Spirit of the Eagle – October 2016

Spiritual Tidbits for October from Father Tim

Fall is my favorite time of the year. It is something about the stillness in the air, and a fragrance that is noticeable only because of that stillness, the rustling of the leaves and the long shadows. It is the time we start noticing that another year is about to pass through our lives, and remain in a colorful past. It is the time we start rejoicing for what we have accomplished in 2016, and is all to soon falling away. It is the time we start mourning what we have left behind us, never to be experienced in this world in the exact same way ever again. The fall of our year is for reaping and harvesting, gathering with joy into ourselves the many moments of our lives what we have sown in tears. I pray your October, and the prior nine months, have seen more sowing with tears of happiness rather than tears of sadness. I pray God blesses and grants you a beautiful October. ~ Father Tim

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For compassion is a wound in the heart, whence flows a common love to all mankind and which cannot be healed so long as any suffering lives in man; for God has ordained grief and sorrow of heart before all the virtues. And this is why Christ says: Blessed are they that mourn: For they shall be comforted. And that shall come to pass when they reap in joy that which now, through compassion and pity, they sow in tears. ~ John of Ruysbroeck, Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage

 

 

 

 

 

Morning Prayer & Bible Study

Through the 20th of November, the church will open at 8:45 AM for Morning Prayer (9:00-9:30 AM) and a Bible Study Class (9:30- 10:15 AM). These ministries will be led by Kevin Davis, Adam Cook, and Reza Akhtar. This is a wonderful opportunity to pray, learn more about the Bible (especially the Old Testament), or both! Please come upstairs to the Chancel and sit in the choir section if you would like to participate in the Morning Prayer Service. Please come downstairs to the Parish Hall if you would like to attend the Bible Study. Or come to both!

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October Spirituality Class

Please join us on after Holy Mass on the 16th of October as we discuss the Roots of Christian Mysticism. We will continue this month with Jesus. All devout Christians must look into their own hearts and first determine who they are, and how their own identities relate to Jesus the Christ as Saviour, Messiah, Man and God. If Jesus were to ask you, “Who do you say I am?”, what would you answer? How seriously do you take this question? Your answer will bring forward how well you actually know yourself.

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Hope is the strength of the two pre-eminent gifts of love and faith, since hope gives us glimpses both of that in which we believe and of that for which we long, and teaches us to make our way towards our goal. ~ St. Maximos the Confessor, First Century of Various Texts, 26

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Psalm-Children

This month we continue our weekly Psalm-Children curriculum and classes after Holy Mass. Sunday the 2nd will be on Abraham and Sarah (taught by Mary Akhtar), Sunday the 9th class will be on the Isaac and Rebekah (taught by Mary Akhtar). Sunday the 16th will be on the saint’s and Saints’ Days – St. Francis of Assisi (taught by Savannah Butler). Sunday the 23rd will be on Jacob and Rachel (taught by Judie Boughner). The 30th will be on Joseph’s Coat (taught by Tim Grothaus). It is designed for age 2 through 12 years. Please make every effort to bring all related children in your family for these 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. Crafts and refreshments are provided, and we still need a couple more volunteers who have a desire to teach children the foundation of our faith to step forward and help!

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If you would be a good Christian, there is but one way, you must live wholly unto God; and if you would live wholly unto God, you must live according to the wisdom that comes from God; you must act according to right judgments of the nature and value of things; you must live in the exercise of holy and heavenly affections and use all the gifts of God to His praise and glory. Some persons perhaps, who admire the purity and perfection of this life of Miranda, may say, How can it be proposed as a common example? How can we who are married, or we who are under the direction of our parents, imitate such a life?
It is answered, just as you may imitate the life of our blessed Savior and His Apostles. The circumstances of our Savior’s life and the state and condition of His Apostles was more different from yours than that of Miranda’s is; and yet their life, the purity and perfection of their behavior, is the common example that is proposed to all Christians.

It is their spirit, therefore, their piety, their love of God, that you are to imitate, and not the particular form of their life.

Act under God as they did, direct your common actions to that end which they did, glorify your proper state with such love of God, such charity to your neighbor, such humility and self-denial, as they did; and then, though you are only teaching your own children, and St. Paul is converting whole nations, yet you are following His steps and acting after His example. ~ William Law, his example of Miranda’s life in A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life

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October Birthdays & Anniversaries

Roger Blackburn – Birthday – October 1
Bettielu Conaway – Birthday – October 12
Michael Shelton – Birthday – October 13
Joyce Murray – Birthday – October 14
Elsie Fowler – Birthday – October 16
Virginia Jackson – Birthday – October 16
Katie Craft – Birthday – October 17
Liz Robbins – Birthday – October 19
Juanita & Steve Marvin – Anniversary – October 23
Leslie Shelton – Birthday – October 24
Joan Blade – Birthday – October 25
Sharon Dietz – Birthday – October 31
Eileen & Rick Hanson – Anniversary – October 31