• Sunday Worship at the Ascension (Reminders):
  • Please refrain from congregating on the steps of the church prior to and after services.
  • Cancellation of Service/Storm Notice and Office Closures: If Sunday services are canceled due to inclement weather, there will be an announcement on VOCM and VOWR.  You may also check the message on the church answering machine. Also, please check the church office answering machine to determine if the office is closed for any reason.
  • Live Streamed Services: If you are interested in viewing Sunday service, you can do so by logging in to the new church website ascensionnl.ca, and go to the Social Media tab. Once there, click on the Facebook tab (please note you do not have to have a Facebook account to view the service). This will link you directly with the service once it has begun on Sunday.
• Birthday/Anniversary Sundays: We are once again designating one Sunday of each month as family Sunday. The worship for that Sunday will include the celebration of birthdays or anniversaries for that given month. Please send us a picture of yourself to include during the Birthday Sunday celebration portion of the liturgy. You can send your photos to [email protected]. We request that you submit your photos by the end of the first week each month to ensure they are included.
• AGM: This year, the Annual General Meeting of the Parish will be held immediately after the liturgy on March 7, 2021 (snow date - March 21, 2021). During the AGM we will review the 2019 year end circular, the financial statements for 2020, as well as verbal reports from the clergy and vestry. We will also be electing/appointing new members to the vestry. We will make provision for parishioners to gather via zoom if they wish to do so. Please look in the coming weeks for more details.
• Cancellation of Service/Storm Notice and Office Closures:  If Sunday services are cancelled due to inclement weather, there will be an announcement on VOCM and VOWR.  You may also check the message on the church answering machine. Also, please check the church office answering machine to determine if the office is closed for any reason.
• Lenten Packages and Tax Receipts for 2020:  Your Lenten packages,  which include your Tax receipts for 2020, are available now. If you would like to pick yours up, please do so between the hours of 9 a.m. – 12 noon, Monday to Friday at the Church office.
• Seats for Church Service:  If you have booked a seat for service and find in advance you are unable to attend due to unforeseen circumstances, please contact the church office to let them know. Seating for church services is limited and there may be someone waiting for a vacant seat. Also, please note that while we will try to accommodate any seating requests, we cannot guarantee we are able to fulfill these requests. Thank you.
• Ash Wednesday Service:  If you are interested in attending the service on Ash Wednesday, you will need to follow the regular registration procedures. If you have not already done so, please complete the on-line registration form on our website, ascensionnl.ca or drop by the office. If you have already completed the registration, please email [email protected] or call the office at 368-5693 to have your name included in the registration for this service.

• Queen’s College Appeal: In consultation with the Executive Archdeacons of each of the Anglican Diocese in Newfoundland and Labrador, the Finance Committee of Corporation has decided to postpone the Queen’s College Appeal until the fall of 2021. We all recognize and appreciate the current financial pressures. We look forward to your support in the fall, and we certainly appreciate donations at any time.  You can contribute to Queen’s College by

  • Donating on line at canadahelps.org/en/dn/16498,
  • Mailing a cheque to 210 Prince Philip Drive, St. John’s, NL A1B 3R6,
  • Calling the General office (709-753-0116) to use your credit card.

  Tax receipts will be issued from Queens College for all donations.

• Lent in a Bag:  This year the Transfiguration group has partnered to create a project called Lent in a Bag to be completed by you and your family. Beginning Ash Wednesday, February 17, up to Easter Day, April 4, you and your family can gather in a particular space and place to have a conversation as you work on the daily/weekly activity provided. Enclosed in the bag is an instruction booklet outlining all the activities. For those interested in participating, the bags will be distributed on Sunday, February 24. Upon completion of this project, we ask that you fill the bag with items for Emmaus House. More details to follow regarding the necessary items.
• Services During the Week:
  • Sunday, Feb. 14 (Epiphany V): 11:00am, Holy Eucharist/BCP

This Sunday at the Parish of the Ascension one may see candles brightly burning. In the life of Christian communities, we observe Candlemas, or the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. As is our custom, we listen to Scripture, and hear of wise aged Anna and Simeon, who rejoice that the gift of hope and the promise of redemption is fulfilled in a little child.

For Christians, the presentation of this infant reminds us that when we walk in the Way of Jesus, we are alight, aglow with joy and wonder, as we share the love that has been given to the world all around us. Families and individuals will be bringing candles this Sunday: Baptismal candles, marriage candles, pillar candles, emergency candles, perhaps even romantic candles, to be blessed. For us, the blessing and the lighting of these candles signifies to us that the Holy One never abandons us, even in the darkest places or in the most painful times. The Holy One is a light to our path, helping us, offering us hope, redemption, and sustaining love.

