A number of years ago, a local artist, Kelmie Snider, created a series of paintings depicting the Stations of the Cross. During Lent every year since, they are displayed on the walls of our own New Brick. Although we are not gathering together in person for Stations of the Cross this year, we would like share those powerful works with you here; click on each for full-sized viewing. While viewing the works of art, you can listen to a wonderful audio reading of the Stations of the Cross. Both are provided below. We do have in-person and online services during Holy Week, and those details are on our website's Lent page - https://www.christchurchcolumbia.org/lent

Lord, you are the light This world desperately needs, Let our lamps keep burning bright So the lost may come to see The light of your love Burning brightly in our hearts, Chasing away the darkness, Revealing who you are So your glory may be seen In everything we do In our everyday happenings, May our lives acknowledge you No matter where you send us, Whatever land we're in, May your light pierce through the darkness Penetrating deep within To stir up deep desire To truly seek your face And come fully into your light And receive your saving grace. © By M.S.Lowndes

Today is Palm Sunday. Collect of the Day: Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Readings for today: Isaiah 50:4-9a Psalm 31:9-16 Philippians 2:5-11 Mark 15:1-39 Sermon for Today: Father Manny's Sermon text can be read here. Today's Worship Livestream: Today's service bulletin can be found here.

On weekdays during the season of Lent, we post daily meditations on our website, and on Sundays this year we include a piece of music, as well. These songs are submitted by parish family members and friends of Christ Church, and meant to uplift, comfort, and inspire. This week's song was submitted by our parishioner, Donna, and we hope that you enjoy. "Contemporary “Praise Songs” have long been a love of mine, playing quietly in my car as I drive; they inspire and center me, and this is the song I chose to share with you in this Lent. I believed that the lyrics were written by Chris Tomlin. I discovered, in researching the song that the words were first written in 1874 by Frances R. Havergil and it may, in fact, go back even farther to the early 1800s. They are a humble prayer to God." Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee. Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise. Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of Thy love. Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee. Take my voice and let me sing always, only for my King. Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from Thee. Take my silver and my gold not a mite would I withhold. Take my intellect and use every power as You choose. Take my will and make it Thine it shall be no longer mine. Take my heart it is Thine own it shall be Thy royal throne. Take my love, my Lord I pour at Your feet its treasure store Take myself and I will be ever, only, all for Thee. Take myself and I will be ever, only, all for Thee. Here am I, all of me. Take my life, it's all for Thee. May we walk humbly with our God.

Christ Church is open for in-person worship today, Palm Sunday, with three services: at 8 a.m. in Old Brick, and at 9 and 11 a.m. in New Brick. Attendance is limited for each, so if you wish to attend please complete our registration form at https://www.christchurchcolumbia.org/attend-holy-week and wear a mask at all times while on campus. You can also worship with us online this morning as we livestream Palm Sunday from New Brick at 9 and 11 a.m. Our broadcasts begin on the main page of the Christ Church website, as well as on our YouTube and Facebook pages (links are at the top of our website), a few minutes prior to the start of each worship. The service bulletin for Palm Sunday can be found at https://tinyurl.com/4efc9jub Be sure to view the Holy Week schedule on our website at https://www.christchurchcolumbia.org/lent and register to attend any of our Holy Week services at https://www.christchurchcolumbia.org/attend-holy-week

