Doers of the Word

Today we hear from the Letter from James and we are told that simply having faith is not enough. Not only must we accept the Word and believe, we must be “doers” of the Word:

Do not be deceived, my beloved.

Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.

If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (James 1: 16-27).

To be sure, having faith is vital, but as James tells us, believing is not enough. We must also live out our faith, or as James says “be doers of the word.” Doing the word means that we care for those who are weaker and less able to care for themselves. James’ theme also rings throughout the Old Testament—God is concerned about how we treat “the widows and orphans” because they were helpless and defenseless. In Exodus we read: “Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan” (Ex. 22:22), and in Deuteronomy: “Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.” (Deut. 24:17). So James tells us today: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” If we think differently, we are deceiving ourselves.

Let us pray: Almighty and most merciful God, we remember before you all poor and neglected persons whom it would be easy for us to forget: the homeless and the destitute, the old and the sick, and all who have none to care for them. Help us to heal those who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow into joy. Grant this, Father, for the love of your Son, who for our sake became poor, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Please remember everyone on our prayer list, especially all graduates, all of those serving in the armed forces at home or abroad, all of the shut-ins and everyone who is ill.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

The Ultimate Sacrifice: Memorial Day

On Memorial Day we remember all of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their Country. Through the history of the United States of America, men and women have answered the call to duty protecting us from foreign harm. In that service, there are those who gave their lives. As Jesus tells us, no greater love does one have than to give his life for others. Today, remember all of those who have died in service to the Nation.

Let us pray: Almighty God, we remember before you today all of those who gave their lives in service to this Country; and we pray that, having opened to them the gates of larger life, you will receive them more and more into your joyful service, that, with all who have faithfully served you in the past, they may share in the eternal victory of Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

And we pray today for all of those who are currently serving and are in harm’s way, especially the sons and daughters of our church community at St. Augustine.

Let us pray: Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

St. Augustine of Canterbury

Today the Church honors and remembers the other Augustine, St. Augustine of Canterbury.

Augustine was a Benedictine monk and the first Archbishop of Canterbury, England.

He was the prior of a monastery in Rome when in 595 Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome, asked Augustine to lead a mission to Britain to Christianize King Ethelberht of Kent. Gregory wrote of having sent Augustine and his companions “to the ends of the earth.” Kent was probably chosen because it was near the Christian kingdoms in Gaul and because Ethelberht had married a Christian princess, Bertha, daughter of Charibert I the King of Paris who was expected to exert some influence over Ethelberht.

Before reaching Kent, Augustine considered turning back, but Gregory urged him on and, in 597, Augustine landed on the Isle of Thanet and proceeded to Canterbury.

King Ethelberht converted to Christianity and allowed the missionaries to preach freely, giving them land to found a monastery outside the city walls. Augustine was consecrated bishop of the English and converted many of the king’s subjects, including thousands during a mass baptism on Christmas Day in 597.

Augustine died in 604 and was soon revered as a saint.

Let us pray: O Lord our God, who by your Son Jesus Christ called your apostles and sent them forth to preach the Gospel to the nations: We bless your holy name for your servant Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, whose labors in propagating your Church among the English people we commemorate today; and we pray that all whom you call and send may do your will, and bide your time, and see your glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Please remember everyone on our prayer list, especially Pat Tate and the tornado victims in the mid-west, especially Joplin, Missouri.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

Healing Endurance

Today’s appointed Gospel reading is taken from the eighth chapter of Luke:

Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.

When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: ‘A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.’ As he said this, he called out, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’

Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that “looking they may not perceive, and listening they may not understand.”

‘Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones on the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe only for a while and in a time of testing fall away. As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance. (Lk. 8: 1-15).

There are no coincidences with God. Recently, I have spent some time thinking and reading about healing prayer. The more I think and read, the more questions arise. What is it all about? Why don’t we see more healing? What if someone we love is not healed? What does it say about our faith if someone is not? Questions, questions and more questions. It has been so much on my mind, that right before I began this daily reflection, I was just talking about it with someone who is very close to me.

Then I looked at the readings for today's Daily Office and there it was again: “he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others…” There is Jesus healing again, and my questions come back again. What is God up to?

