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Parish Newsletters

Our Saviour Parish News, April, 2019

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OUR SAVIOUR LUTHERAN CHURCH
in the City of Baltimore

APRIL,  2019

HOLY WEEK & EASTER SERVICES
Palm Sunday — 11:00 A.M. Divine Service with Distribution of Palms
Maundy Thursday — 7:30 P.M. Divine Service and Stripping of the Altar
Good Friday — 7:30 P.M. The Liturgy of Good Friday
Easter Eve — 7:30 P.M. The Easter Vigil and First Holy Eucharist of Easter
Easter Day — 11:00 A.M. Festival Divine Service

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I am glad to say that our Wednesday Lenten Vespers this year have been well attended and the soup suppers which precede Vespers certainly much enjoyed. Many thanks to everyone who had a hand in preparing these enjoyable meals!

As this newsletter is sent out we are approaching the concluding days of the Lenten season. The first Sunday in April is the Fifth Sunday in Lent, sometimes referred to as Passion Sunday, the Sunday when it was customary in many places to cover the crosses and crucifixes in purple veils for the last two weeks of Lent. The reason for this veiling is that in Christ’s passion His glory was hidden from human sight. There is some reason to think that the Fifth Sunday in Lent was chosen as the time to do this because of the concluding words of the Gospel (John 8:46-59) which from ancient times has been read on this Sunday: “So they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple” (John 8:59).

Every Christian knows that Holy Week and Easter are the heart of the Christian Year: the death and resurrection of our Lord are the ground of all our life and hope. Unless hindered by illness or by the need to care for someone or by the requirements of an employer, everyone should make the effort to be present in God’s house on the day of the Savior’s death for our salvation. Here at Our Saviour the Liturgy of Good Friday is as usual celebrated at seven-thirty in the evening. But if you wish to attend a service during the day, you can go to the Tre Ore Service (12:00 Noon-3:00 P.M.) in Bethlehem Church at 4815 Hamilton Avenue. Pastors of our Synod’s churches will preach on the seven last words of Jesus. No one is expected to remain for the whole three hours; come when you can and leave when you must. But do make the effort to join your fellow Christians on Good Friday in pondering and giving thanks for your Savior’s costly love!

Although the Easter Vigil, celebrated on Easter Eve, remains a somewhat unfamiliar service, it is in fact the oldest Easter celebration of the Church. In ancient times Christians gathered in the night before Easter Day for the baptism of converts to the faith, their baptism being preceded by readings from the Old Testament Scriptures which all point forward to the Lord’s resurrection to which we are joined in the waters of baptism. Saint Paul writes: “You were buried with (Christ) in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him” (Colossians 2:12). Because this service was held during the night it began with the kindling of fire and the lighting of the Paschal (Easter) Candle which then burns throughout the Easter season until on Ascension Day it is extinguished following the reading of the Gospel which tells of how in His ascension the risen Lord withdrew His visible presence from us. The Vigil concludes with the celebration of the first Holy Eucharist of Easter in which the risen Lord truly comes to us in the Sacrament of His life-giving Body and Blood. Our good friend Pastor Roy Axel Coats of Redeemer Church in Irvington will as usual be with us as the celebrant and preacher. Beginning in darkness, the Vigil moves forward into the light and joy of the Day of Resurrection.

When the forty days of the Easter season are completed the Paschal Candle is placed next to the baptismal font and lit whenever there is a baptism. At funerals it burns near the casket as a sign of the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.

I believe that the visit to our former church building on Saturday, March 9th was much enjoyed by everyone who participated. From its founding in 1892 until 1919 our congregation worshiped in this building which since then has been the home of Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church. We were graciously welcomed by several members of Holy Trinity and their pastor, Father John Vass, who explained the teachings and practice of their church. For me the highlight of the visit was seeing the large and wonderful painting of the risen Lord which hung over the altar of the church throughout the time our congregation worshiped there. When our congregation moved to its present location, the painting was given to Holy Trinity. We learned that it in fact continued to hang over their altar until 1975. Holy Trinity this year celebrates its centennial; I have been invited to attend its centennial celebration on Saturday, May 4th. It is interesting to note that our old church building is just one block east of what was at one time Saint Mark’s Lutheran Church where Don Weber, our organist emeritus, grew up and learned to play the organ.

