Folks,
The lessons set for this Sunday include more from Acts (an intriguing lesson with Philip the Apostle explaining Old Testament predictions to an Ethiopian (likely Nubian) court official and then mysteriously vanishing by the work of the Spirit (he "found himself at Azotus), an epistle from John with more uses of the word love than I recall ever seeing in a Bible passage, and from the Gospel of John a lesson likening the spreading of the gospel message to vineyard work, where there is need for the branches to bear fruit, as Philip had been doing. Tony(!) and I have these past weeks been doing a LOT of work on the land (and yes, we have some vines too), coming in way late every day with minor aches, etc, and yet the Spirit moved Tony(!) to bring up a Monty Python song from a purposefully silly movie (Always Look on the Bright Side) which he analogised to the Johnny Mercer lyrics of "Accentuate the Positive". As we were in need of something to get us going this morning, I chose to look up those Mercer lyrics, and for another Sunday in Eastertide it is hard to imagine a better pick-me-up, relevant to the forming church in the somewhat dark days when Jesus had Ascended and before the sending of the Spirit (which came on Pentecost) - and the lyrics even mention "preachin'": "[Intro: Johnny Mercer] Gather 'round me, everybody Gather 'round me while I preach some Feel a sermon coming on here The topic will be sin And that's what I'm agin' If you wanna hear my story Then settle back and just sit tight While I start reviewing The attitude of doing right [Chorus: Johnny Mercer] You gotta ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive E-lim-i-nate the negative And latch on to the affirmative Don't mess with Mr. In-Between You got to spread joy up to the maximum Bring gloom down to the minimum Have faith, or pandemonium Liable to walk upon the scene" and they can be read along with listening to the upbeat music at https://genius.com/Johnny-mercer-ac-cent-tchu-ate-the-positive-lyrics with a link to a YouTube rendition of the song as well! We pray that all of us may take up work in the "garden" this day and every day - good for spreading that love and joy of which Philip and John were speaking! Our love to all, Bart and Tony! (and for all of us at St Matthew Church in San Ardo Events St Matthew Church in San Ardo will meet for Morning Prayer at 10am at the chapel in San Ardo, and our fellow missions St Mark Church in King City and St Luke Church in Jolon we expect will do likewise - and Daphne Denny at St Luke Church this week came to lunch at the ranch with daughter Rachel. Other Events As we need to go back to our projects on the land today (summer will be showing up soon!) we can only encourage all to see the notices, especially on the websites of your local parishes and in their emailings. Deanery We hear from David Ottesen that the San Luis Obispo Deanery will be meeting on Sunday, May 5 and for a change will be preceded by a Potluck, so come along to St Stephens Church in San Luis at 1:15pm and if you have any other questions or more for the agenda contact David at ottesen2@icloud.com Reminder from the Diocese As mentioned last week, the Spring Renewal event will take place on May 17-18 - see https://realepiscopal.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=99ebbaf4cee8d012c9edafe60&id=a2c9e416f3&e=f136cc0442 for full info and to register.
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Folks,
The lessons for this Sunday include from Acts - a reading that gives one a deep sense of what is was like in the earliest days of the church, from the first epistle of John, commending a loving community, and the example of a Good Shepherd in John's gospel. While all of these are edifying (feed us) in a rather direct way, I was deeply struck by the first lesson from Acts, where we see Peter and fellow disciples gathered as "prisoners" in the midst of the "rulers, elders, and scribes". This lesson has the feel of being "pre-organised religion" (my phrase) but holding a strong faith in the midst of this trial, Thus Peter manages to speak boldly to the assembly - telling them in Jesus' words that "the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone". This notion of a cornerstone of faith appears many times in the scriptures, including Isaiah and Zechariah long before appearing in Acts and elsewhere in the New Testament, including Paul in some of his epistles. It seems to lead me rather naturally to ask the question of where I am finding a cornerstone to build an understanding of life. That search seems in turn a natural opening to meditation, an activity that seemed to me many years ago and still today to help with such searches and especially with the beginning of construction projects. Just recently Miss Ilene, the leader of Tony's daily meditation group (I try to join as much as possible) mentioned a quote about meditation (from Lahiri Mahasaya), saying "Solve all your problems with meditation. Attune yourself to the active inner guidance the divine source has the answer to every dilemma in life. Through man's ingenuity for getting himself into trouble appears to be endless, the Infinite Succor is no less resourceful." Perhaps this is hyperbole? And yet I can easily imagine that Peter and the others, almost dazed by all that they had witnessed, sat down for a while in quiet to consider all the tumultuous events they had seen and even participated in and think a bit about what all it means - ie, they meditated, both separately and together (as in the Upper Room). Note that even with Jesus appearing several times before Ascending, it gave these disciples some time before the building of the group of faith, the church, could begin, especially as recognised in the church calendar as Pentecost (a sort of starting point in the project of formally organising the faith community). That