Greetings Siblings in Christ,
We are now entering into the month of March. The weather will soon begin to change. The air will get warmer. The sun will be out and the green of spring will fill the land. However, not everything will be green. In fact, in March, the green paraments found in our sanctuary will turn from green to purple. On Wednesday March 5, 2025, the season of Lent will begin with Ash Wednesday. Lent is the forty-day season (excluding Sundays) of penitence and preparation for the Three Days of Holy Week and Easter. During this season, one is called into reflection and self-examination, asking ourselves what God is calling us to do. In Advent, the congregation was introduced to the spiritual practice of VOCARE, which is the Latin word that when translated means “to call.” VOCARE” is a regular spiritual practice designed by the Nourishing Vocation Project at St. Olaf’s College. It was designed to help congregations and individuals discern and embrace our multiple vocations so that we can more intentionally live lives of purpose for the common good. “VOCARE” invites ongoing reflection upon values, openness, call, attentiveness, regret, and the experience of the sacred in everyday life.
V – Values: What do I value, and how am I living my values?
O – Openness: To what am I being asked to be open? How do I respond?
C – Call: What voices are calling to me? Which ones do I listen to, and why?
A – Attentiveness: Where am I giving my attention? Does my attention align with my values?
R – Regret: What are my regrets? What insight do I gain from them?
E – Experience the Sacred: When, where, and how have I encountered the presence of the holy in my everyday life?
In Advent, we started our journey by reflecting on and identifying our longings for the Church and the world. We then reflected on how our longings aligned with God’s longings for us. In Lent, we continue this reflection by diving deeper into VOCARE by focusing on the “V” of VOCARE, which stands for “values.” So, throughout Lent, we will ask ourselves: What do I value, how am I living my values, and what does God value? To do this, we will be using a sermon series made by an organization called Church Anew that is entitled “Unbroken: A Living Faith.” This series emphasizes that “faith is passed down from generation to generation - it’s an unbroken line of ancestry that connects us all the way back to Jesus.” So, throughout Lent, we will be asking ourselves what these essential beliefs and values are? To further answer this question, we will also be doing an education series on the life of the Lutheran pastor and theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was a pastor in Nazi Germany. This study will be in person at Faith at 10:00 am Thursday mornings and over Zoom on Thursday evenings at 7:00pm (more details in a separate section of the newsletter). All are welcome to join this study.
So, as we continue this journey of spiritual renewal by reflecting on our values, let us remember the words of Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” I pray that as we continue on this spiritual journey that we fully submit ourselves to God, and trust in what the Lord is doing. I pray that God will continue to open our hearts and minds, so that we can truly live into our callings, to be who Christ has called us to be. Amen.
Peace and Blessings, Pastor Ethan Doan
We are now entering into the month of March. The weather will soon begin to change. The air will get warmer. The sun will be out and the green of spring will fill the land. However, not everything will be green. In fact, in March, the green paraments found in our sanctuary will turn from green to purple. On Wednesday March 5, 2025, the season of Lent will begin with Ash Wednesday. Lent is the forty-day season (excluding Sundays) of penitence and preparation for the Three Days of Holy Week and Easter. During this season, one is called into reflection and self-examination, asking ourselves what God is calling us to do. In Advent, the congregation was introduced to the spiritual practice of VOCARE, which is the Latin word that when translated means “to call.” VOCARE” is a regular spiritual practice designed by the Nourishing Vocation Project at St. Olaf’s College. It was designed to help congregations and individuals discern and embrace our multiple vocations so that we can more intentionally live lives of purpose for the common good. “VOCARE” invites ongoing reflection upon values, openness, call, attentiveness, regret, and the experience of the sacred in everyday life.
V – Values: What do I value, and how am I living my values?
O – Openness: To what am I being asked to be open? How do I respond?
C – Call: What voices are calling to me? Which ones do I listen to, and why?
A – Attentiveness: Where am I giving my attention? Does my attention align with my values?
R – Regret: What are my regrets? What insight do I gain from them?
E – Experience the Sacred: When, where, and how have I encountered the presence of the holy in my everyday life?
In Advent, we started our journey by reflecting on and identifying our longings for the Church and the world. We then reflected on how our longings aligned with God’s longings for us. In Lent, we continue this reflection by diving deeper into VOCARE by focusing on the “V” of VOCARE, which stands for “values.” So, throughout Lent, we will ask ourselves: What do I value, how am I living my values, and what does God value? To do this, we will be using a sermon series made by an organization called Church Anew that is entitled “Unbroken: A Living Faith.” This series emphasizes that “faith is passed down from generation to generation - it’s an unbroken line of ancestry that connects us all the way back to Jesus.” So, throughout Lent, we will be asking ourselves what these essential beliefs and values are? To further answer this question, we will also be doing an education series on the life of the Lutheran pastor and theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was a pastor in Nazi Germany. This study will be in person at Faith at 10:00 am Thursday mornings and over Zoom on Thursday evenings at 7:00pm (more details in a separate section of the newsletter). All are welcome to join this study.
So, as we continue this journey of spiritual renewal by reflecting on our values, let us remember the words of Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” I pray that as we continue on this spiritual journey that we fully submit ourselves to God, and trust in what the Lord is doing. I pray that God will continue to open our hearts and minds, so that we can truly live into our callings, to be who Christ has called us to be. Amen.
Peace and Blessings, Pastor Ethan Doan