On Saturday, April 13th, we will be having a Clean Up Day from 10 0’clock until 12 noon to prepare the church for Holy Week, Easter, and this year’s Saint Mark’s Conference which takes place on April 29th and 30th. “Many hands make light work” – so do join us if you are able! Information about the Saint Mark’s Conference can be found on our church’s website.

Palm Sunday is the deadline for sending in money for the Easter lilies together with the names of those you wish to be honored or remembered.

I look forward to seeing you every Lord’s Day and especially on Easter Day when we shall again with great joy celebrate the Lord’s resurrection. Let us continue to remember one another in our prayers!

Affectionately in our Lord,

Pastor McClean

WORKS OF MERCY

On April I, 2019, Mary Techau and I delivered socks, underwear, deodorant, body power, shaving cream, toothbrushes, toothpaste and other assorted grooming items to Helping Up Mission. The gifts were purchased by individual members, and other gifts were purchased from monies collected from the two poor boxes. While we have always asked for grooming gifts for men at Helping Up Mission, we have just learned that the Mission also operates a 20-bed, 3- month, recovery facility for homeless and alcoholic women. The women’s facility is housed at a separate location. In addition, the Mission is in the process of expanding its outreach to vulnerable women and their children. The Mission informed us that plans are well on the way to build a Women and Children’s shelter in the immediate vicinity of the present location.

Fund raising started with the launch of the “Inspiring Hope Campaign” with a fund-raising goal of $61,OOO.OOO; the construction goal has already reached the half way mark. The building is expected to be up and operational in the next 2 years. In the meantime, we will continue to provide essential grooming items for the 580 plus men, and now women. The small gifts which we give from our plenty, will go a long way in uplifting hope and building confidence in the spiritual recovery of those who are the least of these. Thank you for helping the Mission to save and change lives in the City of Baltimore.

Men who have completed the one-year Spiritual Recovery Program will celebrate the occasion at The Annual Graduation Banquet on Sunday, April 28, at Martin’s West on Dogwood Rd. in Baltimore. The program will feature a meal, stories of hope from the graduates and music from the HUM Choir. Tickets are available at $85 per person

– Quilla Downs

Gate of Heaven

Oculi, The Third Sunday in Lent

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gate-of-heaven-violet-1024x1024Oculi

The Third Sunday in Lent
March 24, 2019 AD

Old Testament:  Exodus 8:16-24
Epistle: Ephesians 5:1-9
Gospel: Luke 11:14-28

Click here to listen and subscribe to Pastor McClean’s sermons on iTunes.

“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”   Luke 11:23

When you were baptized and when you were confirmed you were asked, “Do you renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways?” And you answered – either through your godparents at our baptism or you yourself answered at your confirmation – with the single word “Yes.” “Do you renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways? Yes.” A simple answer to a simple question! But what follows in not simple at all for by answering that question with a “Yes” you in fact enlisted as a soldier in the battle with Satan and his legions, a battle which never ends until we leave this present world and like the poor beggar Lazarus are carried by angels into the paradise of God. “Do you renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways? Yes.” A simple answer to a simple question, but the living out of that answer is the work of a lifetime.

In the Gospel for the this day Jesus speaks of the work of Satan by means of a comparison, an illustration. He says, “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe, but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil.” Satan is like that strong man, fully armed, guarding his own palace, his goods safe – until one stronger that he attacks and overcomes him. What our Lord is saying is this: By nature you and I and every human being who has ever lived is a palace or castle of the evil one, a place where he swells and does all the mischief he can. As long as God permits this, Satan has his own way. There is no struggle, no distress, no misgiving of conscience – people go contentedly down the broad way which leads to destruction. This is that full power of Satan which Saint Paul speaks when he writes of those who are “without God in the world,” and, worst of all, not even aware of their plight.

