Spirit of the Eagle – April 2018
Spiritual Tidbits & Rector’s Reflections for April from Father Tim
He is risen! He is risen indeed. Easter Sunday falling on the 1st day of April was a glorious way to begin the month. Attendance was wonderful for all the Holy Week services. Several parishioners dedicated a lot of time and effort preparing the church for each service and making the church and garden beautiful for Easter morning. In the Old Testament book of Genesis death for each of us enters creation through a beautiful garden. In the New Testament Gospels eternal life for each of us, the resurrected Jesus, enters creation through a beautiful garden. Every day of spring, if we take time to notice, new life enters creation. William Law once wrote, “Receive every day as a resurrection from death, as a new enjoyment of life; meet every rising sun with such sentiments of God’s goodness, as if you had seen it, and all things, new-created upon your account: and under the sense of so great a blessing, let your joyful heart praise and magnify so good and glorious a Creator.” I pray that this April and spring season brings each of you a joyful heart full of praise. ~ Father Tim
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Mutually guilty, mutually redeemed, they toiled and adored — stupid perhaps, but patient and believeing, from the Russian peasant beyond Nijni-Novgorod to the servant-girl in a Scottish presbytery. Even among that mass the tide of Christendom was receding. In its “last and lowest ebb” it sank away into the solitary and devoted lives which were, are, and always must be, the fountains of her deeps; her spectacles and her geniuses are marvelous, but her unknown saints are her power. ~ Charles Williams, The Descent of the Dove
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Please excuse our upcoming spring construction! Soon we will be having the tin roof on the Bell Tower repaired. Also we will be having some serious window repair going on all around the church and some plaster work done in the Narthex and Nave. Finally, start watching the glass display case in the Parish Hall. We are (in a small way) recreating the old St. John Church Book Stall where you will find copies of important Christian books, Saint John bookmarkers, and other interesting items. The books can be purchased (donations only please) or can be borrowed (yes you really should return them if you only borrowed).
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April Spirituality Class
Please join us after Holy Mass on the 29th of April as we conclude (yes this time we really will conclude) A Time to Turn: Anglican Readings for Lent and Easter Week, by Christopher L. Webber. For centuries Lent has been a time when Christians stop and take stock of their lives. It is a time for revisiting the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. It is a time of focusing on our sinfulness and the need to repent, as well as a season in which we focus on putting aside our luxuries and making sure that others have what they need. All of these themes, and more, are explored in this collection of Anglican readings that begin with Ash Wednesday and end on the Saturday of Easter Week. These readings are arranged in a regular sequence through each week of Lent and Easter. Sunday readings focus on God’s love, Mondays on the need for discipline, Tuesdays on fasting, Wednesdays on prayer, Thursdays on sin, Fridays on the cross, and Saturdays on baptism. A Time to Turn draws on the best sermons, books, poems, and hymns of Anglican writers throughout the centuries, with a reading for each day, followed by the brief suggestion for focusing the reader’s meditations. Writers include Christina Rossetti, John Donne, Philips Brooks, John Keble, Thomas Traherne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and many others. Brief biographies are included, along with a bibliography for those who would like to read more from a given writer.
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We come to the strangest story of all, the story of the Resurrection. It is very necessary to get the story clear. I heard a man say, “The importance of the Resurrection is that it gives evidence of survival, evidence that the human personality survives death.” On that view what happened to Christ would be what had always happened to all men, the difference being that in Christ’s case we were privileged to see
it happening.
This is certainly not what the earliest Christian writers thought. Something perfectly new in the history of the Universe had happened. Christ had defeated death. The door which had always been locked had for the very first time been forced open. This is something quite distinct from mere ghost-survival. I don’t mean that they disbelieved in ghost-survival. On the contrary, they believed in it so firmly that, on more than one occasion, Christ had had to assure them that he was not a ghost. The point is that while believing in survival they yet regarded the Resurrection as something totally different and new.
The Resurrection narratives are not a picture of survival after death; they record how a totally new mode of being has arisen in the Universe. Something new had appeared in the Universe: as new as the first coming of organic life. This Man, after death, does not get divided into “ghost” and “corpse.” A new mode of being has arisen. This is the story. What are we going to make of it? ~ C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock
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The Psalm Children will enter the Easter season ready to learn and deepen their relationship with Christ. There will be no class on Easter, but I will teach about the Resurrection of Christ on on April 8th, there will be a simple outreach project during the coffee hour on April 15th, Judie B will talk about the story of the Good Samaritan on April 22nd, and Savannah will talk about the Pharisee and the Publican on April 29th. All parishioners are invited to contribute prayers to our Prayer Cross. The Psalm Children ministry aims to provide religious education and encourage service through a combination of lessons, activities, and fellowship. All children ages 2-12 are encouraged to attend, and adolescents and parishioners have an open invitation to participate as assistant teachers. ~ Mary Matias Akhtar
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St. John April Ordo Kalendar
Sunday, the 1st of April, we celebrate Easter Sunday
Sunday, the 8th of April, we celebrate Easter I (Low Sunday). Vestry Meeting after Mass
Sunday, the 15th of April, we celebrate Easter II (Good Shepherd Sunday). Coffee Hour
Sunday, the 22nd of April, we celebrate Easter III
Sunday, the 29th of April, we celebrate Easter IV
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A big “Thank You” to those who attended our Lenten Friday Service and Alms Fundraiser. We collected $116.00 and those funds were sent to those in need. God bless you. ~ Father Tim
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Brittany Sams – Birthday – April 13
Ethan Whalen – Birthday – April 15
Carol Petrie – Birthday – April 22
Julie & Mike Murray – Anniversary – April 28