Jesus defends us against all demons and evil, because he
has bound him, being stronger than “the strong man.”
Then we reach
the oasis of Lent, on the fourth Sunday.
Laetare (Rejoice) Sunday lightens the Lenten load a bit. Some churches even have rose paraments in
stead of the violet. And the Gospel
concerns Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 in a place where there was much
grass. This suggests an oasis in the
wilderness, and also reminds us of the 23rd Psalm: “He maketh me to
lie down in green pastures.” Ultimately,
we think of the Holy Supper, which is our oasis in the midst of life.
Next we move on
to the deeper level of Lent, called Passiontide. Up until now the emphasis has been on the
struggles of faith in a fallen world. So
it’s really only at this point, with just two weeks left in Lent, that we begin
in earnest to consider the suffering of Jesus.
Thus we also veil the images now, immediately after the Gospel is read,
which concludes saying that Jesus hid himself from his enemies. So we hide the images of him.
Then the last
week of Lent, Holy Week, brings us to the heart of our Christian faith. Be prepared to listen carefully to the readings
of the Passion histories of the Evangelists during this week. On Palm Sunday, the triumphal entry is read
prior to the opening procession, and the Gospel is the St. Matthew passion—two
entire chapters. Then on Wednesday the
Gospel is the entire St. Luke passion.
And on Good Friday we have the entire St. John passion. Time for reflection and
prayer.
Maundy Thursday
at evening is the beginning of the Triduum Sacrum—the three holy days—and after
communion there is the stripping of the altar.
The organ falls silent, and is not used at all on Good Friday.
Then comes Holy
Saturday, with the Great Vigil of Easter.
If you can’t take advantage of any other special emphasis of Lent, at
least try to come to this, and make it a regular part of your annual devotion. Dating to the early church, the Great Vigil
is a four part ceremony that begins outside, where the Paschal Candle is lit,
and all process to the church, at which point everyone’s hand-candle
(continued, next page)
(from page 1)
is lit. Then, at long last, we hear the pastor intone
the great Exultet once again, the ancient majestic hymn of praise for the
resurrection of our Lord from the dead. The service moves on through its
parts—from this service of light through the service of readings and the
service of Baptismal remembrance, until the last part, which is the actual
entry of Easter-tide: the lights are turned up, the bells are rung, the
acclamation “Christ is risen” is heard, and all reply, “He is risen
indeed! Alleluia!” and all sing the Gloria in Excelsis as the organ
springs back to life. To those who know
the meaning of Lent, and its culmination in Easter, this is a marvelous thing
for faith.
+
Pastor Eckardt
Youth
Our newly constituted youth group, under the direction of
Jennifer Madsen, met twice this year, the most recent time on Saturday,
February 16, from 10 am until noon. This
time seems agreeable, so we aim to continue to meet biweekly on Saturdays at
the same time. So our next meeting is
scheduled for Saturday morning, March 2, from 10 until noon (right after
catechism). All young people (or even
the young at heart!) are welcome, and you may bring friends. This next meeting we will be looking at preparing
Easter decorations, possibly including artistic Easter eggs. We’ll also be helping to decorate for Easter
on Holy Saturday. Join us! And thanks, Jennifer!
Spring Cleaning Scheduled
Your trustees have set Saturday, March 16, as a spring
clean-up day, beginning at 9 a.m. Volunteers are sought! It will be a busy day,
as we prepare also for the beginning of Passiontide the next day, with veils
for the images.
March Ushers
Allan Kraklow Steve
Kraklow, Tom Wells, Bob Bock
March Anniversary
3/19/1977 Jeff and Diana Shreck
March
Birthdays:
3/1 Barbra Kraklow
3/2 Joseph Eckardt
3/8 Carol Kegebein
3/25 Carol Eckardt
Robin Sighting
Contest
As usual, the Kraklows came out of the gate announcing that
they had seen a number of robins already early in February. Pastor saw his first on Ash Wednesday while
walking the dog. Andy Eckardt, who lives
in Oregon, Illinois, sent us a picture of “a thousand”
robins congregating in his backyard.
Maybe they never got the memo that they were supposed to go south for
the winter. Or maybe they thought this
was south. In any event, the robins are
here. Welcome, spring!