From this condition the merciful Lord delivers us when we are brought to Holy Baptism and there made a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. Says Saint Paul, “God has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.” God did that for each one of you when you were baptized, when you in fact renounced the devil and all his works and all his ways. But the struggle to live out the renunciation goes on as long as we live – just as we learned in the Catechism: Baptism “signifies that the Old Adam in us should through daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires and again a new person comes forth who shall live before God in righteousness and purity forever.”

Every day of our lives, every moment, we are caught up in that struggle between the power of Satan and the power of Christ. “Whoever is not with Me is against Me,” says the Lord Jesus, “and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” There can be no neutrality! “Do you renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways? Yes.”

In the Epistle for this day Saint Paul spells out something of what that means for our daily lives, what if means to be WITH Christ rater than against HIM. Paul says, “Be imitators of God as beloved children,” the point being that just as little children who love their parents will try to be like them as much as they can, just so we as the children of God try to be like the heavenly Father, we know in His Son Jesus. Paul then immediately adds: “And walk in love as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Anything that contradicts love contradicts Christ, is against Christ. And so we are called to love the human beings God places in our lives. And that isn’t always an easy thing! It is so much easier to be indifferent and ignore people or even respond in kind when they do us harm. “Christ loved us and gave himself for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” If there is someone you find it hard to forgive, picture in your mind the crucified Savior, and then picture yourself on one side of His cross an this difficult person on the other, and listen to the Savior as He prays, “Father, forgive them…” Whoever is not WITH Me is AGAINST Me and whoever does not GATHER with Me scatters.”

The world in which the Lord’s apostles lived and worked was a world no less decayed than our own. The cities of that time were in fact notorious havens for vice of every description And so Paul admonishes the Christians in Ephesus: “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you…Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking which are out of place.” And Paul hastens to add: “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

But it is never enough to avoid what is wrong in the eyes of God, it is also necessary to replace what is wrong with what is pleasing in God’s eyes. How we need to take to heart the words Saint Paul addressed to the Christians in the city of Phillipi! “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, it there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

“Whoever is not WITH me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” Our Lord clearly teaches that in the battle with Satan and with sin there can be no neutrality. These are the words of the Son of God who will come to be our Judge and they speak to the conscience of every one of us. No doubt some may find it hard to accept them, just as it is hard, very hard to bring home to ourselves that although we cannot save ourselves – only God can do that – we are in fact mysteriously free to damn ourselves. And from that fate may God in His mercy save us all!

He is the merciful Lord who, as Saint John writes, appeared “to destroy the works of the devil.” We heard in the Gospel, that when Jesus was accused of casting out devils with the help of the Prince of the devils, He replied: “If I by the finger of God cast out devils, the kingdom of God has come upon you.” God’s kingly rule of compassion, mercy and that “love to the loveless shown what we might lovely be.” In Jesus’ struggle with Satan in the wilderness, in His life of perfect obedience to the Father’s will, in His precious pouring out His life-blood to cleanse us from the stain of all our sins, Satan has met his match: the Savior had defeated Him, the decisive battle has been won. And now we but await the unveiling of His victory on that Last and Great Day when the world as we now know it will come to its end and the risen Lord of Love will make all things new. That new world dawned from the open tomb when the Lord rose victorious from the dead, the triumph we shall soon again celebrate with great joy.

