We are a small Episcopal Church in the village of Port Royal, Va., united in our love for God, for one another and our neighbor. Check out our welcome.
It’s the Day of Pentecost!
“All of us, who call ourselves Christians, have been given the gift of God’s impossible love, God’s Holy Spirit, in order that we might be more than we imagine, in order that we might do more than we dare dream, in order that we might be like Christ to a hurting and broken world. The Holy Spirit is God’s love in action, and as such, every loving thing we do is a gift of the Spirit. As Bruce D. Prewer once wrote:” – Dean Randy Hollerith, National Cathedral (edited)
“The Spirit is quietly at work:
In those who take a stand against injustice
In the selfless service of those who care for others at the risk of their own safety
In the inner resources we discover in times of crisis
In the grace that enables us to admit when we are wrong
In our ability to find joy in unexpected places
In refusing to let the greed of society take over our souls
In our ability to rise above past failures and put past hurts behind us
In our willingness to give thanks even through the hard times of life”
May 23 – 11:00am, Pentecost Holy Eucharist . In person in the church or on Zoom. – Join here at 10:45am for gathering – service starts at 11am Meeting ID: 869 9926 3545 Passcode: 889278
May 23 – 7:00pm, Compline on Zoom. This short service of prayer and music offers the opportunity to close the day in one another’s company as we place ourselves in God’s protection for the night. – Join here at 6:30am for gathering – service starts at 7pm Meeting ID: 878 7167 9302 Passcode: 729195
May 24 – 6:30am – Be Still Meditation group in a 20 minute time of prayer Meeting ID: 879 8071 6417 Passcode: 790929. Intentionally start the week in God’s presence by joining in twenty minutes of silent prayer together.
May 26 – 10:00am – Ecumenical Bible Study through Zoom
May 30 – 11:00am, Trinity Sunday Holy Eucharist
May 30 – 7:00pm, Compline on Zoom – Join here at 6:30am for gathering – service starts at 7pm Meeting ID 834 7356 6532 Password 748475
Pentecost 2016, five years ago
A Pentecost that can’t be duplicated – 180th anniversary as well as Pentecost, a church altarpiece under construction, new hangings in the church plus 3 priests on hand.
And Pentecost in 2021..
As encouraged, people wore red!!
Projects in May
3 projects for you to support – one local in the Caroline County, one in the Episcopal Church and finally one which is international but which ties back to local roots. Most end in May thought one on Jamaica extends through much of June. Support one or more or all!
1. Help the Caroline Detention Facility – May 2 – May 23
Chaplain Shoars has asked for donations of notebook paper, Forever stamps and envelopes for his people, who would like to be in touch with their families. Please bring your donations to church and place them in the box in the back pew. The collection will end on Sunday, May 23rd
We have received a good response as of May 16.
2. UTO Ingathering – May 16 – May 30. More on the UTO
Boxes will be handed out on May 16 and collected on May 30. Write a check to “St. Peter’s- UTO” to help with the work of this vital ministry.
3. Jamaica Project – May 2 – June 20
As of May 16, we have collected $1,000 toward a goal of $3,000! Many thanks!
This project will provide needed school supplies to the 330 children of the Victoria School, Andrea’s elementary school in Jamaica. As Andrea has said, “Being able to make a positive difference for an institution that has made a positive difference in your life is deeply rewarding and meaningful.” The supplies will be shipped to Jamaica at the end of June in order to arrive before the school year begins.
Several ways you can help.
1 Pray for the success of this project.
2 Contribute money for this project by writing a check to St Peter’s, with Jamaica Project in the memo line. Address – St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, P. O. Box 399
Port Royal, Virginia 22535
3 Contribute money for this project through PayPal
4 Donate some of the needed items by checking out this Amazon website,
https://www.amazon.com/registries/custom/3C20YX029SXN4/guest-view
It contains a complete list of supplies needed for the school children.
You can order directly from this list, have the items you have chosen shipped to you, and then just bring your donation to church or give it directly to Andrea.
You ship the items directly to 602 Main St, Box 385, Port Royal, VA 22535, which will get your donation to Andrea’s Post Office Box.
The deadline for your donation is June 20, 2021.
Tucker’s Trip – late May, 2021 – Peru!
Follow Tucker’s travels through his Instagram site, main_adventure_life. The link is here
Where have we been and will go in May ! Four Sundays of May commemorating agriculture, the Ascension, Pentecost and Trinity Sunday – are four feasts of great importance in the life of the Church. They are distinctively “named” Sundays.
