Folks,
In a recent online meditation event our friend Fr Vince Pizzuto of St Columba, Inverness, CA, noted that the origin of the word Mass (wiktionary tells came from Missa in Latin) relates to "service". Thus many churches have a "dismissal" ("Go, the Mass has ended). This beautiful nugget of thought means that when we are "dismissed" at the end of the Mass, we are being sent out . But sent out for what purpose? Many Christian parishes (and indeed several other spiritual groups) have used the term "services" for their spiritual offerings and Vince suggests a good answer is "to serve"., turning the phrase around to be an offering of ourselves to the world. Indeed Fr Vince mentions a parish that posted a sign over the exit which read "Service", with the double meaning in mind. But remember that the Temple model of the Jews was for people to come and "offer their sacrifice". Thus with almost poetic beauty Jesus subjected himself to being an offering, atoning once and for all, the sins of the people, in effect dying for us that we might have everlasting life, the key article of faith (NOT Science). The lessons for this Sunday include from Ezekiel the lesson of the Dry Bones, a "vivid" image in my mind of (like a Ricky Martin video I once saw) of life and flesh being restored to the bones, and from Romans Paul reminds the church that true life is Spirit as he notes "To set the mind on the flesh is death ...", rather distinct from the Ezekiel lesson. But to me the gospel lesson of Lazarus with mention again of his sisters Mary and Martha includes both of the above, since we hope in this world to offer ourselves in ways both spiritual (as Mary was inclined) and practical (as Martha saw needs). (As mentioned before, Jesus never says the practical "service" of Martha is not needed, but simply that the spiritual is the better part.) In this story we see that Jesus responds in spiritual and practical ways, by raising Lazarus from the dead, at one and the same time recalling the Dry Bones story as well as helping Mary and Martha to recover their brother, thus responding both practically and spiritually. But the lengthy story includes much "colour" (why I call it "vivid"), including a side note about walking in the light, and Jesus weeping for Lazarus along with the sister and the Jews who were there. For me it is key to note that it was Martha, the practical one, who told Jesus: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” This seems a gentle nudge especially when she adds "I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” and helped Jesus realise the sisters' predicament, as well as the opportunity to helping many have faith, causing him to reply: “Your brother will rise again.” Such balance between the sisters to me makes them an excellent instruction in the need for the practical (getting Jesus to do something) and the spiritual, and note that in the lesson Mary takes the cue from Martha nudging Jesus by repeating the first sentence, saying "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." So Jesus acts and Lazarus comes out of the tomb. But what does this, very personal, story tell us about what WE should do - how WE can serve, offering all that we have? The story is a resurrection story, and so parallels Jesus's own resurrection from death. But following his time in a resurrected body (one always wonders exactly what it looked like, though we are told the wounds were still apparent) he ascends, so we need to understand that now WE are, individually and together, that Body and need, as we are able, to go and do likewise. Let us be ready, when leaving the "service". to remember that the acceptable sacrifice actually BEGINS when we leave the church (etymologically, "God's house) and heed that sign above the door mentioned above! Our love to all, Bart (and Tony!) and for all of us at St Matts! Events St Matthew Church in San Ardo will be having Evening Prayer at 4pm this Sunday, and we hear that our friend Roy Morris will services at St Luke Church in Jolon. And Fr Carl Hansen will be at St Mark/San Marco Church in King City to lead a eucharist service. at 11am - glad to hear that just today he got his all clear (from Covid) report! Other Events Many of us have been having problems during the unusually difficult weather and the churches are no exception. Note that St Paul Cathedral in San Diego tells us they had been hit with a power outage and some of their events, most of which are online and in person, could not be held. Happily, they are now "back in business" - go to stpaulcathedral.org et al to see their many offerings. We have frequently mentioned the many meditation groups we have enjoyed joining, including the silent meditation at St Barnabas Church in Arroyo Grande Fridays at 4pm, and as well we try to make the silent meditation from 6:30am with the Sunburst group out of Gaviota. Note also as we have mentioned that St Barnabas is having a book discussion group on Thursdays,\ at 7pm (with food at 6:30pm. This time it is :The Book of Forgiving" by Abp Desmond Tutu and his daughter Mpho Tutu Van Furth. We'd like to mention again especially the retirement party for Rev Caro Hall of St Benedict Church in Los Osos on May 19 at the Church. We have known and worked with Caro for many years, starting back at a Bible Study when she was with the Metropolitan Community Church (which used to be know as the "gay church") and through our work with Integrity. the now most retired group that had led the efforts at LGBTQ inclusion in The Episcopal Church. Diocesan Events Our friend Carole Bartolini of the diocesan HQ at Mission House tells us of the upcoming diocese-wide Spring Renewal even to be held this year in Salinas on April 28 and 29. Carole describes the event as follows: Spring Renewal is a wonderful, in-person gathering for everyone in our diocese. We will worship, share a banquet to honor our ministries, enjoy presentations and conversation, and most of all, simply be together as a diocese. Our Keynote Speaker is the Rt. Rev. Diana Akiyama, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon who will engage us more deeply with our theme for 2023, “Courage in the Wilderness.” More details are coming soon. If you have any questions, please contact Carole Bartolini at carole@realepiscopal.org. For complete information and registration go to https://www.realepiscopal.org/spring-renewal-2023/
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Folks,
The lessons appointed for this coming Sunday include from I Samuel with Saul anointing David, a lengthy lesson from John's gospel with the blind man having his sight restored by Jesus with earth and spit ("Here's mud in your eye?), and from Paul's letter to the Ephesians. I appreciate the response to that gospel lesson by Eric Barreto of Luther University who points out that many questions which make grammatical sense are nevertheless not meaningful questions when not speaking poetically or metaphorically such as "How many inches tall is an idea?" when asking who sinned to result in the blindness. We are called upon to use our minds to analyse such, including on religious matters. But I see a deeper connection between the three lessons on the matter of taking responsibility. In Samuel we see David as being the one who will have to lead the people of Israel. In the gospel lesson Jesus plainly says that neither the blind man nor his parents sin caused the blindness. Indeed in the lesson, the Jewish Pharisees tried to put words in the blind man's mouth, but without criticising them the man responds that he does not know if Jesus is a sinner, just that he has sight. This formerly blind man thus takes the responsibility to testify against the assumptions that the Pharisees were trying to get him to agree to: rhR "We know that this man (Jesus) is a sinner." But the man shows some chutzpah in the process - without exaggeration he simply says what occurred. But this isn't enough for the Pharisees who respond that they do not know where (Jesus) comes from, implying that Jesus isn't worthy in their eyes. At this point the man has had enough - he responds by chastising the Pharisees by saying “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” After being driven out of the Temple the formerly blind man accepts the responsibility to follow Jesus, who in a "parting shot" speaking metaphorically says to the Pharisees that they have accepted or chosen the responsibility of (religious) leader ship, and thus they (think they) "see", and so their responsibility (sin) remains. But beyond this, Jesus says “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” This is one of Jesus's many ways of turning around the usual understanding - hoping that many may "see" God's Truth, even while becoming "blind" in the sense of having their sins washed away. QUITE a lesson, no? But on top of all the above we have an excellent "kicker" in the short Ephesians passage, where Paul very simply urges us all to take the responsibility to "Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord." May we all during this Lenten time try, individually and together, to find out what is pleasing to God! Our love to all, Bart (and Tony!) and for all of us at St Matts! Events St Matts Church in San Ardo will be meeting at our customary hour of 4:00 this Sunday for evening worship and prayer. St Lukes Church in Jolon will be meeting for Sunday morning worship and prayer at 10am. However St Marks / San Marcos in King City will not have Sunday morning worship as our friend Fr Carl Hansen has tested positive for Covid - he is however reaching out to the congregation there via phone and electronic media. Other Events St Barnabas Church in Arroyo, a remarkably active parish, has been meeting on Thursdays during Lent for book study / discussion, and this Thursday at 7pm (but gathering at 6:30pm for some food) the group meeting will be based on The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World