January 2023
Spirit of the Eagle
St. John the Evangelist ACC
Spiritual Tidbits & Rector’s Reflections for
January 2023 from Father Tim
Welcome to 2023! We are in the midst of Christmastide and Epiphany is coming up quickly (6th)! I hope to have Epiphany chalk blessed and ready for each of you this new year. January begins with the Circumcision of Christ (1st). Along with The Epiphany (6th) and the Epiphany Sundays the other major feast day is the Conversion of Saint Paul (25th). So this month I thought I would reflect a little on Paul, formerly Saul. One thing that is certain about Saint Paul is he was totally committed. It was ‘all or nothing’ for him, no ‘private religion’; no watered-down, half-hearted response to God’s calling. He believed in his commission to spread the gospel of Christ everywhere he was sent. He even tried (and this took some real nerve) to convert King Agrippa: King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.” (Acts 26:27b-29). Of course we know Agrippa did not convert, but he was definitely astonished at Paul’s faith. We also know Paul would pay dearly for that faith. He would be beaten, stoned, lost at sea, ran out of cities, and thrown into jail, just to name a few of his tribulations. He would finally be martyred at Rome still, of course, preaching the gospel. Paul literally gave up everything for God. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. (Philippians 3:8). He gave up his home, prestige, power, health and wealth, for Christ. Worldly people today will say, “Such a sacrifice to God is not worth it!”, and are satisfied with only their four score years. But you and I will remember that Paul conversed with the ‘risen Christ Jesus’. Paul observed a glimpse of the world to come . . . so breathtaking it can’t be described with mere human language. I pray your Epiphanytide inspires others to hear the gospel, that they may gain Christ who is ‘all in all’. ~ Father Tim
✠✠✠
Is there someone you know who needs to hear the gospel of Christ? January is a month for Epiphanies. Please invite a family member or a friend to church where they can experience a commitment to Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. They can then begin their own journey, wisely following the star to Bethlehem. ~ Father Tim
✠✠✠
When the corn is nearly ripe it bows the head and stoops lower than when it was green. When the people of God are near ripe for heaven, they grow more humble and self-denying… Paul had one foot in heaven when he called himself the chiefest of sinners and least of saints. ~ John Flavel, 1627-1691, English Puritan Minister & Author
✠✠✠
Did you know?
Did you know Saint John’s made a charitable Christmas gift to the Dayton, KY Family Resource Center? Did you know we have a new Growth Committee (see Brian Miller)? Did you know we remodeled the Ladies Restroom? Did you know we ordered new replacement windows for the Rectory? Did you know that Wednesday Evening Prayer (6:30 PM) and a small meal afterwards has begun once again? Did you know our Bishops visit and Confirmations were recorded and uploaded to Youtube? Simply click on this Advent IV link. Did you know we now have an ‘Events’ page on our website?
✠✠✠
St. John January Ordo Kalendar
Sunday, the 1st of January, at 10:30 AM, Circumcision of Christ
Wednesday, the 4th of January at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Friday, the 6th of January at 6:30 PM, The Epiphany Mass
Sunday, the 8th of January at 10:30 AM, Epiphany I
Wednesday, the 11th of January at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Sunday, the 15th of January at 10:30 AM, Epiphany II, Vestry Meeting
Wednesday, the 18th of January, at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Sunday, the 22nd of January, at 10:30 AM, Epiphany III
Wednesday, the 25th of January, at 6:30 PM, Conversion of Saint Paul Mass
Sunday, the 29th of January, at 10:30 AM, Epiphany IV
✠✠✠
If our blessed Lord used to pray early before day; if He spent whole nights in prayer; if the devout Anna was day and night in the temple; if Paul and Silas at midnight sang praises unto God; if the primitive Christians, for several hundred years, besides their hours of prayers in the daytime, met publicly in the churches at midnight to join in psalms and prayers; is it not certain that these practices showed the state of their heart? Are they not so many plain proofs of the whole turn of their minds? ~ William Law, 1686-1761, Anglican Priest & Author
✠✠✠
If there is any point on which God’s holiest saints agree it is this: that they see more, and know more, and feel more, and do more, and repent more, and believe more, as they get on in spiritual life, and in proportion to the closeness of their walk with God. In short, they “grow in grace,” as St. Peter exhorts believers to do; and “abound more and more,” according to the words of St. Paul (2 Pet. 3:18; 1 Thes. 4:1). ~ J. C. Ryle, 1816-1900, Anglican Bishop of Liverpool
✠✠✠
Advent and Christmas Season 2022
A sincere ‘Thank you!’ to all of you who, both in front and behind the scenes, worked diligently to make St. John’s beautiful for this glorious time of the year. Another big ‘Thank you!’ to those of you braving such brutal weather to attend the many different services! May God bless you thrice in return. ~ Father Tim
✠✠✠
January Birthdays & Anniversaries
Kim Marshall – Birthday – January 24
Devan Smith – Birthday – January 25
✠✠✠
Why should we want to worship Jesus well?
He is that Object to admire which (or, if you like, to appreciate which) is simply to be awake, to have entered the real world; not to appreciate which is to have lost the greatest experience, and in the end to have lost all. ~ C.S. Lewis, 1898-1963, British Writer and Anglican Lay Theologian
✠✠✠
Last we consider the time of their coming, the season of the year. It was no summer progress. A cold coming they had of it at this time of the year, just the worst time of the year to take a journey, and specially a long journey. The ways deep, the weather sharp, the days short, the sun farthest off, in solsitio brumali, ‘the very dead of winter.’ . . . .And we, what should we have done? Sure these men of the East will rise in judgment against the men of the West, that is with us, and their faith against ours in this point. […] Our fashion is to see and see again before we stir a foot, specially if it be to the worship of Christ. Come such a journey at such a time? No; but fairly have put it off to the spring of the year, till the days longer, and the ways fairer, and the weather warmer, till better travelling to Christ. Our Epiphany would sure have fallen in Easter week at the soonest. ~ Blessed Lancelot Andrewes, Anglican Bishop & Confessor, Christmas Sermon 1622
“Adoration of the Magi” ~ Rembrandt
✠✠✠
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