Annual Parish Meeting Sunday - January 26, 2020

Today we will be gathering for our 160th Annual Parish Meeting after the 10:00 AM Service.  It is our yearly look at the finances of the year past and the budget for the year ahead, receipt of reports for the various organizations and ministries of the parish, and election of new members of the Vestry.  This year we have four candidates for the four positions: Sarah Babcock, Jimmie Baber, John Barge, and Rod Gillespie.

The past two years have been years of internal changes to our physical plant.  We finally put into effect the long awaited renovations to the ministry center, undercroft, and kitchen.  There is still tweaking left to do, a few changes to be made, and increasing familiarity with the new systems and arrangement of the facility.  Many guests and others who occasionally visit and worship with us have been quite complementary of the great improvement in both aesthetics and improved function.

The key now is for us to take advantage of these improved aesthetics and functionality by making it available to community groups, as well as increasing our use through new classes and outreach ministries.

As the neighborhood continues to grow through new construction and reconstruction, we are already getting requests for building use from community groups and plans are being made for classes for us and the community.  The Alpha Course, and a Dave Ramsey Financial Planning Course, are two options already being discussed.

Ultimately what will grow the parish is our increasing desire for our own holiness and a desire to share it.  We need to grow closer and closer to our Lord through prayer, the Sacraments, and learning, so that we become beacons of hope and invitations for those around us.  This starts at the altars with the worship of Almighty God, flows from that grace, and invites others to join us as well.

Changes are afoot at the diocesan level and there is some trepidation at what this will mean for us.  Rest assured, St. John’s will not compromise the faith that we have received and proclaimed since December of 1858.  And we will do so in charity as we are called to do in all our interactions with others.

Good habits - Rector's Rambling for January 19, 2020

We are now about three weeks into the new calendar year.  How are your New Year Resolutions holding up?  I recently read reported that people admit that most resolutions are a foregone memory by the end of January, many of them much sooner.  Lose weight, take up a hobby, give up a bad habit: So many of these things are good ideas at any time, but the start of a new year seems like a good time to take on these tasks.

The reality is that human beings are creatures of habit.  Some of our habits are positive and helpful – like brushing our teeth every morning.  To not do it makes one feel (and perhaps smell) out of sorts.  This kind of habit is something to be encouraged!

But the bad habits are the ones that we most often want to attack with our resolutions, and then realize just how hard they may be to break.  Perhaps it is a little thing like cutting back on sweets, or a harder thing like giving up starches.

We know that changes need to be made and then find ourselves, despite the best of thoughts and intentions, falling back into them.  After a few frustrating fits and starts we give up and resume the old habits.

Sin.  Yes, Fr. Kelly always brings it back to sin.  It is a condition of our fallen nature that we find ourselves drawn again to that which is comfortable and self-satisfying, rather than the hard work of personal change.  St. Paul said, “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.” (Romans 7:19)  If even a saint like Paul struggled, then of course you will too!

But Paul knew that the solution was to put it into God’s hands and ask him to help – replacing the bad with the good and holy.  “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 7:24–25a)  We must continue to “turn it over” to God and ask him to help us to become the people he desires us to be.

Not all bad habits are sinful, but our inability to shake them easily is an effect of our original sin.  We are not saved by “works”, but the good habits of prayer, sacrificial giving and serving, fasting, and regular attendance at Mass to receive the Sacrament (an assurance of Grace) is a sure way to aid in the battle against “the world, the flesh and the devil” – those things that would seek to draw us away from the love of God in Jesus Christ!

"Home" alone - Rector's Rambling for January 12, 2020

Over the holiday season I had a chance to watch portions of the original Home Alone movie.  Hard to believe that the move was released nearly 30 years ago (1990).  It has spawned several sequels, and the original has most definitely stood the test of time and has become a Christmastime television staple.

Home alone comes to mind every time I hear today’s reading for the First Sunday after Epiphany.  In the movie, Kevin is left home in the chaos of a large extended family’s rush to get to the airport for a Christmas vacation, and then has to fend for himself as the house is targeted by thieves who assumed that the house would be empty over the holidays.

Extended family is most likely the excuse for Jesus being left behind in Jerusalem.  Traveling in a large pack to celebrate the Passover in the holy city, he tarries behind and his parents assume that he is among the group as they head back home.  It happens.

Of course, once Mary and Joseph realize he is not with them, they turn about and head back to find him, and they find him in the Temple.

The Bible tells us that this was a yearly pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and we know that historically the city was swollen with pilgrims for the Passover celebration.  The city would be just as densely packed with people from surrounding cities and towns 21 years later for the Passover, when some would be proclaiming him Messiah on Palm Sunday, and others would be calling for his crucifixion on Good Friday.

The terror and chaos of a lost child is summed up in the frantic greeting of his parents in that they basically say, “where were you?  We were worried sick about you.”

Jesus, not meaning any disrespect, is a bit stupefied that his parents wouldn’t assume he would be in the Temple attending to the things concerning God.  But at 12, it wasn’t really his time for public ministry and he submitted to his parents and returned home.

This is all we hear about Jesus until the time would come at the age of 30, when he would be all about his and his Father’s business for us and our salvation

The Epiphany - Rector's Rambling for January 5, 2020

Today is the 12th Day of Christmas and tomorrow we begin a new Church season with the Feast of the Epiphany.  Tomorrow’s feast day has two names, but both mean the same thing.  To have an “epiphany” is to have something made manifest, or to have something shown to you.  In the 1928 Book of Common Prayer the title for tomorrow’s feast is The Epiphany, or the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.

In the Christmas story we hear that the shepherds in the fields heard, by the proclamation of the Angelic Hosts, the good news of Jesus’ birth.  The shepherds represent the people of the Jews, since there would surely have been Jews in that region.  They come and adore Jesus.

The Magi (Wise Men or Three Kings) are not Jews, but Gentiles.  We hear in scripture that these wise men came from the east, having seen in the stars an amazing, celestial event which they understood to be the portent of the birth of a new king.

So, they went to Herod, assuming that this would foretell the birth of his heir, but of course there was no baby there.  Herod, whom secular history confirms was a man of great jealously and wrath, tries to convince these men to let him know when and where they have found this king (“…bring me word again, that I may come and worship him”).  Obviously Herod had a poisonous intent; not to worship but destroy him.  However, the Magi were warned of God in a dream and Herod’s plan was thwarted.

As the shepherds represented the people of the Jews coming to worship Jesus, since it is the fulfillment of the promise to them to send a Saviour, so the Magi represent the rest of us.  Gentile basically means, “not Jew”.

Jesus’ birth is Good News not only to the Jew, but the Gentile as well.  He is Lord of all, and all are included in the New Covenant sealed in His blood on the cross.  He was made manifest to the Jews in the persons of the shepherds, and to the rest of us through these wise men who also came to worship.

And the wise still come and worship Him!

~ Edited from Rector’s Rambling 1/5/2014