As our church garden bursts forth its springtime beauty, and the bees buzz happily among the flowers, we celebrate Rogation Days in the church calendar. These are the three days prior to Ascension Day (May 18, this year). A fifth-century bishop in France began the tradition of Rogation (from the Latin rogatio for “asking”) by mandating a period of fasting and prayer in order to stave off potential disasters. Rogation Days became associated with the planting season in England. The local vicar would lead a procession around the fields, blessing them by praying a litany and reciting psalms….

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He is also the gate to the sheepfold. The two roles are one. His relationship with us is not that of a user, but of a friend, one who nurtures us toward growth. Like sheep, we know the voice of Jesus, and we can tell his voice from that of a stranger, or someone who wants to lead us to a new doctrine. We know Jesus’ voice because His word is clear. He always call us to do good, to pray, to celebrate His presence and His grace. The stranger the narcissistic, the morally perverse are easy to identify. They tell us to look out for number one.

Today is the last day in Volunteer Appreciation Week. In recognition of the many, many people who give their time and their talents to Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen, we hosted a lunch for our volunteers this past Monday. It was a lovely event. The food was excellent. There were goody bags and t-shirts for everyone, and speeches of gratitude from Michael, Steve, Jay and me. To the delight of everyone in attendance, there was even a picture projected onto the video screen of Steve’s baby son. He was smiling and wearing a onesie that said “Future HASK Volunteer.”

Perhaps it is the effect of the (very) warm weather we are experiencing, but the first week of Eastertide – the period between Easter Sunday and Ascension Day – is feeling particularly festive to me this year. I hope the same is true for you as well.

As you know, during our Lenten preparation for Easter, we often focus particularly on spiritual practices such as fasting, praying, and meditating on scripture. With the arrival of the Paschal Feast, we may have been particularly eager to give up any fasting practice we took on! And we may have quickly let go of any other Lenten disciplines we practiced as well. And this is as it should be – the cycle of fasting and feasting is integral to the practice of our faith. The disciplines we take on during times of preparation set us up to enjoy periods of feasting that much more!…

This coming Sunday, Passion/Palm Sunday, we will remember and celebrate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. This day is bittersweet for us because even as we read of the celebration we know that Friday is coming. The cross is coming. We know that many in the crowd that greeted him with within a few short days exchange words of praise to words of death….

On Tuesday of this past week, the New York Times published an article titled Heartbeat May Shape Our Perception of Time, Study Shows. Time, as we know from our own experience (if not our reading/viewing of science fiction!) is a relative concept. Sometimes it seems to race past us, and we don’t know how we got to where we are so quickly (i.e. the advance of the holidays in the fall when we are an adult). Other times, not so much (i.e. the same time period when we are children, waiting for Christmas)….

We are getting to that point in Lent when you might be flagging in your chosen discipline. Whether you’ve given something up or taken on a particular spiritual practice you may be having trouble sustaining it these days. Or perhaps you’ve forgotten altogether and are getting a guilty jolt just now from reading this! No matter what your personal situation is, you may enjoy this twist on the old legend about St. Patrick, whom we celebrate today….