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Posta is Holy Trinity's bi-monthly newsletter.
March 6, 2005
Dear Parish Family,
Already Lent is past the halfway
mark. This newsletter contains the dates and times of our Holy Week celebrations.
This is a liturgically rich and dramatic week and I hope that you will plan
to participate fully.
For Lenten reading I turned to a book by Louis Evely, a French writer I was
introduced to some 30 years ago. He made a significant impression on me then
and I wanted to return to and refresh those learning. The book's title is Joy,
and in it Evely describes seven Easter stations, mostly focused around resurrection
appearances: Mary Magdalene, the Disciples of Emmaus, Peter, Thomas, Paul, Mary,
and the Ascension. As we prepare for the celebration of the Paschal mystery,
I want to share some thoughts from his introduction and some thoughts about
the penance.
First are a few thoughts from the
introduction that shocked me then and along with the teaching of Julian of Norwich
keep reminding me of that God is awesome. "To many Christians have a religion
of the cross. They bear witness to the absence of God. They mount guard in front
of the empty tomb. They keep a severe, gloomy, bitter watch. But our religion
is not the religion of absence, but of presence, of the real presence of God.
We are Christian only if we bear witness to our encounter with God, to the fact
that he has spoken to us, that he has healed us as no one else could have done"
(page 14)
"We have invented a religion
of sadness and fear. Invariably we create a God in our image. Because we do
not love him very much, we are led to think that he does not love us much. Because
we do not worry much about him, we imagine that he does not worry very much
about us. Because we are not very happy with him, we conclude that he is no
very happy with us."
"When god revealed himself,
he tore every veil, he exceeded every limit. He dazzled, he amazed everybody.
When God showed himself as God, it was a revelation of joy." (page 15)
Second, I was shocked then, and continue
to be nourished and delighted by what Evely writes about as the joy of penitence.
The incredible truth that God forgives sin. He writes, "Penitence is not
remorse, not even sorrow for having sinned: rather, it is a conversion, a renewal--it
is a turning towards the true God who calls us, full of kindness and mercy.
True penitence takes place only in a dialogue where there is no anguish, with
a God so kind that, far for fearing his chastisements, we are afraid only of
hurting him."
"When the true God appears to us, then and only then do we know ourselves
as sinners--unconscious, ungrateful, indifferent, rebellious. Only the kindness
of his forgiveness allows us to bear the revelation of our faults. "He
goes on to contrast Judas with Peter. When Judas recognized his error he confesses
to the Pharisees and gives back the thirsty pieces of silver. "Judas had
no confidence in divine mercy. He had no joyful trust that his sin would be
forgiven him.“ Judas went out and hanged himself.
Peter on the other hand, made no
confession, but saw Jesus humiliated and insulted and then saw Jesus look ""at
him forgivingly, and Peter at once repented. He cried for a long while, in sorrow
for having sinned, but even more out of wonder for having been so loved by his
Lord.
"Penance is an encounter with
the Lord in which we learn that his is living, that he loves us and will for
forgive us. Confession is not so much a cleansing of one's self so that one's
conscience can be clear, as it is a means of sacramentally associating ourselves
more closely with God. We renounce sin not in order to feel better, but because
sin separates us from God." (page 74)
With Julian of Norwich he knows that
God in God's mercy shows us our sin so that we may ever more deeply experience
and accept the mercy of God. And that realization leads to joy. "We forget
our sins and think only of God's love for us. That is the joy of penance."
(page 75)
May all us know joy as celebrate
again the Paschal mystery.
Faithfully yours,
Mother Tina+
~ The Agonie ~
Philosophers have measur’d mountains,
Fathom’d the depths of seas, of states, and kings,
Walk’d with a staffe to heav’n, and traced fountains:
But there are two vast, spacious things,
The which to measure it doth more behove:
Yet few there are that sound them; Sinne and Love.
Who would know Sinne,
let him repair
Unto mount Olivet; there shall he see
A man so wrung with pains, that all his hair,
His skinne, his garments bloudie be.
Sinne is that presse and vice, which forceth pain
To hunt his cruell food through ev’ry vein.
Who knows not Love,
let him assay
And taste that juice, which on the crosse a pike
Did set again abroach; then let him say
If ever he did taste the like.
Love in that liquour sweet and most divine,
Which my God feels as bloud; but I, as wine.
-George Herbert (1593-1633)
~ Mary, Beloved of the Trinity ~
The American Region of the Society of Mary has recently accepted the newly formed
group Mary Beloved of the Trinity into the Anglican devotional society. The
formation of the cell (the SOM’s name for a small group) started on Sunday,
August 15, 2004, the feast of St Mary the Virgin. On that day, Fred Buechner
of the Cathedral Church made a presentation about the Society of Mary after
the 10 o’clock Mass at Holy Trinity. Several members of the congregation expressed
an interest in Marian devotion. Members of this new Cell are from the South
Bend deanery and the Church of the Holy Trinity. Mother Tina serves the Cell
as its Superior and Samuel Sommers is its secretary.
The Society of Mary is dedicated to the Glory of God and the Holy Incarnation
of Christ under the invocation of Our Lady, helper of all Christians. Mary,
Mother of the Lord Jesus, is by far the most popular and beloved of all the
saints. Churches throughout the world honor her with chapels, altars and shrines.
The Book of Common Prayer honors her with four special feast days. It is fitting
that there be within the Anglican Communion, a society which also honors her,
and bears witness to the mystery of Christ's Holy Incarnation.
The
Society publishes its magazine AVE (American Edition) three times each year.
The Society of Mary is not affiliated with any single Shrine or Marian institution,
and is the only organization endeavoring to promote equally all of the different
aspects of devotion to Mary.
The
"Objects and Rules" of membership are: to love and honor Mary; to
spread devotion to her in reparation for past neglect and misunderstanding and
in the cause of Christian unity; and to take Mary as a model in purity, personal
relationships and family life. Members of the Society keep a simple Rule of
Life, which involves the keeping of Catholic precepts and use of the Sacraments.
The regular use of some recommended prayers and devotions to Mary, and a commitment
to service, where possible, in the name of the Society, are also suggested.
(Taken from the Society of Mary brochure.)
You
are invited to become a member of this newly formed Cell of the Society of Mary.
For an application contact Samuel Sommers at 574-294-6180 or e-mail at Samuel
Sommers .
At the annual parish meeting in January, Beth Hall was elected the senior warden. Randy Coleman was elected to a 3-year vestry term, and Pat Zanka was elected to a 1-year term. David Koehler continues as the junior warden, and Andrew Irving, Susan Adamek, and John Molnar continue on the vestry. Special thanks is extended to Samuel Sommers, the retiring senior warden.
There is one 3-year vacancy remaining
on the vestry. Anyone interested in filling this position is encouraged to talk
to one of the wardens or a vestry member.
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