HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-03-01, Page 24PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2012.By Pastor Perry Chuipka
St. John’s and Trinity Anglican
Churches
Do you want a wonderful world?
Then give up something totally
different for Lent!
Here are the lyrics to Louis
Armstrong’s famous song, “What a
Wonderful World.”
“I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a
wonderful world.
I see skies of blue and clouds of
white
The bright blessed day, the dark
sacred night
And I think to myself what a
wonderful world.
The colours of the rainbow so
pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people
going by
I see friends shaking hands saying
how do you do
They’re really saying I love you.
I hear babies crying, I watch them
grow
They’ll learn much more than I’ll
never know
And I think to myself what a
wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a
wonderful world.”
Notice how Armstrong sees all the
positive things in life. No wonder he
sees a wonderful world. Isn’t this
what we all want....a wonderful
world?
It seems to me that the only way
we can have a wonderful world is if
we work towards it. Notice in the
song how people bring joy to others
by their faces and shaking hands
saying how do you do. When we
give up those negative things for
Lent that stop us from experiencing
joy in our world, then we can bring
hope to others.
Let me begin with this story: It is
Feb. 22, the third Friday of Lent, and
the faithful parishioner stumbles
through pouring rain past hamburger
huts and fried chicken houses
because he gave up fast food for
Lent. He sees a monastery and
requests shelter. He’s just in time for
dinner and they were serving of all
things, fish and chips. He looks up to
God and says this isn’t a fast food
place so I am sure I am not breaking
my Lenten discipline. He eats
everything on his plate and says,
“these are the best fish and chips I
have every had.”
After dinner, he goes into the
kitchen to thank the chefs. He’s met
by two brothers, “Hello, I’m Brother
Michael and this is Brother Francis.”
“I’m very pleased to meet you. I
just wanted to thank you for a
wonderful dinner. The fish and chips
were the best I’ve ever tasted. Out of
curiosity, who cooked what?”
Brother Michael replies, “Well, I’m
the fish friar.” The man turns to the
other brother and says, “Then you
must be . . .”
“Yes, I’m afraid I’m the chip
monk,” he responded.
Like the traveller in that story,
historically the church has taught
people during Lent to give up
something during that 40-day period
before Easter. This is seen as a good
discipline in order to reflect on your
life so that you can “repent” which
refers to change things in your life.
The things that people, including
myself, have often concentrated on
giving up, are things like chocolates,
desserts, food in general and the
material list goes on. Giving up
these things may well help the
individual to work towards a
healthier body but will they help the
larger corporate community?
I think giving up all these material
things reflects a time in the church
when we were only interested in the
individual’s need. Much like in the
days when the church prayed for
peace, it meant peace of mind,
solitude, a quiet life. However, today
when we pray for peace we are not
only thinking of individuals but also
the wider body of all the individuals
that make up the community. A
prayer for peace today, refers to no
war and violence towards your
neighbour, something we can all
work towards through our actions.
Which leads me to looking at
giving up something totally different
for Lent this year. What would
happen if Christians gave up things
like negative criticism, negative
comments, and cynicism to name
only a few. When I look at the words
in our prayer book for beginning the
lenten season these are the words
that it opens with, “May we keep
this Lenten season in preparation for
the joy of Easter”. I was always
taught that when you prepared for
something you worked at it. It seems
to me that throughout lent we should
be working on spreading the joy of
Easter. And what better way to do
that then to give up those things that
take away the joy in our life.... things
like negative criticism, negative
comments and cynicism. For me,
when we take these things away we
are working towards giving others
hope. Our present situation may be
THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH
CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS.
OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Brussels:
St. Ambrose
Saturday
6:00 p.m.
17 Flora Street
Wingham:
Sacred Heart
Sunday
9:00 a.m.
220 Carling Terrace
Listowel:
St. Joseph
Sunday
11:00 a.m.
1025 Wallace Avenue N.
Youre Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, March 4
Brussels Public School
at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Sunday School for children
4 to 11 years of age at 9:30 a.m.
Childcare provided for infants and
preschoolers during the sermon.
Coffee & cookies after the morning service
For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621
Steve Klumpenhower 519.887.8651 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
Chris McMichael 519.482.1644
BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE
UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
Sandra Cable, Worship Leader
Church Office 519-887-6259 E-mail - bepc@wightman.ca
Sunday, March 4
Ethel United Church
Worship Service and Sunday School - 9:30 a.m.
Brussels United Church
Worship Service and Sunday School - 11:00 a.m.
Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
Rev. Elwin Garland
SUNDAY, MARCH 4
Wheelchair accessible ~ Nursery care available
519-887-2664
10:00 am - Sunday Morning Worship
- Sunday School
250 Princess St., Brussels
Pastor Brent Kipfer
519-887-6388
www.bmfchurch.com
Guests Welcome
Jesus Is Lord!
Worship Service 10:00 am
Sunday School 11:15 am
Worship Service & Sunday School at 11 a.m.
CORNER OF DINSLEY & MILL STREETS
MINISTER
Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M. Div.
All Welcome
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed.OFFICE: 519-523-4224
MARCH 4 ~ GPS for Every Day
MARCH 11 ~ Trust is Life’s Oxygen
You’re Invited To Join Us In Worship
Hwy. 4, Blyth 519-523-4743
www.blythcrc.ca
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00 am
Evening Service 7:30 pm
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
St. Michael’s Cemetery Board
will be meeting on
Sunday, March 11
at 2:00 p.m.
at the residence of Mary & Maurice Hallahan
84407 Currie Line
All previous parishioners of the former St. Michael’s parish are welcome.
119 John’s Ave., Auburn
519-526-1131
www.huronchapel.org
Rev. Mark Royall, Sr. Pastor
9:25 a.m.
Sunday School for all ages
10:30 a.m
Morning Worship Service
What To
Do When
Life Hurts
Sermon Series
continues with
The Relationship Choice!
getlivingwater.org
Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848
Living Water
Christian Fellowship
March 4: Mark 8:31-38
10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School
at Blyth Public School,
corner of King & Mill
Tuesdays 7:30 pm - Wingham Bible Study
1st & 3rd Wednesdays 7:30 pm - Women At The Well
Evangelical Missionary Church
“Straight Talk about Suffering
& True Safety”
THIS FRIDAY
7:30 pm at
Memorial Hall:
“COURAGEOUS”
Watch the trailer at courageousthemovie.ca
Email: courageous@getlivingwater.org
for FREE tickets!
From the Minister’s StudyRevealing the secrets to a wonderful world
Continued on page 27