The passage regarding healing is followed immediately by the Parable of the Sower. Here God speaks in response to my questions, and God says: “hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.”

The idea of God’s healing through healing prayer has challenged me recently raising questions. Perhaps you feel the same way from time to time.

In today's Gospel reading, God is telling us that we are on a journey, with questions and all, which requires patient endurance. We cannot receive the words joyfully only to lose heart or become discouraged. We cannot be distracted by skepticism. We must, with God’s grace, keep on the journey being honest with ourselves and others, walk with patient endurance holding fast onto God's word. Be open to God's healing power as radical as it might be.

Let us pray: Loving God and Father, give us open hearts and minds to Jesus Christ’s healing work in the world through the Holy Spirit.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
Sr. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

Walking the Talk: What's the Evidence?

One of the appointed readings for today is taken from Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. Paul writes in his own hand from prison to his friends:

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving. At the same time pray for us as well that God will open to us a door for the word, that we may declare the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison, so that I may reveal it clearly, as I should.

Conduct yourselves wisely towards outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone. (Col. 4: 1-6).

Paul is in prison for preaching the Gospel, and he writes to the Colossians from his jail cell. Even while he is held captive, he preaches the Gospel. Paul tells his readers to live a Christian life.

If you and I were put on trial today for being Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict us?

Let us pray: Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR MINISTRY: COME AND JOIN THE WORK OF BUILDING THE KINGDOM

Altar Guild
Annual Art Show
ECW
Margaret Biehl Community Garden
Praying for those on the Prayer List
Prayer Shawl Ministry
S.A.S.S.
Saturday Art Classes
St. Augustine History Project
Sunday Breakfast Fellowship

Please remember everyone on our prayer list, especially Pat Tate and our graduates.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

St. Dunstan

Today the Church remembers St. Dunstan who died on this day in 988.

James Kiefer writes:

Dunstan was born near Glastonbury in the southwest of England about the year 909, ten years after the death of King Alfred. During the Viking invasions of the ninth century, monasteries had been favorite targets of the invaders, and by Dunstan's time English monasticism had been wiped out. In its restoration in the tenth century, Dunstan played the leading role. He was born of an upper-class family, and sent to court, where he did not fit in. At the urging of his uncle, the Bishop of Westminster, he became a monk and a priest, and returned to Glastonbury, where he built a hut near the ruins of the old monastery, and devoted himself to study, music, metal working (particularly the art of casting church bells, an art which he is said to have advanced considerably), and painting. A manuscript illuminated by him is in the British Museum. He returned to court and was again asked to leave; but then King Edmund had a narrow escape from death while hunting, and in gratitude recalled Dunstan and in 943 commissioned him to re-establish monastic life at Glastonbury. (Glastonbury is one of the oldest Christian sites in England, and is associated in legend with King Arthur and his Court, with Joseph of Arimathea, and with other worthies. It has been said that the Holy Grail, the chalice of the Last Supper, is hidden somewhere near Glastonbury.) Under Dunstan's direction, Glastonbury became an important center both of monasticism and of learning. The next king, Edred, adopted Dunstan's ideas for various reforms of the clergy (including the control of many cathedrals by monastic chapters) and for relations with the Danish settlers. These policies made Dunstan popular in the North of England, but unpopular in the South.

Edred was succeeded by his sixteen-year-old nephew Edwy, whom Dunstan openly rebuked for unchastity. The furious Edwy drove Dunstan into exile, but the North rose in rebellion on his behalf. When the dust settled, Edwy was dead, his brother Edgar was king, and Dunstan was Archbishop of Canterbury. The coronation service which Dunstan compiled for Edgar is the earliest English coronation service of which the full text survives, and is the basis for all such services since, down to the present. With the active support of King Edgar, Dunstan re-established monastic communities at Malmesbury, Westminster, Bath, Exeter, and many other places. Around 970 he presided at a conference of bishops, abbots, and abbesses, which drew up a national code of monastic observance, the Regularis Concordia. It followed Benedictine lines, but under it the monasteries were actively involved in the life of the surrounding community. For centuries thereafter the Archbishop of Canterbury was always a monk.

