Whose are you? Are you merely the target of product marketing?  From the beginning of life, society has us marked as consumers.  Do we have a more profound and foundational identity? Are you the Beloved of God? Do you understand yourselves as Christ’s own forever?

 

For Lent/ Easter, those who wish to plumb the mystery of their identity as Beloved, are welcome to journey with those who are preparing for baptism and those preparing to renew their baptismal vows (that’s all of us really – its what we do on Easter actually). This is especially for those new to our particular church, even if they are coming from another church after a move into our area. The Diocese of NJ is suggesting this program for use and has a web page which includes the links to the program materials for download and printing.

 

As Fr. Philip puts it,

 

We need to learn how to be a community of discernment: people who can hear together, reflect together, and then respond together to God’s word. And so the heart of this initiative is a practice of group reflection on scripture and sacrament, a practice that is shaped over many weeks by persistently asking the same important questions. As we come to own such questions, we will come to see more clearly how the gospel drama is really the drama of our own lives.  Then we will be more truly shaped by this story, and better equipped to share it with others who are hungry to hear it and who may be ready to consider becoming disciples of Jesus themselves.