Spread the Word to Help the Hungry: Food Giveaway at Howard Community College Public-health students at Howard Community College are planning to hand out free food to the less fortunate in Howard County on two separate days about a month apart. As a part of a final course assignment, the students are collaborating with the Maryland Food Bank to distribute 350 free boxes of food and canned goods to those in need. The first distribution will be held Thursday, April 1st from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event is drive-through only (no walk-ins) at Parking Lot B, Howard Community College, 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, MD, 21044. The next distribution will be held Friday, April 30th, at the same place and at the same time. Please spread the word among yourselves and any others who would benefit from free food. No eligibility is required. Columbia Community Care Plans for Spring, Shares Future Aspirations The all-volunteer effort that came together in response to the pandemic, Columbia Community Care (CCC), reached its one-year anniversary on March 18th and has set ambitious goals for 2021. Meanwhile, it has some short-term plans to bring cheer to children in Howard County on Saturday, March 27th. CCC has called on members of the community to help children ages 3 to 11 years old get ready to welcome spring. Volunteers are adding a table to each of CCC’s three distribution sites that will offer gift bags and baskets for kids. The sites are open for distribution on Saturday, March 27th from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the following three locations: Stevens Forest Neighborhood Center, 6061 Stevens Forest Rd., Wilde Lake Interfaith Center, 10431 Twin Rivers Rd., and Long Reach Village Center, Suite 9, 8775 Cloudleap Ct., all in Columbia. Sue Sharff Castonguay, a member of the CCC group on Facebook, organized the giveaway and will personally prepare multiple bags. However, to make sure there is plenty to go around, parishioners and others are invited to put together medium-size bags or baskets. She suggests filling them with new items suitable for ages 3 to 11. Ideas include gender-neutral gifts and small toys, individual snacks, juice boxes, packaged candy (no loose or bulk candy), filled plastic eggs, stickers, play dough, slime, art supplies, markers, watercolors, face masks, and mini hand sanitizers. Parishioners can bring their bag or basket(s) to the yellow bin marked “CCC” located inside the entrance to the Parish Hall. To make sure the items get to the organizer’s preferred sites on time, a member of the Outreach Commission will coordinate with CCC. The Christ Church deadline for dropoff is today, March 26th by 2 p.m. At a recent Zoom session with Christ Church parishioners, the founder of CCC said its goal is to establish the Columbia Community Care Peace and Justice Center to address inequities in Howard County by empowering residents. Erika Strauss Chavarria, the founder, spoke to our Racially Aware Group of Episcopalians (R.A.G.E.). She said CCC is negotiating for a physical space where organizers would address systemic racism and other societal issues. The center would set up programming in four categories: food and sustainable farming, education and mentorship, workforce development, and health and healing. CCC is raising funds through its affiliated nonprofit organization, Equity4HC, and gathering signatures on a petition. To sign the petition or to read more about plans for the social justice center, go to the website for its petition drive. Separately, our Christ Church drive for CCC continues to seek diapers in all sizes and baby wipes, women’s sanitary care products, soaps, shampoo, deodorant, and other toiletries. Please put them in the yellow bin marked “CCC” any time on weekdays until 2 p.m., but we ask that you call the church office (410) 381-9365 to let them know when you are coming. Meanwhile, if you or others whom you know are in need of free groceries or items, go to the CCC website to find when its three distribution locations are open on Wednesdays and Saturdays in Wilde Lake, Long Reach and Oakland Mills. Or if you or others lack transportation, look for the button to request home delivery. Grassroots Offers QPR Training on March 29th to Help Save Lives Before the month ends, you can take advantage of a truly beneficial program offered by Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center. With offer members of the community a chance to learn skills that could help save a life from suicide. QPR stands for Question, Persuade, and Refer -- the three simple steps anyone can learn to help save lives, just as individuals trained in CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver learn what to do. Training will be offered for adults on Monday, March 29th, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. To register go here: To learn more, email amanda@grassrootscrisis.org to speak with Amanda Ganoe, the sessions’ organizer. The online seminar is free to Howard County residents, employees, or students, thanks to a grant from Horizon Foundation. For more information about this evidence-based practice, please visit qprinstitute.com. Donate Groceries for FISH in an Altar Basket or in the Yellow Bin As in-person worship has resumed, you should find a basket of groceries for FISH of Howard County in the sanctuary. For the convenience of parishioners who continue to observe pandemic precautions, the yellow bin marked “FISH” remains on the breezeway between the Parish Hall and Old Brick. As we transition from winter to spring, keep the weather in mind and avoid putting items in the bin that will freeze. In general, if you have suggestions about ways to help the community, if you want to get involved, or if you need assistance, please email Christ Church Outreach at outreach@christchurchcolumbia.org. Your help is greatly welcomed and appreciated. Thank you. Outreach - Seafarer’s Donations For years we have been involved in providing requested items to Seafarers. WOCC volunteers plan to deliver the items on April 6th. Below is a list of the types of magazines, books and DVD’s/CD’s to be donated. If you can help, it would be greatly appreciated. The Seafarer’s bin is in lower level, near the bottom of the steps, in the Parish House. Suggested Items needed: Bible in modern English (or Tagalog, Russian, or Chinese), Times/Newsweek/etc. up to 3 months old Sports Illustrated/People/etc. up to 6 months Cars/Computers/Consumers magazines - up to 1 year Reader’s Digest up to a couple of years National Geographics post 2000 Books (except for Bibles) are less often requested, but some seafarers do appreciate action novels, as well as picture books about Baltimore or the U.S. Action/adventure DVD’s. Recent popular CD’s. Religious books (in easy English), DVD’s, CD’s; rosaries. March LEMS Committee Update Some of the Lake Elkhorn Middle School students are starting to return to in-person learning this month. The LEMS committee purchased hand sanitizer for the teachers/staff and over five thousand disposable face masks for use by both teachers and students to help keep them safe while they finish out the school year. The school administration is extremely grateful for the support Christ Church has provided throughout the pandemic as they teach and learn during very unusual circumstances. The LEMS committee is continuing to provide food for ten families one weekend a month with this month's distribution occurring on March 11th. If you have any questions or want to help, please contact lemspc@christchurchcolumbia.org. In general, if you have suggestions about ways to help the community, if you want to get involved, or if you need assistance, please email Christ Church Outreach at outreach@christchurchcolumbia.org. Your help is greatly welcomed and appreciated. Thank you.

