Parents in Prayer

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!" – Mark 1:35-37

The annual J-Term Chapel coincided with Ash Wednesday this year, making last week's Chapel message especially appropriate.

On Ash Wednesday, many Christians are marked with a smudge of ashes on their foreheads. This "Day of Ashes" is a day of repentance and confession, and the ashes symbolize death as well, reminding the worshipper that man was made from dust and will return to dust. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten Season, a 40 day period commonly observed with some form of fasting.

People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." –Isaiah 30:19-21

Dr. D. Michael Lindsay, president of Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts, spoke about the book of Isaiah and its application to our lives in his Chapel address last week.

The book of Isaiah is sometimes referred to as a "Bible within the Bible," Dr. Lindsey said. Just as the Bible has 66 books, Isaiah has 66 chapters. It was written with a vision of what prophecy should indicate. There are three main themes: the theme of suffering and judgment, the theme of salvation in the form of the suffering servant, and the theme of personal calling and accountability. This third theme was Dr. Lindsay's focus.

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.  –Mark 12:28-34

In honor and recognition of Black History Month, Boston Trinity Academy heard from our own sixth grade English and History teacher, Mr. Geoffrey Hicks, in last week's Chapel.

Dr. Elaine Phillips, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at Gordon College, "taught" rather than "preached" the Chapel message last week. Sitting comfortably at the front of the room, Dr. Phillips told her audience, "This will be an unusual chapel because we are going to work together."

Boston Trinity Academy celebrated the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in last week's Chapel. Dr. King was remembered in the Call to Worship, and his legacy was honored in the Chapel message.

The Chapel speaker, Dr. Brent Keltner, is the great-grandson of Wesley "Branch" Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers co-owner and general manager who signed Jackie Robinson in 1947, breaking the Major League Baseball color barrier. Jackie Robinson was the first major league African-American player in the modern history of baseball, and his signing on with the Dodgers remains a defining moment, not just in baseball history, but in the nation's civil rights movement. Many historians believe that without Jackie Robinson's courageous actions, the modern civil rights movement would not have been birthed.