Spirit of the Eagle – August 2017
Spiritual Tidbits for August from Father Tim
August with its hot, bright, sunny days has arrived and begins with the Transfiguration of Christ. I suspect each time we hear the word “transfiguration” our minds immediately think of Jesus on a mountain top. His presence almost blinding. Elias and Moses standing close beside Jesus within His blazing Uncreated Light. The newly awakened apostles Peter, James, and John simultaneously mesmerized and frightened —shot through and surrounded by that Uncreated Light. These are the images or thoughts usually transposed upon us when we hear this word “transfiguration”. But this should be only half of our thoughts if we are awake. When we hear the word “transfiguration” we should also think of our own uphill pilgrimage, our own closeness to Christ, and our own current transfiguration. From our baptism we are illumined and, from that point onward, each day we should gain more height allowing Christ to shine through our being and surround those around us. If we fall asleep in the created August sun, the resulting sunburn could be so severe we become recipients of pain. If we awaken and radiate the Uncreated Light of Christ within us we become Sons of God. I pray this month that each of you outshine the August sun. ~ Father Tim
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For those who like Peter have advanced in faith, and like James have been restored in hope, and like John have achieved perfection in love, the Lord ascends the high mountain of theology and is transfigured. They see the Logos standing between Moses and Elias — between law and prophecy — promulgating the law and teaching it to them, and at the same time revealing to them through vision and prophecy the depths and the hidden treasures of wisdom. ~ Nikitas Stithatos, On Spiritual Knowledge
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Bible Study
The Summer Bible Study is under way and the church will once again open at 9:15 AM for the small group class (9:30- 10:15 AM). This is a wonderful opportunity to pray, learn more about the Bible, or both! Please come downstairs to the Parish Hall if you would like to attend the Bible Study. Free coffee! This group is learning much and having a wonderful time doing so! Please come and bring a friend!
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August Coffee Hour
The Psalm-Children will sponsor the coffee hour on the 13th of August to celebrate the end of summer. We plan to serve lunch followed by make your own sundaes. Please join us for food and fellowship and feel free to ask the kids about their field trip to Big Bone Lick State Park last month. Invite friends or family with children to visit this Sunday as well.
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August Spirituality Class
Please join us after Holy Mass on the 20th of August as we begin a discussion on Prayer and our Prayer Life. “Prayer, says Evelyn Underhill, will include many different kinds of spiritual work; and also—what is too often forgotten—the priceless gift of spiritual rest. It will include many kinds of intercourse with Reality—adoration, petition, meditation, contemplation—and all the shades and varieties of these which religious writers have named and classified.” Have you thought about your own prayer life lately? Would you enjoy learning ways to deepen your prayer life? If so please come to the class and bring a friend!
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Everyone baptized into Christ should pass progressively through all the stages of Christ’s own life, for in baptism he receives the power so to progress, and through the commandments he can discover and learn how to accomplish such progression. To Christ’s conception corresponds the foretaste of the gift of the Holy Spirit, to His nativity the actual experience of joyousness, to His baptism the cleansing force of the fire of the Spirit, to His transfiguration the contemplation of divine light, to His crucifixion the dying to all things, to His burial the indwelling of divine love in the heart, to His resurrection the soul’s life-quickening resurrection, and to His ascension divine ecstasy and the transport of the intellect into God. He who fails to pass consciously through these stages is still callow in body and spirit, even though he may be regarded by all as mature and accomplished in the practice of virtue. ~ St. Gregory of Sinai
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Psalm-Children
As the end of summer break approaches, we will conclude our session on “The Church” in a more informal fashion. On the 6th of August I need as many children as are available to help me with a special project. On the 13th of August, during the coffee hour, I invite all the Psalm Children parents, teachers, and anyone interested in the children’s ministry, to join me and give feedback on the past year as well as make plans for the upcoming year. Looking ahead, tentatively September 3, 2017 will serve as a first session for the academic year. We invite all children ages 2-12 to join us as we learn through lessons, activities, and fellowship. ~ Mary Matias Akhtar
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Parish Hall
Attention Saint John family! If you turn the coffee machine on and brew coffee please make sure you either hang around, turn it off, and clean it up — or ask someone else to do so for you if you have to leave early. Same thing goes for any use of the kitchen. Nothing will break a 40 year addiction to coffee better than the discovery of old grinds in the coffee maker after a week in the Parish Hall with no air conditioning. ~ Father Tim
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
Fr. William Neuroth – Birthday – August 22
Caroline Schmerge – Birthday – August 28
Janet Butler – Birthday – August 28
Savannah Butler – Birthday – August 29
Don’t let your worries get the best of you; remember, Moses started out as a basket case.