February:  The Sacramental Month

February isn’t usually identified as a sacramental month.  There are lots of things it is known for.  It is Black History Month, for example.  It is a month in which the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln (12th) and Frederick Douglass (14th) fall close.  It was that coincidence that led to its selection as Black History week in 1926.  It was expanded to Black History Month in 1976.

In the realm of insignificant things the month is known for, February is also National Grapefruit Month.  Seasonal influenza peaks in February.  Groundhog Day greets the beginning of the month.  I’m not sure how the groundhog may respond when we have had so little snow....

Lent will begin during this month, as it frequently does.  Ash Wednesday will be on February 22.

But this year, February will also be a time for giving extra attention to the sacraments:

We will celebrate the First Communion of Siyon Burgen, Gage Pulford, and Mackenzie Westhoven on February 12. 

Melissa Linke’s son Karson will be baptized on February 19.

These will be big days for these individuals and their families.  They will also be special days for our congregation.

The sacraments are celebrated in community.   In the sacraments, God comes close.  The bread and wine bring the body and blood of Christ into our being.  The water of Holy Baptism washes us, cleansing from those things which divide us from God and others,  and connects to Christ.

 In each sacrament, we receive and are swept into God’s living presence.  What could be holier?  It makes these February days especially holy -- way before we get close to Holy Week.

Pray for those participating in the sacraments for the first time.  Pray also that your faith may be made new again as we celebrate the sacraments, together.

In Christ,

Pastor Julianne Smeck