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Block Print by Mike Newman
Projects
Beginning Nov. 12 for 4 Sundays in the Parish House ! (no class Nov. 26). Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol and the Bible.
A Christmas Carol has delighted audiences since it publication in 1843 in its book form and through the many movies made from its story. Few people know of Dickens’ connection with religion. A Christmas Carol has many Biblical references, some cleverly hidden within the story. The regeneration of Scrooge mirrors the regeneration of mankind in the Bible. Even with the title, “A Christmas Carol”, Dickens is using the meaning of “carol” familiar to him: a song celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Dickens each chapter of his book a stave, a stanza of a song. We will discuss Chapter 1 of the book on the first Sunday. Where to find it ?
2 The book and audio are available free at Project Gutenberg on the web. It is available in plain text, formatted text, Kindle for book readers (with or with images). It is available in in audio in mp3 format and itunes audiobook
3 If you want a hardcopy, it is available on Amazon. Look for Dover Thrift edition for as little as $3 plus shipping.
Actors who have played Scrooge
Check out this page for the actors who have played Scrooge.
Even better are links to the movies that you can watch online.
Link to the reports from Jan 15 Annual Meeting
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, Oct. 22 – 29
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22
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23
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Saint James of Jerusalem, Brother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and Martyr, c. 62 |
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24
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[Hiram Hisanori Kano, Priest, 1988] |
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25
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26
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Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons, 899 |
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27
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28
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Saint Simon and Saint Jude, Apostles |
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29
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James Hannington, Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa, and his Companions, Martyrs, 1885 |
October 22, 2017 – Pentecost 20
Fall at Shrine Mont 
From left to right- Turning leaves against the belfry, Fog on the Rappahannock, Check in Children’s Sunday school, The river at the Port Royal pier, Children in class, Matching bow ties father and son, Children at the pier, Leaving a painted rock, Check in Children’s Sunday School. All the photos…
"Earth and All Stars"
"Earth and all Stars" is hymn 412 in the 1982 Episcopal Hymnbook which we sang on Oct. 22, 2017. It quotes Psalm 96 which was part of the lectionary today. We try to learn new hymns in the church practicing before church before trying it out. This was our second go at it this year. It is just a beautiful, moving hymn. The children had a good time with the noise makers in the spirit of the hymn.
"I tried to gather into a hymn of praise the many facets of life which emerge in the life of community. So there are the references to building, nature, learning, family, war, festivity. Seasons, emotions, death and resurrection, bread, wine, water, wind, sun, spirit. . . have made great impressions on my imagination."
The Week Ahead…
Oct. 25 – 10:00am – Ecumenical Bible Study
Oct. 29 – 9:00am – Holy Eucharist, Rite I
Oct. 29 – 10:00am – Godly Play for Adults
Oct. 29 – 10:00am – Children’s Christian Ed with Becky
Oct. 29 – 11:00am – Morning Prayer, Rite II
Sunday, Oct. 29, Readings and Servers
Village Harvest,Oct., 2017. A new record!
We reached a new record in Oct., 2017. 170 people served! The numbers have been trending up since first quarter of 2017. Overall, the church is up in both numbers served and food distributed over 30% in 2017, considering an average of 10 months.
We distributed 1,619 pounds of food in Oct., also a record and included melons sweet potatoes, pears, white potatoes, blackberries, crackers, tomatoes, chicken, fish, dried black eye peas & beans.
This charge shows 3 Octobers from 2015-2017 and the changes in numbers from 95-170. Food distributed over the same period rose from 490 pounds to 1,619 pounds.
All Saints Remembrances
The All Saint’s Day Service is Nov 5.
Email Catherine by Monday, Oct. 30 with the names of those who have died in the past year that you would like to have remembered.
Season of Giving kicks off Oct. 29 with Samaritans’ Purse
Samaritans’ Purse is associated with "Operation Christmas Child", the shoebox collection.
Last year we provided 22 boxes. This is the 24th anniversary of the national program which has enriching children’s lives all over the worlds with gifts provided by churches, letting them know God loves them and they are not forgotten. We are collecting the boxes on Sundays, Nov 12 and Nov. 19.
Details are on their site or ours
Lectionary, Oct. 29, 2017, Pentecost 21
Lectionary, Pentecost 21, Oct. 26
I.Theme – Love as the greatest of God’s commandments.
