St. Michael's Conference and Independence Day - Rector's Rambling for July 2, 2023

     I am thankful to be back at St. John’s today.  My family had a nice time away, and I return refreshed and renewed.  Thank you to Deacon Zachary Baker for his leading worship and preaching, and for all who pitched in to make sure everything ran smoothly while we are away.

Although I have been back for a week now, once again I will be away from the regular weekday routine at St. John’s because starting this afternoon we have the St. Michael’s Conference for Youth.  I will be at the Manresa to help lead and/or participate in worship (Morning Prayer, Mass, Evening Prayer, and Compline), teach classes, lead discussion groups, and help with the fun of the afternoon and evening activities.  It is a wonderful community where those participating 12 to 20 year olds, and all the staff as well, spend a great week of spiritual growth and renewal.  We have been on a waiting list for those wanting to register for the conference this year and we are moving heaven and earth (and desks and furniture) to find a way to fit in a few more if we can!  Thanks be to God for all his mercies!

God willing I will return for next Sunday’s Services enthused but a bit tired….it is a lot of work keeping up with the young people!

Today is the 4th Sunday after Trinity and our readings and primary Collect is assigned from that.  But we also anticipate Tuesday’s Independence Day holiday.  It is a feast day appointed in the Book of Common Prayer as a day to pray for tour country, giving thanks for God’s blessings and mercies for our founding, and for their continuation over the years.  And we pray that we may be a country not only mindful of these blessings but also doing all things to God’s greater honor and glory.

 

Trinitytide - Rector's Rambling for June 18, 2023

     Last week I mentioned that the celebration of Corpus Christi on Sunday marked the last “hurrah” before we entered the long “green” period of the Ordinary Season, better known as Trinitytide.

Although the title “ordinary” time makes it appear that there is nothing special about these coming weeks, it actually is about being well-ordered with teaching about Jesus and the life of faith.  I promise you that it won’t be ordinary as in not special.

We will have special Sunday events in the coming weeks.  July 30 will be our Founders’ Sunday.  August 6 is the Feast of the Transfiguration (which is observed on a Sunday if they overlap).  We will also celebrate St. Michael and all Angels and the Feast of All Saints on Sundays because of their importance. 

Whether a special Sunday, or seemingly ordinary, it is still our bounden duty to worship God every Sunday in His Church (Office of Instruction, p. 291, 1928 Book of Common Prayer).  I know that folks are away for portions of the summer, but if you are home, I hope that you will be here with us for worship.  Your absence is not only detrimental to your spiritual life, but diminishes us all as well, since we do not have you with us to worship and to encourage us by your presence.

Speaking of being away, my family and I are away for a little over a week.  My wife knows that to get me to go on vacation, she has to look at the Church  and family calendar, take a stab at which days are good enough for a family holiday, and then schedule it.  Left to my own devices, I would never find a good time to go away, but I am always most grateful to be away for a few days to recharge and renew. 

Deacon Zachary Baker will be leading worship today.  He begins his parish assignment in the Diocese of Long Island in July, so I consider it a great blessing that he is able to be here today.  The deacon preached for us in Lent and served as Deacon of the Mass on Easter.

Since he is not ordained priest yet, he cannot offer the service of Holy Communion.  Instead, we will have Choral Morning Prayer and then receive Holy Communion from the Sacrament that was consecrated by me during the week and reserved in the ambry.

And we will not have weekday Services at the church this week, but we will have my 4 to 5 minute daily morning meditations appear each day by 7 AM on the parish YouTube Channel and Facebook page.

And of course please keep us in your prayers as we travel, and be assured of our prayers for the parish as well.

Corpus Christi and St. Michael's Conference - Rector's Rambling for June 11, 2023

     Today we celebrate, with great gratitude, the gift of Jesus Christ to us of His own Body and Blood in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.  Corpus Christi (Latin for the Body of Christ) commemorates the institution of the Holy Communion, which occurred at the Last Supper the night before Jesus died on the Cross.  We commemorated this event in the context of Holy Week, connecting it to Jesus’ Great Commandment on Maundy Thursday to “Love one another as he has loved us”, which we also commemorated with the washing of feet.

Now, before we embark on the long Ordinary Season known as Trinitytide, we have one last hurrah to remember that which Jesus said to “do in remembrance” of Him.  The Feast Day is technically this past Thursday, but can also be celebrated on the Sunday following.  We do both.  Next week we dive into the long green vestment season of Trinitytide, lasting until Advent begins again in December.

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We are looking forward to the St. Michael’s Conference for Youth.  The Conference this year will be held from July 2 to July 8, a week earlier than usual to accommodate the staff and many conference members who will be attending a special event the next week - a conference aluma taking her vows as a Benedictine nun!

The Conference is held at Manresa Retreat Center in Bloomfield Hills.  It is a wonderful week of prayer and worship, classes, and community building.  It is for youth people ages 12—20.  Most who attend the conference do so every year they are eligible!

As of the writing of this column there are only a few slots still available, so if you know someone who could benefit from going, please let me know ASAP!

Inflation has caught up with us, and the cost is now $425.  Once again we are asking for YOUR HELP to provide scholarship assistance for the conference.  A full scholarship, half, or any portion will be most appreciated!!!!  Envelopes are provided for your donation.  The St. Michael’s Conference for Youth would not exist except for the generosity of the people of this parish!

 

Trinity Sunday - Rector's Rambling for June 4th, 2023

     Today we celebrate one of the great mysteries, and yet biblically obvious truths of our Faith – that we believe in One God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity.

Google is a dangerous place to explore at times.  When I googled TRINITY for images for this newsletter, choices included comics deriding the doctrine, one of which I clicked on out of curiosity.  This lead me on a 30-minute adventure of Web sites set up by various cults and sects claiming to know the actual truth about God and the Bible, all backed up with misquotes and pseudo-historical proofs.  One group has even retranslated the Bible to try to take out any verses that might be construed as biblical proof.  It is remarkable how they believe that God hid the truth from people from 33 A.D. until their group was founded in the 19th or 20th century.

Despite the erroneous claims of some that somehow the Trinity (and the Bible itself) was an invention in the 4th century, we have evidence from the earliest writings of belief in God in Trinity.  The earliest recorded baptismal records tell of baptisms with the Trinitarian formula, as was commanded in St. Matthew’s Gospel, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.“ (28:19)

And Jesus himself speaks of He and the Father being one.  John’s 17th Chapter, called Jesus’ High Priest Prayer, expresses Jesus’ desire to protect his disciples as he prepares for his own death and resurrection.  He prays, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” (17:21)  And how can one not see Jesus’ assertion of Divinity and Unity with the Father when in the 8th chapter of John’s Gospel, after a long discourse on He and the Father, Jesus declares, “before Abraham was, I am” (8:58), for which the Jews sought to stone him for blasphemy.

And last week we focused on God the Holy Spirit and his procession from the Godhead upon the disciples to empower the Church for ministry.

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost – how Trinity in Unity works may not be definable, but it is believable based on Jesus’ gracious word.