Lent/Easter 2008

Dear Friends,

Peace be with you. During this season of Lent we have experienced a variety of liturgies from the Decalogue and Pentitential Order to the Great Litany - each providing an opportunity to assess our lives, make some changes and move forward. We have also been enriched and challenged by Lenten Forums organized by Rev. Gay Cox and hosted by the Greater Lowell area Episcopal churches which feature a particular aspect of mission each week. The Ecumenical Lenten lunches continue to provide fellowship and a different worship experience each week.

All of this leads quickly to Holy Week - the liturgical response to Jesus' final days. We are asked to pause in our busy lives; to pray, eat and weep with Him as He prepares to die on the cross; a Godforsaken shameful death know to criminals and slaves. We are asked to bring our own fears, doubts and weaknesses to the foot of the cross - carefully and silently. Why we wonder. The answer is to be found in further questions. How many of us are ready for God's unannounced presence in our midst? Or the genuine hope of a new tomorrow, a new beginning when it seems most unlikely? The victory of Easter is about experiencing these holy mysteries in our daily lives.

So please come and enter into as much of the rhythm of Holy Week as your time allows. To you and yours...

A most Blessed Easter,

Peggy