Gate of Heaven

Reminiscere Midweek Vespers

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gate-of-heaven-violet-1024x1024Reminiscere Midweek Vespers

March 20, 2019 AD

Psalm 51
Matthew 26:57-75
THE PASSION AND THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
The Third and Fourth Commandments

Just before He died on the cross the Lord Jesus spoke that word which the bystanders no doubt understood as an admission of defeat but which was in fact Jesus’ cry of victory: “It is finished!” meaning “It is accomplished, it is completed!” And if we ask, “What is finished? What is accomplished? What is completed?” the answer is this: our Lord ‘s work of perfect love for His Father, His perfect love for this lost and fallen world. That Jesus lived a life of perfect love for His Father is seen in His perfect obedience to the Father’s will, humbling Himself even to the death of the cross. That Jesus lived a life of perfect love for this lost and fallen world is seen in His praying even for those who had brought His cruel death, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” A life of perfect love for the Father, a life of perfect love for this lost and fallen world: This is what is finished, accomplished, completed as the Lord Jesus bows His head and dies.

On these Lenten evening this year we’re meditating on the Ten Commandments in the light of Jesus’ passion and death.

We remember that when Jesus was asked, “Which is great commandment in the Law? He replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In these words Jesus summarizes the Ten Commandments: the first ‘THREE commandments require love for God, the remaining SEVEN require love for the fellow human beings God has placed in our lives. But even these last seven also have to do with the love of God. For since they are commandments given by God, fulfilling them, keeping them, not disobeying them expresses love for God

This evening we reflect briefly on the Third and Fourth Commandments.

The Third Commandment is “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.” And in the Catechism Dr. Luther explains this third commandment in this way. “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His word but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.”

Jesus truly lived from the written Word of God. When tempted in the wilderness He defeated Satan with the Word of God: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. You shall not tempt the Lord your God. You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.” And as Jesus lived so also He died. As His life drew to a close the Word of God was on his lips. For on the cross He prays in the words of the 22nd Psalm, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?” and from the words of the 31st Psalm, “Into your hands I commend my spirit.” The Lord Jesus not only prayed to the Father: in the most real sense His whole life was prayer, communion with the Father, and so perfect love for Him.

The Fourth Commandment is “Honor your father and your mother.” And in the Catechism we learn that this means: “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.” Saint John tells us in His Gospel that Jesus, “having loved His own who were in the world loved them to the end.” And so as He is dying on the cross Jesus says to Mary His mother, “Woman, behold your son,” and to John, “Behold your mother.” Here we see how our Lord provides for His mother by entrusting her to the care of John the beloved disciple. And we see in this the pattern of love for parents which God requires of us all — not always easy, but never, ever to be regretted!

But from the cross our Savior not only provides a home for His mother. In a deeper sense He provides a home for every lost and lonely child of Adam’s race — by bringing into being that holy family, His one holy Church, gathered together by the blood and water which flowed from His pierced side as He handed over the Spirit: the water of Holy Baptism, the blood of the Holy Sacrament, and in both of them the gift of the Holy Spirit. In that magnificent 68th Psalm which sings of the triumphal progress of the children of Israel in their wilderness wanderings the psalmist sings: “A father of the fatherless and a defender of the widow is God in His holy habitation: God sets the solitary in families.” And how does God do this? Through that CRUCIFIED Body born of Mary, gathering forgiven sinners into His MYSTICAL Body the Church, the whole company of His faithful people in heaven and on earth. And as Jesus in His death not only provided a home for His mother but an eternal home for every human being His love calls into being, so you and I who are already by our Baptism members of that blessed company of all faithful people are called to WELCOME into Christ’s family those who have yet to know His mercy and His grace.

Saint John wrote: “If you KNOW these things, blessed are you if you DO them.” May we then take to heart all we have been shown from God’s holy Word so that together with Christ’s blessed Mother and all saints we may forever rejoice in the unveiled presence of Him who died but is alive forevermore and has the keys of death and the grave!

Click here to listen and subscribe to Pastor McClean’s sermons on iTunes.

