Signs of Life, Lent 2020 – COMMUNITY

March 29 Community John 11:1-45. Story of Lazarus. Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die

Links

1. Video

2. Community Homily  from Matthew 18:15-22 Rev. Becky Zartman

“We stand up, in front of God and a community of people, and make a promise that we are going to love someone for who they are, no matter what.

“Love in community is heartbreaking work. Our hearts will be broken. We will hurt the people we have promised to love, and they will hurt us. Pain is inevitable. We will discover that those whom we promised to love are not who we thought they were, and even worse, we will discover that we are not who we thought we were. Being in loving relationship means that the truth of our very selves will be revealed.

“God calls us to community for the sake of conversion: our own conversion, the conversion of others, and the transformation of our world. Who is your community, and how are you being transformed?”

3. Br. Jonathan Maury, SSJE, SSJE

“Community is so important because it reflects the nature of God. Community is God’s way of acting in us and through us. God draws us into community for our own well-being, because in community our rough edges begin to rub up against those of others, and we are gradually transformed. Community is the place where we come to understand more deeply our need for God – how much we need God and others – to become the persons that God dreamed us to be in the first place. We can’t do that alone; it’s always with others. And it comes through the friction, and the intimacy, that we experience in community.”

4. Activities

March 29 – Worship in community today. Watch “Signs of Life: Community” video.
March 30 – Read the Prayer attributed to St. Francis (BCP 833). Sit silently. Invite God to speak through this reading.
March 31 – Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches.” Who is your community?
April 1 – Invite silence into all your interactions today
April 2 – Call a friend just to catch up
April 3 – Contact a local elected representative. Talk to them about a vulnerable
group in your community
April 4 – Have fun with friends today. Be joyful