Easter view from the pew - Rector's Rambling for April 27, 2024

     


What a wonderful celebration we had last week for Easter Day.  Thank you to all who attended and who pitched in to prepare for the Service,   and helped during and afterwards.  It was great to see old friends and new in the pews worshipping together.

             Speaking of in the pews, one nice thing to see on Social Media was pictures of the service.  Posted here are two of many that I saw come across the St. John’s Instagram feed.  And there were several others as well.  This is not only a great way to share St. John’s with your friends and neighbors, but it also gives me the opportunity to see what it looks like ‘from the pews” during worship!  Different angles from various areas in the church make for an interesting collection and shared perspective. 

It probably doesn’t feel like it, but posting content like this to your social media feed, tagging or hashtagging St. John’s could be a form of evangelism, getting people to think for a moment about Our Lord and His Church, and perhaps drawing them to St. John’s to worship Him with us.  Another way would be to follow the St. John’s social media accounts and share the posts there to your own feed as well.

Sharing posts, inviting friends/family/neighbors, welcoming newcomers and visitors, are some basic ways of letting others know who we are as a parish.   More importantly sharing with others who He is, our Risen Saviour!

And when you share, invite, and welcome, be sure to also pray that our Lord touch their hearts as well.

 

He is Risen! - Rector's Rambling for April 20, 2025

 Alleluia! Christ is Risen!  The Lord is Risen Indeed!

              This is the great Easter acclamation of the Resurrection.  The disciples greeted each other with this news on the day of our Lord’s Resurrection, which to the day the Church continues to proclaim.  He is Risen from the dead and because he is Risen death has been conquered and the gates of heaven opened for all of us who believe that Jesus is Lord.

Lent has seemed particularly long this year with its late start, and I hope that we have found it to be a fruitful time of recollection, repentance, and amendment of life in preparation for today’s grand feast day!  And just as we spent 40 days preparing in Lent, so too we will spend 40 days celebrating the Resurrection until the Feast of the Ascension on May 29th.  Let’s make the Easter Season as fruitful, spiritually, as Lent!  Take on extra devotions and prayer in gratitude for his propitiatory death, and for his gift of eternal life to us.

Two special things to note today.  At the 10 AM Service I am wearing a special cope that belonged to the late Bishop Roy B. Davis, Jr..  Bishop Davis served as a priest in parishes in California, Illinois, and Kentucky, and as a bishop in Ohio.  Bishop Davis’ son, Roy III started attend St. John’s in 2024 and I am most honored to be wearing his father’s cope for this important celebration.

Also today we give thanks for the new pew cushions that were given in memory of our late, longtime altar guild directress Virginia Burton.   As you can see we have a very large church with lots of pews, and this was quite an undertaking.  The old pew cushions were nearly 90 years old, and they were the replacement for  the original set that lasted over 75 years!  Here’s hoping this set will last well into the 2100s!

Next project  - refinishing and reupholstering of the kneelers!  Stay tuned for details to come.

 

Palm Sunday and Holy Week - Rector's Rambling for April 13, 2025

     This is the most important week of the year!  Holy Week begins today, and between now and next Sunday you will have 15 opportunities to be at St. John’s for the public worship of the Church.

Seven of these worship opportunities actually happen most weeks of the year here at St. John’s: Holy Communion on Monday through Wednesday at 12:15 PM, and Evening Prayer Monday through Thursday at 4:00 PM

For Holy Week we add several important opportunities for worship and devotion.  On Wednesday evening we have a service of psalms and lessons at 7:00 PM called Tenebræ.  On Maundy Thursday the one celebration of the Holy Communion will be at 7:00 PM (no 10:30 AM Mass this day), which is followed by the stripping of the altar and an opportunity to spend time in the Garden Watch in the chapel.

Good Friday starts with the opportunity to spend time in the Garden Watch (beginning at 9:00 AM) before the Good Friday Liturgy, which takes place from Noon to 3:00 PM.  If you can’t stay for the entire service, come for as much as you are able.

On Holy Saturday the great Vigil Service of Easter begins at 6:00 PM, which includes the first Communion service of the Easter Feast, and on Sunday we will have the grand celebration of the Resurrection at 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM (Brass Prelude at 9:30 AM).

Information about these various services can be found in the insert in today’s Order of Service called Holy Week Explained.

More importantly, I cannot stress more strongly that we need you to attend these services!  This is the most important week of the year, and yet only a small percentage of parishioners avail themselves of one or more of these services that lead up to Easter Day.

I understand that we are a busy people, and that many of us live very far away from the church facility.  But it is important for your spiritual life to participate in this holiest of weeks, and your presence will also be an encouragement to those others who have taken time and distance to be here, especially our visitors.

See you in Church!                                 

 

Passion Sunday - Rector's Rambling for April 6, 2025

     

    As you may have noticed, the crosses on the altars and around the church are now veiled.  Although most Episcopal churches follow the modern Roman Catholic form for veiling the crosses on all the Sundays of Lent, we keep to the old tradition of doing so from Passion Sunday onwards.  Dr. Taylor Marshall, a former Episcopal priest writes on his blog Canterbury Tales, “In the old days, Passion Sunday (5th Sunday) ‘ramped up’ the Lenten season.  Passion Sunday (also called Judica Sunday from the opening Introit) is the traditional day for veiling the crucifixes and statues in the churches.  The practice allegedly derives from Bavaria (though I’d love for someone more knowledgeable to shed light on the origin of this custom).  The crosses and images remain veiled and add to the dramatic effect of the Paschal Vigil when they are unveiled for the glory and wonder of our Lord’s resurrection.  The famous medieval triptychs that opened and closed were constructed for the purpose of closing them for this season.”

I cannot stress strongly enough how important it is for us ALL to enter deeper yet into our Lenten observances.  Now is the time to make the PUSH to finish strong.  Last chance for Stations of the Cross is this Friday.  Perhaps adding a weekday Mass Monday through Friday, or join us for Evening Prayer on Thursday.  Make an extra effort to fast on Friday.  The following week, Holy Week, has its own particular and wonderful liturgies to be observed.  Make the extra effort this week!

 

Rose Sunday - Rector's Rambling for March 30, 2025

Happy Lætáre Sunday!  This Sunday is also known as Rose Sunday (take a look at the vestments and hangings today to figure out this title), and in our mother Church of England it is known as Mothering Sunday (like our Mother’s day in May).

Still a Sunday in Lent, this Sunday is a mid-point when we “lighten up” a bit.  The deep penitential purple vestments are replaced with the lighter rose.  The Latin title gives us a hint as to this lightening up of the day.  Lætáre is the opening word of the liturgy in Latin, on which our liturgy is based.  The first word of the Introit, sung by the choir at the 10:00 AM service, is “REJOICE”.

Although a penitential season, on this Sunday we rejoice that we have passed the half-way point of Lent.  We rejoice because Passiontide (the last two weeks before Easter) and Holy Week are in sight.  We rejoice because Easter is just around the corner.  We rejoice because, to date, we have kept a good Lent, OR because we still have a chance to have a good Lent starting today.  But above all we rejoice because we have a Saviour, Jesus Christ, who paid the price of our sins.  We rejoice that in Jesus Christ we have forgiveness of those sins and are reconciled unto the Father through His blood.

So if you haven’t started “keeping Lent” there is still time to give something up, and to take some things on like extra prayer at home or attending special services here at St. John’s.  And, of course, Fr. Kelly and Fr. Bedford are available to hear your confessions.