period of "watchful waiting" was very much needed before beginning the work of witnessing their truths to all the world. and if fell to Luke (who likely was not present at most of the Acts events) as a ,more educated person and the "patron of facts" and historical writing to write both a gospel and the Acts. Paul refers to Luke as the "beloved physician" who worked with Paul as a missionary, and tradition has it that he was a gentile (I like to speculate that this loving gentile was one of several co-workers who opened Paul's eyes to inclusion of all humanity in the construction project). While much of the Book of Acts sounds like eyewitness, it is unclear that Luke was present for any of the Book's events. Note that all of us, often having heard of intelligently loving groups of faith, need time to meditate before we begin building our own structures of faith. But this need for meditation, with and without guidance, is an ongoing need, as Paul referred to in nutritional terms (see I Corinthians 3:2) to build a strong body of loving faith. We pray that we all can find within ourselves that "Infinite Succor" to persevere in that building process, and take those first steps in the process by meditating, both separately and together! Our love to all, Bart (and Tony!) and for all of us at St Matthew Church in San Ardo! Events What a difference a week makes! While last Sunday we feared too greatly the drive across our creek crossing such that the others in San Ardo had Morning Prayer without us, this week as has brought perhaps the most idyllic weather so far this year! Therefore most of us from St Matthew Church will be gathered together at the chapel in San Ardo for Morning Prayer at customary 10am hour. Note that this Sunday we are expecting to have Raphael's father Andy and his newly-wedded wife Suri, both from Puerto Rico, with us. They have visited us before and now we hope to pray with them as they work to build their relationship. We hope as many as possible will join us and the family Barrios on this happy occasion! Our fellow mission St Luks parish in Jolon will be meeting also for Morning Prayer at 10am in Jolon, with our friend SuRay leading the service, and their Monthly Potluck and Vespers event will be on Wed Apr 24 with dinner at 6pm and Vespers in the chapel at 7pm. Other Events Our friends at St Benedict Church in Los Osos tell us they will be participating in the Community Dinner at the Los Osos Community Center, and helping with a meal with a Mexican flavour. At St Luke Church in Atascadero, the folks are preparing for their annual Plant Sale coming on May 17-18. And folks at St Luke are looking forward to celebrating with St James Church in Paso Robles at the dedication of their newly installed labyrinth and courtyard on Sun, Apr 28 from 5-7pm. Our friend Rev Rob Keim of St Barnabas Church in Arroyo Grande tells us he and the SLO Master Chorale will be performing Rachmaninoff's All Night Vigil at the SLO Performing Arts Centre 3pm TODAY and will be in the cast of The Mikado by Gilbert & Sullivan on Father's Day weekend (more on that soon). Our sister Brandy said this week that she expects to be at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral for th, e ordination and consecration of the Diocese of California's new bishop Rev. Austin K. Rios on May 4 - for full info go to https://gracecathedral.org Gabriel Arregui, organist at St Paul Cathedral is leaving for another post (though remaining in the St Paul faith community), and so will be giving free performance on April 26 and May 3, and may be live-streamed - for full info go to www.stpaulcathedral.org From the Diocese A reminder of the Spring Renewal events to take place also on May 17-18, and telling us the featured speaker will be Rt Rev Michael Hunn of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande, to be at Sherwood Hall in Salinas. Note that at the Renewal event there will be a special outreach to help the Navajoland Diocese get to the upcoming Episcopal General Convention. For more info on Spring Renewal go to https://www.realepiscopal.org/blog/spring-renewal-2024/ Folks, This will be brief we have to run - to a history tour of areas Tony(!) and I led probably 5 years ago and then to a Celebration of Lifei! Just a sidebar remark, we are really glad of the change from that Funereal Word to this phrase, since we think life, for all its problems, is what we celebrate. This weeks lessons start off with a reading from Act wherein Peter continues speaking to "the people" at the Temple, and while he is sure to reiterate how Jesus suffered and died, he tells how the disciples faith has enabled them to heal a man who was lame, pointing out that it was their "own power or piety" that made him walk, unlike other faith healers who might take cred it for such. The epistle lesson is from I John 3:1-7 says that the reason the world didn't know the disciples is that the world didn't know God, even though they (the disciples) are God's children. The lesson includes what seems to be praise of orderliness, which is the opposite of sin, ie, a rational understanding of humanity in the universe. In Luke's gospel we hear of Jesus making a ghostly appearance to the disciples and going on to teach, opening "their minds to understand the scriptures". May God open our minds in the same ways that we might see that orderliness! Our love to all, Bart (and Tony!) and for all of us at St Matts! Events We are looking forward to seeing our church family at St Matthew Church in San Ardo on Sunday morning for 10am Morning Prayer. Our fellow mission St Luke Church in Jolon will be doing the same. Other Events Please be sure to look to your local parishes for more local events! Today we'd just like to mention two events at St James Church in Paso Robles, including a fundraiser for their Youth Education Program on April 21 (but you must