Shut ins
Mary Hamilton at home; Mark Baker and Anna Baker at home; Bob Bock (temporarily) at home; Ruth
Snider at Hillcrest Home; Mirilda Greiert at Kewanee Care; Emmy Wear at
Williamsfield.
Private Confession is always available
to anyone between 6 and 6:30 pm on these Wednesdays (and also, as always, by
appointment). Pastor is usually available as well on Saturdays, from about 4 pm
until Mass.
In Our Prayers
In addition to our shut-ins, our current list of prayer intentions at mass includes the names on the lists here following. Anyone wishing to update the lest by ddition or subtraction, please inform the pastor.
in our parish:
Mark Baker
Ann Baker
Sara Bidni
Don Murphy
John Ricknell
Emilie Ricknell
Bob Bock
And all of our shut-ins
and also (outside our parish):
David Dakin [re Harrises]
Anna Rutowicz [re Harrises]
Julie Ross [Svetlana Meaker’s daughter, cancer]
Caleb Cleaver [Ricknells]
Pam Mansnarus [Ricknells]
Christian
Johnson [re Kemerlings]
Madison Lindsay [re Andersons]
Tom Fornoff [Jean Russell’s brother-in-law]
Nina [nine-a] Hartz [Sharon’s mother]
Rev. Don Chambers [formerly of Manito]
Rev. Glenn Niemann [of St. John’s,
Pekin]
Rev. Brian Feicho [of Granite City, Illinois]
Lisa Gustafson [with Thyroid
cancer - Harlow]
Crystal Stoll [former member, in hospice in Wisc.]
Linda Peterson [re Kemerlings]
Michelle Steuber [re Fischers]
Pat Shreck [Diana’s Mother-in-law]
Mildred Russell [Chuck’s mother]
Marilyn Johnson [relative of the Kemerlings]
Michelle Loesch, niece the Clappers,
whose cancer has returned
In the military
John Eckardt
Michael Fisa [re Kemerlings]
Donny Appleman [re Ricknells]
Thomas Kim [re Shrecks]
Jaclyn Harden Alvarez
Michael Creech [re Murphys]
Those who
are in trouble:
especially any unborn
children in danger of abortion, and those suffering from unrest, persecution,
and imprisonment in Laos, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, and elsewhere. Details:
SAUDI ARABIA: While attending a worship service in the private rented home of a fellow believer, 53 Ethiopian Christians were arrested by Saudi authorities in Dammam, the capital of the country's Eastern Province. The incident, which took place at about 10 a.m. on February 8, 2013, included the arrests of three church leaders. During a hearing in an Islamic court, authorities alleged that the leaders were converting Muslims to Christianity.
In an annual 2012 report, published recently by the U.S.
Commission on International Religious Freedom, is the following statement which
accurately summarizes the country's overall situation: "The Saudi
government persists in banning all forms of public religious expression other
than that of the government's own interpretation of one school of Sunni Islam;
prohibits churches, synagogues, temples, and other non-Muslim places of
worship; uses in its schools and posts online state textbooks that continue to
espouse intolerance and incite violence. . . ."
AZERBAIJAN: Denial of Church Registration Causes Mounting Pressures
Source: Release International
AZERBAIJAN: Denial of Church Registration Causes Mounting Pressures
Source: Release International
Many churches in Azerbaijan are facing further
challenges due to the government's tough new regulations and, as a result,
denial of official registration. To make matters worse, Christians who refuse
to give or take bribes struggle to survive in a country where corruption is
endemic; a struggle that's further compounded by discrimination while seeking
employment. One pastor served 18 months
behind bars after complaints by Muslim leaders. When 30 police officers and
other officials turned up at his house, he was warned that it was illegal to
spread the teachings of Jesus in Azerbaijan, even though freedom of
religion is guaranteed under the constitution. Another pastor describes a
police raid on his unregistered church: "They confiscated all our
literature and our Bibles.... They sentenced me to a year's imprisonment. It's
very hard to be in prison in Azerbaijan."
Website: www.persecution.net
Taking Pains –
reprinted from a regular column in Gottesdienst
Praying Hands
The folding of hands is,
traditionally, the placing of hands palm to palm (as opposed to the
interlocking of fingers). As the hands are held flat against each other, the
thumbs are placed right over left so as to form a cross. The celebrant and
attendants at the Mass hold their hands this way whenever their hands are not
otherwise occupied. People at prayer or approaching or leaving the altar may
also fittingly have hands folded palm to palm.
