6 January 2021
Dear Members of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania,
I write to you today on this Feast of the Epiphany and on a day in which we have witnessed violence and unrest in our country as the capitol building in Washington has been overtaken by protesters. Yesterday, in our own capital of Harrisburg, we also suffered serious discord in the legislative chambers regarding the seating of a newly elected senator.
I bid your prayers for peace in this conflicted and deeply divided country.
A long-loved prayer in our diocese- the prayer of St. Francis- brings hope and a sense of purpose when everything else seems chaotic.
Please pray:
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer pg. 833)
Our Presiding Bishop has offered a Word to the Church on this day. Please find it here: https://episcopalchurch.org
May the God of Love bless us, guide us, and keep us always-
The Rt. Rev. Audrey C. Scanlan
XI Bishop
