Ash Wednesday Service ..."Lent ... A Time of Breaking," Wednesday, February 28th, 2001

A beautifully touching mass reflecting on the theme of "breaking", Ash Wednesday at St. Joan of Arc (2-28-01) was not your typical distribution of ashes and a speech about what one gives up for lent. Rather, this service provided a forum for four voices to speak honestly about their personal oppression and how they discovered that by "breaking out and by breaking through," something surprisingly new was in store for them.

SJA's Choir opened the service with "The Blue Green Hills of Earth" and led the well attended congregation along by singing "All My Life's a Circle," and also performed "While the Earth Remains," -all fitting numbers that call everyone to "Reconnect with the Earth," the title of a poem by Jane Kenyon. Pastor George Wertin and Ronnie Collins co-presided for the service. George tellingly pointed out in his opening remarks that "Lent isn't just about fasting ... but rather to break unjust fetters and to let the oppress break free."

The repetitious use of the word "breaking", the Mass's central theme, was powerfully examined with the mime presentation "Fall of Freddie the Leaf." Superbly led and choreographed by local Mime Artist Michael Hennessy in childlike and simple mime performance style, he and his four member troupe (decked out in leaves over black clothing) along with poignant narration by director Anna Vagle and musicians Joe Chouinard on electric piano, Fred Vagle on guitar and Dick Hedlund on bass, presented a metaphorical mime tale about Freddie, a fallen leaf, and the connections to a tree that provides life. Hennessy and his actors represented uniquely different colors of leaves for their own different life experiences and showed how time and seasons of change affect the tree of life. Aptly the song, "Tree of Life", was performed by a quartet and the choir as a musical interlude.

The "four leaves" eventually spoke about their personal stories. Hayden Stuppnig, a young little girl talked about her frightening struggles to overcome diabetes. "I was afraid how my life would change." Her paralyzing fears eventually subsided through time, she said, as "something was broken," but through self discovery "something was reborn." John Each, a growing teenager, came to grips with his father's alcoholism. "I will never shove my father away," he said after feeling shame and embarrassment. "Something was broken, but because of it I learned to grow."

Margaret Hinton spoke about her struggles taking care of her mother who was suffering from the debilitating effects of a brain aneurysm. She said she had to deal with the struggle "to let go of secure financial stability by taking a half-time leave of absence from my work so I could provide care for my mother's recovery." A very difficult time followed. "Something in my life was broken from pride and shame but now my mother is fully recovered."

Roger Dick talked about the struggles of coping with a divorce that left him guilt-ridden and despondent. For two decades it was like walking alone in a desert. "I tried other churches, dream analysis, modern existentialism, several different therapists... I meditated, I medicated," he said. After closing himself off from everyone he discovered a refreshing change in his life after attending services at St. Joan's. That one be "not alone, but in a caravan when going across a desert."

Michael Reinbold is a professional photographer and banquet caterer with an extensive theatre background in acting, writing, and directing. He loves all aspects of the arts, staying fit, and helping and inspiring people. A passionate believer in St. Joan of Arc's mission of social justice, Michael is a continuing AIDS Ride participant, Grace House volunteer cook, mass reader, and Joan of Arc choir member. He looks forward to web reporting and photographing for the website.

For all of "these leaves": a young fearful leaf, a secret-bearing adolescent leaf, an exhausted caregiver leaf, and an anguished mature leaf, something was broken, but because of it they have all learned to grow.

Peg LaSota is interested in the biographies of parishioners... any suggestions?? She also loves studying piano, recorder, Spanish, and of course...singing in the choir!