Holy Week and Easter 2022
T H E B E N E D I C T I O N
Newsletter of St. Benedict’s Anglican Catholic Church
O WORSHIP THE LORD IN THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS
Our parish, which was founded in
1979, has maintained the Liturgy of the traditional Book of Common Prayer. Our
preaching and teaching draw on the Holy Scriptures in light of the Tradition of
the Church from the earliest days.
Passiontide and Easter 2022
FROM THE RECTOR’S
DESK
The
most dramatic and moving services of the year are about to take place at Saint
Benedict’s and all over the world. There is a definite emotional contrast that
we move into in those few days of Holy Week and Easter. Compared, of course, to
what the original disciples experienced, our experience can be only mild. They
really suffered the distress of knowing that Jesus, their Rabbi, had been
flogged and crucified. With him died their hope. All was lost.
The problem was magnified because they
had been unable to hear him the several times he foretold his betrayal,
suffering, and death. Had they heard it, and had it come to mind between the
dark hours of Thursday night and the dark wee hours of Sunday morning, their
pain might have been mixed with the joy of hope in anticipation of his
resurrection. Part of why they had been unable to hear each of those foretellings
by our Lord was probably because they expected a painless transition into some
sort of worldly kingdom, with images of the Kingdom of God not properly distanced
from their carnal understanding of political kingdoms, albeit mixed with the
resurrection of the dead and other benefits of divine power as they imagined it.
On one occasion Jesus had barely
finished foretelling his suffering, death, and resurrection when two of his
disciples, James and John, asked to be seated one on his right hand, and one on
his left in his kingdom (Mark 10:32-45). The very night in which he was
betrayed, no sooner had he spoken of his death than the twelve began to argue
over who was the greatest among them (Luke 22:21-27). Indeed, it can be our own
agendas, our own carnal and worldly ambitions, and other distractions that
deafen us to what our Lord is saying.
Even after Jesus had risen they still
did not believe until he came into the room in which they were hiding due to
fear. It is good for us to lay aside all false expectations, all worldly agendas,
and carnal ambitions, so we can hear what Jesus Christ says to us in the sacred
pages of the Gospels. The joy that is coming, on which we depend, is not of
this world. It is Easter joy. The risen and glorified Christ will share with us
his own acquired immortal form of human Life, completing our adoption as the
children of his eternal Father.
Easter
Offering
Enclosed is an envelope for the Easter Offering. Please
consider, prayerfully, what you should give in special thanksgiving for
Christ’s victory over death. Our stamp that says “Easter Offering” has been
broken somehow, so all you will see is a little envelope with a place for your
name.
Please include
the following in your daily prayers
Prayer for parish
growth
O God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, Whose will is that none should perish, and Who hast
given us gifts by thy Holy Spirit to do thy will on earth, By the power of the
same Holy Spirit make us always true and living witnesses for thy Son, our Lord
Jesus Christ; And so guide us and use us to bring people into thy holy church.
Grow this parish in Chapel Hill that is named in honor of thy saint Benedict.
Make us a light to the world around us. Draw people to our parish that they may
partake of Christ and His salvation in our fellowship. And Father, Direct
us in all our doings, with thy most gracious favor, and further us with thy
continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in thee, we
may glorify thy holy Name, and finally, by thy mercy, obtain everlasting life;
All of this we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Diocesan
Synod
This year the synod will take place in Athens
Georgia, on April 28, 29 (Thursday and Friday). Fr. Hart is on the Commission
on Ministry which meets on Wed. the 27. Nicholas Harrelson will be there that
day as well to meet with the Commission on Ministry in preparation for
Ordination exams. James Lazenby and Jackie Kylander will be at the Synod on
Thursday and Friday as Parish delegates along with Nicholas Harrelson, and of
course Fr. Hart.
Holy
Week
Please see the schedule of services below. I urge everyone to attend as many of these as you can. The services
are, each of them, unique. They are part of the whole experience of going
through Christ’s Passion and Death and entering into the Joy of His
resurrection.
Holy Week Schedule :
Wednesday
before Easter: (April 13) Holy Communion at 12: noon
Maundy
Thursday (April 14) Holy Communion 7:00 PM (with the Stripping of the
Altar)
Good
Friday (April 15) Observances at 12:00 Noon and at 6:00 PM
Holy Saturday
(April 16) Easter Eve Vigil at 5:00 PM
Easter
(April 17) Sunday 8:30 Morning Prayer and Holy Communion
& 10:00 Holy Communion
Regular
Schedule:
Sundays
8:30 AM Morning Prayer & Holy
Communion (Said).
10:00 AM Holy Communion.
Wednesdays
Holy Communion 12:00 noon
Saturdays
Pray that soon we can restart the 3:00 PM
Holy Communion at the Stratford Senior Care Facility
Rev. Robert Hart, Rector
Mr. James Lazenby, Organist
Mr. Michael Murray, Senior Warden
Ms. Jackie Kylander, Junior Warden
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