"The Greatest Commandment " – From Wortle
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Leviticus 19:1-2,15-18
Psalm – Psalm 1 Page 585, BCP
Epistle –1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Gospel – Matthew 22:34-46
These passages this week echo the challenge of the Christian journey. We have moments when we see God’s reign breaking through in this world–moments of justice, of hope, of peace–and other times, it seems like war, poverty and famine will continue forever. But we do not lose hope, and we know that our part counts in the reign of God. And our part is to create equitable relationships with those around us. We can’t expect to save the world but we can seek to maintain relationships with those around us.
Leviticus provides a taste of the holiness codes of Israel, on how to live in community with one another. Leviticus is one of the most difficult books to read in the Bible, mainly for the listing of codes and laws that do not necessarily make sense in today’s society, and we are missing the context, both historically and culturally for understanding the application of them. However, the theme of how to live together in community is a theme that transcends some of the cultural and historical context–when decisions or judgments have to be made in the context of community, you can’t show partiality, but you have to be just. In connection with the Gospel the statements on our neighbors concern us – avoiding hatred, vengeance, grudges and basically love your neighbor
In 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Paul shares about his journey to Thessalonica, not physically, but rather how he has come to be there on his journey of faith–coming not to judge or to trick them or to test them, nor to please them or flatter them, but simply coming as they are, people who follow God. Echoing back to the passage in Leviticus, Paul is coming as a person of the community of faith–treating the Thessalonians as such, and expecting the same treatment in return. Paul tells them “so deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our very selves” (vs 8). To Paul, telling about God is one thing–living it out is what we are called to do, by sharing ourselves fully with the members of the faith community–being our honest and true selves, without trickery or deceit, without slander or gossip or hate in our hearts–but to be genuine people that follow Christ.
Psalm I extols the blessedness of one who avoids the path of the wicked and walks in the way of wisdom and life. The psalm is built around two contrasting images, that of a tree planted by streams of water and that of chaff in the process of winnowing the grain. The former is an image of the righteous, the latter of the wicked. The former person is ‘happy’ or ‘blessed’, the latter is perishing.
The tree prospers by fulfilling its purpose of bearing fruit in its season. God has ordained that this is a process which takes time, indeed, a different time for each individual. We prosper by growing in grace, coming to maturity, and bearing fruit. Material prosperity is not the principle focus of this text.
The law was not only the source of specific rules and regulations, but it was also intended to teach the Israelites principles which would govern their actions. The fundamental issue underlying the Sermon on the Mount was over the interpretation of the Old Testament law
Matthew’s passage is on the Greatest Commandment. Jesus has been leading up to this pinnacle teaching in his parables and teachings about the kingdom or reign of God. This passage represents the third of three attempts to entrap Jesus, after he has entered Jerusalem in triumph, riding on a donkey, with a large crowd spreading cloaks and branches on the road as they shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David.”
After the Pharisees and the Sadducees have questioned him, a lawyer asks him which is the greatest commandment. And Jesus sums up the commandments in the recitation of the Shema, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,” and with the call “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” He was the first to place both of these side by side.
Both of these commandments sum up the Ten Commandments, for the first four are about relationship with God and the last six are about relationship with each other in the community. But Jesus goes further in saying, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” In Jesus’ day, the Bible that the Jews knew had the Torah, the Law, the first five books–and it contained the books of the prophets (the Psalms and other writings were still being compiled). Basically, Jesus is saying that this is the point of the whole Bible. Everything else hangs on it. All other laws, codes, rules, ordinances and such fall under these two commandments. This is the point of the whole thing.
After answering this question, however, Jesus poses a question to the Pharisees about whose son the Messiah is. Jesus is trying to emphasize that the Messiah is the son of God, not just of David–in other words, the Messiah, while prophesied about in Hebrew scripture and understood in Jewish culture, is a Messiah for the world, not just for the people. Jesus is not just the son of David as a descendant of David, but Jesus is the Son of God, and therefore a Messiah for all people. And therefore Jesus’ teachings about loving others and loving God are beyond the community present but are teachings to be lived out by all who follow Jesus. They are beyond the law and culture of one people, but for the whole world.
