Spirit of the Eagle – March 2019
Spiritual Tidbits & Rector’s Reflections for March 2019 from Father Tim
March is here and Lent arrives quickly beginning with Ash Wednesday on the 6th. At one time in our Christian past it was “public penitents” who were ceremonially admitted to begin their penance on Ash Wednesday; and when this discipline fell into disuse, between the 8th and 10th centuries, the general penance of the whole congregation took its place. Does that cause you to make a sigh of relief? Probably so. For all of us today our very first, and greatest, act of repentance happened at our baptism. In our baptism we rose from death to life. The baptism of water, or in the baptism of the Spirit (the seal of Confirmation), when the first rite comes to be verified by God’s grace coming upon us, and by our obedience to the call of heaven, and finally our humble submission to work together with God. But what happens when, after our baptism, we sin again? The answer is we become spiritually sick, thus we need to confess and repent. We are raised from death to life only once, but from sickness many times, and thankfully by the grace of God we shall be pardoned if our penitence is deep and true. The Anglican Divine, + Jeremy Taylor, wrote, “He that repents truly is greatly sorrowful for his past sins: not with superficial sigh or tear, but a pungent, aflicitive sorrow; such a sorrow as hates the sin so much, that the man would choose to die rather than act it any more.” This is what a Holy Lent is all about. Confession, fasting, repentance, and prayer. It all begins with Ash Wednesday. I pray all our repentance this Lenten Season equals or exceeds the pleasure we had in the undertaking of our sin. ~ Father Tim
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Please come to the Coffee Hour on Sunday, the 10th of March, as the ACW gives a Bridal Shower for Savannah and Josiah. Let’s shower them with Christian love as they soon begin their lives together! Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. ~ Psalm 37:4
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And pray to God to have mercy upon us
And pray that I may forget
These matters that with myself I too much discuss
Too much explain
Because I do not hope to turn again
Let these words answer
For what is done, not to be done again
May the judgement not be too heavy upon us
Because these wings are no longer wings to fly
But merely vans to beat the air
The air which is now thoroughly small and dry
Smaller and dryer than the will
Teach us to care and not to care Teach us to sit still.
Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death
Pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
~ T.S. Eliot, Anglo-Catholic Laymen and Poet, excerpt from Ash Wednesday
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I have to be in Indianapolis for a symposium starting Monday night the 4th of March through Wednesday mid-day the 6th of March. Thus we will only have the 6:00 PM Imposition of Ashes this year on Ash Wednesday, the 6th of March. I will save the ashes for the following Sunday for those of you who cannot make the evening drive.
Ash Wednesday of course is the first day of Lent – which is the period of self-restraint and abstention for Christians prior to Easter. It marks the first day of fasting, repentance, prayer, and self-control. Luxury or rich foods, such as meat and dairy, should be avoided by those taking part in a Holy Lent. Abstention from personal “bad habits” such as too much TV, too much social media, or consuming too much sugar should be implemented as well. Nothing prepares us for a glorious Easter better than a Holy Lent. Why should we sacrifice something in our lives that is so meaningful to us? As Bishop Starks wrote recently, “ Does not His perfect sacrifice deserve our sacrifice this Lent? This is the WHY of our offering. This is WHY we chose to deprive ourselves. We sacrifice that we may show Him that we do love Him and are ready to open up completely to His will in our lives.” It all begins with enough self-control to come to church and receive the Ashes. ~ Father Tim
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Have you considered inviting someone to receive the Ashes with you on Wednesday evening the 6th? Do you have family members, or friends, who always have an excuse not to attend on a Sunday? Could a Wednesday evening ‘sacrifice’ be the Kairos moment that would change their destiny for eternity? Would the sobering words, Remember, O man, that dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return, be the one message that helps them begin their own personal pilgrimage which leads to the foot of the cross? ~ Father Tim
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The days of visitation are come, the days of recompense are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred . . . As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception. Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them! ~ The prophet Hosea, Chapter 9: 7-8; 11-12
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March Spirituality Class
In March we will be continuing our transitional class with both Spirituality and Bible Study. The class in March will cover (at a depth we have never before covered), The Feeding of the Five Thousand, John 6:1-15. You have heard many a homily on this miracle, but you may be surprised what cannot be fit into a 10 minute homily. The study of God’s word is central to the life and mission of our parish church of St. John the Evangelist. Please join us after Holy Mass on the 17th of March for an engaging, dynamic, and informative exploration of the Holy Scriptures. All are welcome, but be warned: continued exposure to God’s word will change your life.
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Captivity is coming for faithless Israel. Prophet, priest, and people turning away from God. They trust in, and their idols are, their technology, their chariots, their horses, their cash flow, their alliances, their cleverness, their pedigree, their status. But they are sleepwalking to the edge of a cliff. When men forget God, the land suffers. The livestock cannot find water. Crops fail. Debts pile up. Divorces multiply. Many just live together. Life is cheap, coarse, banal. Manners disappear. Birth Rates drop, even below replacement rate. Child slavery and sacrifice comes back. The children who live do poorly at school. They are rebellious at home. Men become soft and sensitive; women become tough and leathery. Even the army is delusional. Priestesses abound in all the high places. The people call good evil, and evil good. They reinvent their sexuality. They have kicked apart the Covenant God made so tenderly with them, and made a covenant with death. Enemies start hovering on the borders, probing, pushing further into the dry rot. First a few enemies, and then . . . ~ Bishop Paul C. Hewett, Anglican Diocese of the Holy Cross, The Day-spring from on High
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St. John March Ordo Kalendar
Sunday, the 3rd of March at 10:30 AM, Quinquagesima, Vestry meeting
Wed., the 6th of March at 6:00 PM, Ash Wednesday, Imposition of Ashes
Sun., the 10th of Mar. at 10:30 AM, Lent I, Savannah & Josiah Bridal Shower
Sunday, the 17th of March at 10:30 AM, Lent II, Bible Study after Mass
Sunday, the 24th of March at 10:30 AM, we celebrate Lent III
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March Birthdays & Anniversaries
Joanna Barnett – Birthday – March 16
Judy Hulsey – Birthday – March 28
Kay Matthews – Birthday – March 31
Kevin Matthews – Birthday – March 31
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What is the great hope of Ash Wednesday and Lent? It is simple. It is beautiful. It is admitting our mortality, and our brokenness, because only then do we finally lay down our complicated sin management program long enough to “let go and let God”. What more do we need? What more could we ask for? ~ Father Tim
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I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries. Even so then at the present time also there is a remnant. ~ Jeremiah 23:3; Romans 11:5
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The seeking of Jesus the Christ and the quest for chivalry combined lead directly to one place only: Anglo-Catholicism. Courage, honor, courtesy, justice, and a readiness to help and defend the weak and the poor. Welcome to the Anglican Catholic Church. ~ Father Timothy Butler