Gate of Heaven

Invocabit Midweek Vespers

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gate-of-heaven-violet-1024x1024Invocabit Midweek Vespers

March 13, 2019 AD

Psalm 141
Matthew 26:30-56
THE TEN COMMANDMENT AND THE PASSION
In the ancient Church, these forty days Of Lent were a time for the final instruction of those who would be baptized at Easter. And so Lent has been a season in which the Church was occupied with the Catechism. Lent is also the time of year when the Church meditates on the passion of our Lord. And so this year, the theme of these Wednesday evening Lenten services is “The Ten Commandments and the Passion of Jesus.” We will see how in His passion (as in His whole life,) the Lord Jesus perfectly fulfilled the will of God, kept the Law of God perfectly, suffered and died for all our sins of thought, word, and deed.

Now we remember how God first revealed His Law to Moses in written form, the Ten Commandments on the two stone tablets. But long before that, in fact from the very beginning of the human story, God’s Law was written on the heart of every human being. Saint Paul puts this so clearly when he writes in his Letter to the Church at Rome, “When the Gentiles which have not the Law do by nature what the Law required,…they show that what the Law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them.” And so we see that God’s Law is written not only on two tablets of stone but also on the heart of every human being. And this Law of God is no arbitrary code but simply reflects the way we’ve been fashioned by our Creator.

An illustration I often use in confirmation class is this, that God’s Law is like the little manual that comes with a new car. It tells you what to do and what not to do if you don’t want your car to become a wreck! The owner’s manual isn’t arbitrary but comes from the company that made the car and knows what needs to happen if the car is to be in good running order. Well, you might say that the Ten Commandments are something like your car’s owner’s manual. God is our Maker and so He knows how we are to live if we are to avoid all kinds of trouble, even disaster.

This evening we consider the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods” which means “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things” and the Second Commandment, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God” which means that “We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise and give thanks.

“You shall have no other gods…” We remember how our first parents and we like them really want to be our own God, ourselves the arbiter of good and evil, right and wrong. Saint Paul tells us that our Lord did not think of equality with God as something to be grasped but emptied Himself, taking on the form of the perfectly obedient Son and Servant of the Father, humbled Himself even to the death of the cross. The words of the psalmist were perfectly fulfilled in Jesus. The psalmist sings, “Then said I, ‘Lo, I have come to do THY will, O God’… and by that WE have been sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all.”

God cares about His name as we learn in the Second Commandment “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God” and God-in-the-flesh taught us to pray, “Hallowed be Thy name,” a prayer which may be paraphrased as “May Your name be kept holy, May Your name be held in reverence.” But to listen to people talk today – to say nothing of the blasphemies regularly heard on television and in the movies, patterns of speech which even pollute the lives of our little children – you would think that the Second Commandment has become nothing more than an empty form.

It is both amazing and saddening how widespread the misuse of God’s name, even the holy name of Jesus, has become even among professing Christians – all this a symptom of the collapse of any real sense of the majesty and holiness of Him who made and redeemed us. A wise pastor of the Church had this to say: “God’s name must not be profaned in speech… We cannot drag God’s name in the mud of our dirty discourse without undermining in ourselves, and in those who hear us, reverence for God Himself.” There is much to ponder here and perhaps much to repent of.

Jesus is the perfectly obedient Son of the Father. During His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane He prays, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not MY will but THINE be done” and then goes forward to His bitter passion, the perfectly meek and humble Lamb of God, the perfectly trusting Son of the Father, praying with His final breath, “FATHER into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” Jesus’ whole life had in fact been an expression of His dying words, “Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.” “Father, I place my life in Your hands.” He did not curse those who betrayed Him, arrested Him, unjustly condemned Him, flogged Him, and crucified Him, but instead prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He continues to call upon His heavenly Father both in Gethsemane and on the cross.

