April 2023
Spirit of the Eagle
St. John the Evangelist ACC
Spiritual Tidbits & Rector’s Reflections for
April 2023 from Father Tim
Spring 2023 is here along with April’s sunshine! In the Church Ordo Kalendar April begins with Holy Week. Palm Sunday (2nd), Maundy Thursday (6th), Good Friday (7th), Easter Eve (8th), and of course Easter Day (9th) or Sunday of the Resurrection. And finally there is S. Mark, Evangelist (25th). During Holy Week the priest requires a lot of help from other men and boys of the church for many of the services. Why just men and boys? Why not women and girls? Following is a little something from a wise Bishop that answers these questions: Why are boys and men acolytes and lay-readers? (a) God wants men and boys to have a ministry that is uniquely theirs. Women and girls already have a ministry uniquely theirs: only they can conceive, bear, give birth to and nurture children, and make a home. (b) Boys need mentoring from Christian men to learn how to be men-in-Christ. (c) When boys serve at the Altar within the aura of the Priesthood, they have a close look at what the Priesthood is, and how they are called to someday be priests of their own families, or even be priests in the ordained ministry. (d) In the first two centuries the Church was persecuted, and those surrounding the Altar were men and boys, to protect the Priest and prevent the profanation of the Blessed Sacrament, even to the shedding of their own blood. We have already re-entered those times, and the Church is more persecuted today than it was then. (e) Men and boys need the rule of life and the hierarchy that goes with serving at the Altar and Lay-reading. (f) Masculine teams promote esprit de corps. (f) The Eucharist is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Jesus is the Bridegroom and the Church is the Bride. The Bridegroom’s attendants at a wedding are men. (h) When women see their husbands and sons learning how to be men-in-Christ and taking spiritual initiatives, they can both relax and rejoice. So there you have the answers. Next month I will share a little information on women and girls in the parish. I hope that all of you will make time to attend one or all of the Holy Week services, and I pray each of you has a blessed Easter! ~ Father Tim
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Is there someone you know who needs to experience the holiness of God? April is the month of holiness, sacrifice, love-with-no-bounds, forgiveness, and resurrected life. Please invite a family member or a friend to church where they can observe unselfish-love at the foot of the Cross, and Eternal Life outside an empty tomb. ~ Father Tim
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The road to the Kingdom is not so pleasant, and comfortable, and easy, and flowery, as many dream. It is not a bright sunny avenue of palms. It is not paved with triumph, though it is to end in victory. The termination is glory, honor, and immortality; but on the way, there is the thorn in the flesh, the sackcloth, and the cross. Recompense later; but labor here! Rest later; but weariness here! Joy and security later; but here endurance and watchfulness – the race, the battle, the burden, the stumbling block, and oftentimes the heavy heart. ~ Horatius Bonar, 1808-1889, Scottish Churchman & Poet
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Did you know?
Did you know Saint John’s makes a charitable gift To Holly Hill Child & Family Solutions in March? Did you know we now have a new book club that meets consistently – The Book of Life Club? Next book will be announced soon!
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St. John April Ordo Kalendar
Sunday, the 2nd of April, at 10:30 AM, Palm Sunday Mass – Book of Life Club
Wednesday, the 5th of April at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Thursday, the 6th of April at 6:30 PM, Maundy Thursday – Stripping of the Altar
Friday, the 7th of April at 12:00 PM, Stations of the Cross
Friday, the 7th of April at 3:00 PM, Good Friday Liturgy
Saturday, the 8th of April, at 6:30 PM, Easter Even – Lighting of the New Fire
Sunday, the 9th of April, at 10:30 AM, Easter Day Mass – Sunday of the Resurrection
Wednesday, the 12th of April, at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Sunday, the 16th of April, at 10:30 AM, Easter I Mass
Wednesday, the 19th of April, at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Sunday, the 23rd of April, at 10:30 AM, Easter II Mass
Wednesday, the 26th of April, at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Sunday, the 30th of April, at 10:30 AM, Easter III Mass
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Does God ask us to do what is beneath us? This question will never trouble us again if we consider the Lord of heaven taking a towel and washing feet. ~ Elisabeth Elliot, 1926-2015, Christian Author & Speaker
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How easily and contentedly we speak of Jesus Christ as our example. Do we realize what it means? If we did, it would revolutionize our life. Do we begin to know our Bible as He did? Do we begin to pray as He did? How thoughtful He was for others, how patient toward dullness, how quiet under insult! Think of what it meant for Him to take a basin and towel like a slave and wash the disciples’ feet! Do we stoop to serve? Can anyone say of us, as was said of Him, that we go about “doing good?” Think of His words, servants of His, “I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.” “Christlike” is a word often on our lips. Do not speak it too lightly. It is our high calling. ~ Unknown Author
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April Birthdays & Anniversaries
Judy Adams – Birthday – April 19
Max Meadows – Birthday – April 20
Carol Petrie – Birthday – April 22
Mike & Julie Murray – Anniversary – April 28
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Why should we want to worship Jesus well?
A death by crucifixion seems to include all that pain and death can have of the horrible and ghastly – dizziness, cramp, thirst, starvation, sleeplessness, traumatic fever, shame, publicity of shame, long continuous torment, horror of anticipation, mortification of intended wounds – all intensified just up to the point at which they can be endured at all, but all stopping just short of the point which would give to the sufferer the relief of unconsciousness. The unnatural position made every movement painful; the lacerated veins and crushed tendons throbbed with incessant anguish; the wounds, inflamed by exposure, gradually gangrene; the arteries – especially at the head and stomach – became swollen and oppressed with surcharged blood, and while each variety of misery went on gradually increasing, there was added to them the intolerable pang of a burning and raging thirst, and all these physical complications caused an internal excitement and anxiety, which made the prospect of death itself – of death, the unknown enemy, at whose approach man usually shudders most – bear the aspect of a delicious and exquisite release. One thing is clear. The 1st century executions were not like the modern ones, for they did not seek a quick, painless death or the preservation of any measure of dignity for the criminal. On the contrary, they sought an agonizing torture which completely humiliated him. And it is important that we understand this, for it helps us realize the agony of Christ’s death. ~ Frederick Farrar, 1831-1903, Anglican Cleric, School Teacher, & Author
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Jesus collapses at Calvary ~ Gustave Dore
Surely that man must be in an unhealthy state of soul who can think of all that Jesus suffered, and yet cling to those sins for which that suffering was undergone. It was sin that wove the crown of thorns; it was sin that pierced our Lord’s hands and feet and side; it was sin that brought Him to Gethsemane and Calvary, to the cross and to the grave. Cold must our hearts be if we do not hate sin and labor to get rid of it. ~ J.C. Ryle, 1816-1900, Anglican Bishop of Liverpool
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Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time. ~ Martin Luther
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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