Folks,
Lessons for this Sundayinclude a wonderful lesson from I Corinthians about wisdom and foolishness, including a strong admonition to a reasonable humility: Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” Also this Sunday a lesson from Matthew commonly know as "the Beatitutdes" - again suggesting the wisdom of humility “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." But it was the Old Testament lesson from Micah, with a bit of obscure history that piqued my interest. with what seemed obscure references to history, including about the man Balaam. This lesson included a bit of (to me) obscure history about a man named Balaam who beat a donkey to tried to get it to move, finally resulting in God giving the donkey voice to protest (the original lesson is recorded in Numbers 21 and referred to again in 2 Peter 2. On this day when a video was released showing the brutality of one group (in this case the police - who happened to be people of colour) against an individual of a minority group, we can see that it appears God has given a voice for people of this group to protest such apparently unjust treatment we pray that we all may find ourselves to raise our own voices to question such injustice in the affairs of humankind - and to recall that we are all of us members of some minority and in need of support from the community in our quest for justice (this hits home as I think of us LGBTQ folks). May we all support the search for justice for everyone, and seek the truth everywhere! Our love to all, Bart (and Tony!) Events The three Southern Monterey County Missions invite all to joint them for Sunday worship, including St Lukes, Jolon at 10am, St Marks, King City at 11am and St Matts, San Ardo at 4pm. The service in Jolon will include our friend David Miller leading the group in Morning Prayer. Annie and Dave are moving to Missouri and we will all miss them. Other Events This Sunday we want to focus on the efforts of the very active Earthcare group at St Benedicts in Los Osos, where we are told at their meeting on Jan 18 meeting that a video "Being a Climate Solver" is available for editing. The video is up and on St Ben's website. The group have also encouraged an event for many parishes they call "Creation Care Epiphanies", with an opportunity for everyone to share their own "epiphany". Some include use of electric vehicles at St Bens Jan 22 and another on solar pumps this Sunday at St Bens during their 10:30am worship service. On Feb 12 the group seems set to have a ""Blessing of the Solar Pumps." (We want to add parenthetically that we had an Epiphany of our own several years ago as we came to realise the climate was changing even at the ranch, which encouraged us in restoration of some of the oak savanna land at the ranch - land which was originally cleared for homesteading. The recent storms caused a fair amount of silting on the land, even as we are finishing planting the remainder of some 90 cartons of acorns containing about 75 acorns each - remember that the odds of actually getting a new tree from an acorn planted unprotected, and even in a favourable location as near the creek bed, are around 1 in 100 - and 10 new live trees, 8 from our own "nursery" and 2 from a commercial nursery.) The Earthcare group is also formulating plans for Earth Day, April 22, and the week before ("Earth Week"). Watch for news of those events. The next meeting of the Earthcare group is set for Feb 15 via Zoom. For all of these events and more, look to St Ben's websites at https://www.stbenslososos.org/calendar/ and contact the group at Earthcare <Earthcare@stbenslososos.org>. Note that the group recommends another event, a "Webinar" hosted by California Interfaith Power & Light on Feb 9. See https://webmail8.userservices.net/?_task=mail&_caps=pdf%3D1%2Cflash%3D0%2Ctiff%3D0%2Cwebp%3D1%2Cpgpmime%3D0&_uid=90016&_mbox=INBOX&_action=show for more info as well as two more events described as follows: Tuesday, January 31 @ 10:00 am is a "How to Apply" Zoom webinar for the Communities in Charge program that aims to get more EV chargers in low-income communities through the institutions that serve them. Churches are one of the specific institutions that are encouraged to apply. Registration for this webinar is at: https://www.energy.ca.gov/event/workshop/2023-01/how-apply-workshop-communities-charge (follow the "Remote Attendance" link to register) Thursday, February 23 @ 5:30 pm is an in-person seminar at the Octagon Barn that covers everything you need to know about the EV charging installation process, including info on other rebate and technical assistance resources. The event flyer and registration link is below: From the Diocese We are told in connection with the severe weather most of California experienced recently that FEMA grants may be available to help.