This folding of the hands is
admittedly somewhat unnatural, for it is a rather ostensible indication that
one is praying, and prayer is a spiritual, as opposed to a natural,
discipline. Yet this posture should not
appear stilted, mechanical, or uncomfortable; it is the position of
repose. It is a visual way of indicating
a serene and humble receptivity to the word of the Gospel. Folded hands are manifestly not working hands; they are resting hands, which are doing nothing.
In that we fold our hands palm to palm, we indicate that we are trusting in the
grace of God alone rather than in our own works or accomplishments; we are
resting in the works which Christ has accomplished for us.
To say that it is fitting to fold
the hands palm to palm whenever the hands are not otherwise occupied means more
for the celebrant than it does for the layman, since the hands of the celebrant
will of necessity be more frequently otherwise occupied than will the hands of
the laity. The laity will usually need
to hold a hymnal, yet someone who is familiar enough with the liturgy that he
does not need to follow the hymnal to sing the parts of the ordinary may wish
to do so without holding one, and thus will be free to fold hands palm to palm,
though of course while taking care to draw no attention to himself.
Altar Guild Notes
·
Parament color is VIOLET throughout March until
the Easter vigil, except for Wednesday, March 20th (St. Joseph, transf.), for
which the color is WHITE.
·
Preparation of veils will take place on
Saturday, March 16th, and the veiling of items in sacristy, vestry,
etc.
·
A couple altar guild ladies will be needed at
the sacristy door to receive the paraments during the altar stripping after the Maundy Thursday
Mass.
·
Saturday, March 30th, for the Easter
vigil, all veils are removed, lilies placed, and color changed to WHITE.
Next meeting is Tuesday, March 5th.
Granddaughter
Baptism
The due date for the granddaughter of Pastor and Carol
(Burnie and Amanda’s baby, who is to be named Beverly Joan) is February 28th. The Baptism will be scheduled for a Saturday
evening in March (at their 5 pm service), so that Pastor can perform the
Baptism, at Holy Cross
Lutheran Church
in Davenport on
a Saturday evening in March. Members are invited. As a result of that service, regular Saturday
Mass here will probably be cancelled on March 2, 9, or 16, to accommodate the
Baptism. The schedule change will be announced as soon as it is known.
The
Lighter Side
From
the groaners department –
England
doesn't have a kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool
A
thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.
A
cardboard belt would be a waist of paper.
Progress
on the Ordos
I’ve
been working on our new ordos for some time now, and the end is in sight. When completed, they will contain all of the
propers for the entire sanctoral cycle under one cover, as well as the hymns we
have had in our old seasonal ordos, which in many cases are falling apart. One of the features of the new ordos is the
musical notation for the propers, which the congregation will be encouraged to
sing, along with the choir. The reason
for this is twofold. On the one hand,
our dwindling choir is sometimes hard-pressed to have enough vocal power to
sing the propers alone. On the other
hand, it is always good to encourage singing.
As an aid to this, our organist Ryan Van Wassenhove has begun playing
along with the singing of the propers, but until you get the new ordos in your
hands with the notes, you could only sing along by listening and following
(which you are certainly encouraged to try!).
In any case, you may expect to see these new ordos soon!
+ Pastor Eckardt
First Tuesday
Vespers, etc.
March 5th, Altar
Guild is at 6 pm, Vespers is at 6:45, and Elders is at 7:15, as usual.
Sunday
School
Candi
Johnson has been teaching Sunday School this year, and it has been a great year
so far. The children are learning Bible
stories and having Pastor’s catechetical lessons reinforced. Thanks, Candi!
Lenten
Masses
Daily
mass is scheduled throughout Lent. The most excellent way to benefit from Lent
is through worship. See the calendar for the schedule. If your schedule does
not permit you to take advantage of daily mass, perhaps at least an added
effort to make it to Wednesday evening mass would work for you.
Lenten
Suppers
We
are again having Lenten soup suppers every Wednesday in March except for Holy
Wednesday, currently at 5 pm, though there was a suggestion made to move to
5:30. Stay tuned, and join your family
of the faithful for this time together.
It’s a convenient time too, just prior to midweek Lenten masses.
Hats
Again?
Ladies, if you can, remember to wear your hats for
Easter! They’re not necessary, of
course, but a nice addition to the festivities.
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