Rogation Sunday on May 9 (Easter 6) goes back to prayer and fasting in early Christian times for protection for crops from disease. It was also a reflection of the Roman holiday of Robigalia at which a dog was sacrificed to propitiate Robigus, the god of agricultural disease. In England they were associated with the blessing of the fields at planting. The vicar “beat the bounds” of the parish, processing around the fields reciting psalms and the litany. In Christian years it involved fasting and abstinence in preparation for celebrating the Ascension. Traditionally, Rogation days are the three days before Ascension Day on which the litany is sung (or recited) in procession as an act of intercession.
The Ascension (May 13, celebrated May 16) is usually described as marking the completion of Jesus’ ministry on earth as he returned to Heaven. But it is far more than that. It marks the exact moment when Jesus, Son of God, commissioned his disciples to begin the gigantic task of converting the whole world. As recorded in St Mark’s Gospel, Jesus said: “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned.”
Luke tells us that Pentecost (May 23) occurred a short time after the Ascension, and marked the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise, at his Ascension, to send the Holy Spirit on the disciples.
The gift of the Holy Spirit electrified these fearful followers – who only weeks before had run away when Jesus was arrested, and were still hiding for fear of those who had been responsible for their Lord’s death – and transformed them into men and women willing to lay down their lives for their faith, as many of them did.
The feast of Holy Trinity (celebrated May 30), though logically linked with the other two, was established much later. Although its existence was clearly stated in the New Testament, and early recognized as a doctrine of the faith, it was only when the Arian heresy – which denied Jesus was God – was spreading in the fourth century, that the church Fathers prepared an Office with canticles, responses, a preface, and hymns, to be recited at Mass. From these, the feast we now celebrate as Trinity Sunday gradually evolved.
Together, these latter three great feasts mark the promise which Jesus gave to his disciples, and its fulfilment in the Church on earth. As recorded by Matthew, the very last words Jesus said to his Apostles before going up to Heaven, were: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of time.”
Trinity Sunday, 2021
Trinity Sunday, the first Sunday after Pentecost, honors the Holy Trinity—the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Although the word “trinity” does not appear in Scripture, it is taught in Matthew 28:18-20 and 2 Corinthians 13:14 (and many other biblical passages). It lasts only one day, which is symbolic of the unity of the Trinity.
Trinity Sunday is one of the few feasts of the Christian Year that celebrates a reality and doctrine rather than an event or person. The Eastern Churches have no tradition of Trinity Sunday, arguing that they celebrate the Trinity every Sunday.
Understanding of all scriptural doctrine is by faith which comes through the work of the Holy Spirit; therefore, it is appropriate that this mystery is celebrated the first Sunday after the Pentecost, when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit first occurred.
The Trinity is best described in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, commonly called the Nicene Creed. Essentially the Trinity is the belief that God is one in essence (Greek "ousia"), but distinct in person (Greek "hypostasis"). The Greek word for person means "that which stands on its own," or "individual reality," and does not mean the persons of the Trinity are three human persons. Therefore we believe that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are somehow distinct from one another (not divided though), yet completely united in will and essence.
The Importance of Trinity Sunday
Article from Building Faith – “Three Teaching Points of Trinity Sunday”
God is Love Because God is Trinity. “In the First Letter of John, we find one of the most comforting and profound claims about God, “So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is Love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” (I John 4:16). For this to be true, for God to be love, completely and perfectly, God must also be Trinity. For there to be love you need three things; the lover, the beloved, and the love or union shared between the two. Only in the revelation of God as Trinity can we see that God is love.
The Trinity Is To Be Loved, Not Solved. “Look again at our verse from First John, “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” John is not trying to help us solve a puzzle; instead, he wants us to see that the Triune God has created us so that we might share in his love, that we might abide in God and God in us.
The Trinity is the Central Mystery of the Christian Faith and Life “When we are baptized, it is in the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our prayer is Trinitarian in shape; for example, the collects in the Book of Common Prayer (BCP pg. 211) are addressed to the Father, through the Son, in unity with the Holy Spirit. Many of the postures we use in worship and prayer are Trinitarian; the sign of the cross, for example, invokes the Name of the Triune God. The whole of our lives as Christians is a participation in the mystery of the Holy Trinity.
Visualizing the Trinity
The Trinity is most commonly seen in Christian art with the Spirit represented by a dove, as specified in the Gospel accounts of the Baptism of Christ; he is nearly always shown with wings outspread. However depictions using three human figures appear occasionally in most periods of art.
The Father and the Son are usually differentiated by age, and later by dress, but this too is not always the case. The usual depiction of the Father as an older man with a white beard may derive from the biblical Ancient of Days, which is often cited in defense of this sometimes controversial representation.
