Community Service is discussion topic at St. Bede’s beginning March 4, 9:15am
St. Bede’s Episcopal Church invites all those involved or interested in community service to explore those questions in Being the Hands of Jesus: Lenten Conversations, a month long discussion series led by volunteers and staff of local and international nonprofits. Parishioners active with Ecumenical Hunger Program in East Palo Alto and other agencies working with the needy in our area will lead the inaugural session at 9:15 a.m. Sunday, March 4, while Lesia Preston, Ecumenical Hunger Project’s executive director, will continue that focus with a special presentation at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 7.
Upcoming topics include working abroad, working with “the other” and working with the sick and dying. All discussions are 45 minutes long, free and open to the public. For the Wednesday gatherings, an optional simple supper starts at 6:00 pm. ($5 donation requested.) The sessions take place in Lehman Hall, to the right of St. Bede’s parking lot at 2650 Sand Hill Road (off Monte Rosa). For more information, or to reserve a simple supper, call the parish office at 650-854-6555.
Sermon: Take us by the hand and lead us – Ash Wednesday – Rev. J.McDougle
Isaiah 58:1-12; Ps. 103:8-14; 2Cor 5:20b-6:10; Matt 6:1-6, 16-21
And so the forty days of Lent begin. Lent, the lengthening and greening of the year, as our world tips in its delicate orbit around and toward our warming sun. Lent, that season of the church’s year when we have an opportunity to take stock of things, when we are reminded that our lives here on this beautiful planet are short.
There are very few certainties in this life, but we can be sure of one thing: we will all, sooner or later, die. At some time or other, don’t all of us wish that weren’t so, but it is. If it were not so, life would be unbearable: there would be none of the freshness and beauty of the newly created: everything would just ‘be’, with no sense of wonder and adventure. Imagine not even noticing an exquisite fiery sunset, or the magic of the soft unfolding of the magnolia buds by the Sharon Heights Park.
Here we are today: peering into the desert sands of the next forty days. What will we do with them? Business as usual, or something different? Read more »
Sermon: Shabbat Shalom – 29 Jan, Rev. Dr. Katherine M. Lehman
This is annual meeting Sunday, which is all about good governance, how we exercise authority responsibly. We also use the word stewardship to convey our care for the gifts God gives into our charge. The collect affirms that God governs all things. The image is of a petitioner coming before a governor in an official audience, requesting the benefit of peace. This request is more profound than we may realize.
We live in a world thirsting for peace. In a world in which the nations have not yet learned to live and let live, political peace would be a blessed alternative. But God’s response to our petition is more by far. God’s response is what faithful Jews call Shabbat shalom, Sabbath peace. Read more »
Sermon: It’s all about the Kingdom! – February 5 – Rev. J. McDougle
Isaiah 40:21-31; Ps147:1-12, 21c; 1Cor 9:16-23; Mark 1:29-30
Jesus is at the very beginning of his ministry. He’s been baptized by John. He’s spent those forty days in the wilderness discerning God’s will for him, even though we’re saving that part of the story until we reach Lent in a few short weeks. A group of disciples is forming around him. And they have moved away from the river Jordan, around which John’s ministry of renewal through baptism has focused. They have traveled to the small but lively town of Capernaum on the north shore of the landlocked Sea of Galilee. A very good choice, as I’m sure they knew. Read more »
