August 2022
Spirit of the Eagle
St. John the Evangelist ACC
Spiritual Tidbits & Rector’s Reflections for
August 2022 from Father Tim
August 2022 has arrived with its usual heat and the first day of the month on our church ordo kalendar begins with Lammas Day. In the early English church Lammas Day was kept as a harvest festival, when loaves of bread made from the new grain were consecrated. Lammas was derived from the Anglo-Saxon word meaning “loaf-mass.” Major feast days in addition to the Trinity Sundays this month are the Transfiguration of Christ (6th), Holy Name of Jesus (7th), the Assumption of the B.V. Mary (15th), and Saint Bartholomew, Apostle & Martyr (23rd). We also have two Anglican worthies, Bl. John Mason Neale (8th) and Bl. Jeremy Taylor, (14th). This year I’ll share a little tidbit on Neale. John Mason Neale was born in London in 1818, studied at Cambridge, and was ordained as priest in 1842. He was offered a parish, but chronic ill health prevented him from taking it. In 1846 he was made warden of Sackville College, a position he held for the rest of his life. Sackville College was not an educational institution, but an almshouse, a charitable residence for the poor. In 1854 Neale co-founded the Sisterhood of St. Margaret, an order of women in the Anglican Church dedicated to nursing the sick. Many Anglicans in his day, however, were extremely suspicious of anything suggestive of Rome. Only nine years earlier, John H. Newman, another Anglican High Churchman, left the English Church and joined the Church of Rome. This encouraged the suspicion that anyone like Neale was an agent of the Vatican, assigned to destroy the Anglican Church by subverting it from within. Afflictions? He had many. Once Neale was attacked and battered at a funeral of one of the Sisters. From time to time unruly crowds threatened to stone him or to burn his house. He received no honor or preferment in England, and his doctorate was bestowed by Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut. However, his basic goodness eventually won the confidence of many who had fiercely opposed him, and the Sisterhood of St. Margaret survived and prospered. Neale translated the Eastern liturgies into English, and wrote a mystical and devotional commentary on the Psalms. However, he is best known as a hymn writer and translator, having enriched English hymnody with many ancient and medieval hymns translated from Latin and Greek. Most everyone is also familiar with the Christmas carols Good Christian Men, Rejoice, Good King Wenceslas, and O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. I pray all of you “win the confidence of many” this August. ~ Father Tim
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Is there someone you know who is afflicted and in need of someone they can trust? August is a wonderful month to bring someone to church to begin building faith in the Source of trust, Jesus the Cornerstone. Please invite someone to Saint John’s this August. ~ Father Tim
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Afflictions make the heart more deep, more experimental, more knowing and profound, and so, more able to hold, to contain, and beat more. ~ John Bunyan, 1628-1688, English writer and Preacher
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Did you know?
Did you know that St. John’s will make a charitable donation to the Red Cross and CareNet Pregnancy Services of Northern KY in August? Did you know we are collecting products for the victims of the East KY flash flooding which will be delivered to Matthew 25 Ministries? Did you know we are now in the process of restoring our garden spotlights to light up the church at night?
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St. John August Ordo Kalendar
Sunday, the 7th of August at 10:30 AM, Holy Name of Jesus
Sunday, the 14th of August at 10:30 AM, Trinity IX
Sunday, the 21st of August, at 10:30 AM, Trinity XXI, Vestry Meeting
Sunday, the 28th of August at 10:30 AM, Trinity XI
The Evening Prayer Office on Wednesday at 6:30 PM is canceled until further notice.
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The Lord does not measure out our afflictions according to our faults, but according to our strength, and looks not what we have deserved, but what we are able to bear. ~ George Downame, 1566-1634, English Author & Bishop of Derry
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No words can express how much the world owes to sorrow. Most of the Psalms were born in the wilderness. Most of the Epistles were written in a prison. The greatest thoughts of the greatest thinkers have all passed through fire. The greatest poets have “learned in suffering what they taught in song.” In bonds Bunyan lived the allegory that he afterwards wrote, and we may thank Bedford Jail for the Pilgrim’s Progress. Take comfort, afflicted Christian! When God is about to make pre-eminent use of a person, He puts them in the fire. ~ George MacDonald, 1824–1905, Scottish Author, Poet and Christian Minister
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August Birthdays & Anniversaries
John Fischer – Birthday – August 1
Andrew and Britt Masters – Anniversary – August 8
Matthew Davis – Birthday – August 17
Kevin and Donna Davis – Anniversary – August 21
Sally Thomson – Birthday – August 23
Janet Butler – Birthday – August 28
Savannah Barkdoll – Birthday – August 29
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The Lord afflicts us at times; but it is always a thousand times less than we deserve, and much less than many of our fellow-creatures are suffering around us. Let us therefore pray for grace to be humble, thankful, and patient. ~ John Newton, 1725-1807, English Author, Preacher, and Hymn Writer [Amazing Grace]
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When I am in the cellar of affliction, I look for the Lord’s choicest wines. ~ Samuel Rutherford, 1600-1661, Scottish Pastor & Theologian [I put this quote in for those of you who thought the Reformers were no fun]
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Affliction is one of God’s medicines! By it He often teaches lessons which would be learned in no other way. By it He often draws souls away from sin and the world, which would otherwise have perished everlastingly. Health is a great blessing but sanctified disease is a greater. Prosperity and worldly comfort, are what all naturally desire, but losses and crosses are far better for us if they lead us to Christ. Let us beware of murmuring in the time of trouble. Let us settle it firmly in our minds, that there is a meaning, a “needs be”, and a message from God in every sorrow that falls upon us. There are no lessons so useful as those learned in the school of affliction. There is no commentary that opens up the Bible so much as sickness and sorrow. The resurrection morning will prove, that many of the losses of God’s people were in reality, eternal gains. Thousands at the last day will testify with David, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted” (Psalm. 119:71)! ~ J.C. Ryle, 1816-1900, Anglican Bishop of Liverpool
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The Blessed John Mason Neale, Confessor, Anglican Priest, Scholar, Translator and
Hymnwriter, commemoration day the 8th of August
All Glory, Laud and Honour
A Great and Mighty Wonder
O come, O come, Emmanuel
Of the Father’s Heart Begotten
Sing, My Tongue, the Glorious Battle
To Thee Before the Close of Day
Ye Sons and Daughters of the King
Good Christian Men, Rejoice
Good King Wenceslas
O come, O come, Emmanuel
A Great and Mighty Wonder
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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