Fr. Jamie's Easter letter

Lent – Easter, 2012


“May the light of Christ rising in glory dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.”

Greetings!

This year, in addition to two other new liturgies we will have during Holy Week, we will celebrate our first ever Easter Vigil at St. Stephen’s. If you have never been to an Easter Vigil, it is a moving and exciting service, which begins in darkness and ends with glorious light. As you have often heard me say in many of my sermons, I believe that this celebration of light in the midst of darkness speaks profoundly to all of us since our lives often reflect this balance of darkness and light. For us as Christians, we celebrate the Light of Christ as a true victory. We know and we celebrate the fact that this Light is eternal, and that darkness is only temporary.

Reminded of our faith in this Light, we yet again draw near to the glory and mystery of Easter. During this Easter Season I extend to you, as always, my blessings and deepest gratitude. St. Stephen’s has continued to be a place of blessing not only to me, but to many people—both people who have been here for many years, and those who have found us recently.

As we near Easter I would like to invite each of you to join with me in commemorating Jesus’ last week during Holy Week and celebrating this great and beautiful Event of the Resurrection at St. Stephen’s. As I said, we will be observing a full schedule of liturgies this year. In addition to the Easter Vigil, we will also commemorate the added liturgies of Tenebrae on Holy Wednesday Evening and the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday afternoon. A full schedule of Holy Week/Easter events is included in this mailing. St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Fargo will join us once again for these services. So, please do join in this beautiful and important time of the year by worshipping at St. Stephen’s.

And again, please know of my deep joy and gratitude in being able to serve alongside each and every you at St. Stephen’s.

Peace,
Fr. Jamie+