... Lenten Prayer Service Wednesday, March 28th, 2001

Amid the delightful fragrance of the mixture of delicate soup flavors wafting from Hospitality Hall and the inviting music of Fred Vagle’s guitar, those hardy souls who, in spite of the harsh spring weather, entered into the candle-lit and welcoming church of St. Joan of Arc. With the soup supper now finished, the weekly Lenten Prayer Service was about to begin.

The prayer service opened with a welcome and theme setting by JoAnn Potts. After introducing her fellow Prayer Partners for the evening, Ann Higgins and Jim Potts, JoAnn recalled another prayer service welcome occurring ironically, three years prior almost to the date. On that earlier March evening, the forgiving theme was the focus for the service along with the telling of the events of a brutal schoolyard killing in Arkansas. The heartbreak of that event is in even more evident today as those schoolyard tragedies are still happening. “Will we ever learn Jesus’ lessons of forgiveness” was the question asked. The Lenten week’s focus on the message of the Parable of the Prodigal Son was shown as being more relevant today than ever before.

The evening’s service continued with prayers, readings and music chosen to assist those present to overcome the pain of forgiveness and accepting God’s generosity in forgiveness as our example. In the gospel reading of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the story was told of the broken relationship between a father and his wayward son. This break was healed because of the loving father’s generosity and a welcoming embrace of forgiveness that was given the son upon his return.

The evening’s reflection climaxed as Michael Hennessy performed a pantomime that emphasized the lesson to be learned from this well-known parable. Michael, in mime whiteface did a superb re-enactment of the story we had just heard in the gospel reading. He did an eloquent job depicting both father and son. The question had been asked to which part did we relate most, the parent or child, or perhaps, both? It was left to those there to answer questions regarding that question and the rest of the story - the faithful son’s resentment and his ultimate reaction. Perhaps we can relate to the “wronged” person even more?

As always, Anna and Fred Vagle enhanced the evening’s service by performing songs chosen to help everyone hear the message of a generous, loving, and forgiving God with open arms to embrace all who ask.

As people filed out, JoAnn related a truly wonderful moment as a young man close to teen age whom she had not met, approached her and said, “Good work!” an unexpected reward for all those who participated in this evening’s service.

The prayer service was followed by a discussion entitled “A New Look at Jesus” led by a friend of St. Joan’s, Tom Orzechowski.

Joann Potts is a retired music and English teacher and 30 year member of St. Joans. She enjoys working with Anna Vagle each week. She is "in charge" of doing those slides you see at church each Sunday and for preparing the music sheets for the musicians. JoAnn and her husband Jim will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in 2001 and are proud of their family of five children and eight grandchildren. Her hobbies include singing, playing her digital piano, writing her memoirs, reading, writing poetry, entertaining friends, visiting the North Shore and ballroom dancing with Jim.

Edie Kalweit has been a St. Joan of Arcer for 23 years now. Now that her children are grown, there is time to participate more fully in activities taking place at St. Joan's.