Spirit of the Eagle – July 2019
Spirit of the Eagle
St. John the Evangelist ACC
Spiritual Tidbits & Rector’s Reflections for
July 2019 from Father Tim
The month of July begins with The Precious Blood of Jesus. The entire month falls within the liturgical season of Trinitytide, which (as I mentioned last month) is represented by the liturgical color green. This symbol of hope is the color of the sprouting seed, and arouses in the remnant Christian the hope of reaping the eternal harvest of heaven, especially the hope of a glorious resurrection. The Blood that coursed through the veins of Jesus the Christ was a part of that Sacred Humanity made possible by the maternity of Mary, whose own mother St. Anne is honored this month on the 26th of July. Our Lord’s blood which poured out on the Cross purchased our salvation, washed clean the robes of the martyrs, and gave birth to the Church as it flowed from his wounded side. The Precious Blood of Christ, now pulsing through His resurrected and ascended Mystical Body, continues its work of salvation, preserving, purifying, and providing spiritual nourishment for regeneration and renewal of the members of His body, the eternal Church of Christendom. We all know summer is the time for vacation and adventure! But let us never forget that our earthly pilgrimage is also a journey, it is ‘the great adventure’ towards union with Jesus Christ, who desires to be both the Beginning and the End of our journey. Each Sunday through Trinitytide is a mile marker, a rest area, a place of shelter along the way, linking where we have been with where we are going. May the Precious Blood of Jesus sustain us as we journey to our true home, with the Ever Virgin Mary, the Apostles, the Saints, the Martyrs, and the Holy Angels as our companions on the way. ~ Father Tim
✠✠✠
Heaven, Earth, Sea, and Hell witness with a thousand voices the secret which is the sole felicity of man; and almost all men refuse to hear. ~ Coventry Patmore, The Rod, the Root, and the Flower
✠✠✠
Is there someone in your life who is searching for fulfillment? Are they lost, empty, struggling for direction? July is a beautiful month to invite someone to visit St. John’s, possibly on a Sunday with a family adventure or cookout afterward. Could this July bring eternal hope to someone you know? The experience must come from a true commitment by each person as they begin their own personal pilgrimage which leads to the Good Shepherd. ~ Father Tim
✠✠✠
By the grace of God I am a Christian, by my deeds a great sinner, and by my calling a homeless wanderer of humblest origin, roaming from place to place. My possessions consist of a knapsack with dry crusts of bread on my back and in my bosom the Holy Bible. That is all! ~ Unknown 19th century Russian peasant, The Way of a Pilgrim
✠✠✠
July Spirituality Class
In July we will be continuing our transitional class with both Spirituality and Bible Study. The class in July will cover the class material we missed in June, The Psalms, focusing on Psalm 27. 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 21st of July 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.
✠✠✠
St. John July Ordo Kalendar
Sunday, the 7th of July at 10:30 AM, we celebrate Trinity III, Vestry Meeting
Saturday, the 13th of July at 11:00 AM, Requiem for Trudy Bauer
Sunday, the 14th of July at 10:30 AM, we celebrate Trinity IV, Coffee Hour
Sunday, the 21st of July at 10:30 AM, we celebrate Trinity V, Bible Study
Sunday, the 28th of July at 10:30 AM, we celebrate Trinity VI
✠✠✠
July Birthdays & Anniversaries
Leslie & Michael Griswold – Anniversary – July 9
Judie Boughner – Birthday – July 21
Mike Lenz – Birthday – July 31
✠✠✠
I sighed and you heard me. I wavered and you steadied me. I travelled along the broad way of the world, but you did not desert me. ~ St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions
✠✠✠
THERE is in our midst a vast society named the Christian Church, — the Church of God. If we are not already members of this society, we are at least conscious of its presence. What is the origin of the Christian Church; from whence did it come ; who was its founder ?
To this question there is but one answer, — “The Lord hath founded Zion.” (1) It was through the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and the gift of his Spirit, that the ancient Church of God passed into its catholic world-wide phase on the day of Pentecost. Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, is the founder of the Christian Church.
This is clear from our Lord’s words to St. Peter, when he confessed him. to be the Son of God, — “upon this rock I will build my Church.” (2) Jesus Christ regards the Church as his own, He speaks of it as ” my Church ; ” and He claims to be its founder, for He says “I will build my Church.”
It is worthy of note that this is our Lord’s first mention of the Church. It was drawn from his lips, as it were, by the first confession of the truth of the Incarnation. St. Peter was the first to confess belief in the incarnate Lord; he had just owned ” the Son of Man ” to be ” the Son of the living God.” (3) The promise of the Church is based upon this earliest confession of the Incarnation, and follows it as part of one and the same great design. The Church is the kingdom of the Incarnation: it is the sacred society in which the benefits which flow from the Incarnation of our Lord are extended from age to age. The Son of God came into the world to save men in a kingdom. This kingdom is his Church. It is the new creation of which He, the incarnate Lord, is the head and the life.
(1) Isaiah xiv. 32.
(2) St. Matt. xvi. 18 ; See Note, column below.
(3) St. Matthew xvi. 13-20
Vernon Staley, The Catholic Religion
A MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION FOR MEMBERS OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH
NOTE ON CHRIST’S PROMISE TO ST. PETER. (St. Matt. xvi. 17-20.)
The Church has received no certain or fixed tradition as to what our Lord meant by “the rock” in this passage. Some of the fathers taught that Christ himself is the rock, others that the faith in his Godhead and Messiahship which St. Peter confessed is meant, others again that St. Peter is the rock. Several of the fathers held two of these opinions together, and some held all three. St. Augustine in his earlier writings taught that St. Peter is the rock, but he afterwards gave up that view, and held that Christ is the rock. His words are, — ” I said in a certain place of the apostle St. Peter, that upon him, as upon the rock, the Church was founded. . . . But I know that afterwards I most often expounded that saying of our Lord, — ‘ Thou art Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my Church, as meaning upon Him whom Peter confessed saying, — ‘ Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Let the reader choose which of these two interpretations is the more probable” (Retract, lib. i.c. 21). The fact that this great teacher changed his mind as to the meaning of the passage, and left it an open question to his readers, shews that he had no idea that any important doctrine depends on its interpretation. It is very noticeable that, if we except the popes and persons closely associated with the Roman see, the fathers, who understand the rock to be St. Peter, in no way connect our Lord’s promise with the institution of the papacy. St. Peter may be regarded as the rock, because he first confessed belief in the person and office of Christ, and first was nominated to be an apostle. He was first in order amongst the twelve, but had no jurisdiction over the rest of the apostles. He was not their lord, but their leader: he was ‘ primus inter pares,’ i.e., first amongst equals. The fathers lay great stress on the equality of the apostles. If St. Peter is a rock upon which the Church is built, we must remember that the other apostles are also spoken of as foundations of the Church (see Eph. ii. 20 ; Rev. xxi.14). The power of the keys, promised first to St. Peter, was afterwards promised by our Lord to all the apostles in similar words (compare St. Matt. xvi. 19 with xviii. 18) ; and it was simultaneously communicated to all (St. Thomas excepted) by our Lord’s mysterious breathing, and by his words of power, on the evening of the day of his resurrection (see St. John xx. 21-24).
✠✠✠
St. John church family summer picnic coming up on Sunday, the 22nd of September. Mark your calendars now! Invite family and friends! Watch for more information to come!
✠✠✠
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
✠✠✠
The seeking of Jesus Christ, and the quest for chivalry combined, lead directly to one place only: Anglican-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