The Second Sunday in Lent

Our Sunday morning liturgy takes a slightly different shape during Lent. Last Sunday we began with the Great Litany and utilized the Rite I liturgy. For this Sunday, the 2nd Sunday of Lent and the following Sundays of Lent, we return to Rite II and begin the liturgy with a Penitential Order, Rite II. The Penitential Order includes the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments) and the Confession, thereby moving the Confession earlier in the service. The "Gloria" (Glory to God) is omitted, replaced by the Kyrie Eilson (Lord, have mercy), and the "alleluia" are absent as well. The changes point us to the love and compassion of God through our humbleness towards God. This Sunday will feature young people from our Church School reading the lessons and offering the Prayers of the People.

Morning Prayer in Lent, 9:00 a.m., Tuesday - Friday

One of the rich traditions of our Anglican church heritage is the Daily Office. In the season of Lent, Fr. Andrew will offer Morning Prayer at 9:00 a.m. via Facebook Live, Tuesday through Friday. Following the lectionary for Year One, the appointed psalm and two lessons will be read. The lectionary list for Lent, Year One, begins on page 950 in the Book of Common Prayer. Morning Prayer begins on page 76 of the BCP.

Book Discussion in Lent

The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church's Complicity in Racism

All are invited to join in a discussion and reflection from the book The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church's Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby. This book-study will take place on Wednesday evenings in Lent. Parishioners are invited to participate even if you missed the first session last Wednesday. Please email Fr. Andrew at revajs@stmichaels1714.org if you would like to participate but did not last Wednesday. He will send you the Zoom link.

At the first session we reviewed ground rules and an anti-racism framework for our discussion. We also addressed these questions:

• Why are you attending these sessions?

• What outcome do you want?

• How will you know you reached the desired outcome?

• How will these discussions benefit the church?

Everyone had an opportunity to share their answers if they so desired.

We plan to meet Wednesday Evenings from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. Future meeting dates and assignments are:

March 3 -Chapters 2 and 3

March 10 -Chapters 4 and 5

March 17 -Chapters 6 and 7

March 24 -Chapters 8 and 9

March 31 - Holy Week – NO MEETING

April 7 -Chapter 10 and 11, Conclusion, and Discussion of Next Steps

A Warning from the Diocese Concerning Online Scams

From diocesan press release: "Online scams and malicious behavior continue to target churches and church leaders. These scams are unlikely to stop, and there is nothing we can do to prevent them. Awareness and vigilance are our best defense. Some recent examples we want to make you aware of:

Bishop Gates on Instagram

The Instagram handle used by Bishop Gates is massbishopxvi. He does NOT use Instagram’s direct messaging function. Someone recently created an Instagram account (now disabled) impersonating Bishop Gates, using his photo but with an extra Roman numeral digit in the username. Please be vigilant for fake accounts; do not reply to Instagram direct messaging purporting to be from Bishop Gates; block fake accounts and report them using Instagram’s “It’s Inappropriate” option.

E-mail and text message “phishing” scams continue to proliferate.

Scammers’ tactics vary and evolve, but a common one is to send e-mails or text messages that appear to be from a known organization or trusted church leader (such as a bishop or rector). They typically ask for urgent help or a favor, and at some stage request that the recipient buy and electronically send gift cards, make donations via money transfer or provide personal information.

Look before you leap, and then look again: Recipients should be skeptical of unexpected e-mail or text message requests to send or spend money or provide urgent assistance.

Important: Check the sender’s e-mail address for legitimacy before responding or opening any links or attachments. E-mail from the bishops and diocesan staff, for example, will come from the designated e-mail domain @diomass.org, NOT gmail.com or other e-mail providers. (If only a name is displayed in the sender field, try hovering your cursor over the name to display the sender e-mail address.)

To read the full Press Release from the dioceses CLICK HERE.