Last year by this time we had been asked to quarantine. I had just returned from a trip to Ghana with two of my children. Everything was so fast and scary that people had to scramble to buy basic supplies to stock their pantries. The uncertainty surrounding the virus created a kind of silence that was heartbreaking and unnerving. What made life a little more miserable was the fact that some stores had to limit the number of supplies that one could buy. I laughed so hard when I found out that there was no toilet paper at Giant. 'What in God’s name was going on?' I asked myself. Within the shortest time, there was this silence everywhere. You could hear the silent sound of a population that had been asked to stay indoors for its own good. There’s a story of Elijah on Mount Horeb, ready to see the Lord pass by. “A great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still, small voice.” And upon hearing the still small voice, Elijah worshipped. There is something about the silence that feeds my soul. Remember the story of Jesus withdrawing from his friends to pray and wait upon God? I like the silence of the dawn between 3:00-4:30 a.m. I remember responding to a parishioner’s email at that time. When I met the parishioner, she asked if I ever sleep. The silence of that hour blesses me and that’s usually one of the times that I experience such peace and when I get to be at peace with the world; more than that, it is my most reflective time and also the time that I can hear God speak to me - in silence. I often wonder if many of us really make time to hear God speak to us in silence. The problem is that you are always busy. You have a lot on your plate. Your world is full of different activities. You barely have time for yourself, let alone your spouse. You probably don’t even remember the last time you made love to your spouse because you are always busy with one thing or the other. Because of all the noise of distractions, you can’t hear the still, small voice within you crying out for help, nor can you hear the still, small voice surrounding you and calling out for your attention. There once was a farmer who discovered that he had lost his watch in the barn. It was no ordinary watch, for the watch had some sentimental value for him. After searching high and low among the bales of hay for a long while, he gave up and enlisted the help of a group of children playing outside the barn. He promised them that the person who found it would be rewarded. Hearing this, the children hurried inside the barn and went through and around the entire stack of hay, but they still could not find the watch. Just when the farmer was about to give up looking for his watch, a little boy went up to him and asked to be given another chance. The farmer looked at him and thought, “Why not? After all, this kid looks sincere enough.” So the farmer sent the little boy back in the barn. After a while, the little boy came out with the watch in his hand! The farmer was both happy and surprised and so he asked the boy how he succeeded where the rest had failed. The boy replied, “I did nothing but sit on the ground and listen. In the silence, I heard the ticking of the watch and just looked for it in that direction.” We miss so much because we are not willing to simply sit and listen like this young boy. The reality is that a peaceful mind can think more clearly than a mind that is worked up. For that reason, try and allow a few minutes of silence to your mind every day, and see how sharply it helps you to set your life the way you expect it to be. Allow yourself a few minutes of silence each day to hear the voice of God constantly reaching out to you. Allow yourself a few minutes of silence each day to just be.... just be. In a few days, we will begin Holy Week. Palm Sunday will mark for us a joyful celebration of the Son of David who rode a donkey into Jerusalem. As important as it may be, don’t be trapped by the noise of the celebration, wait and pray in silence as the drama slowly builds up. The same celebratory noise was the same noise that condemned the Son of David to death. But remember this - after all the noise, you will hear the still, small voice which vindicates, the still, small voice which has always been faithful. That voice has never been absent; perhaps you can’t hear it because you cannot sit and listen like the young boy. I've learned that the soul knows what to do in order to heal itself... the challenge has always been about a mind that can yield itself to the sound of silence. Manny.