The Son is often shown at the Father’s right hand.[Acts 7:56 ] He may be represented by a symbol—typically the Lamb or a cross—or on a crucifix, so that the Father is the only human figure shown at full size. In early medieval art, the Father may be represented by a hand appearing from a cloud in a blessing gesture, for example in scenes of the Baptism of Christ.
The Apple pie as a symbol of the Trinity.
From a sermon on Trinity Sunday, 2011
"This pie is Trinitarian for several reasons. First of all, it has three parts. It has a crust, it has a filling, and it has a topping. Second, each of the three parts has three ingredients.
"The crust is made of flour with a little salt thrown in, some shortening, and some ice water. The filling contains apples, sugar, and cinnamon. The topping is made of a trinity of flour, butter and sugar.
"When all of these ingredients are subjected to the heat of the oven over a period of time, they merge together into one delicious pie, which would not be complete if any of the ingredients were lacking.
"This apple pie is a great symbol for God as Trinity. In order to understand most fully who God is, we Christians know God as the transcendent God, so mysterious that we will never ever know God fully in this life. We know God as Jesus, who lived and died as one of us—not some far off distant deity, but God who experienced the joys and sorrows of being human. We know God as that voice that whispers to us, bringing us inspiration, understanding, and guidance. The ways in which we know God are incomplete until we embrace all of these ways of knowing God, knowing that even then God remains a mystery. This pie would be incomplete without its three parts."
Hymn of the Week – Holy! Holy! Holy!
Reginald Heber (1783 – 1826) was an English clergyman, traveller, man of letters and hymn-writer who, after working as a country parson for 16 years, served as the Anglican Bishop of Calcutta until his sudden death at the age of 42.
Reginald Heber wrote "Holy, Holy, Holy" while serving as vicar of Hodnet, Shropshire, England. He was the first to compile a hymnal ordering hymns around the church calendar. Wanting to celebrate a triune God, Heber wrote "Holy, Holy, Holy" for Trinity Sunday–a day that reaffirmed the doctrine of the Trinity and was observed eight Sundays after Easter. The hymn was first published in 1826.
Years later, John Dykes composed the tune Nicaea especially for Heber’s "Holy, Holy, Holy."
Text and tune were first published together in 1861. Since that time, this popular hymn has appeared in hundreds of hymnals and been translated into many languages.
The Nicene Creed, line by line
We say this creed every Sunday in the Eucharist service. It is the central creed or belief of Christianity and goes back to 325AD. On Trinity Sunday it is good to break it down into its essential meaning.
Walls of Nicea
"I believe in one God"
The Greek, Latin and proper English translations begin with "I" believe, because reciting the creed is an individual expression of belief.
"the Father Almighty "
God the Father is the first person, within the Godhead. The Father is the "origin" or "source" of the Trinity. From Him, came somehow the other two. God the Father is often called "God Unbegotten" in early Christian thought.
"Maker of heaven and earth, And of all things visible and invisible"
Everything that is was created by God. Some early sects, the Gnostics and Marcionites, believed that God the Father created the spirit world, but that an "evil" god (called the demiurge) created the similarly evil material world.
"And in one Lord Jesus Christ, "
Jesus is Lord and Master of all this creation. No tyrant, Jesus is Lord, teacher, counselor, friend and servant.
"the only-begotten Son of God "
Jesus is in a unique relationship with God the Father, His only Son. While Hebrew kings were sons of God symbolically, Jesus is the only Son of God by nature.
"Begotten of his Father before all worlds "
Begotten has the meaning of born, generated, or produced. God the Son is out of the essence of God the Father. The Son shares the essential nature of God with the Father. Since God is eternal, the Son, being begotten of God, is also eternal. Jesus was begotten of the Father before this world came into being and was present at its creation.
Lectionary, May 30 Trinity Sunday
I. Theme – The Trinity points to the mystery of unity and diversity in God’s experience and in the ongoing creative process
Holy Trinity– Anton Rublev (1430)
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
First Reading – Isaiah 6:1-8
Old Testament – Psalm 29 Page 620, BCP
Epistle –Romans 8:12-17
Gospel – John 3:1-17
Commentary by Rev. Mindi
The Call of Isaiah is dictated in chapter 6 with a glorious vision of God as a king seated on a throne surrounded by his attendants, the six-winged seraphs above the Lord. Even the seraphs seem not worthy of God, covering their feet and their faces, not daring to touch the holy space of heaven, not daring to look upon the face of God. Isaiah feels unworthy to speak in God’s presence, until the coal is pressed to his lips and Isaiah is purified. We are reminded through Isaiah’s vision that God is beyond our understanding, beyond our comprehension, but we do have a way of responding to God: through our answering God’s call, through our saying “yes” to God, to our saying, “Send me!” We may not understand God, but God understands us, and calls us into the world to carry God’s message.
