In 1997, The General Convention of The Episcopal Church resolved that the last Sunday after the Epiphany of each year be designated "World Mission Sunday" to increase awareness of, and participation in, world mission.

You see, every member of our Episcopal Church is a member of a missionary society, "The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America" (the full formal name of our Episcopal Church). Whether we understand the imperative of "mission" from the perspective of that great commission, or from the Great Commandment, or some combination of both, we're all united in the one call to God's mission in this world: As God sent Jesus into the world, we too, are sent into the world.

That great commandment? Jesus was asked "What's the most important thing we should do?" Jesus' reply was that the most important thing we must do (note that He said "must") has two parts; the first is you must love God with all your heart and the second is you must love your neighbor as yourself. That, simply, is your mission; in the church, in your life.

Well, how do we actively mission? Take a quick look about you. First and foremost, we begin simply by example: By how we act and respond, dress and groom, speak and listen; how we treat and show our respect for one another and toward God. Show me, by your example, how to be better... Lift me up.

Then, challenge yourself to learn about, and become more fully engaged in, the church's global mission.

Let us hold up and celebrate our shared commitment to God's Gospel call.

"It is intelligible enough that before a long period of deprivations human nature should allow itself some exceptional license in the way of frolic and good cheer." - Catholic Encyclopedia.

By our Anglican calendar, Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday (which in turn marks the beginning of Lent). In Latin countries it's the last day of Carnival. In historically Francophone places it's Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday").

The origin of the name Shrove lies in the old English verb "shrive" (to absolve). It was common in England during Middle Ages for shriveners (as priests were oft called) to hear folks' confessions at Shrovetide (the three days before the beginning of Lent). I know, you're asking "but what about the pancakes..?" Oh, did you know that the "famous" Shrove Tuesday pancake race at Olney in Buckinghamshire, England has been held continuously since 1445?

Traditionally, on Shrove Tuesday, folks would get together for one last party before Lent (the 40 day penitential season in preparation of Easter). They'd use up whatever remaining ingredients they had left in their larders (pantry for storing meats and fats) that they weren't allowed to eat during Lent, so would spoil (butter, stored meats, eggs, etc.); which means, in fine Anglican tradition, it's time for pancakes and sausages (that'll use up the larder). Oh, and it's time for chocolate too, since it was a tradition to give up that popular treat for Lent. (Why do you think there's so much chocolate at Easter?)

So, let's all extend ourselves some exceptional license before we prepare for Lent, in the way of frolic and good cheer as we celebrate Shrove Tuesday. Mmm, (savory) pancakes.

You're in Rome; let's say during the third century A.D. Claudius II is emperor and Christianity is unyieldingly repressed. But love is in the air and you and your one-and-only want to get married in the Christian Church. What do you do? Why, you turn to Valentinus, the kind-hearted priest who secretly marries young couples against the rule and convention of the Empire. Better hurry. The power that is Rome is going to behead Valentinus for his good deeds; on February 14th, of course.

And so the martyred Valentinus becomes Saint Valentine. At least, that's the way the romantic medieval legends and romanticized English literature go. Actually, there were three Saint Valentines with feast days on February 14th mentioned in early Roman Martyrologies "...whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God" (496, Pope Gelasius I). You see, not much at all is known about any of them; or even if they actually existed.

Poor St. Valentine was finally dropped from the Roman Martyrology calendar in 1969 and our St. Valentine's day has always been strictly a secular affair; popularized by those romantic English and by one Mr. Joyce Hall(mark), who was looking for a way to pump up his greeting card sales in the early twentieth century.

And who do we Anglicans celebrate on February 14th? Why, it's the Feast of Cyril the monk and Bishop Methodius, missionaries to the hostile Slavs in the ninth century. Um, I think I'm going with Valentine's Day this year. You are getting me a card, aren't you?

One in a series... It is said that in the Sixth Century B.C., the young Siddharta Gautama grew up a sheltered prince surrounded by every luxury and comfort.

One day when he ventured into a park just outside of his palace, near Kapilavastu on the border between Nepal and India, he encountered extreme human poverty and misery. Shaken to the core by what he saw, he renounced his life of privilege, left his noble heritage and his wife and young child behind. Then, after years as a seeker and wandering ascetic he experienced enlightenment.

The Buddha (the 'awakened' or 'enlightened') saw suffering, rooted in desire, as the central fact of human existence. He located the source of suffering and its cure within each individual life and mind. "We cannot control the world around us," he taught, "we can only control our experience of the world; our perceptions and conclusions in the present and the way we choose to live."

Buddhists use practices such as meditation as spiritual technologies toward this discipline of present awareness and mindful action. Today, some 360 million people (98% of them in Asia) profess Buddhism in its two main sects. In Christianity, a version of the story of the Buddha's conversion from the worldly life of a prince to the life of an ascetic was popularized by St. John of Damascus and by a bit more "conversion," the Buddha found his way into the Roman Martyrology (November 27). So, for over a millennium, the Buddha found himself a full canonized saint in the Roman Catholic church.