We Welcome You to 

The Church of the Good Shepherd 

(Episcopal)

680 Race Brook Road, Orange, Connecticut 06477 •  203-795-6577

RECTOR'S PAGE

Dear Friends,
As we move deeper into Lent we move towards the spring, which will arrive on the 21st. The days are getting longer. There is more light each day. We notice those days that smell like spring. We look for the first bulbs—the winter aconite and the crocus. It is still far too early to be thinking about leaves on the trees, but we find ourselves casting about for the greening of the grass. As we move through this month preparing for the “days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection,” we find ourselves looking for signs of God’s grace. They may be small or great. Sometimes like a mighty wind they buffet us. More often we seek God’s fingerprints with a magnifying glass. But always what we search for and find is God’s immense love for us. Palm Sunday is the last Sunday of the month followed by Holy Week. As we approach the passion (which means “suffering”) of our Lord Jesus, we can feel overwhelmed by the emotions that these events elicit. We join in the triumphant joy and hope of the entry into Jerusalem. We feel the intimacy and joy of the Last Supper, the horror of the Crucifixion. God is in it all. Every bit of it is about God’s love. For you, for me, for every soul on the planet.

     Here is Augustine of Hippo:
As they were looking on, so we too gaze on his wounds as he hangs. We see his blood as he dies. We see the price offered by the redeemer, touch the scars of his resurrection. He bows his head, as if to kiss you. His heart is made bare open, as it were in love to you. His arms are extended that he may embrace you. His whole body is displayed for your redemption. Ponder how great these things are. Let all this be rightly weighed in your mind: as he was once fixed to the cross in every part of his body for you, so he may now be fixed in every part of your soul.”

(Quoted in The Cross: An Anthology. Nelson Publishers)

We welcome to annual remembrance of these events not as spectators , but as participants. Let us give ourselves to this story, as God has given Jesus to us.

In Christ,

Bevan+

(The Reverend Dr.) E. Bevan Stanley

Interim Rector

Church email: thegoodshepherd@optimum.net 

Rector's email: bevanstanleyCGS@optonline.net