Conversion of St. Paul - Rector's Rambling for January 25, 2026

     Today we have a special feast day in the midst of our short Epiphany Season.  Today we are celebrating the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle.  Certain Holy Days, such as this one, take precedence over the regularly assigned Sunday lessons and observance (such as the 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany, which today is otherwise).

Paul is an apostle, but unlike the other apostles commemorated, his feast day is kept on the day of his conversion, rather than the day of his death.  A person’s day of death is considered one’s “heavenly birthday”, since it is through earthly death that we pass to eternal life.  And in the case of all the apostles, except St. John, their death was by martyrdom – being killed because of their faith in Jesus Christ.  St. Paul was also martyred.  The church believes that under the general persecution of Nero in 64 and 65, both St. Peter and St. Paul met their deaths for being followers (and promoters) of Jesus Christ.  Peter, not being a Roman citizen, was crucified (tradition says head-down) and St. Paul, being a citizen, was given the quicker execution of being beheaded.

But today the church commemorates St. Paul’s conversion to the faith.  It is one of those stories that is powerful because he was not just a non-believer in Jesus, he was an active persecutor of those who believed that Jesus Christ is Lord.  He consented to St. Stephen’s stoning, his executioners laying their jackets at his feet. (Acts 7:58, 8:1)  His journey to Damascus was to arrest followers of Jesus and bring them to Jerusalem for trial. (Acts 9:2).  Paul’s conversion is unique, but gives us hope that no matter what our, and others’, spiritual condition may be, God can intervene!

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After today’s Service join us downstairs for lunch and for the Annual Parish Meeting.  We will go over the financial reports for 2025 and forecast for 2026, elect new members of the Vestry, and receive reports from the various organizations, committees, and ministries of the parish.

 

Short Epiphany and Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - Rector's Rambling for January 18, 2025

     Today is our one and only green Sunday for the season of Epiphany in 2026.  Because Easter is set by a lunar calendar, this year it is relatively early, occuring on April 5th.

Once Easter is set, we then start counting backwards.  40 days for Lent and Holy Week, three Sundays of pre-Lent before that (the quesima Sundays) and the Season of Epiphany is only three Sundays.  But on top of that next week is a Prayer Book Holy Day, the Conversion of St. Paul, which takes precedence to be celebrated on Sunday instead of the 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany.

This week is also the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  Starting today through next Sunday the church prays with special intention for the unity of the Church.  Jesus prayed that we all be one as He and the Father are one, but we are divided because of human sinfulness.  May God have mercy upon us.  More information on this week of prayer is found in the teaching note on page 4.

The holy water stoups have now had a full week of use and it has been interesting to see folks, myself included, walk past one, pause when we see it out of the corner of our eye, and reach back to dip a finger in it and make the sign of the cross with it.  It will take time to develop the new habit  here in our church that I and so many other do in other Episcopal and Romans Churches.

 

Holy Water - Rector's Rambling for January 11, 2026

     You may notice that there are now Holy Water Stoups installed at the entrances to the chapel and the church.  This ia an ancient custom of the Church to have a receptacle at the entry of the place of worship containing water that has been blessed.  As you see pictured here, the new stoup  has a celtic cross on it, a reoccurring theme here at St. John’s.  The cross outside the ministry center, the beautiful cross on the wall inside the ministry center were both obtained based on the processional cross we use every Sunday.  The new stoups continue that theme.

So what is it for?  Holy Water is what is known as a sacramental, These are objects that help point us toward the sacraments themselves, which are an assurance of God’s grace/blessings.  Things like icons, crucifixes, and holy water are reminders of the abundance of God’s blessings toward us and draw us to holiness.

Holy Water at the entrance of a church beckons back to the ancient Jewish tradition of ritual purity, where one wahed the feet and hands before entering worship.  Remember that Jesus did a similar thing to his apostles at the last supper when he washed their feet. (John 13: 1-17)

We have been cleansed in the waters of baptism (a sacrament) and holy water at the entrance of the church is a tangible reminder of that being born again in water and the Holy Spirit (a sacramental).

Of course this is optional, but if you would like you dip your finger in the water and make the sign of the cross, asking that God cleanse your heart and prepare you for worship. 

Also, in the sacristy will be a container pictured below.  This contains Holy Water, water that has been blessed by a priest or a bishop.  It is there in order to fill the stoups around the church.  But it is also available for you if you would like some Holy Water for your home.  Some people like to have a stoup in their house.  Small ones for home are available online or at a religious supply store. 

Having sacramentals such as these can be an aid to us in our spiritual life, reminding us of the blessings available by God’s Grace.

 

Epiphany is coming - Rector's Rambling for January 4, 2025

     Today is the 11th Day of Christmas and Tuesday we begin a new Church season with the Feast of the Epiphany.  This 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 Tuesday’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 have surely 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 jealousy 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 2013