“We Are On a Journey & You are the Key:”
A Lenten Reflection from St. Mary’s
“We are on a journey” was the phrase that Reverend Mary repeated over and over in her homily.
St. Mary’s is on a journey.
We have survived financial deficits, broken relationships, lost loved ones, crumbling infrastructures, and yet, have also celebrated each other through Mardi Gras, Church Revival, Craft Fairs, Birthday gatherings, movements for justice, and just recently, our abundantly supported Lenten Dinner.
Like the labyrinth’s path, “it is circular but it is also linear,” Rev. Mary notes. It has twists and turns, and yet, it will always lead you to the center.
Community member Lisa Slocum has provided a wonderful reflection tool during this season of Lent with a zine she thoughtfully designed, folded, cut, and titled “You Are the Key: Reflections for a blessed (and engaged) Lenten Season.”
“May you find creative ways to unlock love for your neighbor and yourself this season. Isaiah 58:6-14” – Lisa S.
I have kept my own copy of this zine between the pages of my daily planner where I jot down my to-do list for when I work in the parish office: the numbers of people I need to call back from a missed office phone call, the tentative dates for community clean up days (stay tuned!) and the list of church necessities that Kym reminds me to order via Quill.
When I open the zine and flip through the pages, I am transported into my own labyrinth of reflection. The twisting turns of the honest illustrations, and yet, the centering point of each page as my eyes slowly find the keyways that can unlock my holy capacity to hold, feel and act with compassion, humanity, charity, outrage, justice, humility, and renewal.
“You are the key.”
Today’s Spring Equinox marks another beginning of our journey as a community here at St. Mary’s.
Amidst this time of violence, misinformation, and harm, new growth continues to take place.
And yet, it does not mean that our hardships will end. We will find ourselves facing new twisting and turning paths.
But what can be different is our capacity to hold, feel and act with compassion, humanity, charity, outrage, justice, humility, and renewal. To recognize yourself as a vital part of community: within St. Mary’s, within Harlem, and amongst your neighbors who are a street away or an ocean away. We belong to each other.
Ly Bedaña, our Music Director, affirms us with the words from the song “Santa María del Camino”:
Aunque te digan algunos
Que nada puede cambiar Lucha por un mundo nuevo Lucha por la verdad. …
Even if some may tell you That nothing can change, Fight for a new world Fight for the truth.
Aunque parezcan tus pasos Inútil caminar Tú vas haciendo caminos Otros los seguirán. …
Even though your steps may seem That they are being walked in vain, You are making paths That others will follow.
We are all on a journey and you are the key.
Renewal is on the way.
— written by Yarilynne Regalado
Reflecting on the Role of Women During the Holy Family’s Journey
Sunday evening, January 11, 2026, an intimate group gathered via Zoom for a grounding Epiphany Reflection Series led by our very own Mo. Linda.
Our world is feeling the weight of a society that continues to be made less safe for our immigrant neighbors and for everyone. The militarized presence of ICE in our neighborhoods “makes us all less safe,” as NY Bishop Matthew Heyd states (click here to watch his statement during an Interfaith Vigil for Renee Nicole Good and the 39 people who have died in ICE custody).
During this season of Epiphany, we are quite literally met with a brutal “revelation” of a world made less safe. Gathered together on our laptops and computer screens, we were in search of comfort and meaning.
Mo. Linda graciously led the group through an almost Visio Divina (the practice of using visual art to connect with God) of learning and contemplation by presenting various images of the Holy Family’s Journey interpreted throughout a wide variety of cultures and time periods.
What struck our group the most were the images of women that surrounded the nativity scene. In a sudden realization, we were made aware of how these images, such as “Wise Women Also Came” by Jan L. Richardson, were “speaking into a silence” of the story of the Holy Family’s journey, as Mo. Mary stated to the group.
Indeed, an epiphany!
The “appearance” of women shaped a deeper and more grounded understanding of Mary and Joseph’s journey with baby Jesus. The midwives, the doulas, the emotional and physical caretakers who would have surrounded Mary and her birth.
As Mo. Linda powerfully affirms,
“There is no way that Jesus would have been born without the knowledge and labor of the women who surrounded Mary at the time.”
Stories of women from contemporary periods helped our group to understand Mary and Joseph’s struggle out of Egypt from King Herod’s massacre of children and towards a more safe place:
“My world came crashing in when the war in Syria started. I was afraid for my children. One day we were told our village would be attacked so there was nothing else to do but flee. With kids in arm and 8 months pregnant, we fled for our lives, literally, running on foot out of the village. Unknowingly I was running towards danger.” ~ Syrian mother
“What is in front of you is danger, but what is behind you is destruction,” as Mo. Linda reflectively shared with the group.
As the session closed, we left with reminders of Mary’s difficult journey to escape the threat of King Herod’s decree behind her and face the unknown dangers that lay ahead of her. We were reminded of the women who face these choices today. We were touched by the images of women bringing gifts to Mary, Joseph and Jesus, coloring a clearer picture of the nativity scene. Women, such as Renee Nicole Good, who brought the gift of community care by advocating on behalf of immigrant neighbors for a safer world.
History rhymes and our group ended with this reminder after reflecting and contemplating on image after image and story upon story.
As a member of our group shared with us later, an Epiphany hymn:
“In the bleak mid-winter . . .”
“What have I to bring thee?
. . .I will bring my heart.”
Within these dark and unsafe times, we will bring our hearts.
St. Mary's Episcopal Church • Harlem 