Dunstan took an active role in politics under Edgar and his successor Edward, but under the next king, Ethelred, he retired from politics and concentrated on running the Canterbury cathedral school for boys, where he was apparently successful in raising the academic standards while reducing the incidence of corporal punishment. On Ascension Day in 988, he told the congregation that he was near to death, and died two days later.

Let us pray: Almighty God, who raised up Dunstan to be a true shepherd of the flock, a restorer of monastic life and a faithful counsellor to those in authority: give to all pastors the same gifts of your Holy Spirit that they may be true servants of Christ and all his people; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

Saturday, 21 May, art class with Lee Runion. Please let Lee know if you plan to attend.

We will celebrate our graduates this Sunday, 22 May at the 9 a.m. service.

We will also introduce a new jazz music group this Sunday with all of the traditional jazz instruments. Thanks to Sherman Boyer who has been working on this.

It is time for a brief Bishop’s Committee Meeting! Since the Children’s Choir from Memorial Baptist Church graced us with their music on our regular Sunday for Bishop’s Committee meetings, let’s have one this Sunday.

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List especially Pat Tate and the Furlongs.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

The Value of Suffering

Today we hear from the First Letter to the Colossians:

I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil and struggle with all the energy that he powerfully inspires within me.

For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me face to face. I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I am saying this so that no one may deceive you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, and I rejoice to see your morale and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Col. 1:24-2:7).

To be sure, Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was fully sufficient, once and for all. So what does Paul mean when he says: “in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church?”

Paul’s words are found at the end of the long road that winds through the suffering. Paul makes a discovery about suffering; he understands the salvific value of it. Suffering seems to be particularly essential to the nature of us as humans, and it is as deep as humanity itself because we all experience it, and as we see in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, we are given grace to overcome it. Christ shared in our sufferings and died for us. You and I share in the sufferings of Christ as we journey through life. So keep in mind when you experience suffering, that Jesus Christ suffered as well as he gave his life for our salvation. After the cross, there is the resurrection. Jesus keeps his promises.

Let us pray: O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

Saturday, 21 May, art class with Lee Runion. Please let him know if you will attend.

We will celebrate our graduates this Sunday, 22 May at the 9 a.m. service.

It is time for a brief Bishop’s Committee Meeting! Since the Children’s Choir from memorial Baptist Church graced us with their music on our regular Sunday for Bishop’s Committee meetings, let’s have one this Sunday.

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List especially Pat Tate and the Furlongs.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

Remembering a Pioneer: Bishop William Hobart Hare

Today the Episcopal Church honors and remembers a pioneer, William Hobart Hare. He was born in 1838 at Princeton, N. J., and was educated at the University of Pennsylvania. He preached in Philadelphia until 1870, was for three years the general agent of the foreign committee of the board of missions, and in 1872 was elected Missionary Bishop of Niobrara. He came to Yankton, Dakota Territory in 1873 and his diocese in 1883 was extended to include all of the Dakota Territory. He wrote several pamphlets on missionary work in the West.

He was one of the leading missionaries in America and was called “the Apostle of the West” for his dedicated work in the rural Dakotas among pioneers and Native Americans. He died in 1909.

Let us pray: Holy God, you called your servant William Hobart Hare to bear witness to you throughout the vast reaches of the Niobrara Territory, bearing the means of grace and the hope of glory to the peoples of the Plains: We give you thanks for the devotion of those who received the Good News gladly, and for the faithfulness of the generations who have succeeded them. Strengthen us with your Holy Spirit that we may walk in their footsteps and lead many to faith in Jesus Christ, in whom the living and the dead are one; and who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

We will celebrate our graduates this Sunday, 22 May at the 9 a.m. service.

It is time for a brief Bishop’s Committee Meeting! Since the Children’s Choir from memorial Baptist Church graced us with their music on our regular Sunday for Bishop’s Committee meetings, let’s have one this Sunday.

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List especially Pat Tate and the Furlongs.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

Be Bold!

In today’s Epistle, we hear from the First Letter of John:

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him. If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one—to those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal.

We know that those who are born of God do not sin, but the one who was born of God protects them, and the evil one does not touch them. We know that we are God’s children, and that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

Little children, keep yourselves from idols. (1 Jn. 5: 13-21).