Psalm 29 speaks of God as the Great Creator, whose voice carries the power of creation. God calls forth creation by speaking in Genesis 1 and the creative power of God’s voice is echoed here. It is God’s voice that calls creation out of the void, the deep, the darkness–and it is God’s voice that calls us out of the darkness of the world to witness to the light.
John 3:1-17 is the familiar story of Nicodemus which we read a portion of during Lent. Jesus speaks to Nicodemus about being born of the Spirit, and that God’s love for the whole world is so great that God has sent Jesus. We often read verse 16 without reading verse 17–that God did not send Jesus to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Using the Father-Son language, we understand the relationship of Christ to the Creator to be intimate, close, indwelling, along with the Spirit–a hint at the Trinity. While the Trinity is a concept never named in the Bible, we have inferred the triune relationship of God through scriptures such as these, knowing that we can never fully understand God, the Trinity helps us understand how God has been made known to us.
Romans 8:12-17 also infers the triune relationship of God by tying in our relationship with Christ as also being children of God, who have a close relationship with God to where we also can call God Abba (the Aramaic word for Father that Christ used indicates closeness). And we are led by the Spirit of God, who guides us in this world to the way of life.
Reflection and Response
We stand on holy ground. That truth resonates throughout today’s readings, reminding us of the essential sacredness of our experience, throughout all times and seasons.
The sacred character of human life springs from our intimate connection with the triune deity. God’s self-identification to Moses is not that of some distant figure, aloof from human life. Instead, he is the God of people: Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel. If we substitute the names of our own parents or loved ones, we get the message. God is part and parcel of that most close and frustrating human relationship.
To see our ordinary days in this divine light takes a special gift of the Spirit. Elusive as the wind, it inspires and empowers us, enabling us to rise above our mortal limitations and place our lives in the context of the holy. The normal bounds of our thinking can be utterly shattered and expanded, just as Moses’ were when he saw a bush burning, yet not consumed.
The same irony is present as we realize that we are deeply human, yet somehow more than that. Redemption by Jesus implies that although we are doomed to die, we also inherit eternal life. The implications of that fact should brighten the dusty surface of our days.
We older folk become as skeptical as Nicodemus about the possibilities for rebirth. The noted teacher is quite willing to admit that the signs Jesus does mark him as one who lives in the presence of God. Yet the next step Jesus asks him to take is the difficult one: acknowledging that any person can see God’s kingdom as clearly, enter into this reign and be born of the Spirit.
In so doing, Paul says, we become joint heirs with Christ, suffering with him so that we can also share his glory. It is our union with Christ that makes all ground holy: our affections, our work, our suffering and triumphs.
Quietly consider:
If I am an heir of God, how then should I act?
Read more about the lectionary…
Make a Gift Today! 2. Contact the Rev Catherine Hicks, Rector 4. Server Schedule May, 2021 5. Latest Newsletter-the Parish Post (May, 2021) 6. Calendar 9. Latest Sunday Bulletin (May 23, 2021 11:00am), and Sermon (May 23, 2021) 10. Recent Services: Readings and Prayers, Easter 5, Sunday, May 2 Readings and Prayers, Easter 6, Sunday, May 9 Readings and Prayers, Easter 7, Sunday, May 16 |
Block Print by Mike Newman
Projects
3-Minute Retreats invite you to take a short prayer break right at your computer. Spend some quiet time reflecting on a Scripture passage.
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.
Daily meditations in words and music.
Your daily prayer online, since 1999
“We invite you to make a ‘Sacred Space’ in your day, praying here and now, as you visit our website, with the help of scripture chosen every day and on-screen guidance.”
Saints of the Week, May 23, 2021 – May 30, 2021
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23
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Nicolaus Copernicus, 1543, and Johannes Kepler, 1543, Astronomers |
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24
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Jackson Kemper, Bishop & Missionary,1870 |
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25
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Bede, the Venerable, Priest, and Historian, 735 |
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Augustine, First Archbishop of Canterbury, 605 |
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27
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Bertha and Ethelbert, Queen and King of Kent, 616 |
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28 |
[Mechtild of Magdeburg], Mystic, c.1282 John Calvin, Theologian, 1564 |
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29
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30
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Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc), Mystic and Soldier, 1431 |