March 2007 Message from the Pastor

"Return to the Lord, your God, who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love."

A word about the liturgy: During Lent we change a few things in our traditional worship. We don’t sing the "Hymn of Praise" (the joyous piece done after the Kyrie) early in the service. And, we don’t sing the "Alleluia" before the Gospel is read. Instead, we sing or say the verse listed above, "Return to the Lord…." The reason is that we omit any alleluias or praises that may not fit the penitential nature of what Lent is about.

Some more words about Lenten living: During these days, life goes on as normal for most of us. Lent is a passing thought at most in a very secular world. It’s hard to dwell on the passion and suffering of Christ while working to meet deadlines or shuttling kids to soccer games and flute lessons. But Lent is an important season that should interrupt or change our lives in some way. How can we not be impacted by the saga of Christ’s passion and death? Can the loss of the "wows" or alleluias in our lives still be valuable to us?

We will help you "return to the Lord" in a deeper way in these 40 days. Traditionally, Lent has meant repentance, fasting, prayer and works of love. All of these are helpful and I encourage you to practice them. In our worship each Wednesday we will observe ample amounts of silence, reflective music and prayer. In each of these experiences we will appreciate our dependence on God’s love and mercy and how good it is return and be received by God. In addition, we will join together for soup and salad dinner and theological reflection time.

Returning to God during Lent will be meaningful and enriching. It is interesting to be able to say this even though the journey will take us to the cross. How can this be? Come and ponder this amazing mystery with us!

Pastor Jim Friedrich