March 2024

St. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church
109 S. Elm, Kewanee, Illinois 61443
Newsletter
Volume 36                                   March 2024                                            No. 3
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Lent and Easter

It’s an unfortunate thing that while everyone knows something about Easter, there are so few who know much if anything about Lent.
 
The two belong together, for Lent is our preparation for Easter. Indeed it is our preparation for the final Easter triumph when Jesus returns in glory to take us to himself in his eternal kingdom that has no end.
 
Lent is for training in righteousness. When we force our bodies to live without some of the things they crave, we learn to lay up for ourselves, rather, treasures in heaven, as Jesus said.
 
And those who take Lent seriously are much better prepared to grasp and appreciate the true joys of Easter.
 
By attending to this yearly discipline and its resolution at Easter, we become the more instinctively aware of the difference between this life and the life of the world to come. We learn, that is, to look for and yearn for that life, by hearing and meditating on the Gospel and the Sacred Scriptures.

For our true life is hid with God, and it is in so many ways contrary to the life we live in the flesh in this life.

But that is a lesson that is so hard to learn, because our true life is hid from our sight What we see, what we experience day after day, are the things of this life only, and hence there is a constant temptation to think only on those things.
 
But Lent forces us to turn from them to the hidden truths of the Gospel. The season is subdivided, with the last two weeks designated as Passiontide, and the images are veiled. This two-week period is itself subdivided, because the second of those two weeks is Holy Week, the most important week of the entire year. And Holy Week is then subdivided, because the period from Maundy Thursday until the Vigil of Easter is called the Triduum Sacrum, or the Holy Three Days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, the very deepest part of Lent.
 
All this leads to the sharp and immediate contrast with Easter, which is ushered in at the Holy Saturday Vigil itself. Moving directly from the throes of Lent’s deepest moments to the heights of Christianity’s most joyous day, we can the more easily recall the great wonder and joy experienced by the apostles upon suddenly seeing the risen Christ, as he stood before them, alive.

All of this teaches us that the Christian faith is rooted in real-life events, things that actually happened, and have made all the difference to us, sealing our eternal salvation.

The physical disciplines of Lent also give way on Easter to some physical joys at that time. Easter is of course about the resurrection of our Lord from the grave, but when Easter comes after a serious and dedicated Lent, then the breaking forth of Easter Day is also about our coming to an end of the fast, and our bodies physically enjoy the return of some of the things from which they were for a time deprived.
 
And in this way Easter is a time of bodily rejoicing as well as spiritual. And then in turn we become instinctively aware of the connection between the spiritual truths of the Gospel and our own physical life. For in the end, Jesus’ resurrection is intimately tied to our own resurrection and life.
+ Pastor Eckardt
 
Midweek Lenten and Holy Week Services
Following an old Lutheran custom, we suggest people to make a little more effort to come out for midweek masses during Lent, as another laudable way of observing the season. It’s a good part of the Lenten season. 7:00 Wednesday evenings.
 
And this year in particular we are also having soup suppers on Wednesdays, from 4;30 - 5:30 (not all the Wednesdays have volunteers yet), up until Palm Sunday.
 
Then at Holy Week we follow our usual custom of having Masses every night Monday through Saturday at 7 pm. A main feature of Holy Week is the hearing of the Passion accounts. On Palm Sunday is the St. Matthew Passion, then St. Mark on Tuesday, St. Luke on Holy Wednesday, and St. John on Good Friday. On Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday these readings involve the participation of the congregation, which is reminiscent of a common choral practice during Reformation times. The subdeacon reads the narrator’s part, the pastor reads the part of Christ, and the congregation reads the parts of groups or crowds of people. These readings are found in special booklets which are handed out with the bulletins.
 
The Triduum Sacrum (holy three days) is the deepest point of Lent, giving way all at once to Easter. It starts on Maundy Thursday with mass at 7 p.m. There is no benediction for this service, as it is understood to continue on Good Friday and until the Great Vigil. As soon as the last part of the Maundy Thursday mass is sung (the Benedicamus: V: Bless we the Lord. R: Thanks be to God), the pastor and subdeacon remove their sacramental vestments while the choir sings a psalm. They then strip the altar, pulpit, and lectern of all their paraments, remove the reserved Sacrament, take out the torches, and leave the sanctuary bare. Following the congregational singing of another psalm, all depart in silence. On Good Friday, there is an opportunity to pray the Litany at 12 noon, the hour of crucifixion. Then at 7 pm is the Good Friday Solemn Liturgy with Holy Communion. On Holy Saturday, the third day, the Great Vigil commences at 7 p.m. with a newly lit fire outside (near the kitchen doors), from which the new paschal candle is lit. The congregation follows into the church in procession. The Vigil is in four parts, the first three of which anticipate Easter: the Service of Light, the Service of Readings, the Service of Baptismal Remembrance (which includes one confirmation  this year).  And then comes part four, when the lights go up, the pastor wears his white chasuble, and he announces, “Alleluia! Christ is Risen!” to which all robustly reply, “He is risen indeed! Alleluia!” This is an ancient versicle and response dating to the early church. It is still used around the world, in virtually all languages.

This is followed by Easter Day, and the Easter Sunrise Mass: March 31st, at 7 a.m. (Easter breakfast following)

March Birthday
3/25    Carol Eckardt

March Anniversary
3/19/1977 Jeff and Diana Shreck
 
Easter Preparations
Look for sign-up sheets that will be appearing soon in preparation for Easter: the opportunity to purchase lilies, and a sheet to sign up for the Easter breakfast. Mighty are the preparations!
 
