No sooner had Christmas been disassembled and carefully put to bed for another year than a summary of events for the coming months was prepared by our team.
In our activities here at St. John the Evangelist, we are guided by the Anglican Church Calendar, as each holy event is marked and celebrated in accordance with its respective time and church season throughout the year. We endeavour to integrate those of a more secular nature simultaneously. For example, the season of Lent is fast approaching, and already we are preparing for the annual Sausage, Bean, and Pancake Supper, scheduled for March 4th—on the eve of Ash Wednesday, March 5th.
On Tuesday, February 11th, after helping the Men’s Club with a successful chicken dinner takeout on February 8th, the ACW ladies squeezed in a little Valentine’s celebration alongside the regular meeting—because at St. John the Evangelist, we acknowledge the value of integrating play and work with prayer. As the great American humourist, Evan Esau, espoused, “All work and no play made Jack’s wife a rich widow.”
As I write this article, we have just emerged from a series of slides covering Canon Jotie’s 2015 Holy Land pilgrimage to Israel and Palestine.
As we watched, enthusiastically engulfed in his journey by means of a screen—it was phenomenal in itself—a seemingly unbelievable, out-of-reach experience. But for him to have actually walked through those centuries-old shrines and temples had to be not only educational and spiritual but also an unforgettable experience of a lifetime.
Leaving much to digest, today we returned to our current Bible study, focusing on the Book of Luke.
On February 16th, the congregation, both young and old, assembled in our place of worship to be a part of the Christingle Service—a service symbolizing God’s gift of Jesus to us as the Light of the World. Our Confirmation Candidates played a significant role in the production of this liturgy. At the foot of the altar, Canon Jotie used the analogy of an orange—round like the world—with four accessories as a motif to demonstrate the best gift of all:
- A candle, representing Jesus, the Light of the World.
- A red ribbon, representing the blood of Jesus.
- Dried fruit, representing the fruit of the earth.
- Four sticks, representing the four seasons and four directions.
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your father in Heaven.”
-Matthew 5:16.