John tells us to be bold. Be bold in asking God anything. Be bold in asking God anything according to God’s will! John does not tell us to be bold asking for whatever our little old heart desires. N or does John tell us to be bold in asking God for what others may desire. Rather, John tells us to be bold in asking God what God desires. Now that requires some boldness because we are submitting to God’s will for us thereby relinquishing our selfish desires. When we submit to God’s will for us, we are following in Christ’s footsteps.

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, whose blessed Son came not to be served but to serve: Bless all who, following in his steps, give themselves to the service of others; that with wisdom, patience, and courage, they may minister in his Name to the suffering, the friendless, and the needy; for the love of him who laid down his life for us, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS:

The Children’s Choir from Memorial Baptist Church in Spring, Texas is returning to St. Augustine on 15 May, Sunday, for the 9 a.m. service. There will be about 35 people. We will have 18 dozen eggs donated (by the Choir Director) for breakfast---we need cooks! Volunteers?

Saturday Art Class on 21 May 2011: Lee Runion will teach us about “origami” the traditional Japanese art of paper folding. It started in the 17th century and was popularized outside Japan in the mid-1900s. The goal of this art is to transform a flat sheet of material into a finished sculpture through folding and sculpting techniques. We will use our art work for the service on Pentecost.

Celebration Honoring the Graduates from St. Augustine on Sunday, 22 May at the 9 a.m. Service.

S.A.S.S. every Thursday at 6 p.m. in Sutton Hall starting with a pot luck dinner.

In conjunction with the St. Augustine History Project, Mrs. Liz Mack is working on the history of St. Augustine’s outreach program, St. Vincent’s House. She will be interviewing Charles Lemons. If you have anything that may help in this, please pass it along to Mrs. Mack.

Nets For Life: If you still haven’t made your contribution, don’t worry, there’s still time. Each net is just $12.50. Help save a life!

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Pat Tate.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

Love of God & Love of Neighbor Go Hand in Hand

In this Tuesday in Easter Season, we hear the First Letter of John where he tells us about love:

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

By this we know that we abide in him and him in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. (1 Jn. 4: 7-21).

God is love. Our love for God is expressed in our love for others. Love of God and love of neighbor go hand in hand. God expressed his love for you and for me in the gift of Jesus Christ who died for our sins. Our love for God is expressed by our giving of ourselves to others.

Let us pray: O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to your with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS:

The Children’s Choir from Memorial Baptist Church in Spring, Texas are returning to St. Augustine on 15 May, Sunday, for the 9 a.m. service. There will be about 35 people. The Choir Director is donating 18 dozen eggs--we'll need all cooks on deck! Help! Volunteers?

Saturday Art Class on 21 May 2011: Lee Runion will teach us about “origami” the traditional Japanese art of paper folding. It started in the 17th century and was popularized outside Japan in the mid-1900s. The goal of this art is to transform a flat sheet of material into a finished sculpture through folding and sculpting techniques. We will use our art work for the service on Pentecost.

Celebration Honoring the Graduates from St. Augustine on Sunday, 22 May at the 9 a.m. Service.

S.A.S.S. every Thursday at 6 p.m. in Sutton Hall starting with a pot luck dinner.

In conjunction with the St. Augustine History Project, Mrs. Liz Mack is working on the history of St. Augustine’s outreach program, St. Vincent’s House. She will be interviewing Charles Lemons. If you have anything that may help in this, please pass it along to Mrs. Mack.

Nets For Life: If you still haven’t made your contribution, don’t worry, there’s still time. Each net is just $12.50. Help save a life!

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Pat Tate.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Doctor of the Church

Today the Church remembers St. Gregory of Nazianzus. James Kiefer writes:

There is a traditional list of eight great Doctors (Teachers, Theologians) of the ancient Church. It lists four Western (Latin) Doctors -- Ambrose of Milan, (our own ) Augustine of Hippo, Jerome of Strido, and Gregory the Great (Pope Gregory I) -- and four Eastern (Greek) Doctors -- Athanasius of Alexandria, John Chrysostom of Antioch and Constantinople, Basil the Great, and Gregory of Nazianzus (also called Gregory Nazianzen). Incidentally, this list is constantly referred to, but I have no idea when or where or by whom it was drawn up.

