Cow Head, NL—St. Mary’s ACW hosted a “Parish Lenten Quiet Day” on March 9th at the St Mary’s Church Hall. We have been hosting a quiet day for over twenty years, and it was uplifting to gather again as community after a long hiatus of dealing with COVID-19 restrictions. Rev’d Wilhelmena Green, from our neighbouring Parish of Bonne Bay North, was the facilitator, and she brought with her three musicians: Paul (her husband), and Aubrey and Colleen Rose to lead us in song.
Our scripture, Matthew 4:1-11, was read as a narrative and spoke about Jesus’ time in the desert, where he faced the tempter and was able to say no to him by quoting the scripture. It was then the tempter left him. The discussion emanating from the narrative we read, was when to say yes and when to say no. There are times in our life when we have to say no, burnout can easily happen when we take on too many commitments, but there are things that are right to say yes to as well. It is then we ask the Holy Spirit to direct and guide us with wisdom in our everyday choices.
Another of the scriptures we read and reflected on was from Genesis 12:1-4, where Abraham was called out of his comfort zone in obedience to God’s calling. The discussion that followed this scripture led to, our rector, the Rev’d Terry Rose, sharing his story of leaving his comfort zone and following his calling into ordained ministry, leaving all that was familiar and going to St John’s to study at Queen’s. God is continuing to call his people—we too have to be willing to step outside our comfort’s zones, and know God will be with us on the journey. We shared as well the moments we have been blessed by people we have encountered, and how we in turn have been blessings to others as a result of our being blessed.
Our final scripture reading was from Ezekiel 37:1-10, which is “the valley of the dry bones”. Most of us at some point in our lives have experienced dry periods when we have become exhausted and complacent, and it is then we too need to call upon God’s Holy Spirit to breathe a rejuvenating spirit into the dry periods in our lives.
Of course, like most Anglican gatherings, we fed our physical bodies by being served a delicious lunch of soup, sandwiches and scrumptious desserts by the ACW ladies. And for our spiritual feeding, we wrapped up our day by feeding our souls as we gathered to share in the celebration of Holy Eucharist officiated by Rev’d Wilhelmena.
