Spirit of the Eagle – November
Spiritual Tidbits for November from Father Tim
November begins with the feast of All Saints. All Saints’ Day (also known as All Hallows’ Day or Hallowmas) is the day after All Hallows’ Eve (Hallowe’en). It is a feast day celebrated on the 1st of November by Anglicans and Roman Catholics. It is an opportunity for believers to remember all saints and martyrs, known and unknown, throughout Christian history. As part of this day of obligation, believers are required to attend church and try not to do any servile work. Remembering saints and martyrs and dedicating a specific day to them each year has been a Christian tradition since the 4th century AD, but it wasn’t until 609AD that Pope Boniface IV decided to remember all martyrs.
All Souls’ Day is marked on the 2nd of November (or the 3rd if the 2nd is a Sunday), directly following All Saints’ Day, and is an opportunity for Roman Catholics and Anglo-Catholic churches to commemorate the faithful departed. Roman Catholics remember and pray for the souls of people who are in Purgatory – the place in which those who have died atone for their less grave sins before being granted the vision of God in Heaven (called Beatific vision). Anglican Catholics remember and pray for the souls of people who are in the Intermediate State – the place in which those who have died go for God to complete the process of sanctification (something much different than the Church of Rome doctrine). During the Reformation, our English Reformers reclaimed the teaching of the ancient church and the Church Fathers, and swept aside the Romish doctrine of Purgatory in which justice requires a punitive process (see Article XXII in the BCP). Christ is the Propitiation for ALL our sins, so no further atonement in a Romish type Purgatory is needed.
Thus we Anglican Catholics now pray for those in the Intermediate State, a place of final purification until the Last Day. It is not possible for the work of sanctification, that is, the work of the Holy Spirit to transform each believer into a saint (i.e. holy person), to be complete in this fallen world. Furthermore, until we are clothed with immortality on the Last Day, and given our full share in His resurrection life, we will not be perfected. We can only speculate on how God will complete our purification in the Intermediate State, nothing has been revealed. In a over-simplified example, we can think of the Intermediate State as a place where will be taking a bath and putting on clean clothes before thankfully entering the King’s presence. November is a month of Thanksgiving. Be thankful for Jesus Christ. Be thankful for a good hot bath. Be thankful for clean clothes, not just in this world, but in the next as well. ~Father Tim
November Spirituality Class
Please join me on the 22nd of November after Holy Communion as we continue an in depth study of The Revelation of St. John The Divine. Many people today regard Revelation as the hardest book in the New Testament. It is full of strange, lurid and sometimes bizarre and violent imagery. As a result, many people who are quite at home in the Gospels, Acts and Paul find themselves tiptoeing around Revelation with a sense that they don’t really belong there. But they do! In fact, Revelation offers one of the clearest and sharpest visions of God’s ultimate purpose for the whole creation, and of the way in which the powerful forces of evil, at work in a thousand ways, can be and are being overthrown through the victory of Jesus the Messiah and the consequent costly victory of his followers. Please come and bring a friend to visit our parish!
Here in classical Christian faith there is a very great affirmation of the goodness of the human, despite all its empirical disorder and decay. The human is capable of the divine. Through the gift of God, the divine life is rooted in the human, the human in the divine. And here precisely is the cause of great joy and amazement. For precisely in ‘man’s animal exigencies’ the ultimate glory is revealed, just where we had least expected it. Hence everywhere in the Christian world where she is known, Mary’s name is associated with joy. She is the joy of joys, the cause of our joy, the joy of all creation. Latin, Greek, Russian, Syriac all proclaim the same thing. In her there is a meeting of opposites, of God and man, of flesh and spirit, of time and eternity, which causes an explosion of joy, of a kind of ecstasy. It is the joy which is known in human life, ‘when the opposites come together, and the genuinely new is born.’
~A.M. Allchin, The Joy Of All Creation
Children’s Ministry to be held twice in November
The Ministry for Children will be held twice this month, the third Sunday (15th) during the annual parish meeting, and the 4th Sunday (22nd) during the spirituality class in November after Holy Communion. It is designed for age 2 through 12 years. Please make every effort to bring all related children in your family for these monthly fun and educational classes. The children will participate, enjoy, and learn the foundation and building blocks of the Christian faith through bible stories and created crafts. Savannah will bring the crafts and refreshments are provided.
ST. JOHN’S HOLIDAY OUTREACH
The holidays are quickly approaching and St. John’s will once again assist local families for Thanksgiving and Christmas with its annual Holiday Outreach program. Eight families will be assisted for both holidays through the Dayton Resource Center. For Thanksgiving, we will be providing a Thanksgiving meal along with an assortment of non-perishable items. For Christmas, we will be providing a Christmas meal, non-perishable items and gifts for the children through our Giving Tree.
The Thanksgiving delivery will be conducted on Sunday, November 22, 2015. We are in desperate need of food items and cash donations to make this outreach as successful as in the past and continue our ‘reputation’ of stewardship within the community. If you would like to make a monetary donation by check, please make the check payable to “St. John’s ACC” with a designation in the memo portion of “ACM Outreach”. The donation will be processed through the general fund and directed to the ACM group. Thank you for your participation and generosity to this worthy cause.
Church Choirs joining together for Light Up Dayton
The Dayton Civic Club (and especially I) would like to thank St. John’s for allowing us to use the Parish Hall for our meetings. We would also like to invite the St. John’s church choir to join with other choirs in the city to sing Christmas carols at the Dayton Towne Center at 5:30 on Sunday, December 6 as part of the grand finale of the Civic Club’s Light Up Dayton event.
Returning to a tradition from the 70’s, Light Up Dayton will now be held at the Bellevue-Dayton Firehouse from 2:30 – 5:30 p.m. where kids will visit with Santa and get a present and surprises. There will be pizza, chips and a drink for every child. We will proceed from the firehouse at 5:30 to the monument for the lighting of the tree, Christmas caroling, cookies and hot chocolate, followed by the grand finale of lighting and releasing sky lanterns. If you would be interested in participating please contact Tammy Cornett at 859-446-8019 and she will put you in touch with the person in charge of this.
All Saints / All Souls Party at the Hanson’s
Don’t forget Rick & Eileen Hanson’s All Saint’s and All Soul’s celebration party on the 7th of November! They are hosting this special event at their home (409 Dayton Pike in Dayton, KY) from 4:00 – 8:00 PM. Carpool with a friend if you can to help with parking. Please come and join in the fun and fellowship!
November Birthdays & Anniversaries
Mary Ann Neuroth – Birthday – November 9
Bob Schmerge – Birthday – November 13
Carolyn & Bob Schmerge – Anniversary – November 16
Maria Whalen – Birthday – November 26
Donna & John Lipscomb – Anniversary – November 26
November ORDO CALENDAR dates
November 1 – All Saints Day – Celebrant: Fr. Butler
November 8 – Trinity XXIII – Celebrant: Fr. Butler – ACW Coffee hour
November 15 – Trinity XXIV – Celebrant: Fr. Neuroth – Parish Meeting – Children’s Ministry
November 22 – Sunday Before Advent – Celebrant: Fr. Neuroth – Children’s Ministry – Spirituality Class
November 29 – Advent I – Celebrant: Fr. Butler
Not, how did he die, but how did he live?
Not, what did he gain, but what did he give?
These are the units to measure the worth
Of a man as a man, regardless of birth.
Not what was his church, nor what was his creed?
But had he befriended those really in need?
Was he ever ready, with word of good cheer,
To bring back a smile, to banish a tear?
Not what did the sketch in the newspaper say,
But how many were sorry when he passed away?
By: Author Unknown