And all of this He did and suffered for you. He did suffered for me. HIS obedience makes good for OUR disobedience. HIS perfect love makes good for OUR imperfect love, HIS perfect trust makes good for OUR imperfect trust. His HOLY life He gives in exchange for OUR sinful life. And so nothing stands between us and the judgment of God. In His suffering Christ our Lord has suffered the judgement of God for all our sins and so we live in the happy freedom of those who know that “There is now no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus.”

The whole human race fell in Adam’s fall, the whole human race is restored through the perfect obedience of Him who is the Second Adam. Says Saint Paul, “As one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one Man’s act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all.” And that acquittal is yours and mine not through any effort on our part but through simple trust in God’s sure promise that this is so!

Click here to listen and subscribe to Pastor McClean’s sermons on iTunes.

Parish Newsletters

Our Saviour Parish News, March, 2019

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OUR SAVIOUR LUTHERAN CHURCH
in the City of Baltimore

MARCH,  2019

ASH WEDNESDAY
Wednesday, March 6
Soup Supper, 6:30 PM
DIVINE SERVICE
with imposition of ashes
7:30 PM

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This coming Sunday is the last of the three Sundays of preparation for the coming of Lent. With these Sundays there begins the “Easter Cycle” of the Church Year which consists of these three pre-Lenten Sundays, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost. Every Lord’s Day in the year is of course a celebration of Christ’s resurrection – that is why we worship on Sunday and not some other day – but Easter Day is the Feast of Feasts, the Holy Day of Holy Days. In the English language we call the season of preparation for Easter “Lent.” The word Lent comes from an old English word, “lencten,” which means “spring” and refers to the lengthening days at this season of the year. Just as earth comes to life after the death of winter, so also the Lenten season is a time of spiritual renewal through reading and meditating on God’s Word, through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. In Christ’s Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:2-21) it is very clear that our Lord expects His followers to devote themselves to all three not because God needs our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving but because we do if we are to be ever more closely conformed to the image of the Savior, We pray in response to God’s command and His promise that our prayers are heard, we fast because our bodily appetites – though good in themselves – are disordered through sin, we give alms as a weapon against selfishness, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus how He said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35) and also because of the enormous need that meets us on every hand. Following my letter you will find reports from Quilla Downs and Judy Volkman about our congregation’s support of the GEDCO food cupboard and the Helping Up Mission. Support of these fine works of mercy is indeed a form of “almsgiving.”

Lent has always been a time when Christians devote themselves to meditation on our Savior’s suffering and death. This year the theme of the sermons at the Wednesday Lenten Vespers will be “The Ten Commandments and the Passion.” We will meditate on how in His passion Jesus fulfilled the will of God and suffered for our disobedience to that will so that we might not perish but have eternal life.

The flowers that usually adorn the chancel are in a real sense a festive kind of thing. During Lent flowers will be omitted; you might say that we will “fast” from them. And the Church has from ancient times omitted the joyous “Alleluia” during Lent; we “fast” from that too. But we’ll not only “fast” in this way but we will have one additional item in the Sunday Divine Service. In the ancient Church Lent was the time for the intensive preparation of the catechumens for Baptism and Holy Communion. Lent continued to be a time for attention to the Catechism. And so on the Sundays in Lent we will – just before the Sermon – recite one of the Six Chief Parts of Luther’s Small Catechism. I am afraid that for so many of us the Catechism is something once learned in confirmation class and then more or less forgotten. That is not as it should be! Dr. Luther says:

I do as a child who is being taught the Catechism. Every morning, and whenever else I have time, I read and recite word for word the Lord’s Prayer, the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Psalms, etc. I must still read and study the Catechism daily, yet I cannot master it as I wish, but must remain a child and pupil of the Catechism and I do it gladly.

