Happy New Year to one and all! In the Daily Office, we start this new year of 2011 with an Old Testament reading from Genesis. It is the familiar story of Jacob’s ladder. Listen to what God tells Jacob:
Jacob left Beer-sheba and went towards Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him and said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’ Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!’ And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’
So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one-tenth to you.’ (Gen. 28: 10-22).
God tells Jacob: “Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go.” God also tells you and me the same thing, that He is with us wherever we go. And having been born after the coming of Christ, God is with us in a way that Jacob never imagined, in the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. God is with us as one of us. Just thinking about the wondrous love of God especially as expressed in Jesus is a blessed way to start the new year.
Let us pray: Ever present God and Father, we thank you for the gift of Your Son Jesus Christ; send Your Holy Spirit to be our constant companion, to sanctify us and to lead us in the way of Your Son. Amen.
CALENDAR REMINDERS
6 January 2011 at 6 p.m.: We will feed about 30 volunteers who are working with The Episcopal Diocese of Texas Relief and Development. Please let me know what you will be bringing to this event. We have a reputation to keep up; thus far, St. Augustine’s is everyone’s favorite for food.
9 January 2011: The Baptism of the Lord. We will also celebrate the Epiphany with King Cake that Sunday provided by Rose Daniels. The Annual Parish meeting will also be held with an election for 2 Bishop’s Committee persons and a delegate to send to the 162nd Diocesan Council. Rehearsal for the Presiding Bishop’s historic visit to St. Augustine will take place after the Annual Parish Meeting.
16 January 2011: the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church and Bishop Doyle will visit St. Augustine. We will have two clean-up days prior to her arrival. We will also have a rehearsal on Sunday, 9 January 2011 after the Annual Meeting.
PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST, especially all children throughout the world who are suffering, Cindi, Carol, Lee, John, Bob for a speedy recovery from surgery, Jerry Runion, Pat Williams who is in ICU, and the family of the Rev. Stacy Stringer as they grieve the loss of her father.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
Jacob left Beer-sheba and went towards Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him and said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’ Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!’ And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’
So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one-tenth to you.’ (Gen. 28: 10-22).
God tells Jacob: “Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go.” God also tells you and me the same thing, that He is with us wherever we go. And having been born after the coming of Christ, God is with us in a way that Jacob never imagined, in the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. God is with us as one of us. Just thinking about the wondrous love of God especially as expressed in Jesus is a blessed way to start the new year.
Let us pray: Ever present God and Father, we thank you for the gift of Your Son Jesus Christ; send Your Holy Spirit to be our constant companion, to sanctify us and to lead us in the way of Your Son. Amen.
CALENDAR REMINDERS
6 January 2011 at 6 p.m.: We will feed about 30 volunteers who are working with The Episcopal Diocese of Texas Relief and Development. Please let me know what you will be bringing to this event. We have a reputation to keep up; thus far, St. Augustine’s is everyone’s favorite for food.
9 January 2011: The Baptism of the Lord. We will also celebrate the Epiphany with King Cake that Sunday provided by Rose Daniels. The Annual Parish meeting will also be held with an election for 2 Bishop’s Committee persons and a delegate to send to the 162nd Diocesan Council. Rehearsal for the Presiding Bishop’s historic visit to St. Augustine will take place after the Annual Parish Meeting.
16 January 2011: the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church and Bishop Doyle will visit St. Augustine. We will have two clean-up days prior to her arrival. We will also have a rehearsal on Sunday, 9 January 2011 after the Annual Meeting.
PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST, especially all children throughout the world who are suffering, Cindi, Carol, Lee, John, Bob for a speedy recovery from surgery, Jerry Runion, Pat Williams who is in ICU, and the family of the Rev. Stacy Stringer as they grieve the loss of her father.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
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