Gregory of Nazianzus, his friend Basil the Great, and Basil’s brother Gregory of Nyssa, are jointly known as the Cappadocian Fathers (Cappadocia is a region in what is now Central Turkey).

Gregory lived in a turbulent time. In 312, Constantine, having won a battle that made him Emperor of the West, issued a decree that made it no longer a crime to be a Christian. In 325 he summoned a council of Bishops at Nicea, across the straits from Byzantium (Constantinople, Istanbul), to settle the dispute between those (led by Athanasius) who taught that the Logos (the "Word" of John 1:1, who "was made flesh and dwelt among us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth) was completely God, in the same sense in which the Father is God, and those (led by Arius) who taught that the Logos is a being created by God the Father. The bishops assembled at Nicea declared that the view of Athanasius was that which they had received from their predecessors as the true Faith handed down from the Apostles. (The Athanasian view is held today by Roman Catholics, East Orthodox, Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterian and Reformed, Methodists, Baptists, Congregationalists, and most other Protestant groups. The Arian view is held by the Watchtower Society, also called J------'s Witnesses, and by a few other groups, including some conservative Unitarians.)

The Arians did not accept defeat quietly. They created a sufficient disturbance so that Constantine, at first inclined to support the decision of the Council, decided that peace could best be obtained by adopting a Creed which simply evaded the issue. After his death in 336, he was succeeded by various of his relatives, some of whom sided with the Athanasians and some with the Arians, and one of whom (Julian the Apostate, Emperor 361-363) attempted to restore paganism as the religion of the Empire. The situation was complicated by the fact that missionaries to the Goths were first sent out in large numbers during the reign of an Arian Emperor, with the result that the Goths were converted to Arian Christianity. Since the professional Army was composed chiefly of Goth mercenaries, and the Army held the balance of power, this was a real problem.

Gregory of Nazianzus was born about 330. He went to school in Athens with his friend Basil, and with the aforesaid Julian. He and Basil compiled an anthology, called the Philokalia, of the works of the great (but somewhat erratic) Alexandrian theologian, philosopher, and scholar of the previous century, Origen. Later, he went home to assist his father, a bishop, in his struggles against Arianism. Meanwhile, his friend Basil had become Archbishop of (Cappadocian) Caesarea. Faced with a rival Arian bishop at Tyana, he undertook to consolidate his position by maneuvering Gregory into the position of Bishop of Sasima, an unhealthy settlement on the border between the two jurisdictions. Gregory called Sasima "a detestable little place without water or grass or any mark of civilization." He felt "like a bone flung to dogs." He refused to reside at Sasima. Basil accused him of shirking his duty. He accused Basil of making him a pawn in ecclesiastical politics. Their friendship suffered a severe breach, which took some time to heal. Gregory suffered a breakdown and retired to recuperate.

In 379, after the death of the Arian Emperor Valens, Gregory was asked to go to Constantinople to preach there. For thirty years, the city had been controlled by Arians or pagans, and the orthodox did not even have a church there. Gregory went. He converted his own house there into a church and held services in it. There he preached the Five Theological Orations for which he is best known, a series of five sermons on the Trinity and in defense of the deity of Christ. People flocked to hear him preach, and the city was largely won over to the Athanasian (Trinitarian, catholic, orthodox) position by his powers of persuasion. The following year, he was consecrated bishop of Constantinople. He presided at the Council of Constantinple in 381, which confirmed the Athanasian position of the earlier Council of Nicea in 325. Having accomplished what he believed to be his mission at Constantinople, and heartily sick of ecclesiastical politics, Gregory resigned and retired to his home town of Nazianzus, where he died on this day in 389.

Let us pray: Almighty God, who have revealed to your Church your eternal Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace that, like your bishop Gregory of Nazianzus, we may continue steadfast in the confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO MADE THE MOTHER’S DAY CELEBRATION A WONDERFUL EVENT.

CALENDAR REMINDERS:

The Children’s Choir from Memorial Baptist Church in Spring, Texas are returning to St. Augustine on 15 May, Sunday, for the 9 a.m. service. There will be about 35 people.

