St. Anselm of Canterbury Episcopal Church

13091 Galway Street

Garden Grove, CA. 92844

(714) 537-0604

3/19/09

Dear Parish Family,

We have entered the holy season of Lent, a sacred time of introspection where we journey ever so deeply into the mystery of the human soul.   Lent is a journey into the essence of our humanity, the place from which our true self emerges, our “God-self”.  The desert is a strong symbol during this season, in remembrance of the time that Jesus spent there, a dry and barren place, fasting for 40 days.  During this season, we reflect on our mortality, our limitations as human beings, our dependence on God, our need of repentance for “things done and left undone” and the “dark night of the soul” -- a place of spiritual emptiness where even the presence of God escapes us.   As I mentioned in my sermon on the first Sunday of Lent, it appears that in our human journey we frequently walk with one foot in the desert.  There seems to almost always be some hurdle we have to climb over or some new situation that may rob us of our full joy.  When we overcome one hurdle, there will always be another appearing on the horizon.  Every stage in life comes with its own set of brand new hurdles, but thankfully Easter time awaits us.   The prosperity gurus seem to believe we can have it all 24/7 but if anything, Lent is a time when we come to terms with the fact that the human journey is muddled with pain, disappointments, and uncertainty where we may even feel that God is absent.

The paradox in all this is that the desert makes us better and more mature human beings.  Jesus emerged from his desert experience empowered to do his work and ministry.  I believe that this is a sign to us that Lent is a holy and sacred journey into the essence of our humanity.  “Holy” and “sacred” are words that seem to be disappearing from our common lingo.  I am not referring to false piety here, the pretension to be “holier than thou.”  I am referring to a quality of deep humility and awe that leads to a place of revelation, a place of epiphany, where the bigger picture begins to fall into place. Jesus saw the bigger picture, he never wavered, and he was focused on his mission and what truly mattered.  As I have said in previous years during the holy season of Lent, if we run from the desert experience, there will never truly be an Easter experience for our lives, only superficial happiness, for we are running from ourselves. 

We almost always walk with one foot in the desert, so why run from it?  Jesus was bold, he took it on, and he willingly entered the desert right after his baptism.   Despite what the prosperity gurus and preachers sell, life is Ying and Yang, Hard and Soft, Alpha and Omega, you can’t have one without the other.  So, this is our time to enter the desert in the knowledge that in the end it will take us to the core and essence of our humanity.

As a matter of house keeping, I would like to remind everyone of our St. Patrick’s Day Corned Beef Supper this Friday, March 13, at 6:30 PM.  Nobody prepares a better Corned Beef supper than the good people of St. Anselm’s.  William Bennet is our chief cook and bottle washer.  Don’t forget to wear green and bring your very nice “White Elephants” for an auction.  Cost is: $7.00 for adults, $4.00 for children 12 and under.

Next Sunday (3/15) is the play: “In Darfur,” at 6:30 PM.  Admission is free. 

On Wednesday March 18 we will be celebrating an Interfaith Memorial service for the dead in Gaza (“Tears for Gaza”).  This will take place at 7:00 PM.  Join us in prayer for the bereaved families of Gaza, and an end to the unchecked insidious violence the Palestinian people suffer under Israeli occupation.  We will also pray for genuine realistic solutions to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

Holy Week will begin with the Palm Sunday Eucharist on Sunday April, 5  at 10:00 AM.  The Maundy Thursday Eucharist will be celebrated on Thursday April 9, at 6:30 PM.  The Good Friday Cross Walk will begin at 12:00 PM on Friday April 10 .   The Great Vigil of Easter will begin this year at 8:00 PM on Saturday April 11.  Easter Sunday celebrations will take place on Sunday April 12 at 10:00 AM.   Don’t forget to bring your bells and happy noise makers for the joyful Easter proclamations.

In closing, I’d like to ask that we all bring our own coffee mugs to church for “coffee hour” and keep paper cups (please no more styrofoam) only for our guests.  This will help reduce our environmental footprint and bring a smile to God’s face.

Wishing you a Blessed Lent, I remain…

In His Service,

Wilfredo Benitez+

The Rev. Wilfredo Benitez,

Rector