By the way, we in fact review one of the Six Chief Parts of the Catechism every Sunday morning at the beginning of the adult Bible Class which meets at 9:45 A.M. The class is quite informal, questions and discussion being very much encouraged! We are at present studying Saint Mark’s Gospel. As we approach Easter we will be looking at the Old Testament lessons which are read at the Easter Vigil. Come join us! Adding this class to your Sunday morning might in fact be a useful Lenten discipline, Lent being a time for more intense meditation on the Holy Scriptures. I should also mention that on Sundays during Lent and throughout the Easter season the liturgy will be Divine Service I in the Lutheran Service Book. This is in fact the familiar service from the old blue hymnal. Throughout the Lenten season we will be singing a wonderful Communion hymn, “Now, My Tongue, the Mystery Telling, Of the Glorious Body Sing.” It is a hymn which expresses and also rejoices in the great mystery of the Real Presence of our Lord’s Body and Blood in the Sacrament of the Altar. The words are by Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). The tune comes from nineteenth century France. I believe that we will grow to love and treasure this hymn.

Our Saviour Church worshiped at 1723 East Fairmount Avenue (near Johns Hopkins Hospital) from its founding in 1892 until in 1919 the congregation moved to our present location. In 1919 Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church purchased the building and still worships there, this year celebrating its 100th anniversary. A visit to our old church has been planned for Saturday, March 9th we’ll gather at Our Saviour at 3:30 P.M. and “car pool” from here. Holy Trinity still possesses the painting of the risen Lord which hung over the altar at our old Church. I very much look forward to seeing it. Please phone (410.554.9994) or email me (Charles.McClean42@gmail.com) if you need a ride or wish to go on this visit.

I hope to see you every Lord’s Day and hope you will come to the Lenten services on Wednesday evening. Please remember me in your prayers; you are in mine.

Affectionately in our Lord,

Pastor McClean

LENTEN SOUP SUPPERS

Thank you to all who signed up. Please join us as we enjoy fellowship and a delicious meal at 6:30pm. Lenten service at 7:30pm.

3/6         Bernie/Julia        Calico Bean Soup
3/13       Judy                       Chicken Corn Soup
3/20       Quilla                     Black Bean Soup
3/27       Merton                Smoked Turkey and Black-eyed Pea Soup
4/3         The Ushers         Chicken Noodle Soup
4/10       Denitta/Mary      Crab Soup and Italian Wedding Soup

WORKS OF MERCY

CARES food contributions: Arrangements have been made with CARES to pick up our food contributions, thanks to the connection Quilla Downs made with them, We will continue to collect food items and Judy Volkman will inform them when we have enough items to go to them. The cupboard is bare right now, so donations are most welcome.

– Judy Volkman

As was reported earlier, we did not make a delivery to Helping Up Mission during Christmas because there were so few grooming items in the box. We will be making our regular spring delivery in March. In order to make the spring delivery, we really need more grooming gifts. The needs of the men remain the same, donations of tooth paste, tooth brushes, foot power, shaving cream, lotion, socks, underwear, deodorant, wash cloths, etc. In addition to your personal gifts, grooming items are purchased with loose change and monies collected from the churches’ two Poor Boxes. As we deliver these essential, yet inexpensive, items to the men at Helping Up Mission, we know that our efforts have a positive and restorative impact, and that we are truly giving to the least of these. Many thanks for your grooming gifts and for your compassion towards our recovering brothers at Helping up Mission.

– Quilla Downs

Parish Newsletters

Our Saviour Parish News, February, 2019

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OUR SAVIOUR LUTHERAN CHURCH
in the City of Baltimore