Saturday Art Class on 21 May 2011: Lee Runion will teach us about “origami” the traditional Japanese art of paper folding. It started in the 17th century and was popularized outside Japan in the mid-1900s. The goal of this art is to transform a flat sheet of material into a finished sculpture through folding and sculpting techniques. We will use our art work for the service on Pentecost.

S.A.S.S. every Thursday at 6 p.m. in Sutton Hall starting with a pot luck dinner.

In conjunction with the St. Augustine History Project, Mrs. Liz Mack is working on the history of St. Augustine’s outreach program, St. Vincent’s House. She will be interviewing Charles Lemons. If you have anything that may help in this, please pass it along to Mrs. Mack.

Nets For Life: If you still haven’t made your contribution, don’t worry, there’s still time. Each net is just $12.50. Help save a life!

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Pat Tate.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

You Are a Child of God

This Friday we hear from the First Letter of John:

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God’s seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God. The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters. (1 Jn. 3: 1-10).

You and I are children of God. Take a moment and think about that: you are a child of God, of the same God who created the universe out of nothing, the God who placed the stars in their celestial courses, the God who put this Earth our island home in the vast ocean of space, and the God who became one of us and died on a cross for the forgiveness of sin. You are God’s very own child whom He loves, and as children of God, we are called to act in a certain way, one that honors of Father as His sons and daughters. Always keep in mind that you are God’s child, and as God’s child you are to reflect the goodness of God to all.

Let us pray: Loving God and Father, we thank you for the gift of being your children. Make us ever mindful of others so that we may treat everyone we meet as Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ did, and send Your Holy Spirit to fill our hearts, minds and souls with Your grace. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

Mother’s Day is this Sunday. Remember to honor your mother.

S.A.S.S. meets every Thursday at 6 p.m. starting with a pot luck dinner. If you know someone who would benefit from this ministry, please invite them.

We will honor our sons and daughters graduating from high school and college on Sunday, 22 May 2011 at the 9 a.m. Eucharist. If you have a graduate in your household, please tell Fr. Makowski.

NETS FOR LIFE: If you haven’t made your gift yet, please do. A few dollars can save lives in sub-Saharan Africa.

Please remember everyone on our prayer list. This is a very important ministry at St. Augustine’s.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

I Love You, O Lord, My Strength

The Psalm appointed for today is Psalm 18:

I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
so I shall be saved from my enemies.
The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of perdition assailed me;
the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.
Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
He bowed the heavens, and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.
He rode on a cherub, and flew;
he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his covering around him,
his canopy thick clouds dark with water.
Out of the brightness before him
there broke through his clouds
hailstones and coals of fire.
The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered his voice.
And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them;
he flashed forth lightnings, and routed them.
Then the channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
He reached down from on high, he took me;
he drew me out of mighty waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
and from those who hated me;
for they were too mighty for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity;
but the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a broad place;
he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me. (Ps. 18: 1-20).

Notice how the Psalmist starts with an expression of love for God. Sometimes you and I forget to tell God that we love Him. God is always faithful to us, and sends His Holy Spirit to be with us in good times and in bad. God is our rock and our fortress in whom we find refuge. God is our light leading us from the depths of darkness. God is our rescuer and deliverer. Let us start of our with a declaration of love for God.

Let us pray: Loving Father, we thank You for Your boundless love for us, Your children especially as expressed in Your Son, Jesus Christ. Send Your Holy Spirit to enable us to shout out to the world our love for You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

Mother’s Day is this Sunday.

S.A.S.S. meets every Thursday at 6 p.m.

We have several sons and daughters of our Church Community of St. Augustine who will be graduating. We will honor our graduates at the Sunday Eucharist on 22 May 2011.

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially the victims of the storms in the Southeastern United States, Liz Mack, Pat Tate and the family of Robyn Bishop.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

St. Monnica, the Mother of St. Augustine of Hippo

Today the Church honors the mother of our very own Augustine of Hippo, Monnica (sometimes spelled “Monica”).

