October 2021
Spirit of the Eagle
St. John the Evangelist ACC
Spiritual Tidbits & Rector’s Reflections for
October 2021 from Father Tim
Following Saint Michael & All Angels (29th of September – Michaelmas) October and fall have arrived with some cooler weather. The air always has a different feel in fall, along with, at times, a peculiar stillness. It is a favorite time of year for many. This October begins with Saint Remigius, Bishop & Confessor, and ends with Christ the King. Besides the four Trinity Sundays there are a couple other notable feast days: Saint Luke, Evangelist & Martyr (18th) and Saints Simon & Jude, Apostle & Martyrs (28th). This month I would like to focus a little on the Angels. The feast of the Holy Guardian Angels falls on the 2nd day of October. The commemoration of the Archangel Raphael on the 24th day of October. The belief that God assigns to every person an angel to guard them, both body and soul, was common to the pagan and Jewish world, though it is not clearly formulated in the Old Testament Scripture. In the Jewish Pseudepigrapha book, I Enoch (100:5), the author writes ‘the just have protecting spirits’. In the New Testament the popular belief is supported by Acts 12:15 and confirmed, in the case of children, by our Lord Jesus in Matthew 18:10. The Shepherd of Hermas (Mand. 6.2 1-3) wrote that every person has an angel to guide them, however, there are a lot of varying opinions among the Church Fathers. Saint Ambrose believed that the righteous were actually deprived of guardian angels in order that, having a harder struggle against evil, they might attain an even higher glory. Saint Jerome and Saint Basil wrote that sin drives away our guardian angel. Honorius of Autun held that each soul, at the moment it entered the body, was entrusted to an angel. Saint Thomas Aquinas held that only the lowest order of angels were guardians. Duns Scotus and many others believed that the mission might be committed to any member of the angelic host. I pray that this October, in a moment of peculiar stillness, you sense the presence of your own guardian angel. ~ Father Tim
✠✠✠
Is there someone you know who feels they are alone? Do they think God has abandoned them? Do they doubt their guardian angel exists? October is a beautiful month to invite someone into the Holy Church to experience the Communion of Saints and Angelic Choirs. Invite a lost or seeking soul and help them sense the calling of God, His close knit church family and, in a peculiar moment of silence, the presence of an angel. ~ Father Tim
✠✠✠
Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received – only what you have given: a full heart, enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage. ~ S. Francis of Assisi, Confessor, feast day 4th of October
✠✠✠
Did you know?
Did you know that Saint John’s once again gave charitable donations to Holly Hill Child & Family Solutions and The Ion Center for Prevention of Violence in September? Did you know we are very close to having the Rectory completed? Did you know that Heritage Window Solutions are removing the old plexiglass from nine church windows and prepping them for new (and beautiful) glass storm windows?
✠✠✠
While the world changes, the cross stands firm. ~ S. Bruno, Confessor, feast day 6th of October
✠✠✠
St. John October Ordo Kalendar
Sunday, the 3rd of October at 10:30 AM, Trinity XVIII
Wednesday, the 6th of October at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Sunday, the 10th of October at 10:30 AM, Trinity XIX, Bishop’s visit
Wednesday, the 13th of October at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Sunday, the 17th of October at 10:30 AM, Trinity XX
Wednesday, the 20th of October at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Sunday, the 24th of October at 10:30 AM, Trinity XXI, Vestry meeting
Wed., the 27th of October at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer, Vigil, SS. Simon & Jude
Sunday, the 31st of October at 10:30 AM, Christ the King
✠✠✠
Pilate sentenced him due to fear, in accordance with the petition and intention of others. These people sentence him for their own advantage and without any fear, by dishonoring him through sin that they could abstain from, if they wanted. But they neither abstain from sin nor are they ashamed of their already committed sins, for they do not take into consideration their unworthiness of the kindness of the one whom they do not serve. ~ S. Bridgit of Sweden, Queen & Widow, feast day 8th of October
✠✠✠
This is how the present life of man on Earth, King, appears to me in comparison with that time which is unknown to us. You are sitting feasting with your ealdormen and thegns in winter time. The fire is burning on the hearth in the middle of the hall and all inside is warm, while outside the wintry storms of rain and snow are raging – and a sparrow flies swiftly through the hall. It enters in at one door and quickly flies out through the other. For the few moments it is inside, the storm and wintry tempest cannot touch it, but after the briefest moment of calm, it flits from your sight, out of the wintry storm and into it again. So this life of man appears but for a moment. What follows or, indeed, what went before, we know not at all. ~ S. Paulinus of York, Bishop & Confessor, commemoration day 10th of October
✠✠✠
October Birthdays & Anniversaries
Jean Marie Centers – Birthday – October 8
Michael Griswold – Birthday – October 13
Virginia Jackson – Birthday – October 16
Katie Craft – Birthday – October 17
Leslie Shelton – Birthday – October 24
Sheila & Ben Myers – Anniversary – October 28
Rick & Eileen Hanson – Anniversary – October 31
✠✠✠
“I shall not die but shall live. Departing from the land of the dying, I hope to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.” ~ S. Edward, King & Confessor, commemoration day (translation) the 13th of October
✠✠✠
In the Lord’s hand there is abundance of all things, because He is the Lord of powers and the King of Glory. ~ S. Callistus, Bishop & Martyr, feast day the 14th of October
✠✠✠
Thus, measuring things in heaven by things on earth, At thy request, and that thou may’st beware By what is past, to thee I have reveal’d What might have else to human race been hid; The discord which befell, and war in heaven Among the angelic powers, and the deep fall Of those too high aspiring, who rebell’d With Satan; he who envies now thy state, Who now is plotting how he may seduce Thee also from obedience, that with him, Bereav’d of happiness, thou may’st partake His punishment, eternal misery; (Paradise Lost VI, 893–904, John Milton). ~ S. Raphael, Archangel, commemoration day the 24th of October
✠✠✠
For in prosperity a man is often puffed up with pride, whereas tribulations chasten and humble him through suffering and sorrow. In the midst of prosperity the mind is elated, and in prosperity a man forgets himself; in hardship he is forced to reflect on himself, even though he be unwilling. In prosperity a man often destroys the good he has done; amidst difficulties he often repairs what he long since did in the way of wickedness. ~ Bl. Alfred the Great, King & Confessor, feast day the 26th of October
✠✠✠
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