What a sustaining message for us in this time, in this place! With the challenges of weather, economy, health, pandemics, societal distress and mental health, we may indeed yearn for the Holy One to light a path, offering us hope, redemption, and sustaining love.

I’m not sure about you, but at times, I find it really difficult to see the light, and to hold on to hope. There may be so many circumstances and challenges that we may feel that our light gets snuffed out, or that we cannot see the light for all the darkness that may surround us.

When we share the light of the Holy One, we bring comfort, hope, and meaning to others. We may not always realize this, but our presence and our presentation of the Holy One in us to others, is essential. I recognize there are times and places where perhaps we only show and express pain, disappointment, frustration, or negativity; How does this bring life and hope to others?

This day, this season, when we may be lost under mounds of snow, blown this way and that by the forces of life and of circumstance, or darkened by the challenges of duty or responsibility, let us have courage to light the light, and shine the light. Even in these small actions, others around us will be blessed.

Peace,

Made like us in every respect, our high priest knows our suffering and intercedes for us before the throne of mercy. Let us pray through Christ, saying: Lord have mercy.

We pray for our church, for Bishop Samuel, for the parishes of Bonavista, Bonne Bay North, for The Anglican Church of Burundi, and for people of all faiths and religions, that they be a light to all nations and a beacon for all people, let us pray to the Lord. Lord have mercy.

For God’s people Israel, the first to hear the word of God, let us pray to the Lord. Lord have mercy.

For enlightened hearts and minds among those who act and work for the public good, let us pray to the Lord. Lord have mercy.

For God’s reign of peace, that no people need live with the fear of death, let us pray to the Lord. Lord have mercy.

For those who speak and those who hear the prophetic word today, let us pray to the Lord. Lord have mercy.

For wisdom in old age and for fidelity in youth, let us pray to the Lord. Lord have mercy.

For those who suffer from winter’s cold, for those suffering from eating disorders, and for those suffering from mental illness, let us pray to the Lord. Lord have mercy.

For all who walk in darkness and are facing illness, we pray for those on our Ascension Prayer Cycle and those unknown to us; please remember them. Let us pray to the Lord. Lord have mercy.

We remember all who have died; we pray for their caregivers and for those who mourn their loss, let us pray to the Lord. Lord have mercy.

Pray Together

God of mercy, be our light in times of darkness and our comfort in times of affliction. May we be as light in a darkened world, proclaiming your faithful love. We ask this through Christ, our one high priest, who lives and reigns with you and the Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Ascension Prayer Cycle:  Aden, Ann, Aubrey, Audrey, Barbara, Baxter, Bob, Brenda, Brian, Brittany, Brandon, Carl, Cathy, Christina, Cindy, Claire, Clarence, David, Debra, Delilah, Dennis, Don, Donna, Doreen, Dot, Doug, Dulcie, Edgar, Elaine, Erin, Finnley, Frederick, Fred, Frank, Flo, Garrett, George, Gerry,  Gilbert, Glenda, Gordon, Harry, Hilda, Ike, Ina, Ingrid, Ira, Jack, Jason, Jenny, Jim, John, Josephine, Judy, Junior, Kent, Kevin, Kim, Laura, Leo, Leonie,  Lindsay, Lori, Louise, Madeline, Marie, Marsha, Mark, Marion,  Maurice, Maxine, Maxwell, Melissa, Melvin, Michelle, Moana, Nancy, Pam, Phyllis, Rachel, Randell, Renee, Rodney, Roland, Ruby, Ruth, Rita, Sean, Shirley, Stephen, Susan, Tina, Todd, Tom, Valerie, Vera, Victoria and Wayne

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling 486 vs. 1, 2, 3

Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heaven, to earth come down;
fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, thou art all compassion,
pure, unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation,
enter every trembling heart.

Come, almighty to deliver,
let us all thy grace receive;
suddenly return and never,
never more thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
serve thee as thy hosts above,
pray and praise thee, without ceasing,
glory in thy perfect love.

Finish, then, thy new creation;
pure and spotless let us be;
let us see thy great salvation
perfectly restored in thee,
changed from glory into glory
till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love and praise.

• Candlemas Opening Responses
• Candlemas Presentation of the Lord
• Christmas Memorials
• Eucharist Prayer
• Holy Week Services
• Lenten Letter