NURSERY SERVICES 10:30 a.m. Service Each Sunday, Downstairs In The Parish House.
SUNDAY SCHOOL
Youth join families in church.
BIBLE STUDIES Sundays in the Parish House Library
led by Don Block
9:15 AM - 10:00 AM Monthly Study @ The Sprenkels “First Fridays” 6 - 8 PM Selected Biblical Passages Next: February 7th Call Mel or Dave Sprenkel if you are interested, at 412-362-8025. Please let us know if you need a ride. You are invited!
The Presentation
February 2, 2014
The Presentation of Jesus
The Rev. Nancy (Nano) Chalfant-Walker, Rector
Parish Services
- St. Stephen’s Weekly
- St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Wilkinsburg, PA
Parish Administrator General Office Hours 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM
- Tues. - Fri.
TH THE PR E PRESENT ESENTATI TION ON OF OF JE JESU SUS: S: CAND ANDLEM EMAS AS MISSION OF THE MONTH Our Sick and Shut-ins FOOD OF THE MONTH
Non-perishable foods that are RED
Dear Ones, By the time you read this, sitting in your pew at St. Stephen’s this Sunday, February 2, Punxsutawney Phil will have emerged from his cozy den, taken a look around and decided whether or not we are going to have 6 more weeks of winter. Here’s hoping he’s seen his shadow!!! February 2nd is not only Groundhog Day; it is also the day when we commemorate the day that Joseph and Mary presented Mary’s firstborn son to God in the temple. A mother in Israel who had given birth was considered to be unclean for 40 days (if she gave birth to a boy; it was 80 days if the baby was a girl!!). Luke tells us that the little family traveled to Jerusalem to fulfill the requirements for Mary’s purification from childbirth (with a poor family’s pair of doves) and for the dedication of Jesus to God. If you count 40 days from Christmas, you arrive at February 2, and so when February 2 falls on a Sunday, we celebrate this event. In time, this day became known as Candlemas because candles were (and are) blessed for use in church and home as a reminder of Simeon’s prophecy over Jesus in the temple: that he would be “a light of revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Now here’s the fact I bet you didn’t know: Groundhog Day is on February 2 because of Candlemas. I guess that is because, by the time we get to February 2, we can really tell that the days are lengthening, but we also know that we really are nowhere near the end of winter. In any case, in much of Europe, the tradition was that “If Candlemas be fair and bright, Come, Winter, have another flight; If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, Go Winter, and come not again.” Animals emerging from hibernation got roped into the act as prognosticators: hedgehogs in Germany, badgers in England. Settlers in Pennsylvania settled on the groundhog as a good replacement, and here we are with Punxsutawney Phil. Happy Groundhog Day – and a blessed Candlemas! May Jesus always be the light
- f YOUR world, Nancy+