Spirit of the Eagle – December 2019
Spirit of the Eagle
St. John the Evangelist ACC
Spiritual Tidbits & Rector’s Reflections for
December 2019 from Father Tim
The first 24 days of December fall during the liturgical season known as Advent, and are represented by the liturgical color purple, or violet — a symbol of penance, mortification and the sorrow of a ‘broken and contrite heart’. The remaining days of December, beginning with the 25th (not halloween or black Friday), mark the beginning of the Christmas season. The liturgical color changes to white or gold — a symbol of joy, purity and innocence. Christmastide begins with Evening Prayer before Christmas on December 24th, and ends on the Sunday after Epiphany. Advent (not January) is the beginning of the new ‘church year’. The liturgy of Advent focuses on remembering Christ’s first coming at Bethlehem which then directs our mind to Christ’s Second Coming, or Second Manifestation, at the end of time, or what is called ‘the last day with no end’. The readings focus on the people of the Old Testament (through St. Paul’s epistles) awaiting the Messiah, John the Baptist heralding the way for Christ, and the Blessed Virgin Mary and her maternal preparations. December can be a stressful month if we delve too deeply into the worldly excess known as Xmas. The true Christ-mass will only bring us joy and peace. As a church we have really been blessed with a peaceful year during 2019, and were able to become more Christ-centered. We have drawn closer as a church family, and helped the community around us more this year than last, a charitable trend we hope to continue. I pray your December is full of joy and peace, so full it overflows to all around you. ~ Father Tim
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Update missed at the November Annual Meeting: I just wanted to say that we have a very faithful and reliable group serving at the Hosea House on the 4th Monday of the month. Rick Hanson, Cheryl Stegeman, a friend of hers from work, and myself. ~ Joanna Barnett
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Update missed at the November Annual Meeting: I want to thank Joanna for joining the Altar Guild, as she has been a huge asset and support. Inform that Petri’s Floral and Boutique is now providing the arrangements for the Altar flowers. The Altar Guild is gearing up for Advent and Christmas Season. If anyone would like to donate to the poinsettias in memory/honor of a loved one please see myself or Joanna. Also, if anyone throughout the year would like to donate to the Altar flowers in memory/honor of a loved one, see myself or Joanna. Thank you to the anonymous donor for the generous donation toward Altar flowers. ~ Kim Marshall
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Is there someone in your life who could benefit from joy and peace? Are they stressed with busy rush and rage in the world around them? December is a beautiful month to invite someone to visit St. John’s because, as Father Hougham was fond of pointing out, “St. John’s is a Christmas Church.” Could this December bring joy and peace to someone you cherish? Maybe an invitation to Christmas Eve Mass to sing Christmas carols? Help someone experience a true commitment by assisting them to begin their own spiritual pilgrimage — which in December leads to the Christmas Creche. ~ Father Tim
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The doctrine of the Second Coming teaches us that we do not and cannot know when the world drama will end. The curtain may be rung down at any moment: say, before you have finished reading this paragraph. ~ C.S. Lewis, The World’s Last Night
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December Spirituality Class
In December we will be continuing our transitional class with both Spirituality and Bible Study. The class in December will finish our November class material, Revelation chapter 2:12-17 The Letter to the Church at Pergamum. 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 8th of December 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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St. John December Ordo Kalendar
Sunday, the 1st of December at 10:30 AM, we celebrate Advent I, Coffee Hour
Sunday, the 8th of December at 10:30 AM, we celebrate Advent II, Bible Study
Sunday, the 15th of December at 10:30 AM, we celebrate Advent III
Sunday, the 22nd of December at 10:30 AM, we celebrate Advent IV
Tuesday, the 24th of December at 4:30 PM, Nine Lessons and Carols
Tuesday, the 24th of December at 5:30 PM, we celebrate Christmas Eve Mass
Wednesday, the 25th of December at 10:30 AM, we celebrate the Nativity of our Lord
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December Birthdays & Anniversaries
Coraline Parker Bock – Birthday – December 3
Jim Barnett – Birthday – December 3
Fr. Timothy Butler – Birthday – December 4
Brittany & Joel Sams – Anniversary – December 14
Paige Smith – Birthday – December 17
Michael T. Whalen – Birthday – December 22
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There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,’ returned the nephew. ‘Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round—apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that—as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it! ~ Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
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The Apostolic Succession
The power to act as ministers of Christ was, as already said, given by Jesus Christ in the first instance to the apostles. But this ministerial commission was not intended to be exercised only by them, and to cease when they died. The Christian ministry was formed as the divinely – ordered means of applying the blessings of the Incarnation to mankind; and the Incarnation is not a passing event in the world’s history, but an abiding reality. The permanent character of the ministry which Christ ordained, rests upon the permanent character of his Incarnation. Our Lord intended that the office which He bestowed upon the twelve apostles should live on, after their deaths, as long as the world lasts. The apostolic ministry is an abiding fact in a world of change.
It is true that the commission, — “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you,” was given to the apostles; but it was accompanied by the promise, — “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”
This promise was not primarily addressed to all Christian people, but only to the apostles, and that too in connection with the official acts of teaching and baptizing. It is as though Christ had said, — Teach and baptize all nations, and I will be with you in so doing. Moreover, He promised to be with the apostles in performing these ministerial acts “unto the end of the world.” But how could He be with the apostles personally in their work “unto the end of the world?” He knew that the apostles would die like other men, and therefore the promise of being with them as individuals “unto the end of the world,” could not be our Lord’s meaning. ~ Vernon Staley, The Catholic Religion, A Manual of Instruction for Members of the Anglican Church
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A big ‘thank you’ to everyone who helped make the 2019 Annual Meeting a success! We accomplished much in 2019 and, with God’s help, hope to accomplish even more of God’s will in 2020.
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Immensity, cloister’d in thy dear womb,
Now leaves His well-beloved imprisonment.
There he hath made himself to his intent
Weak enough, now into our world to come.
But O ! for thee, for Him, hath th’ inn no room ?
Yet lay Him in this stall, and from th’ orient,
Stars, and wise men will travel to prevent
The effects of Herod’s jealous general doom.
See’st thou, my soul, with thy faith’s eye, how He
Which fills all place, yet none holds Him, doth lie ?
Was not His pity towards thee wondrous high,
That would have need to be pitied by thee ?
Kiss Him, and with Him into Egypt go,
With His kind mother, who partakes thy woe.
~ John Donne, Nativity, Anglican Priest and English Poet
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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