It's time to take your Christmas tree down. No, really. It's time. Many Episcopalians view keeping the tree up through Epiphany as a badge of honor. Those who leave it up through the Feast of the Presentation say, "If it's good enough for the royal family, it's good enough for me." If you just want to celebrate the incarnation by keeping the tree up for the entire Season after Epiphany, then more power to you. There's nothing wrong with any of these choices. But that all needs to end on Tuesday. In the next few days, the liturgical year will shift from incarnation to passion, so I'm afraid the tree has got to go.

This Sunday is the moment in the church calendar when the incarnation cycle (Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany) meets the resurrection cycle (Lent, Holy Week and Easter.) This Sunday is the Last Sunday after the Epiphany. This Sunday, we remember the moment when Christ's dual-nature was made manifest in the most awe-inspiring way: the transfiguration. Of course, the transfiguration is the perfect lesson for this weekend because it happens at an inflection point in Christ's ministry, where he winds down his ministry as an itinerant preacher and turns toward Jerusalem, toward the cross. While we want to stay and glory in the majesty of the transfiguration, we too must turn our faces toward the cross. Lent will be here before we know it: Wednesday, in fact.

On Ash Wednesday, between the sermon and the imposition of ashes, the presider will read a brief exhortation about the forty days that follow Ash Wednesday. The priest will say, "I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word." Last year in Lent, we leaned into the part about prayer, fasting, and self-denial, working through Richard Fosters book, A Celebration of Discipline. This year, our parish's Lenten focus be reading and meditating on God's holy Word.

At 10:15 on Sunday mornings, the clergy will be joined by guests including Rabbi Andrew Paley from Temple Shalom and our own Dr. Roy Heller to discover how certain key theological themes are presented in scripture. And then on Wednesday evenings at 7:00, you will have the opportunity to use illuminations from The Saint John's Bible to reflect more deeply on those themes. For example, on March 12, Roy will give a presentation on Sin in the Bible and on the following Wednesday, volumes of The Saint John's Bible will be placed in different rooms around the church, open to particular illuminations that deal with Sin. You will be able to go from room to room and use the text and the art to read and meditate on God's holy Word.

To better prepare you for these exercises, we have a special guest who will join us on March 1, the first evening of our Lenten programming. Tim Ternes, the director of The Saint John's Bible program, will give a wonderful presentation on the Bible, its creation and curation, and the layers of meaning found on each page. When a group from the Fig visited St. John's Abbey last May, we were captivated by his presentation, and we can't wait for all of you to meet him.

One additional guest who will join us this Lent is the Rev. Dr. Sam Wells. Fr. Wells is a priest in the Church of England, the current vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in central London, former professor and Dean of the Chapel at Duke Divinity School, and a prolific author and speaker. On Sunday, March 12 at 5:00 p.m., he will give a talk and lead a discussion on how the Beatitudes are central to the Christian life. We are very fortunate that he is able to be with us this Lent and I hope that you will integrate his words into your own Lenten devotion.

There's far too much going on the coming weeks for one E-News article, so I hope you will be attentive to all the opportunities to observe a holy Lent this year.

See you at church!

Ted+