Read more about the Lectionary…
Concept of Love in Biblical Times
By John Pilch
"What does Jesus understand by love? Mediterranean cultural anthropology sheds some light. Remember that our ancestors in the faith were strongly group centered. The group was family, village, neighborhood, and factions (like the Twelve, the Pharisees, etc.) which a person might join.
"The group gave a sense of identity, a sense of belonging, and advice for actions to be taken or avoided. The group was an external conscience exerting enormous pressure on its individual members.
"In this context, love and hate are best understood as group attachment and group disattachment. Whether emotion or affection is involved is beside the point. The major feeling in love and hate is a feeling of belonging or not belonging, respectively.
"Thus, to love God with all one’s heart is to be totally attached to God. To love neighbor as self is to be as totally attached to people in one’s neighborhood or immediate circle of friends (i.e., fellow Israelites) as one is to one’s family group. This has been and continues to be the normal way of life in the Mediterranean world, unless feuding develops.
"To “hate one’s father, mother,” and others as Luke’s Jesus (Lk 14:26) requires of his followers means to detach oneself from family and join the Jesus group. Paul says the greatest among the virtues faith, hope, and charity is charity, that is, love or attachment to the group.
"The group-attachment aspect of love poses a challenge to individualistically oriented, emotional American believers.
Gospel Reflection
Glen Mitchell
"There are people I know who live their lives very sacrificially, just like Moses and Paul did. Moses was called by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, something he was not willing to do at first; but God persisted, supporting Moses in his sacrifice doing what God wanted. The people I know do this too. They respond to God’s call to care for the poor, the naked, the hungry and those in prison. In loving their neighbor, often far away from their own country, they live sacrificially to love God and their neighbor.
"Paul delights in this: “So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.” (1 Thes: 2:8) Paul wants “to please God who tests our hearts.” (1 Thes: 2:4)
"The people I know live sacrificially; they could easily earn much more if they lived in the United States or Canada, and live much more securely; they have chosen to not follow the advice of the wicked. They really are “like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.” (Psalm 1:3)
The people I know have a different sense of how they prosper. Their currency of exchange is really not money, but how much they love their God and their neighbor. Elizabeth of the Trinity, a 19th century Carmelite nun, said, “Let us ask God to make us true in our love, to make us sacrificial beings, for it seems to me that sacrifice is only love put into action.”
"Christians who love God and their neighbor have the currency of the baptismal covenant to guide us. Our currency is God’s love. “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad our days.” (Psalm 90:1) In rejoicing and in being glad our all days, God’s love is all we need to prosper.
"In our baptismal covenant Christians declare their belief in God, Jesus Christ and God the Holy Spirit. We, with God’s help, declare that we will continue in fellowship, the breaking of the bread, prayer, resisting evil and repenting, proclaiming the Good News, seeking and serving Christ in all persons and loving our neighbor, striving for justice and peace and respecting the dignity of every human being. In Canada, Anglicans also agree to strive to safeguard the integrity of God’s creation and respect, sustain, and renew the life of the earth.
"The people I know live their lives sacrificially in the way that Elizabeth of the Trinity suggested we all do. In rejecting the rampant consumerism of the age, in rejecting the disparity between the super-rich and the poor, we are called to live sacrificially as we live out our baptismal covenant, loving God and loving our neighbor just as the people I know do, as did Moses and Paul."
Glen Mitchell is the Stewardship and Gift Development Director for the Diocese of New Westminster. He has worked in the fundraising world as an employee and consultant since 1984. He is a Certified Fund Raising Executive and holds a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from the Vancouver School of Theology
Edward Gomez is Vicar of St. Paul’s/San Pablo Episcopal Church in Houston. His ministry has led him from the Lancandonan jungle of Mexico to the Peruvian province of Madre de Dios as a missionary, to the nonprofit world, where he has served in various leadership roles, including as the Executive Director of El Buen Samaritano Episcopal Mission in Austin. He is married to Denise Trevino-Gomez; they have three children and one adorable granddaughter.
The Rev. Winnie Varghese is the Director of Community Outreach for Trinity Church, Wall Street. She has been a priest for 17 years in parishes and as a college chaplain. Before joining Trinity, Winnie served as rector of St. Mark’s-in-the-Bowery, a vibrant and diverse church in Manhattan that tripled in size under her leadership.
The seas are approximately 2/3’s of the earth
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