All Souls Weekly                 
Volume 3, Number 15, March 7, 2010

STATIONS OF THE CROSS AS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

On Fridays in Lent at 7 p.m. a handful of us gather in the church to walk the Stations of the Cross.  All Souls is blessed with beautiful stations, made especially for our church in the 1990s. Of the fourteen stations, eight are based directly on events recorded in the Gospels and six are based upon traditional stories about Jesus making his way through Jerusalem to Calvary. The simple weekly service allows us to walk to each station and pause for a reading from scripture and a prayer. We sing a verse of a traditional hymn between each station.

This is a wonderfully quiet and simple service. When we walk Stations of the Cross, we are given an opportunity to see each station with new eyes. The more one looks, the more one sees. We are invited to hear the scripture with new ears. We are invited to respond to the way of the cross, and indeed, to the way of Christ, with new hearts.

During our first week of Stations this season, I was reminded pointedly of the great gift this kind of Lenten devotion has to offer us.  As I led the reading and singing of the verse of Stabat Mater between the stations, I began to move toward the eighth station and felt like something was wrong.  Someone then whispered to me, “You skipped the sixth station.”  Oops.  And so we backed up and read the scripture and said the prayer for that station, as well.

 
I had skipped it because I was distracted.  As we walked around the interior of the building I was thinking about our gutters outside and the damage they received from the snow.  That led me to think about the tree that needs to be cleaned up, which led to making a mental note of something to say to the cleaning company, then wondering why a person was not at Stations who had said she might be attending, and on, and on, and on.  I think this is what the Buddhists call a “monkey mind,” a mind that won’t stay still, that can’t focus, and consequently, can’t pray.

 
Stations of the Cross allows us to practice taming our minds, calming our spirits, and slowing down so that God can reach us again with the story of Christ’s sacrifice and his rising again.  I hope you’ll be able to join us one of the remaining Friday nights (and help the rector keep track of the service!) John Beddingfield

Around the Parish . . .  DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME BEGINS MARCH 14 . . . Please notice the Foyer Dinner signup sheets inserted in today’s worship leaflet and considering joining this great program . . . The Adult Forum continues on Sunday, March 7 at 10 a.m. in the undercroft. The rector will facilitate a discussion based on last Wednesday night’s Christian-Muslim Summit at the National Cathedral. Others who attended the summit will help lead the discussion and offer observations.  Please join us . . . Episcobasics continues this Sunday afternoon from 1 p.m to 2 p.m. in the Conference Room.  The topic is “Confession and Reconciliation” and will be led by our seminarian, Mr. Seth Walley. . . Attendance for the First Sunday in Lent, February 28 at the 8:30 a.m., Mass, 39; at the 11 a.m. Mass, 154 . . . Total pledge offerings were $10,192.00 and the plate offering was $1,735.00.

Your prayers are asked for . . . John Matthews, Bob and Louise Osborne, Joan Shapiro, Ann Dixon, Lorenzo Martinez, Family of Tom Martin, Hugh Yeomans, Helen Horne, Erling Hansen, Tim Dill, Mona Bauer, Mary Backus, Sandy Jenkins Dixon, I. Kathryn McKewen, Thais Blanchard, Bruce MacDonald, Bob Colborn, Elizabeth McKee, Freddie Cameron, Robert Long, Barb Chaffee, Harriet Martin, Chris Cobb, Landis Vance, Vickie Drell, Stephanie Russell, Ruth & Fred Huber, Jim St. George, Mark Henderson, Martha Holdgate, Chip Meyers, Walter and Sally Jason, Arthur Andrew Warren, Mary Beth McCutcheon, Bryan Powell, Regina Dading, Julia Gutierrez, and Ted Field, and pray for the repose of the soul of Michael Baker. . . Pray for members of the parish in the foreign service and others who are working overseas, especially Chuck Hunter, Steve Kerchoff, Brad Moore, and Michael Pate . . . Pray also for the members of our Armed Forces on active duty, especially Jack Severson, and Timothy Zlatich . . . If you wish to participate in our ongoing Internet Prayer Circle please contact Vicki Lowe at lowevg1@verizon.net.

Liturgical Notes . . . On the first Sunday of the month, at both Masses, healing ministers are in the Mary Chapel following Communion for the laying on of hands, prayers for healing and anointing with Holy Oil . . . With the exception of the Fourth Sunday in Lent (Laetare Sunday) flowers are not used at the altars, adding to our understanding of Lent as a season of penitence and fasting.

The Heifer Project works with communities around the world to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth. Giving to this project works to “pass on the gift.” The families then share their animals’ offspring with others – along with their knowledge, resources, and skills. Visit the information table in the Undercroft to learn more about this great program.

Is God calling you to become more involved? . . . Are you interested in serving on the Vestry of All Souls?  At our annual meeting on Sunday, May 16, we will elect the Junior Warden and general members of the vestry.  Please be thinking and praying about who might be nominated and selected.  Nomination forms will be available in the April/May edition of The Message.

Adopt an apartment . . . All Souls again has the opportunity to furnish an apartment for a homeless family through the Transitional Housing Corporation's Adopt-an-Apartment program. Move-in day is Saturday, April 17, and by then we will need to have collected everything to furnish an apartment, from beds and dressers to toasters and spatulas. The family that moves in will get housing and support services for two years and will take the furnishings with them when they move out into their own housing. There are lots of ways to help. If you have gently used items you can donate, please contact Heidi Fritschel, who will be in the undercroft before and after the 11 am Mass most Sundays between now and April 17. You can bring small items to church for storage. We will pick up large items in a truck on April 16 or 17. To avoid duplication, please do not bring any items to church without checking first with Heidi (hfritschel@verizon.net or 703-294-6463). You can see a list on the All Souls website (www.allsoulsdc.org). We'll also need donations of cash (all beds and bedding must be purchased new) and help on move-day. Finally, we could use a co-chair for this effort; if you're interested please contact Heidi.

Yoga in Lent Continues . . . Join All Souls parishioner Richard McKewen, RYT, (registered yoga teacher) as he leads yoga classes every Saturday morning during Lent in the undercroft. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Richard at stoligimlet@hotmail.com or 202-309-3566.

Readings for the Daily Office