As you know, our book for this Lent is William Countryman's "Living on the Border of the Holy". We will begin our discussion of the first chapter of the book on the Second Sunday in Lent, a week from this Sunday.

There are two requests I would like to make regarding the Allston/Brighton Baby diaper distribution (March 18th from 6-8 pm):
1) We will need your support in helping to move the diapers from the basement to the sanctuary and back again at the end of the evening. If I could get at least two volunteers to help with this process at each end of the evening, that would be wonderful. In other words, you don't have to stay the whole time-- you could come between 5-6pm or between 7-8pm, unless you would like to stay for the duration.
2) As you know, Allston/Brighton Baby received a Sending-Serving grant last spring, which is fantastic! But it was a matching grant: we received $2000 from the fund, and need to raise $2000 to match it. Thus far we have raised $300, so we have $1700 to go. Any size donation would be very much appreciated! A/B Baby has a separate checking account, so checks should be made out to St. Luke's and St. Margaret's but with "Allston/Brighton Baby" or "Diaper Ministry" in the memo. Thank you!

Looking forward to seeing you soon,

Peace,
Cameron

PS Speaking of blessings, I am attaching a Christmas photo of Kateri and I with our major blessing of 2009: Gavin! Also find attached a photo of the Wilderness lectern hanging, taken by Mycroft.

Here is Bishop Shaw's letter:

January 13, 2010

My Sisters and Brothers:

Following yesterday's devastating earthquake in Haiti, I want to share with you what we know of the situation, particularly as people connected to our diocesan community are affected.

Early reports indicate terrible damage, with Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port au Prince and Bishop Jean Zache Duracin's home there destroyed. The convent of the Sisters of St. Margaret also is gone. We do know that Bishop Duracin and his wife are safe, and the Sisters of St. Margaret here in Boston have heard through a reliable secondhand source that their three sisters, Sister Marie Margaret, Sister Marjorie Raphael and Sister Marie Therese, are alive. We have an unconfirmed report that Jude Harmon, a postulant from our diocese who is serving in-country as a Young Adult Service Corps volunteer, is OK; we are waiting for verification from the Episcopal Church's mission personnel office.

We also are in the process of contacting parishes in our diocese with known mission relationships in Haiti to extend our concern and gather more information.

The best help we can give right now is to direct our donations to either the Sisters of St. Margaret here in Boston or through Episcopal Relief and Development. Their Web sites and address information appear at the end of this message.

Please know how much our prayers are needed. An unfathomable catastrophe like this in a place that has already known so much hardship really does have us questioning God at the deepest levels of our faith. Yet we must know that God is more present to suffering than any of us could ever possibly be, and that as we are willing to take on the suffering of others, whether through our prayer, our donations or our service, we join God in God's compassionate presence.

- Tom

Send donations to:

The Society of St. Margaret, 17 Highland Park Street , Boston , MA 02119 . For updates and more information about the sisters' work in Haiti, go to: www.ssmbos.com and click on the "Haiti " page link.

Episcopal Relief and Development: Donate online at www.er-d.org or call 800-334-7626, ext. 5129. Donations can be mailed to Episcopal Relief and Development, PO Box 7058 , Merrifield , VA 22116-7058 . (Please put "Haiti Fund" in the memo line of all checks.) Also, Episcopal Relief and Development is producing a bulletin insert that will be available online.