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Folks,
The lessons for this Sunday include from Isaiah, a prophecy of deliverance (in this case for the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali from their Assyrian overlords (see WorkingPreacher.org on this), along with a lesson from II Corinthians on the work of the church, and a lesson from our patron Matthew which quotes the Isaiah lesson, with Jesus moving to Capernaum by Galilee, the traditional region of those tribes, and calling folks who would "fish for people.” While Isaiah's prophecy and Jesus' call set the stage for the ministry of those who followed Jesus, it is the Corinthians lesson that really grabs me! In it Paul is clear about the problem of pride and vanity in the Christian ministry, where the various evangelists, then and today, would see a following as "theirs". Paul noted that Christians of the time might say “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ” after which he adds, "has Christ been divided?" This strong "reproach" is followed by adding that he wasn't sent for baptising but for telling the Good News. Putting that principal together with the preceding reproach, we can see how he concludes that "... the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." Let us all revel in the wisdom of that very foolishness of God's love, building a community to house that love in the name of that love. even as we eschew preaching and teaching in a prideful way, seeking reasonable humility as we do Jesus' bidding to fish for people. Our love to all, Bart (and Tony!) and from all of us at St Matts Events This weekend St Matts will be having Evening Prayer at 4pm at the chapel in San Ardo, and our fellow missions St Lukes in Jolon and St Marks in King City will meet together at 10am at St Lukes chapel. Also note that Daphne Denny tells us St Lukes will be having their community potluck on Wed Jan 25, eating at 6pm in the parish hall and then to the chapel for Vespers at 7pm. Everyone is welcome to all these events! We have had great responses of love and concern from our bishop and diocesan office and many others to the various problems caused by the extremely strong storms that affected the entire State. The work of recovery now continues, including a note sent by the Parkfield Community Club (our closest "town" with just a handful of people but including the surrounding ranches). (In our earliest days at the ranch we remember belonging to the "Parkfield Protective Association", a community group which came together in case of fires and also helped County workers aiding the general area.) Other Events As you know we like to mention especially interesting events at parishes other than St Matts, and this week we heard about a great event for all you amateur astronomers out there. Consider the joining the folks of Church of the Good Shepherd for a night of "Stargazing" on Eve's Peak. Our friends at the parish describe it as follows: Join us on Eve's Peak this Friday, January 20th to look through telescopes at the stars, planets, flying objects! Salinas High Astronomy Club and our own Al Scott will be our guides. Meet in the parking lot at 5:30 to walk up. You can always join us on the peak if you arrive later. Wear warm clothes! Driving up is an option as well. Email me with any questions: revlinda@goodshepherdcorral.org In a recent edition of the News we mentioned a play reading, Agatha Christie’s “Witness for the Prosecution”, and it turns out there is to be another, this time at St Pauls Cathedral in San Diego, and we can see it via Zoom on Jan 21 at 1pm - go to https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001ntbnAlYbv1mCdFKNEbmczgBv0HQcIzFUdHr-AGBAfUHdicWIHJWsoniuiTolLBjyWTec_yWnia2ueNxNa3VwRqO4d-8hxFXRxIe4tjGl_dzqCsltRL_CvWQ9u_ClDWzhP-VReJniIXTjJqOvDuv4xZPzr8xCBoR6zytceWQP9jg=&c=Uy7ENu2cKFHSQFyDG4_3lSGe8FiKhDsEd6l076H7FDSdDXRlapl6PA==&ch=4bA0Fj2MtpuqrRmXgrTPkb9wIieF_frKccK6AJEzD5Q_ItsQ-O-LVA== And note that many of St Pauls other events are available online, including an organ recital you can watch on Fri, Jan 20 at https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001RbODQOtLJxXK0yd2nNHhNTiPyMcFoNpGUXlRJhnLbwqUMwwqHAx81L4hYSGERGrmb7RNTr4CF-IvoZiggWE7v2ap0kPruPY9mnxUTdHYEM9qBJmueD7KnAlyBi24nrWr9JVH3ILcJGvmcm7ECMRogNmFa333Nh04h2XZVpAVudZiqYOzPJUKjNuq5XnYoAFR1vJa9T63euU=&c=z1cGRK8OgOjVooMRgRvsdsHbirZrgnk2RuHtPf6ch1jWhQRcq6A9kg==&ch=QTGxyTh7YgnW2UhjXDfiIj-672dW_-vjutnw8UqVNPKtlk_amTUmCQ== and