The appointed Gospel reading for today is taken from the third chapter of Mark. We read:
Jesus departed with his disciples to the lake, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.
He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve:* Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Then he went home. (Mk 3: 7-19).
God does not call the equipped to ministry; God equips those He calls. It is up to those who are called to cooperate with God. Eleven of the twelve who were called were equipped for their ministries and they cooperated. Judas, who was called and equipped, chose not to cooperate with God. Instead, Judas decided to follow his own agenda. Following our own agendas instead of God’s, is a short route to chaos and perdition.
In our own community of faith at St. Augustine, I am proud to share my ministry with yours. There are those called and equipped to serve in the Altar Guild, the Art Classes, the Community Garden, the Community of Hope, the Fellowship Ministry, the Prayer Shawl Ministry, S.A.S.S. and other ministries. You have been called and have been equipped by God.
Let us pray: O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were being cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Please remember everyone on our prayer list.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
Jesus departed with his disciples to the lake, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.
He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve:* Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Then he went home. (Mk 3: 7-19).
God does not call the equipped to ministry; God equips those He calls. It is up to those who are called to cooperate with God. Eleven of the twelve who were called were equipped for their ministries and they cooperated. Judas, who was called and equipped, chose not to cooperate with God. Instead, Judas decided to follow his own agenda. Following our own agendas instead of God’s, is a short route to chaos and perdition.
In our own community of faith at St. Augustine, I am proud to share my ministry with yours. There are those called and equipped to serve in the Altar Guild, the Art Classes, the Community Garden, the Community of Hope, the Fellowship Ministry, the Prayer Shawl Ministry, S.A.S.S. and other ministries. You have been called and have been equipped by God.
Let us pray: O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were being cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Please remember everyone on our prayer list.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
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