Walking Together through Lent and Holy Week:

 

Two Converging Paths

As we continue our Lenten devotions, I am grateful for the many people who are telling me they are experiencing renewal and hope for their lives along two converging paths. 

 

The Practice of Contemplative Prayer

The first path is the practice of prayer.  We are a church that is seeking to learn how to pray, to learn, and perhaps for the first time, to simply be quiet in the presence of God.  Prayer comes from a birthing ground of silence, wherein the praying person releases their will and ego to a loving God.  I hope you are learning how to find contemplation in your lives.  I remind you that the first disbursement of income from the Permanent Endowment Fund will be used to fund a weekend conference on Contemplation and Spiritual Transformation.  Be watching for an announcement for the conference in the coming months.  As stated so many times, I recommend 20 minutes of silence each day, consenting to the presence of God, surrendering control, being quietly available. What do we find when we surrender our lives to God in prayer?

 

12 Steps to Inner Peace

That question locates the second converging path at St. Matthew’s.  Bob Lively is a blessing to us.  His teaching on the 12 Steps encourages the faithful listener to become real, to find inner peace because God dwells within, ready to bless and make us whole.  To follow these steps to sanity one must choose life, and must not fear silence.  When we surrender ourselves to God in silence, we find that the world is safe, that God loves us, that we do not have to win or be right, that we can serve and love others without compulsion or guilt and that we can be real.  We learn that life is following Jesus’ way of life, not just worshipping him.  We learn that the contemplative life is one cloth – learning to let God love us, learning to share that love, especially with those in exceptional need.  Contemplation and outreach are a unity.

 

Retreats and Seeing More Clearly

In January my spiritual friend Jim Williams and I went to Camp Lone Star for a one night retreat.  We gave ourselves significant time for centering prayer and journaling.  I saw something very clearly in that time away.  I must have time away to do vision work, deep thinking and planning.  I am so grateful for Jim’s support and friendship, for Crystal’s encouragement for me to take retreats and for Susan and a great staff that work better when I am not around.  I especially need the time away to pray for you and to pray for our common work with God.  In March Jim and I will take three days at Cedarbrake Renewal Center in Belton for prayer, planning and sermon preparation.

 

Bishop’s Visit

I want to tell you that Bishop Don Wimberly was very happy about his visit to St. Matthew’s on January 30.  He arrived exhausted after an inhumane week of non-stop meetings.  Being with you in worship, hearing our plans, visiting with the Vestry, all this came together for Wendy and Don Wimberly in a wonderful way.  Thank you so much for your warm welcome to our Diocesan Bishop and his wife.  We are so blessed by their leadership in the Diocese of Texas and the Anglican Communion.

 

Looking Ahead - Diocesan Teaching

I want to let you know that I now serve on the “faculty” of the Iona School that will help educate and train our diocesan candidates for bi-vocational priesthood and the deaconate.  The Iona School is the incarnation of a dream of our Diocesan Bishop and his staff – to have a teaching ministry that raises up leaders throughout the Diocese of Texas.  I will be teaching at Camp Allen on Saturday, March 5 and Saturday, April 16.  The first class will be on the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke/Acts.  The second class will be on the Gospel of John and the Epistles of the same name.

 

Looking Ahead – Palm Sunday Youth Gathering

Our Youth Ministry will host Bishop Daniels and youth, clergy and youth ministers from throughout the Austin area for a special Palm Sunday Event to re-affirm our Baptismal Vows.  This service is open to the entire parish.  Come and help St. Matthew’s host and welcome our fellow Episcopalians in this day of renewal. 

 

Looking Ahead – Holy Week Notes

*** Tim Smith, Susan Barnes and I are steadily planning the liturgical services for Holy Week.  Elsewhere in this issue of The Word you have the schedule for Holy Week.

***Please note that there is an early morning celebration of the Holy Eucharist with music and preaching Monday morning through Thursday morning at 7 a.m. in the Sanctuary.

***The Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services are the most carefully planned liturgies in the church year.  If you do not regularly attend services during Holy Week, you are missing an opportunity to grasp in a new way the depth of the Lord’s love for us.

***Beginning Sunday, March 6, there will be a sign-up sheet for the Maundy Thursday all-night Prayer Watch in the Bell Tower.  The practice is for two or more members of the church, in response to Jesus question of the disciples, “could you not watch with me for even one hour” (Matthew 26) to be in the Bell Tower all night Thursday night until the Good Friday service at Noon.  This is an excellent occasion to practice centering prayer or to actively meditate on the gospel texts for Holy Week.  The church will provide security through the night.

 

May God richly bless you, one and all!

 

Faithfully,

 

 

Merrill