all their regular worship services (the choral Evensong is a favourite on Sunday at 5pm at https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001ntbnAlYbv1mCdFKNEbmczgBv0HQcIzFUdHr-AGBAfUHdicWIHJWsoom_2J2xEoX4-AZXNA7T9hCAdwd-aabnXL4IQN0Mcj1T98lzaeJmOvi4xoa1Zu2lPda3qjY1I-sKyW_Spr0TZ81ey6UfzY-idgN69Wolo-r_UYLRAlf-eA27iGY6R3hONGceNuutAjK5ZhoAZEiP99Y=&c=Uy7ENu2cKFHSQFyDG4_3lSGe8FiKhDsEd6l076H7FDSdDXRlapl6PA==&ch=4bA0Fj2MtpuqrRmXgrTPkb9wIieF_frKccK6AJEzD5Q_ItsQ-O-LVA== For full details for all their events, go to www.stpaulcathedral.org From the Diocese of El Camino Real at Sargent House We hear from Kirstin Nielsen there of several "resources", including meditations, study curricula, etc which have been provided by the Diocese. To see them go to https://www.episcopalchurch.org/lent-resources/?mc_cid=0a7149671a&mc_eid=UNIQID And looking further ahead, we see that not only is St Peters Church in Morro Bay having a Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras pancacke supper but the folks at Sargent House will be having one as well. To reserve a place for the event on Feb 21, go to https://realepiscopal.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=99ebbaf4cee8d012c9edafe60&id=a54d7c888d&e=f136cc0442 Folks,
Kyle and the Doan family of our fellow mission St Mark Church in King City are in our hearts this week. The 5 yeard old was swept away in a flood in a nearby creek (at the ranch we lost an ancient oak and a large eucalyptus, and the entry road is impassable, and there were many other problems in South Monterey County from the extremely heavy rain and wind). The OT Lesson this this Sunday from Isaiah is more prophecy which might be thought to refer to Jesus, while the Epistle lesson from I Corinthians gives encouragement, a wonderful thing to give to friends and family and especially at this time of serious rain damages all over the state, but especially along the Central Coast and Santa Barbara. The gospel lesson for this Sunday has an unequivocal identification by John the Baptist of who Jesus really was as the Messiah. But there is an interesting sidelight in the matter of Jesus in turn telling Simon that he was to be called Cephas (Aramaic for The Rock) which later was Latinised as Peter (like petro). A scholarly article at https://www.jstor.org/stable/3267052 suggests that early Christians thought Peter and Simon might have been two different persons. Note however that I'd like not to focus on rain-caused problems for a bit, and instead do a bit of "mental play" - something that I think is especially good for us as we get older! One of our more regular correspondents in reply to St Matthew News pointed out to me that I left off the apostrophe in churches names when named for saints. I enjoy mental jousting with this guy, one of our very good friends for many years, and replied (as I have to others) that I did so because the apostrophe next in a personal name like Matthew's implies possession, but in fact the church belongs to us all. He then suggested that we perhaps should then drop the "s" traditional after the apostrophe, and so today's subject is St Matthew News. I haven't heard back from him yet but am sure I will. (He is probably right since he is a linguistics graduate and a bright light.) My point in the above paragraph however is to get us all to do a little "mental exercise" and especially at a time when outdoor activity (why we live at the ranch!) must be limited, so it is a good time, after clearing out mud and standing water, to play a little and mental play is really a gift, along with encouragement as we face these challenges. Note that Jesus, when responding to the clever question of "which husband" will the be widow find as hers in that heavenly place, must have chuckled a bit to himself. As mentioned before, humour is an essential part of humanity. We hope we can all get some time for a spirit of gentle playfulness as a gift of respite while we do our work on the problems we all face, and never forget as Paul said, "the greatest gift is LOVE". Our love to all, Bart (and Tony!) and for all of us at St Matt! (Note that we will likely revert to using at least the "s" so it sounds like what most people say and how it appears in directories, etc. Events St Matt Church was lucky to get a new roof on before this particular rain season! Our parish expects to