The Pattern of Our Days

“Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.” —The Collect for Proper 15 C

It is hard to believe that many of our children went back to school this week. We resume our own program year activities as well in the coming weeks. Please make sure you come to our ministry fair on August 24 at 9:15 a.m. to explore ways in which you might deepen your engagement at St. Mark’s.

Despite enjoying the pace of the summer months, I always appreciate the resumption the routine of the program year and I am particularly looking forward to our Rooted in Christ small group gatherings throughout the coming weeks. I hope you can take some time to attend one of these informal gatherings to reflect together on our common life.

When I arrived at St. Mark’s 11 years ago, we similarly gathered in small groups and I found the imagining we did together invaluable. At that time, we reflected on what were the gifts of our community, what hopes we had for the future, and what God was calling us to do. The last decade brought us many changes and it’s time to ponder those questions together again and think about the ways in which we might continue living out our core vocation of Feeding San Antonio with the Bread of Life. Smaller groups also allow for deeper connections with one another.

The pattern of our worship life is liturgical in nature. Liturgy means, “the work of the people.” We cannot do this work alone, as we learned in challenging ways during the pandemic. When we gather to praise God and offer prayers we are acting as Christ’s Body. All that flows from our Sunday worship in the succeeding weekdays is founded on that common prayer and our discipleship is rooted in that gathering at the altar.

This Sunday please come and learn more about our liturgy with a special “instructed” Eucharist. We will pause throughout worship and have special annotations in the bulletin explaining the historical and theological background of our liturgical rhythms. This can never fully explain the mystery of our worship together but intentional reflection of the theological intent of our prayer is deeply meaningful.

Another important aspect of our pattern of life is Christian formation. The Sunday after Labor Day at 9:15 a.m., we begin a year-long adult formation class on the ancient practice of the Catechumenate (appropriate for any stage of our own spiritual development). The Catechumenate assumes that working on questions of our faith yields deeper meaning when we do that work together. We also have multiple opportunities for Bible study throughout the week. 

Consider how the pattern of your own life might be enhanced by regularly attending a formation class in addition to our worship. Our life as Christians invites us to an awareness of just how much we rely on one another. My hope is that our common life at St. Mark’s is a lynchpin in your own experience of God. To whom and what we give our time matters deeply, and following in the patterning of Jesus Christ is a way that we choose to align ourselves with self-giving love.

Peace, Beth +