In today’s Gospel from the Daily Office, we hear from Mark who writes:
As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.” ’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’
Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’ (Mk. 10: 17-31).
“Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” What would you do if Jesus said this to you? There are those, like St. Francis of Assisi and Mother Theresa, who read this passage and did exactly that: they sold all that they had, gave it to the poor and followed Jesus. What acts of courage. The bottom line is: what is important to you? The accumulation of things or Christ. The choice is yours.
Let us pray: Almighty God, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses: Grant that we, encouraged by the good example of your servants Francis and Theresa, may persevere in running the race that is set before us, until at last we may with them attain to your eternal joy; through Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
NEWS
The Galveston Island Tree Conservancy’s 2011/12 NeighborWoods Project has been chosen as one of 20 finalists for Tom’s of Maine 50 States for Good Community Sponsorship. We have the opportunity to win a share of $150,000 to fund next year’s NeighborWoods in Galveston, Texas, but we need your on-line vote to help us win one of five $20,000 sponsorships or one $50,000 sponsorship. To find out more about NeighborWoods please visit www.galvestonislandtreeconservancy.org.
To vote, please go to www.50statesforgood.com, click on Vote Now and vote for The Galveston Island Tree Conservancy. Help us plant 700 trees in Galveston Island Neighborhoods in 2011/12!
Top twenty (20) applications will be posted on www.50statesforgood.com, and the public will be encouraged to vote from Tuesday, 2 August 2011 to Tuesday, 13 September 2011. Visitors can vote once (1) per day. Project voting standings will be displayed on www.50statesforgood.com and will be public until the last week of voting, on or about 6 September 2011. At the completion of the final voting phase, the 6 projects with the highest vote totals will be declared as the selected projects to receive funding, as determined by the consumer vote.
CALENDAR REMINDERS
We will have a Bishop’s Committee meeting on the regular third Sunday of the month.
The UBE Youth had to cancel its trip to Galveston because of a scheduling conflict with 2 of the sponsors.
St. Augustine’s Feast Day: Potluck Dinner and Dancing on Saturday, 27 August at 7 p.m. and Eucharist Rite II on Sunday at 9 a.m. followed by a reception in Sutton Hall.
PRAYER MINISTRY
Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, and we especially pray for the Walker Family at the death of their son, those addicted to drugs and/or alcohol, the shut-ins, and anyone suffering from depression of anxiety of any kind. “Prayer is not conquering God’s reluctance, but taking hold of God’s willingness.” The Rt. Rev. Phillips Brooks
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.” ’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’
Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’ (Mk. 10: 17-31).
“Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” What would you do if Jesus said this to you? There are those, like St. Francis of Assisi and Mother Theresa, who read this passage and did exactly that: they sold all that they had, gave it to the poor and followed Jesus. What acts of courage. The bottom line is: what is important to you? The accumulation of things or Christ. The choice is yours.
Let us pray: Almighty God, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses: Grant that we, encouraged by the good example of your servants Francis and Theresa, may persevere in running the race that is set before us, until at last we may with them attain to your eternal joy; through Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
NEWS
The Galveston Island Tree Conservancy’s 2011/12 NeighborWoods Project has been chosen as one of 20 finalists for Tom’s of Maine 50 States for Good Community Sponsorship. We have the opportunity to win a share of $150,000 to fund next year’s NeighborWoods in Galveston, Texas, but we need your on-line vote to help us win one of five $20,000 sponsorships or one $50,000 sponsorship. To find out more about NeighborWoods please visit www.galvestonislandtreeconservancy.org.
To vote, please go to www.50statesforgood.com, click on Vote Now and vote for The Galveston Island Tree Conservancy. Help us plant 700 trees in Galveston Island Neighborhoods in 2011/12!
Top twenty (20) applications will be posted on www.50statesforgood.com, and the public will be encouraged to vote from Tuesday, 2 August 2011 to Tuesday, 13 September 2011. Visitors can vote once (1) per day. Project voting standings will be displayed on www.50statesforgood.com and will be public until the last week of voting, on or about 6 September 2011. At the completion of the final voting phase, the 6 projects with the highest vote totals will be declared as the selected projects to receive funding, as determined by the consumer vote.
CALENDAR REMINDERS
We will have a Bishop’s Committee meeting on the regular third Sunday of the month.
The UBE Youth had to cancel its trip to Galveston because of a scheduling conflict with 2 of the sponsors.
St. Augustine’s Feast Day: Potluck Dinner and Dancing on Saturday, 27 August at 7 p.m. and Eucharist Rite II on Sunday at 9 a.m. followed by a reception in Sutton Hall.
PRAYER MINISTRY
Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, and we especially pray for the Walker Family at the death of their son, those addicted to drugs and/or alcohol, the shut-ins, and anyone suffering from depression of anxiety of any kind. “Prayer is not conquering God’s reluctance, but taking hold of God’s willingness.” The Rt. Rev. Phillips Brooks
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
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