Debra Reeves has taken on the planning of the Easter breakfast this year, for which we are thankful. The Easter Breakfast sign-up sheet is in the cafeteria, and there are opportunities to sign up for juice, coffee cakes, breads, cinnamon rolls, egg casseroles (crock pot style or pan), hard boiled dyed eggs (1 dozen), or fruit salad. Questions, call at 309-883-6040.
 
Choir rehearsals again!
In preparation for special music during Holy Week and Easter, choir rehearsals have started up again on Wednesdays at 5:30 pm. Check the calendar and make a special note of it: February 28th, March 6th, 14th, and 21st. We will not rehearse after that unless we decide we need it.
 
Church Council
Council meets Wednesday, March 27th, at 5:30.

March Ushers
Jim Hornback, Steve Kraklow, Tom Wells.
 
First Tuesday
The regular schedule for the first Tuesday of the month (March 6th) includes Vespers at 6:45 pm (all are welcome) and Elders at 7:15.

Confirmation: Congratulations Elizabeth Dooley!
We have one catechumen due to be confirmed this year, Elizabeth Dooley. She has been preparing through several years of catechesis. Her public examination is to be held during the Bible Class hour on Palm Sunday, March 24th, and her confirmation is set to take place during the Easter Vigil on Saturday evening March 30th. We look forward to this event!

Easter Lilies
There’s a sign-up sheet for Easter lilies.  Cost. $15.00 apiece
  
Shut ins
Jewneel Walker at Kewanee Care in Kewanee, Emmy Wear at Williamsfield retirement home, Pat Lagerhausen at Royal Oaks Nursing Home in  Kewanee. Also occasionally Jim Watson and Berniece Harris at home.
 
Easter Hats
Ladies, remember our hats tradition! Easter is the time to wear your best, and if you are able, set it off with a handsome hat! And by all means, leave them on for the Easter breakfast.

Church Council to Meet Wednesday, March 27th
The monthly meeting of the Council is scheduled, as usual, for the fourth week of March, on Wednesday the 27th, at the usual 5:30 time.

In Our Prayers
Our current list of prayer intentions at mass includes the names on the lists here following.  Anyone wishing to update the list by addition or subtraction, please inform the pastor.   in our parish:
Sharon Hartz, Bea Harris, Don and Sue Murphy, John Sovanski, Sandra VerPlaetse, John Ricknell, Linda Rowe, Jewneel Walker, Emmy Wear, Pat Lagerhausen, Jim Watson, Bill Thompson, Otis Anderson, Kris Harden, and Father Eckardt
    and beyond our parish:
Anna, Katie, and Jodi Rutowicz, Julie Ross, Elizabeth Godke, Oneida Hendrickson, Janice Hart, Tim Newman, Kathy Boeger, Allison Leezer, Shannon Watson, Karen Parker, Deloris Bitting, John VerPlaetse, Becca Adler, Glenda Miller, Sue Berg [wife of Pastor Peter Berg], Ray Moreland, Loren Hartz, Deric Keefauver [Kris Harden’s grandson], Kathy Hopkins [Diana Shreck’s cousin], Gary Gresholdt, Pastor David Anderman and his wife Rose, Pastor Justin Kane
in the military:
John Eckardt, Richard Heiden, Traven Wetzel, Eric Verplaetse, Jake Mahaffey, James and Ann Lee Armstrong, Marcus Prentice
in trouble:
any unborn children in danger of abortion; Debra Reeves’s children Rae Beth and Drew Wayne, those suffering from unrest, persecution, and imprisonment in Israel, Nigeria, Ukraine, Pakistan, Libya, China, North Korea, and elsewhere.
 
Altar Guild Notes

• Paraments VIOLET through Lent except as noted.
• Paraments WHITE for St. Joseph, Guardian of Our Lord, which we will observe on Wednesday, March 20th (one day after the actual saint’s day of March 19th).
• Paraments WHITE for Maundy Thursday
• Altar stripped after Mass on Maundy Thursday, and for Good Friday
• Fair linen and corporal only, wooden candlestands, black veil on Good Friday
• Paraments WHITE for the Easter Vigil and Easter (March 30th and 31st).

 
Ladies’ Luncheons Continue
The monthly ladies’ luncheon is scheduled regularly for the first Wednesday in the month. There is always a good turnout.  For the month of March , the luncheon is set for Wednesday, March 6th, at noon. Each month a different restaurant is chosen by one of the ladies. This time La Gondola has been chosen. All St. Paul’s’ ladies are welcome!
Barbra Kraklow Falls Asleep in Jesus; Sheri Kraklow Replaces Her as Finance Committee Chairman
We laid our beloved longtime member Barbra Kraklow to rest on February 10th, just weeks after she was reelected Finance Committee Chairman. Her daughter-in-law Sheri Kraklow agreed to take her place and was appointed and installed on Sunday, February 18th. Barbra was also present at Bible Class every Sunday for years, and kept track of exactly where we were in the catechism and in the Bible book we were studying. Sheri has taken this over as well. Barbra will surely be missed, but we know she is safe in the everlasting arms. R.I.P. Barbra Kraklow.
  
Lenten Soup Suppers
Wednesdays at 4:30, but we need someone to volunteer for March 6th and March 20th. Please speak to Debra Reeves or call her at 309-883-6040.
 
   St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church
   109 S. Elm Street
   Kewanee, IL 61443