Mid-Week Message - Feb. 4

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be always with you!

Monday was not just groundhog day - there are a couple of celebrations that happen on February 2.  In the church calendar, it is Candlemas, also called Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ, also called Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  (Got to love a feast day with multiple names and multiple layers of meaning!)

The story associated with this day is Luke 2:22-40 - the story of the time when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple 40 days after his birth. Mary would have gone through religious rituals to make her ritually pure again after giving birth, as all women would have been expected to do. And Jesus, as their firstborn son, was presented and dedicated to God with sacrifices offered on his behalf.  At the temple, they meet Simeon and Anna, two of the first people to recognize Jesus for who he was.

But what does Candlemas have to do with candles? There was a tradition in some places that families would bring their candles to the church at Candlemas to be blessed. As the families used the candles through the rest of the year, they would be reminded that the light of the world is Jesus.  (I had an opportunity to attend a Candlemas service at King's College in Halifax, in the High Anglican tradition. We processed around the courtyard trying to keep our beeswax candles lit as we went. If you are ever in my office at Westfield, my candle from that service is on the table beside my door.)

Moving beyond the boundaries of the church, February 2 is also Imbolc in the Celtic tradition.  The Celtic calendar divides the year into eighths, based on the movement of the sun.  You have the solstices on June 21 and December 21, the longest and shortest days of the year.  Then you have the equinoxes on March 21 and September 21 where the length of the day is equal to the length of the night.  Then each of these quarter years are divided in half, with a festival at the midpoint; and February 2 marks the midpoint between the shortest day of December 21 and the equal day of March 21. Imbolc marks the point in the year when the day lengthening begins to speed up. This is the point in the year when the sun rises noticeably earlier than it did in December, and sets noticeably later.  And even though this doesn't hold true in Canada, in the British climate, Imbolc is the start of spring. I remember the year that I spent January and the first week of February in the north of England, and by the beginning of February, crocuses and hyacinths were starting to pop up in peoples gardens. (And then I flew home to -20 weather in Montréal!)

The connection that I see between Candlemas and Imbolc, and even groundhog day, is the theme of light.  The light is returning, we celebrate the Light of the World, and the presence or absence of light will determine whether the groundhog sees its shadow!

Maybe today, you might want to find some time to light a candle and meditate on it's life.  The true light of the world is Jesus.  The sun is returning.  And even the smallest candle will shatter the darkness and drive back the shadows!

Moving on to announcements this week:

• Worship on Sunday will be at Summerville at 9:15 and at Westfield and on Facebook Live at 11:15.  This will be the last week for our Epiphany theme of light, and we'll be reading a bit more of Jesus's sermon on the mount - Matthew 5:13-20 - the part where he tells us that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

• Annual Meetings - yes, I'm going to keep on reminding you!

  Long Reach - Sun. Feb. 15, 9am in the River Room

  Westfield - Sun. Feb. 15, 11:15am

  Summerville - Sun. Feb. 22, 9am

  Two Rivers Pastoral Charge - Wed. Feb. 25, 7:30pm at Westfield

  Our congregational meetings at all 3 churches are woven together with worship, so that our worship and work become one (to paraphrase Voices United 401!).

• Bible Study - after pausing this week so that I could go to the Snow Centre this morning, we will resume our weekly bible study next Wednesday at 10am in the parlour at Westfield United Church.

• Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent, and falls on February 18 this year. We will hold our Ash Wednesday service at Westfield United Church at 7pm. This service begins by receiving the mark of ashes as we are reminded of our shared mortality - from dust you have come, and to dust you shall return. But the service ends with communion as we are reminded that mortality isn't the only thing that unites us - we are united in Christ, and death is not the end of our story!

• Lenten Bible Study - Our Student Minister Steve, as part of his course work at the Atlantic School of Theology, will be leading a 6-week bible study during Lent, bringing together the writings of the Apostle Paul with the Gospel readings as assigned by the Revised Common Lectionary (the 3-year cycle of readings that we follow on Sunday mornings). This study will happen on Wednesday mornings at 10am in the parlour at Westfield, beginning on Feb. 18 and continuing through to March 25. I encourage you all to attend to learn what Steve has to share with you!

• Pray for Peace With Hands and Heart - Every Tuesday evening through the season of Lent, we are going to have a gathering to pray for peace as this seems to be something that all of our hearts are longing for these days. But we aren't going to be praying with just our words - these are going to be hands-on prayers.  (With deep gratitude to Karol Waters who is my planning partner in this, and who has more creativity in her baby finger than I have in total!) These gatherings will be appropriate for all ages, from children to teens to adults to seniors, and will rotate between our churches.  You can see the poster by clicking here, and the schedule will be:

  Feb. 24 - Westfield - Peace Within Me

  March 3 - Summerville - Peace Within Families

  March 10 - Long Reach - Peace Within Communities

  March 17 - Westfield - Peace Within Canada

  March 24 - Summerville - Peace Between Nations

  March 31 - Long Reach - Peace Within Creation

Even though this newsletter usually focuses on our churches, this week, I also want to share a couple of upcoming events from our neighbours:

• The Treble Clef Singers will be presenting a Valentine's Day concert on Feb. 14 at Hampton United Church at 2:30pm. You can see the poster by clicking here!  (A number of our Westfield United Church choir members also sing with Treble Clef.)

• Chroma NB will be hosting a Queer Joy Photo Exhibition on Thursday February 19 from 2-3pm at Loch Lomond Villa featuring photographs taken by an inter-generational group of 2SLGBTQIA+ photographers. You can see the poster by clicking here! (I'm hoping to get to this exhibition, so if anyone from Grand Bay-Westfield or Saint John would like to attend, let me know and I'm happy to pick you up or meet you at the church.)

• Shrove Tuesday (Kingston) - Trinity Anglican Church will be hosting a pancake dinner on Tuesday February 17 from 4:30-6 in the Parish Hall. Freewill offering gratefully received! You can see their poster by clicking here.

• Shrove Tuesday (Grand Bay-Westfield) - And for those of you on the other side of the river, the Church of the Resurrection is also holding a pancake dinner on Tuesday February 17 from 4:30-6 at the church. $12 for adults, $8 for children, $35 for a family. You can see their poster by clicking here.
  

Thank You Corner - this week's thank you goes out to the people who work behind the scenes to keep our church buildings clean.  Thank you to Treva Fudge (Long Reach), Brenda Brooks (Westfield), and Bette Ashley (Summerville). We all appreciate the unseen work that you do!

For a closing thought this week, I have a video to share with you that I watched last week. Some of you know that I am a fan of drag (I have tickets to a big drag show at the Imperial Theatre next month!), and this video explores the history of drag through a feminist lens.  Whether you are a fan of drag; whether you are curious about drag; whether the thought of drag makes you feel uncomfortable - you will probably appreciate this video.  You can watch it by clicking here.

Blessings to you and yours, today and always!

Kate.

Rev. Kate Jones

Two Rivers Pastoral Charge

(506) 757-2201 (office)

(506) 343-1307 (mobile)

www.tworiverspastoralcharge.com

Pronouns:  she/her/hers

"Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the law?"

Jesus replied, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: "You must love your neighbour as you love yourself."

(Matthew 22:36-39)