meet for Evening Prayer on Sunday (and note that more rain is scheduled for the weekend!) at 4pm at the chapel in San Ardo, depending on how much rain comes along on Saturday. Please check with us, but if you do not hear back assume we will not be able to make it. St Mark and St Luke Church expect to meet together at St Mark Church in King City at 10am - again if possible. Note that the little boy mentioned at the top of the NEWS was a part of the St Mark community, so please pray as well for that community as they work through all this and seek a brighter future. We see that our friends at St Peter Church in Morro Bay are hosting a staged reading of the play "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller this Friday and Saturday at 7pm and on Sunday at 3pm. St Peter Church also tells us they will be having their wonderful pancake supper on Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras) Feb 21 from 4-6pm - we have tasted and enjoyed. Finally, Bp Lucinda Ashy will be visiting St Peter Church on Feb 19 at their regular services - see details of which at https://www.stpetersmorrobay.org/ Folks, Yesterday was the Feast of the Epiphany, the day when the Three KIngs or "Magi" who come to see Jesus - a very much celebrated event (see below) often celebrated on the FIrst Sunday after when it falls during the week. We have mentioned before that some churches, such as our old parish All Saints in San Francisco, set up a "creche" and to commemorate their journey to see Jesus in the manger, they put out three figurines at some distance from the manger on Christmas Day, and each succeeding day the figurines would appear to have move closer (the creeping of the Magi) until they are standing next to the Holy Family on Epiphany. Our poet friend Ron, now living in Turkey, reminds us that it is also the Twelfth Day of Christmas, celebrated in song and with gift giving. (The attached photo of the creche at our fellow mission parish of St Marks in King City shows the creche set up in the somber yet gorgeous wood-paneled "Carpenters Gothic" chapel with the Magi on the right side of the manger.) But the gospel lesson appointed for this Sunday from Matthew describes The Baptism (a ritual of purification common to many religions) of Our Lord, which was another sort of epiphany, both for John and for those gathered around as witnesses. And indeed the term epiphany as used today suggests an intuitive grasp, by way of an event or thing, of an illuminating discovery. In that sense the gospel story suggests that while John knew of Jesus' special character, it also shows that God needs us just as much as we need God (remember last week we mentioned that at my college roommates memorial, a speaker said that within God is a vacuum in the shape of each of us). Peter in an epiphany of his own in the NT lesson from Acts of the Apostles says to Cornelius, a Roman centurion likely from a prominent Roman family that “I truly understand that God shows no partiality ..." and adds that God will accept all who respect God and do what is right. In those words you can feel Peter's "epiphany", sensing that he must help spread this awareness of God's love for all - an epiphany that took him on a journey the empire's capital where he worked (tradition says for 25 years) before being martyred under the infamous Emperor Nero. What a gift the world has received from the Jews (remember that Peter was born the Jewish Simon bar Yonah). And let's not forget the Old Testament lesson, which has the prophet Isaiah depicting a person of humble origin and demeanour with poetic words as "a bruised reed" and a "dimly-burning wick" who will bring justice" "He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching." For me, this gospel lesson is a reminder of the (reasonable) humility that was evidenced by Jesus as God taking on human form to reach us, even willing to die on a cross, but more importantly to live as one of us. It is this notion of God's love for us that makes for my own "epiphany". We pray that all will have our own epiphanies this holiday season! Our love to all, Bart (and Tony!) and for all of us at St Matts! Events As mentioned above, many have celebrating Epiphany this Sunday along with Jesus' baptism, and one such is St Pauls Cathedral parish in San Diebo, where we hear that TONIGHT there will be a "Holy Eucharist: The Feast of the Epiphany Friday, December 6, 12 pm, In