pre-order TODAY) - a meal which will include birra, rice. and beans AND St James is starting a new EFM (Education for Ministry) group which will be meeting totally online - contact the parish office for more info, and Laura Learned to order the meal at llearned57@gmail.com Also in parish news, our friends at Good Shepherd Church near Salinas are seeking tutors to help with the teaching of English at a nearby congregation. In their words: "The Congregation of San Pablo Apostol, an Episcopal Congregation in the Diocese of El Camino Real, hosts a Tutoring Program with English-speaking tutors from neighboring Episcopal congregations working with K-12 Latino students to achieve and maintain grade level performance in reading in English. The Reverend Martin Juarez developed this cross-cultural, inter-generational program in 2017 because he knows firsthand how language can be a barrier to educational attainment and future academic success. CONTACT Tutor Coordinator Sharon Colgan: (207) 831-8844 Finally, St Benedict Church in Los Osos is hosting the Central Coast Readers Theatre in a production of Twelfth Night at St Ben Church TOMORROW at 2pm with a Tea Party to follow! Folks,
The lessons for this Sunday include from Acts (as we've mentioned before, the Communism lesson), John's first epistle (scholars are uncertain of its authorship, but a very personal-sounding letter of Jesus's witness on earth, the reality of "sin", and God's atonement for such sin), and from the Gospel of John the wonderful Doubting Thomas. As I may have discussed before, my sense of "sin" is that it is a general condition of humanity, and there is no special value to recounting one's own personal sins. Rather, I like the term "original sin" in the sense that all human beings are born and grow up as imperfect individuals, subject to sin. For this reason a general cure is needed - the Atonement - the origin of that word being "at-ONE-ment, ie being at one with God and to my mind one of the better inventions of the English language (some use the term remission of sin but I prefer this term which I think better depicts where in our deepest selves really want to locate). The word was used in all the early English Bibles including the King James Version in 1611, yet its origin is unclear. Whoever first used it must have realised the power of faith, which precedes "good works" and allows them to appear naturally (we might say "GRACEfully") The Doubting Thomas lesson depicts the humanity of both Thomas and all of us - and is a wonderful thing, since doubt is an essential part of faith (without it, faith would have no meaning). When confronted with "true believers" who might insist that Communism (or Capitalism) is the ONLY good economic system, it's important to remember Thomas's doubt. May we all test things that seem too obviously true for others, and still find ourselves locating in that place where we are "at One" with the Creator and the Creation! Our love to all, Bart (and Tony!) and for all of us at St Matthew Church! Events St Matthew Church in San Ardo will be meeting for Morning Prayer at 10am on Sunday. Our fellow missions in South Monterey County, St Luke Church, Jolon and St Mark Church in King City, will be meeting together at 10am at St Mark Church, 301 Bassett in King City where Fr Carl will lead a communion service. Note that while the Bishop's Visitation was originally scheduled for this Sunday, we have had to postpone due especially to rain and localised flooding in our area. Look to the News for the new date and the Diocesan Calendar at https://realepiscopal.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=99ebbaf4cee8d012c9edafe60&id=0d9dab577b&e=f136cc0442 Other Events We'd like to note some of the little things that in sum build strong church communities. We have often spoken of the liturgy as practised in various parishes and St Benedict Church in Los Osos has a Liturgy Committee that will be meeting this coming Monday at 3:30pm. We are glad to have received a tradition, but this events reminds that the communities practise is "a work of the people" as is the words origin. Such community work to refine the practice can make the parts of the Mass more meaningful! The diocesan "Honoured Woman" event is on and St Matthew Parish has had several through the years who have been thus honoured. We hear from St Barnabas Parish in Arroyo Grande that this year our friend Sigrid Long is Honoured Woman of the Year from the parish and the parish is having a luncheon to honour to her directly on May 4 at noon The parish online newsletter has a beautiful article telling of her work in community building- thanks Adam! Note that the "main event", the ECW Honoured Women's Day Luncheon will be at St Stephen Church in Gilroy starting at 9:30am thru 2pm. From farther afield we hear that this weeks Forum at St Paul Cathedral in San Diego will be "Spring Abundance in Cooking" with chef and restaurateur Katie Farina of Katie Healing Kitchen. The event, as usual is between services at 9am and all are welcome. This should be a welcome respite from their often heavy theological programs. And their Choral Evensong, which takes place online as well as in person, will be at 5pm at https://webmail8.userservices.net/?_task=mail&_mbox=INBOX# From the Diocese We get a reminder of this years Spring Renewal Event on May 17 and 18 with a Banquet and Awards on Friday evening and the main program on Saturday. For full info and to register go to https://realepiscopal.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=99ebbaf4cee8d012c9edafe60&id=6c7eea14e1&e=f136cc0442 We also hear that Bp Lucinda will be ordaining Joel Micah Martinez to the priesthood at 11am at St Andrews Church in Saratoga, with reception to follow. The church is located at 13601 Saratoga Ave, in Saratoga. |
WILLIAM BARTOSH
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