Spirit of the Eagle – July 2020
Spirit of the Eagle
St. John the Evangelist ACC
Spiritual Tidbits & Rector’s Reflections for
July 2020 from Father Tim
July has arrived and summer is now in full swing . . . . sort of. The covid-19 virus and economic shut down still clings tightly to our 2020 daily existence. The big day on the secular calendar is of course the 4th of July. On the July ordo kalendar, along with our usual Sundays in Trinity, we begin with the Precious Blood (1st), the Visitation, Blessed Virgin Mary (2nd), and wind down the month with Saint James, Apostle and Martyr (25th). When we consider the Feast Day of the Precious Blood one of the things we should recall is our very own Prayer of Humble Access. Every Sunday in the liturgy we hear the familiar and beautiful, We do not presume to come to this thy Table, o Lord. Actually The Prayer of Humble Access is an original composition of Thomas Cranmer, Anglican Archbishop, compiler and composer of the first 1549 Book of Common Prayer, although parts were most likely inspired by familiar medieval Collects and (possibly) the Greek Liturgy of Saint Basil. The prayer is a stirring and moving confession of our complete unworthiness of God’s gifts at the altar — forgiveness, nourishment, and union with Jesus Christ. The first half of the prayer is an allusion of two acts of mercy by Jesus to the Gentiles — the healing of the centurion’s servant (Matt. viii.5-13) and the healing of the daughter of the Canaanite woman (Matt. xv.21-28). Through the sin of pride of ‘righteousness which is of the Law’ the Jewish nation had loathed and rejected our Lord and Savior, but was received in humility and faith by the Gentiles. The centurion and Canaanite woman foreshadow the new sons of God grafted into the stock of Abraham, the New Covenant of all people who come to Him ‘trusting not in their own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies’. The second half of the prayer refers to the teaching of Christ in John vi.53-56, what was recorded as His ‘hard saying’ that we must eat His flesh and drink His blood to attain eternal life. Jesus explained that this flesh and blood was not His physical body, but that of His ascended and glorified body. Saint Paul would later say, His ‘quickening spirit’. The nature of Christ’s glorified flesh and blood is beyond our mere intellect, but we apprehend it by our faith as spiritual Reality. I pray this July you trust in His ‘manifold and great mercies’. ~ Father Tim
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Is there someone in your life who takes sinful pride in their own righteousness? Do they feel they have no need for a Savior? July is the month of His quickening spirit. It is a perfect time to speak with a lost soul about the great mercies of Jesus Christ, invite them to attend Saint John’s with you, and kneel at His altar in real humility and faith. This July could bring the new quickening spirit of Christ into the life of someone you cherish. ~ Father Tim
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Whenever you begin any good work you should first of all make a most pressing appeal to Christ our Lord to bring it to perfection. ~ St. Benedict, Abbot, solemnity 11th day of July
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Bible Study & Spirituality Class
Entering the Trinity Season, the class in July will attempt once again to complete the in depth study of Simon of Cyrene found in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 27 verse 32. 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 19th 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.
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It is in these classes that when Bernard was told that God knew each of them, loved and cared for him, that he seems to have had his Damascus experience. Jean Farrant quotes Bernard Mizeki saying that “this is something that I have not known. Nobody has ever told me this. I ought to have done something for God, working for him and serving him, if he cares for me so much. Do tell Him, Inkosazana, that I am very sorry that I have not done anything for Him, yet, but I didn’t know about him at all”. From this moment Bernard Mizeki’s zeal for the things of God seems to have been set on fire. ~ St. Bernard Mizeki, Martyr, African Anglican Christian Missionary, feast day 18th of July
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St. John July Ordo Kalendar
Wednesday, the 1st of July at 5:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Sunday, the 5th of July at 10:30 AM, Trinity IV
Sunday, the 12th of July at 10:30 AM, Trinity V
Wednesday, the 15th of July at 5:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Sunday, the 19th of July at 10:30 AM, Trinity VI, Bible Study
Sunday, the 26th of July at 10:30 AM, Trinity VII
Wednesday, the 29th of July at 5:30 PM, Evening Prayer
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No Vestry Meeting in July
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If God is the center of your life, no words are necessary. Your mere presence will touch hearts. ~ St. Vincent de Paul, Confessor, Comm. the 19th day of July
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July Birthdays & Anniversaries
Leslie & Michael Griswold – Anniversary – July 9
Judie Boughner – Birthday – July 21
Mike Lenz – Birthday – July 31
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We therefore grossly deceive ourselves in not allotting more time to the study of divine truths. It is not enough barely to believe them, and let our thoughts now and then glance upon them: that knowledge which shows us heaven, will not bring us to the possession of it, and will deserve punishments, not rewards, if it remain slight, weak, and superficial. By serious and frequent meditation it must be concocted, digested, and turned into the nourishment of our affections, before it can be powerful and operative enough to change them, and produce the necessary fruit in our lives. For this all the saints affected solitude and retreats from the noise and hurry of the world, as much as their circumstances allowed them. ~ St. Apollinaris, Bishop & Martyr, feast day the 23rd of July
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Whatever you are doing, that which makes you feel the most alive…that is where God is. ~ St, Ignatius Loyola, Confessor, feast day the 31st of July
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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