the Chapel of the Holy Family On the twelfth day after Christmas, we will observe The Epiphany, the manifestation of Christ to the peoples of the earth, a Principal Feast Day in the Episcopal Church. Following the service and before the organ recital, Epiphany cake will be served to celebrate the coming of the Magi to the infant Jesus." and we are further told that they will serve "Epiphany Cake", aka King Cake - a tradition much observed in the south of the US. A websites at www.NewOrleans.com says that "The name “king cake” comes from the Biblical story of the three kings who bring gifts to Baby Jesus. A blend of coffee cake and cinnamon roll, king cake is usually iced in yellow, green and purple – the colors of Mardi Gras -- and is frequently packed with fruit fillings and decadent cream cheeses. Hidden within these season sweets also lie a special surprise: a plastic king cake baby to continue the fun. (However, those of you who know me know we will be having homemade chocolate cake instead!) Note that St Pauls will this Sunday offer a chorales Evenson at 5pm, and both will be available online - go to www.stpaulcathedral.org (and for their full calendar of events). Meanwhile, don't forget to join us at our own St Matts for Evening Prayer this Sunday at 4pm, and our fellow missions St Lukes in Jolon (where Roy Morris will lead Morning Prayer at 19am) and St Marks / San Marcos in King City where Rev Filemon Diaz will celebrate and preach at 10am and noon Folks,
This coming Sunday the lessons do indeed include in both the OT and the Gospel, a mention of names. In Numbers, though Moses the (political?) leader of the "nation" was speaking to Aaron, his brother and the religious leader of the "nation", he says God wants to give that nation a blessing and a name - "So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them." The gospel lesson has the naming of Jesus, meaning "God is salvation" (though according to ETWN, the Catholic Jesus might better be expressed as Joshua - ie "Jehovah is salvation"). at about the time of his circumcision. (See https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/origin-of-the-name-of-jesus-christ-10572 for a more complete study, and note that "The Christ" is a title applied later and a Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Messiah, meaning "the annointed one".) In his letter to the church in Galatia, a region in north central Turkey settled only 250 years or so before Jesus birth by a Celtic tribe (see wiki), Paul speaks not of names but rather of a family connection to God, making them not slaves but "heirs". The Catholic bishops website at https://bible.usccb.org/bible/galatians/0 Suggests that the letter was addressed to the Celts there, though a Mormon website suggests it was really addressed to Jewish Christians living in the region. But to me the important aspect is family. I watched a lengthy memorial to my friend an college roommate, Joseph Ritchie, in which Joe, who was undoubtedly the brightest person I have ever known and an original thinker, mentioned the old saying that in people there is a "God-shaped vacuum". But his priest friend turned it around and suggested that inside God was a space for each of us. This brought to mind an image of Jesus's face shown at an Episcopal General Convention years ago - the image was composed of tens of thousands of tiny images of individual Christians. Paul, unmarried and so without children, seems to have been the perfect person to bring people together in the realisation of a truly "Holy Family" of humankind. Joe Ritchie, a friend to world leaders and humanitarian, was mostly praised for bringing people together. May we all work to bring people together and realise, in the words of the song, "We Are Family"! Our love to all, Bart (and Tony!) and for all of us at St Matts! Events Please see parish websites for events, as well as recent issues of the News. For this week we'd like to highlight just one event beyond our weekly service of Evening Prayer at St Matts at 4:30: A Brunch (a gay group I used to hang with were fond of saying "when the going gets tough, the tough go to BRUNCH!) Church of the Good Shepherd in Salinas (Corral de Tierra) will be having a brunch at noon after 11am services this Sunday for the entire parish family - and hope others family will join the family! |
WILLIAM BARTOSH
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