June 28, 2020 – Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Summertime! Flowers in bloom this week.
The Week Ahead…
June 28 – Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
June 28 – 10:00am – Join here at 9:30am for gathering – service starts at 10am Meeting ID 834 7356 6532 Password 748475
2. Readings, Prayers for Readings and Prayers for Pentecost 4
June 28 – 11:15am – National Cathedral church service online
July 1 – 10:00am – Ecumenical Bible Study through Zoom
July 4 – Celebrating Independence
1. Religion in the Declaration
2. The Real Purpose of the Declaration
3. The Signers – by the Numbers
July 5 – Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
July 5 10:00am – Join here at 9:30am for gathering – service starts at 10am Meeting ID 834 7356 6532 Password 748475
July 5 – 11:15am – National Cathedral church service online
How do we reopen St. Peter’s ?
Read the document from the Diocese of Virginia on Phase II reopening
In the meantime can we have outdoor services ? YES
Read the document from the Diocese of Virginia on outdoor services
Lectionary, July 5, 2020, Pentecost 5, Proper 9, Year A
I.Theme – Lifting our burdens
"Bearing a heavy weight together" – Komarno, Slovakia
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Zechariah 9:9-12
Psalm – Psalm 145:8-15 Page 802, BCP
Epistle –Romans 7:15-25a
Gospel – Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Sermon by Amy Richter for this week
“Come to me, all you that are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
It didn’t help that she was already late for the meeting. Rushing past the sexton who was putting the recycling out, she had her own arms full as she tried to get the back door of the church open. Juggling her lunch bag, laptop bag, and pocketbook, she tried to pull the door open. She knew that in the humidity the door would often stick, but this time, it just wouldn’t budge. Not wanting to set anything down, she just pulled as hard as she could, hoping the door would budge and she could still make it in time. No such luck. She gave up and noticed the sexton was watching.
“Did you pull as hard as you could?” he asked.
“Yes, I gave it everything I’ve got.”
The sexton smiled and said, “No, you didn’t. You didn’t ask me to help you.” He walked over, took her bags off her shoulder and said, “Now try it.” The door came open on the first try.
In today’s gospel lesson, Jesus promises us rest for our souls by coming to him. He promises us that we can set down our burden and yokes and take up his easy and light ones instead. By talking about yokes, Jesus is using an illustration common in his time, but not so common in ours, at least in our part of the world. A yoke is usually made out of wood. It fits across the shoulders of the animal or person who is using it. With oxen, a yoke connects animals to each other and also to a plow or something else the animal is pulling. The purpose of the yoke is to harness the power of the animal to do the work required of it. Yokes are also used by people to carry water or other things.
Justin Martyr, writing in the second century, said that when Jesus was working as a carpenter, one of the things he made was yokes. Perhaps we can imagine Jesus making these wooden yokes meant to join pairs of animals together. Of course, the carpenter would want to make the yoke so that it would fit just right – not rub or be rough on the animals, but something that would truly help the animals bear their burdens, pull together, be more efficient as a team than either would be alone. We imagine Jesus the carpenter, sanding down rough spots, fitting the yoke, checking it, making it just right for the job – a perfect fit.
Jesus invites us to take a yoke just like this – made exactly for us by someone who understands what it means to bear burdens, someone who knows us each by name, knows our gifts and our needs, who does not want us to be wearied or weighed down. Jesus offers us a yoke, made by his own labor and love, made perfectly for us. And that’s not all; he offers himself as our partner in the yoke, the one who will help us bear, pull, carry – whatever we are called to do.
“Come to me all you that are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you … for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
What a beautiful invitation. Jesus longs to give us rest from all the troubles and hardships and burdens we carry. All we need to do is give up our burdens, turn everything we carry over to Christ, and he will help us: a beautiful, utterly simple invitation.
So why is it so hard to do? Perhaps you are able to turn things over to God pretty easily. Perhaps you are good at remembering that you are not alone and that Jesus is standing beside you saying, “Come to me,” and you go to him. Perhaps you have learned that you are strongest when you ask for God’s help. Perhaps your first impulse when struggling with a tough problem or heavy burden is to “let go and let God.” If this describes you, well done.
If you are like many people, however, it is really hard actually to turn things over, even if we know in our heads that we’re turning them over to Jesus who stretched out his arms upon the cross that he might embrace the whole world and take all of our burdens on himself. It’s hard to go to Jesus, and give up our burdens to him.
Sometimes we forget he is there for us. Or we trust he is there, but we don’t really think he’s talking to us. “Oh, our problems are so small compared to other people’s problems, I really shouldn’t bother God with this,” as if God can’t handle our burdens, or is too busy dealing with others to notice us. No, Jesus was speaking in the plural when he gave his invitation, and he was speaking to everyone, everywhere, for all time and forever. You come. You take. Are you weary? Then this includes you. Do you have burdens, big or small? Then you qualify.
Perhaps another thing that keeps us from taking Jesus up on his invitation is that we don’t want to need help. We want to be strong and capable, and we think keeping our problems to ourselves, trying to do things alone, trying to muscle our way through anxiety by ourselves is proof of our strength and ability. We’re celebrating Independence Day this weekend, when our country became a country, independent from England. But we tend to want to be independent in every way. Can you imagine us celebrating Dependence Day? As Christians, we make a startling claim that we are always dependent, and that’s a good thing. Our gospel begins with Jesus giving thanks that those who get his message, those who really understand it, are like children, who are dependent and open.
A Weekful of Saints!
Collect – "Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."
June 28 – Irenaeus
Irenaeus (125?-202) was an early Church father, having been taught by Polycarp, who had been taught by John the Evangelist.
