Ambassadorship
Paul sums up what it means to be an ambassador for Christ.  First, that is, the urge to become reconciled with God.
 
During Lent we examine our lives so that we may be reconciled with God and one another.  Most of us are bound to find out what Paul knew; that is, the same ones of us who give themselves to Christ are not free from temptation.  Sometimes we make the same mistakes over and over.  Sometimes we will what is right, but are unable to do it.  Sometimes our firmest resolves seem to fade before harder realities.
 
Many of Paul's laments are over his own human failings.  And he points us toward the only thing that keeps us from despair:  Our trespasses are not even counted by God.  This is a reminder that our need for mercy and forgiveness is nothing less than God's call for us to be ambassadors for Christ.  In our powerlessness to change ourselves is the invitation to use our faith to build a true life in which we, every day, will be closer to God.
 
In Lent, the church offers us ways to accept this forgiveness and nurture this new life and this new ministry of reconciliation that is ours.  The traditional ways we do this are through prayer, fasting, and alms giving.  This Lenten season, let us:

• Set aside some time each day to reflect on a passage of Scripture. (This could be the same passage daily or a new one each week.)  Read it; carry it in our hearts as we go about the day; pray with it.
  
• Let us give up something enticing for the season and fill the space in our lives that is filled with this enticement with silence.  Invite the God who loves us to fill this space with a sense of mercy and compassion for us.
•  
  Alms giving is an ancient way for the penitent to outwardly express acceptance of God's merciful, transforming presence in our lives.  Giving away something that is precious to us money, possessions, talent, time, perhaps is our way of sharing the gift of God in our midst.

 
In Lent we are given these ways to become ambassadors for Christ.  First, accepting by God's merciful presence in our lives, and then building lives that show Christ's mercy to others.  Paul goes on to describe it this way:
"if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!  All this is from God, who reconciled us through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation."
 
 
Keeping Lent
We believe that it is in fellowship and community that we grow in faith, knowledge, and love of God.  Therefore each Lent some of us share our Lenten practices with the hope we may strengthen one another this season.
 
From Kelly Myers West:  "Each year I struggle to figure out what to do for Lent.  Some Lenten practices that I have tried have been more successful than others.  Usually the ones that are too drastic a change like giving up all television don't work.  Taking on small practices has been better.  In past years I have taken quiet time before work to use the morning prayer format found in the BCP under "Prayers for Individuals and Families".  I have also used lectionaries that I found on the diocesan website (www.diomass.org).  Simply reading one bible passage from the lectionary is plenty to hold in mind throughout the day.  This year I am slowly reading a book by the teacher and spiritual writer Parker J. Palmer called "Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation".  The book has been helpful because it is gentle - not full of hard and fast rules for spiritual perfection."
 
From Angelita Cecada:  "I read from Scripture every day.  It speaks to me of things I did not even know I needed to hear."
 
From Susan Brown:  "For Lent this year, I am continuing my commitment to my first-thing-in-the-morning time of spiritual reading and prayer, reading in Henri Nouwen's book Home Tonight: Further Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son.  Prompted by Bishop Bud's suggestion to observe a "carbon fast" this Lent, I have found myself asking whether my various small energy-consuming actions are really necessary or need to last so long.  And prompted by our Hidden Brook services and the Women's Lenten Day of Reflection coming up on March 13 in Weare, NH, I have been more aware of the Millennium Development Goals and how my everyday life relates to efforts to reach them.  I'm also trying to give up impatience - very much a work in progress!"
 
From Charlene Higbe:  "Enjoy in the fact that the sun rises higher in the sky each day (whether we see it or not.)"
 
From Ann Franklin:  "By helping and encouraging one another in this holy season we see more clearly how God can love and care for us all."
 

LENTEN ALMS
We are called to give alms, especially during this season of self examination. May we suggest the following possibilities:

Episcopal Relief and Development Fund
P.O. Box 7058
Merrifield,VA 22116-7058
or give on-line at er-d.org
You may mark you gift for relief efforts in Haiti or Chile, or for their on-going programs to fight disease and poverty around the world.

Church of the Good Shepherd Outreach
This fund provides funds to indivuals and organizations who turn to the church in need, including Episcopal City Mission.

Living Stones Ministry at CGS
This fund provides academic scholarships for youth and young adults in our sister parishes in Ramallah and Zebabdeh, in the West Bank, Palestine.

Good Friday Offering
For nearly a half-century the Presiding Bishop has asked parishes to designate their offerings on Good Friday to support the Episcopal Church in the Holy Land.
  

Previous messages:

Summer 2009

Winter 2008

Epiphany 2009

Advent 2008

Lent message

Christmas 2004