"Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word"

Funny Links of the Day:
-The Sentinels have ONE weakness.
-Okay...this is kinda lame.
-Annoying but cool.
-Thankfully he wasn't a St. Louis Cardinal.
-Really cool.......and useless trick.

Scripture of the Day:
Old Testament-Exodus 4:19-31
New Testament-Gospel according to St. Mark 15:16-32
Psalms-Morning: Psalm 38
Evening: Psalm 126 and 102

Icon of the Day: See to the left.

Belated Feast of the Annunciation: This is indeed a time of great joy in the fast of Lent. While we are called to repentence by the sufferings of Christ and his eventual death on a cross (of course, not outside of the context of Easter which all of Lent leads to), it is a nice respite from the focus on Christ's suffering with a preview of his birth! Lo in the season of the remembering of the mystery of Redemption we have a day to think ahead to the season which focuses on the mystery of the Incarnation. The feast is based on the biblical account in the Gospel according to St. Luke 1:28-38 where the archangel St. Gabriel informs the Blessed Virgin Mary that she will become the Theotokos....the mother of God. Her willingness to be submissive to the Father's will is a witness to all of us that while suffering follows from being a Christian, we are redeemed by Christ and take to heart the words St. Peter wrote, "but even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed (1 Peter 3:14)." The feast is usually celebrated on the 25th day of March (9 months before Christmas), but this year it took place on the 26th because (unknown to me before I read Father Weedon's blog) it is a feast of Lent, and Sundays are "in" Lent, not "of" Lent. On those years when the 25th falls on a Sunday, it is moved to the next weekday. Next year I think it takes place on Good Friday.

The prescribed Scriptures for the feast are:
Old Testament-Isaiah 7:10-14
Epistle-Hebrews 10:4-10
Gospel-Gospel according to St. Luke 1:28-38