by South African Abp Desmond Tutu and his daughter Mpho Tutu Van Furth, who followed her father into the Anglican priesthood. The parish is also have a Cleanup Day next Sat Mar 25 at the parishes Thrift Shop from 9-11am. And the parish, along with the Diocesan Honored Women's program has honored Shirley Holgate including for parish leadership as well as for acting as "Guardian" during Covid, staying in touch with another 15 congregant families. Finally, don't forget their Sunday and weekday services, including the silent Centering Prayer on Fridays at 4pm. All of their events and services can be see at their websites, beginning with https://saintbarnabas-ag.org/ Deanery Events This week the Deanery has two events to mention. The first is the regular Deanery meeting, which will be TOMORROW at 2pm online (thank goodness for us at the ranch) and in-person at St Peters Church in Morro Bay. The meeting will include a presentation on the local homeless situation and our Bp Lucinda will be present to discuss the recent Episcopal House of Bishops meeting. Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85362656148?pwd=a2JKVzJtMHVWWWpUejJKMUd4dldWdz09 Meeting ID: 853 6265 6148 Passcode: 065503 One tap mobile +16694449171,,85362656148#,,,,*065503# US +16699009128,,85362656148#,,,,*065503# US (San Jose) And another Deanery event will be the the Retreat for Deanery Clergy. This year the clergy retreat was scheduled at New Camaldoli Monastery near Big Sur, but with the highway conditions as they are, the group have elected instead to spend an hour or so at each of Deanery congregations in meditation and prayer, including St Matts - we think this an excellent option! Diocesan Events Our friend Carole Bartolini of the diocesan HQ at Mission House tells us of the upcoming diocese-wide Spring Renewal even to be held this year in Salinas on April 28 and 29. Carole describes the event as follows: Spring Renewal is a wonderful, in-person gathering for everyone in our diocese. We will worship, share a banquet to honor our ministries, enjoy presentations and conversation, and most of all, simply be together as a diocese. Our Keynote Speaker is the Rt. Rev. Diana Akiyama, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon who will engage us more deeply with our theme for 2023, “Courage in the Wilderness.” More details are coming soon. If you have any questions, please contact Carole Bartolini at carole@realepiscopal.org. For complete information and registration go to https://www.realepiscopal.org/spring-renewal-2023/ Folks,
The lessons for this Sunday include from Exodus, Romans and John. Thru them we see a change to greater distinction in relationships. In Exodus, Moses quarreled with the people of Israel, but the lesson seems rather distant and impersonal in the sense of individual feelings except those of Moses. Paul's letter to the Romans one senses caring, but in a generalised way, and much of the lesson seems a theological treatise. And the lesson from John's gospel feel almost like today, believable lively. You can even sense the taunt in her voice as the Samaritan woman says to Jesus, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” But Jesus is not undone. Rather, somehow he knows things about this woman - very personal things. (We suspect that in Jesus' time, much like today, having had five husbands and a "live=in" causes questions in people's minds.) In any case, he ignores her wonder and is "ready" to answer when she remarks on the matter of the location of worship - neither on the mountain nor Jerusalem, but "in spirit and truth" - quite a comeback. The woman is, I believe, more astonished by the immediately intelligent response s(she was probably expecting some Pharisaical answer). The upshot of her amazement at Jesus' personality and his way of relating to her caused what might be called a bout of evangelism in Samaria, and indeed the lesson ends with a large number believing because of this woman's doubting ("He cannot be the Messiah, can he?”) and yet wonder in hyperbole ("“Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done!") The person of Jesus really comes thru to us today in an individual way thru such stories - and we hope we all can take a moment to be in wonder thinking, "What a guy - there must be something to this Spirit thing!" Which brings us back to our old friend (and church builder) Paul, who as we noted recently never met Jesus "in person" but only in Spirit, which probably turned out to be the best way, since he knew clearly the power of the Spirit. May we all find a relationship with Jesus by our relationships with others, always making room for the lead of That Spirit! Our love to all, Bart (and Tony!) and for all of us at St Matts Events The big event this week at the Ranch and in much of California has been the weather, and while we still have electric service (how I am emailing this News episode) we are truly "stuck" out here with the County road closed