During the persecution of Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor from 161-180 the clergy of that city, many of whom were suffering imprisonment for the faith, sent him in 177 to Rome with a letter to Pope Eleuterus concerning heresy. While Irenaeus was in Rome, a massacre took place in Lyons. Returning to Gaul, Irenaeus succeeded the martyr Saint Pothinus and became the second Bishop of Lyon, the main trading port for Western Gaul (France). During the religious peace which followed the persecution of Marcus Aurelius, the new bishop divided his activities between the duties of a pastor and of a missionary.
We remember him for two things – his work against Gnosticism and the recognition of the four gospels. He apparently did well there, becoming an influential leader against the rising heterodoxy Gnosticism. He first used the word to describe heresies . The Gnostics saw the world as material, and leaves much room for improvement and they denied that God had made it. They saw Jesus more as a spirit than a real flesh human . Before Irenaeus, Christians differed as to which gospel they preferred. Irenaeus is the earliest witness to recognize the four authentic gospels, the same we have today. Irenaeus is also our earliest attestation that the Gospel of John was written by John the apostle and that the Gospel of Luke was written by Luke, the companion of Paul.
June 29 – Feast of Peter and Paul
The Feast of Saints Peter and Paul commemorates the martyrdom in Rome of the apostles St. Peter and Paul of Tarsus, observed on June 29. The celebration is of ancient origin, the date selected being either the anniversary of their martyrdom in 67AD or of the translation of their relics. They had been imprisoned in the famous Mamertine Prison of Rome and both had foreseen their approaching death. Saint Peter was crucified; Saint Paul, a Roman citizen, was slain by the sword. Together they represent two different Christian traditions.
Why do we remember them ? Peter is pictured on the left with the keys – the keys to the kingdom. In Matthew 16, Christ says " And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven." They keys since then have been symbols of Papal power. Peter represents that part of the Church which gives it stability: its traditions handed down in an unbroken way from the very beginnings, the structures which help to preserve and conserve those traditions, the structure which also gives consistency and unity to the Church, spread as it is through so many races, cultures, traditions, and geographical diversity
Paul is pictured with the Bible. He, on the other hand, represents the prophetic and missionary role in the Church. It is that part of the Church which constantly works on the edge, pushing the boundaries of the Church further out, not only in a geographical sense but also pushing the concerns of the Church into neglected areas of social concern and creatively developing new ways of communicating the Christian message. This is the Church which is constantly renewed, a Church which needs to be constantly renewed
Read 40% of the Bible this Summer
It takes just 70 hours and 40 minutes to read the Bible through “at pulpit rate,” and aloud! So when do you sleep and eat?
There is another way. We have a plan to read 40% of the Bible during June and July in the slower days of summer. This takes about 25 minutes a day to see the big picture of scripture. Within these 60 days, there are 6 days to catchup after 37 days.
Get your mind off of pandemic ! Step into a productive way to spend part of the summer! Schedule is online
Praying Differently this Summer
1. With Clenched Hands
Close your eyes and clench your hands tightly.
Imagine all the pressures and worries and tensions you carry here today. We hold on to a lot of things.
Then, in your own time, turn your gripped hands over so that they are facing down. Imagine God’s hands underneath yours and slowly open your hands so that the things you are carrying fall into God’s hands.
You may wish to repeat this several times. Turn your hands face up, but this time with the palms open and ask God’s Spirit to fill you afresh everything.
2.Worry Knots
As you think about these things, tie a knot in the rope to represent each worry and how it ties you up inside.
Matthew 6:25-34 reminds us, “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”.
Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.
As you untie each knot you made ask God to help you problem-solve when and how you can.
Anything but Ordinary! Ordinary Time
Basically, Ordinary Time encompasses that part of the Christian year that does not fall within the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, or Easter.
Ordinary Time is anything but ordinary. According to The General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, the days of Ordinary Time, especially the Sundays, "are devoted to the mystery of Christ in all its aspects." We continue our trek through the both the Gospels of Luke and John- through parables challenges, healings – some great stories and teachings.
Lent is about preparing people to live as disciples of Jesus. Easter Season is about giving especially the newly baptized or confirmed time to focus deeply on the doctrinal foundations of the faith and on discerning the Spirit’s calling and gifts for ministry, culminating in a celebration and commissioning for these ministries at Pentecost. The Season after Pentecost is about seeking the Spirit’s guidance and supporting one another as we undertake these ministries in Christ’s name.
While there are parts of Ordinary Time through the year, we think of Trinity Sunday until Christ the King Sunday or up to Advent as the Ordinary Time.
Make a Gift Today! 2. Contact the Rev Catherine Hicks, Rector 4. Server Schedule June 2020 5. Latest Newsletter-the Parish Post (July , 2020) 6. Calendar 9. Latest Sunday Bulletin (July 5, 2020 10:00am), and Sermon (June 28, 2020) 10. Recent Services: Readings and prayers from Trinity Sunday, June 7, 2020 Readings and prayers from Pentecost 2, June 14, 2020 |
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Knowing that not everyone prays at the same pace, you have control over the pace of the retreat. After each screen, a Continue button will appear. Click it when you are ready to move on. If you are new to online prayer, the basic timing of the screens will guide you through the experience.
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Saints of the Week, – June 28 – July 5, 2020
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28
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Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, c. 202 |
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29
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Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Apostles |
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30
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Pauli Murray, Priest, 1985 Harriet Beecher Stowe, Writer and Prophetic Witness, 1896 |
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[Moses the Black], Monastic & Martyr, c.400 Walter Rauschenbusch, 1918, Washington Gladden, 1918, and Jacob Riis, 1914, Prophetic Witnesses |
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4
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Independence Day |