FEBRUARY,  2019

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I think that everyone who attended last Sunday afternoon’s service of Epiphany Lessons and Carols will agree that it was a wonderful occasion. John Igoe, who has often served as substitute organist here, sent me an email saying, “I had the opportunity to attend Sunday’s service, and it was just beautiful. Four voices in the choir filled the church with prayer, and we in the congregation did our part! This was the first time I’ve heard the organ from the nave and it really sounds fine.” I thoroughly agree! And so I wish to thank everyone who contributed to this fine occasion. Paul Techau took leadership in making this happen, arranging to have as guest organist Matthew Machemer who is organist and choirmaster at our Synod’s Fort Wayne Seminary. Merton Masterson warmly welcomed the worshipers. Jamera Hawkins served as acolyte, Gabe Purviance and Eugene James served as ushers. Paul Techau and Marie Herrington, together with David Sexton and Lisa Parente, who are students at the Peabody Conservatory, formed the choir. As John Igoe wrote, “Four voices in the choir filled the church with prayer.” I also wish to thank Mary Techau, Bernie Knox, and Scott Jones who prepared the delightful reception which followed the service.

Yes, we do have a very fine organ and in Marie we have a very fine organist. But the mechanism for playing the bells in the tower has been broken for several months. We need to raise money to have this fixed. If you wish to contribute, simply mark your check “Tower Bell Fund.” We are fortunate to have these wonderful bells which both enrich our worship and are also a witness to the community around our Church.

There are just two more Sundays in this season of Epiphany when we celebrate the appearing of the Lord Jesus in the flesh as God and Savior of the world. The Last Sunday after Epiphany is kept as the Feast of the Transfiguration. In the transfiguration our Lord revealed the glory that is His with the Father from all eternity; it is in a real sense the greatest epiphany in Christ’s earthly life.

The Last Sunday after Epiphany marks the end of the Christmas Cycle of the Church Year: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany. The following Sunday marks the beginning of the Easter Cycle: Lent, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost. Three Sundays with curious names prepare for Lent itself: Septuagesima, Sexagesima, Quinquagesima. These Latin names mark the nearness of Easter: seventy, sixty, fifty days. Already on these pre-Lenten Sundays the word Alleluia is omitted from our worship. On the Last Sunday after Epiphany we have a kind of “farewell to Alleluia” – until Easter Day – singing the 11th century hymn, “Alleluia Song of Gladness”:

Alleluia cannot always be our song while here below;
Alleluia, our transgressions make us for a while forego;
For the solemn time is coming when our tears for sin must flow.

Lent itself begins on Wednesday, March 6th. We will as usual have our Wednesday Lenten Vespers preceded by soup suppers. This year Mary Techau will be in charge of coordinating all this.

On Wednesday, February the Church Council will meet with our City Councilwoman, Mary Pat Clark, and with Shane Bryan, the president of the Ednor Gardens – Lakeside Association. They will present to the Council ways in which our buildings might be used to meet needs in our community.

Let us continue in prayer for one another. Pray also for peace and tranquility here in this city, in our country and throughout the world!

Affectionately in our Lord,

Pastor McClean

VOTERS MEETING – FEBRUARY 3 AFTER DIVINE SERVICE

THE BELLS OF OUR SAVIOUR

You may have noticed that our lovely tower bells have not played recently. We have attempted to have the bells repaired, but the mechanism is 60 years old and is in need of a complete renovation. McShane, the company that installed our bells, has given us an estimate of about $20,000 to do the work. We are continuing to research approaches for the renovation, but in preparation, we have begun a special fund for the repairs in order to return the cherished bells to working order for decades to come. Please mark your donation for “Tower Bells.”
– Mary Techau

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Special Announcement – Divine Service Cancelled Jan 13, 2019

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We will unfortunately not be having Divine Service, January 13th (Baptism of our Lord), due to the snow storm. Stay home, read the Word, sing a hymn, and look forward to next Sunday when— Lord willing— we will gather around Christ’s gifts once more!

The Scripture readings for this Sunday are as follows:

  • Old Testament: Isaiah 42:1-7
  • Epistle: I Corinthians 1:26-31
  • Gospel: Matthew 3:13-17

The hymn of the day is “From God the Father, Virgin Born,” which is #401 in Lutheran Service Book and #74 in Lutheran Worship.

May God— the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit— give His holy angels charge over us and keep us all safe and warm during this time of inclement weather.