The pandemic and its consequences have shone a light on how connected we are to everyone else in the world. Amongst the ways COVID-19 has shown this connection is the fact that the virus is primarily transmitted through droplets in the air that we all breathe through the same physiological mechanisms. Any one of us nearly 8 billion people can breathe in the virus, spread it to others, fall ill, and perhaps die. Yet the pandemic has also shown how disconnected we often are from the suffering of others and how that suffering and remedies for it are so unevenly distributed, even among the 300 million in our own affluent country. We who follow the way of Jesus cannot ignore the systemic inequalities that have made the suffering so much worse for poor communities, people of color and impoverished countries. Those inequalities existed before and will continue after the pandemic. However, if our eyes weren’t opened to them before, they certainly are now. Let us use the quiet season of Lent to reflect on how we can each be a ray of God’s light, seeking and promoting remedies to these inequalities.

He almost walked right past the painting in the museum. But there was a small crowd standing there, talking. So he stopped to see and hear for himself what was happening. Later, he tried to figure it all out. The painting was called “The Light of the World.” It showed a man, with a beard and long hair, in old-fashioned robes and sandals. In one hand he was holding a lantern; the other hand was on a house door as if to knock on it softly. The discussion seemed to center on several questions: 1. Who was the man outside the door? 2. There was no doorknob, handle, latch, etc. on the outside of the door; how could the man get into the house? 3. Why was he lightly knocking, not pushing or banging on the door? 4. What was he waiting for? While the narrative is fictional, the painting is not. By William Holman Hunt, the painting has been described as the most famous of English religious pictures. Hunt said he wanted to represent the imagery of Revelation 3:20: Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in. Remember the old song (by Will L. Thompson): Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, Calling for you and for me. See, on the portals he’s waiting and watching, Watching for you and for me. Come home, come home. You who are weary, come home. Earnestly, tenderly Jesus is calling, Calling, “O sinner, come home.” SO, WHO OR WHAT IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD? Consider three Bible passages about the light: In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. Genesis 1:1-5 (NRSV). In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. John 1:1-5 (NRSV). [Jesus said to his disciples:] You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16 (NRSV). Remember the gospel/spiritual? This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine ev’ry day, ev’ry day, ev’ry day. So, who or what is the light of the world?

The Spiritual Life Commission invites everyone to join us tonight on Zoom for our Wednesday Evening Lenten Series, which centers on our 2021 theme - Be God's Light that Shines in the Darkness. Each week, we have hosted a presenter who gives their perspective on this theme, and tonight we're blessed to have our own Rev. Emmanuel Ato Mercer, Rector of Christ Church, share his to close out this year's series. We emailed the Zoom details earlier this week, but if you need them please email info@christchurchcolumbia.org and we'll send them to you. We hope that you'll join us for this popular event.

Isaiah 49: 7 - I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” In Isaiah, God seeks to call his people back to him by sending his servant as a light to the nations so that his salvation may reach to the end of the earth. To achieve this end God eventually sent Jesus Christ, his only son, to bring salvation and be the light to us all. The light of Jesus Christ continues to live in all of us. It is a light that was given to us as God formed us in the womb. It is a light that was reaffirmed at our baptisms when our baptismal candle was lit from the Paschal candle and presented to each newly baptized person with the words receive the light of Christ. It is a light that we are called to let shine brightly whatever we may be doing.