until repairs can be effected some time this week. We know it hasn't happened yet since the road, never with much traffic, has been completely quiet! While this quiet is a pleasure we are taking advantage of this weekend, it will be a cause for innovation since several of our San Ardo members (we are 40 minutes out of that closest "town") do not use internet we will have to innovate by means of the telephone system for our somewhat elongated Evening Prayer today and tomorrow. We expect to be back at St Matts next Sunday. We hope to have time to take in one or more of the many online spiritual events. Last Sunday's Evensong service at St Paul Cathedral in San Diego was a delight, as was the weekly Taize music with the group from St Lukes in Atascadero. And many mornings we are able to meditate quietly with Sunburst west of Gaviota - online of course (hope their roads are ok!) From what we have heard, St Luke Church will be meeting in Jolon at 10am for morning prayer, and St Mark / San Marco Church in King City for services at 11am. The Big Event Because the weather may be a result of climate change (though we had been in drought until now) we'd like especially to concentrate on the events of our friends at the Earthcare group, primarily at St Benedicts Church in Los Osos. We hear from Don Maruska that the group is planning an event called "Climate Change: Insights and Opportunities". The free event will take place at St Benedicts Church on April 15 from 10am until noon and will include segments featuring Susan Callery of NASA, screening of film called Nation in Transition from the American Resilience Project and Arizona State University, and information from Cal Poly Climate Fellows along with Q&A, See the flyer at https://webmail8.userservices.net/?_task=mail&_action=get&_mbox=Trash&_uid=5888&_token=wA2FdqwLzERLrlTeEzXvpYlcqlYYiNJF&_part=3 and stay tuned for more Earthcare events. Folks,
The lessons for this Sunday include from Genesis, wherein God tells Abraham (with remarkable brevity) that he is to be a progenitor of a great nation - the context of which is picked up by Paul in his letter to the Romans, wherein he adds “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” This emphasis on faith (trust) is writ large in John's gospel. But for me a key part of the Genesis lesson (and all the scriptures) is that not only will he be made into a "great nation" but also that in him all the families of the earth shall be blessed. As some evangelists have said "God has a wonderful plan for your life", and that plan is for people of faith, including (but not limited to) those of the "Abrahamic religions" to be a blessing to others. Indeed despite all the wars and sufferings of humanity, it is this future of a mighty chorus of blessings across the entire earth we look forward to, and we rejoice as it appears in bits such as the new multi-faith chapel, for Christians, Jews, and Moslems, just opened in the United Arab Emirates (see The Economist for the story) - the first government allowed space for the minority faiths in that nation, and even better to be shared by all three. May we enable that plan of blessing to be realised across all nations and faiths simply by our own faith! Our love to all, Bart (and Tony!) and for all of us at St Matts! Events As we are still travelling for work, this will again be brief. Besides our services at St Matts in San Ardo, St Marks / San Marcos in King City, and St Lukes in Jolon (note that our friend Daphne Denny tells us that St Lukes will be joining the congregation at St Marks / San Marcos as Rev Carl Hansen celebrates a Eucharist service), and the many events to be found on the web pages of your local parishes as well as our Deanery website at www.sloepiscopalians.org we note that our friends at St Pauls Cathedral in San Diego will have an online (youtube) Evensong performance on Sunday at 5pm - Evensong is one of our favourite services. and their websites at www.stpaulcathedral.org tell us that "5pm Choral Evensong will be sung by the Cathedral Schola under the direction of Martin Green. Music will include Wesley’s “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace” along with T. Tertius Noble’s Evening Canticles in b-minor" We also note that in a helpful way St Pauls is recommending "Giving Up Carbon for Lent" for the sake of the climate. We also want to note, being partial to Centering Prayer and quiet retreats, that All Saints Church in Carmel is have a Centering Prayer Retreat RIGHT NOW until 3pm. Sorry for the late mention. We encourage all parishes who are able to share their wealth of events of faith via such technology, and rejoice that many do so, such as our friends at St Columba parish in Inverness (that we mentioned last weekend) along with St Barnabas Church in Arroyo Grande, St Benedict and Church in Los Osos, St Paul Cathedral in San Diego and the Sunburst Community near Gaviota. |
WILLIAM BARTOSH
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