June 2023
Spirit of the Eagle
St. John the Evangelist ACC
Spiritual Tidbits & Rector’s Reflections for
June 2023 from Father Tim
As the beautiful month of June arrives we find ourselves in the midst of the Ember Days (2nd & 3rd). Immediately after we arrive at Trinity Sunday (4th). Corpus Christi is celebrated on the 8th (hopefully one day we can do the procession) and the Feast of S. Barnabas, Apostle & Martyr, falls on Sunday the 11th. The Trinity Sundays resume on the 18th and 25th, followed by the Feast of S. Peter, Apostle & Martyr (29th). You may have noticed that some people in our parish have been working diligently to add beauty in and around our church. Some may ask, “Why does beauty matter?”. Should it matter? Worldly people may simply say, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, which results in making beauty relative and subjective. Ironically the same people tend to idolize the pursuit of beauty under their own favorite guise. Relativism in most cases is devastating to our culture and a selfish and worldly pursuit of beauty is simply devastation itself. Thus I would like to take a moment and discuss true beauty. The Source of all beauty is God, which means we should seek beauty with awe and wonder. True beauty should make us pause and think. When we contemplate the beauty we see (or hear) it will move us deeply, mysteriously, and it may even at times cause us to stare until enraptured in a manner that we are oblivious (for untold moments) to everything else going on around us. Why is this? Because when we see true beauty we are, just for that precious moment, getting a glimpse of the good that the Source of beauty creates. I read somewhere once that the Hebrew word tov can have two meanings: good and beautiful. When we read in Genesis the record of creation we are told that God created and then called it “good”. As Anglo-catholics we believe what we read in Genesis. We believe that the creation is “good”. When we look at a beautiful garden, a beautiful church, or a beautiful sunrise, we know that goodness and beauty cannot be separated. When we feed the hungry or give a gift to a charitable cause from the ‘goodness’ of our heart it is an act of ‘beauty’. Sin attacks goodness and beauty, desperately trying to destroy and defeat both, or redefine them, and yet true beauty and goodness remain. Why? Because Christ on the cross reveals that beauty destroys sin, and goodness unveils the emptiness of evil. I pray you have plenty of enraptured moments in June. ~ Father Tim
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Is there someone you know who is seeking true beauty and goodness? June is a wonderful month to experience the tov in our worship at St. John’. Please invite a family member or a friend to church where they can begin seeking the Source! ~ Father Tim
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Look at that beautiful butterfly, and learn from it to trust in God. One might wonder where it could live in tempestuous nights, in the whirlwind, or in the stormy day; but I have noticed it is safe and dry under the broad leaf while rivers have been flooded, and the mountain oaks torn up from their roots. ~ Jeremy Taylor, 1613-1667, Cleric in the Church of England, the Anglican Shakespeare of Divines
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Did you know?
Did you know Saint John’s made a charitable gift To Care Net Pregnancy Center of Northern KY in May? Did you know we have a new Holy Water font in the Narthex? Did you know we have several new beautiful plants around the church gardens? Did you know the church sign has been painted, repaired, and now lights up at night? Did you know that St. John’s was established in 1873 and 2023 is our 150th anniversary?
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It was when I was happiest that I longed most. The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing to find the place where all the beauty came from. ~ C.S. Lewis, 1898-1963, British Writer, Literary Scholar, & Anglican Lay Theologian
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St. John June Ordo Kalendar
Sunday, the 4th of June, at 10:30 AM, Trinity Sunday Mass
Wednesday, the 7th of June at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Saturday, the 10th of June at 2:00 PM, Bible Study Lineup, The Usual Suspects Club
Saturday, the 10th of June at 3:15 PM, The Imitation of Christ, The Book of Life Club
Sunday, the 11th of June, at 10:30 AM, Feast of S. Barnabas Mass
Wednesday, the 14th of June at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Sunday, the 18th of June at 10:30 AM, Trinity II Mass
Wednesday, the 21st of June at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Saturday, the 24th of June at 2:00 PM, Bible Study Lineup, The Usual Suspects Club
Saturday, the 24th of June at 3:15 PM, The Imitation of Christ, The Book of Life Club
Sunday, the 25th of June at 10:30 AM, Trinity III Mass
Wednesday, the 28th of June, at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer Canceled
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Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us. ~ Martin Luther, 1483-1546, German priest, theologian, author, hymn writer, professor, and Augustinian friar
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All the glory and beauty of Christ are manifested within, and there He delights to dwell; His visits there are frequent, His condescension amazing, His conversation sweet, His comforts refreshing; and the peace that He brings passeth all understanding. ~ Thomas a Kempis, 1380-1471, German-Dutch Canon Regular
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June Birthdays & Anniversaries
Rachel Barnett – Birthday – June 6
Rick Hanson – Birthday – June 9
Sally and Sandy Thomson – Anniversary – June 11
Bill Minor – Birthday – June 25
Janet & Fr. Tim Butler – Anniversary – June 30
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Why should we want to worship Jesus well?
Meekness, gentleness, longsuffering, faith, patience, are all mentioned in the Word of God as fruits of the Spirit… Never do these graces shine so brightly as they do in the sick room. They enable many a sick person to preach a silent sermon, which those around him never forget. Would you adorn the doctrine you profess? Would you make your Christianity beautiful in the eyes of others? ~ J.C. Ryle, 1816-1900, Anglican Bishop of Liverpool
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My Father, supremely good, beauty of all things beautiful. ~ S. Augustine of Hippo, 354-430, Bishop & Doctor of the Church
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The Holy Trinity ~ Andrei Rublev
The Church has many different depictions of the Holy Trinity. But the icon which defines the very essence of Trinity Sunday (4th) is invariably the one which shows the Trinity in the form of three angels. The prototype for this icon was the mysterious appearance of the Holy Trinity in the form of three travelers to Abraham and Sarah under the oak of Mamre. The Church specifically chose this particular icon because it most fully expresses the dogma of the Holy Trinity: the three angels are depicted in equal dignity, symbolizing the triunity and equality of all three Persons.
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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