James Kiefer writes:

We know about Monnica almost entirely from the autobiography (the Confessions) of her son Augustine, a major Christian writer, theologian and philosopher (see 28 August). Monnica was born in North Africa, near Carthage, in what is now Tunisia, perhaps around 331, of Christian parents, and was a Christian throughout her life. Her name has usually been spelled “Monica,” but recently her tomb in Ostia was discovered, and the burial inscription says “Monnica,” a spelling which all AC (Archaeologically Correct) persons have hastened to adopt. (On the other hand, it may simply be that the artisan who carved the inscription was a bad speller.) As a girl, she was fond of wine, but on one occasion was taunted by a slave girl for drunkenness, and resolved not to drink thereafter. She was married to a pagan husband, Patricius, a man of hot temper, who was often unfaithful to her, but never insulted or struck her. It was her happiness to see both him and his mother ultimately receive the Gospel.

Monnica soon recognized that her son was a man of extraordinary intellectual gifts, a brilliant thinker and a natural leader of men (as a youngster he was head of a local gang of juvenile delinquents), and she had strong ambitions and high hopes for his success in a secular career. Indeed, though we do not know all the circumstances, most Christians today would say that her efforts to steer him into a socially advantageous marriage were in every way a disaster. However, she grew in spiritual maturity through a life of prayer, and her ambitions for his worldly success were transformed into a desire for his conversion. He, as a youth, rejected her religion with scorn, and looked to various pagan philosophies for clues to the meaning of life. He undertook a career as an orator and teacher of the art of oratory (rhetoric), and moved from Africa to Rome and thence to Milan, at that time the seat of government in Italy. His mother followed him there a few years later. In Milan, Augustine met Bishop Ambrose, from whom he learned that Christianity could be intellectually respectable, and under whose preaching he was eventually converted and baptized on Easter Eve in 387, to the great joy of Monnica.

After his baptism, Augustine and a younger brother Navigius and Monnica planned to return to Africa together, but in Ostia, the port city of Rome, Monnica fell ill and said, “You will bury your mother here. All I ask of you is that, wherever you may be, you should remember me at the altar of the Lord. Do not fret because I am buried far from our home in Africa. Nothing is far from God, and I have no fear that he will not know where to find me, when he comes to raise me to life at the end of the world.”

Let us pray: O Lord, who through spiritual discipline strengthened your servant Monnica to persevere in offering her love and prayers and tears for the conversion of her husband and of Augustine their son: Deepen our devotion, we pray, and use us in accordance with your will to bring others, even our own kindred, to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

Mother’s Day is this Sunday.

S.A.S.S. meets every Thursday at 6 p.m.

We have several sons and daughters of our Church Community of St. Augustine who will be graduating. We will honor our graduates at the Sunday Eucharist on 22 May 2011.

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially the victims of the storms in the Southeastern United States, Liz Mack, Pat Tate and the family of Robyn Bishop.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

Sts. Philip & James, Apostles

Although normally remembered on the 1st of May, this year, the Church celebrates two of the Apostles, Philip and James, today.

The Apostle Philip was one of Christ's first disciples, called soon after his Master's baptism in the Jordan. The fourth Gospel gives the following detail: “The next day Jesus was about to leave for Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him: Follow me. Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael, and said to him: We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote, Jesus the Son of Joseph of Nazareth. And Nathanael said to him: Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him: Come and see.” (John 1:43-46).

Very little is known of James the Less. James Kiefer writes: “James the son of Alphaeus (Alpheus) appears on lists of the Twelve Apostles (usually in the eighth place), but is never mentioned otherwise. He is called James the Less, or James Minor, or James the Younger.”

What we do know is this: both men followed Jesus and ultimately died for their faith.

Let us pray: Almighty God, who gave to your apostles Philip and James grace and strength to bear witness to the truth: Grant that we, being mindful of their victory of faith, may glorify in life and death the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

Sunday is Mother’s Day. Remember Mom!

S.A.S.S. every Thursday starting at 6 p.m. with a pot luck dinner.

PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST, especially the victims of the bad weather in the Southeastern United States, Liz Mack, Pat Tate, and the family of Robyn Bishop who died yesterday.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

Be A Witness

Today in this Second Week of Easter, we hear from the First Letter of John:

We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us— we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 Jn. 1-10).

This is a letter of witness. John tells us of his experience of Jesus Christ; John is a witness to Jesus Christ and His saving acts. John tells us that Jesus is the true expression of who God is — God is light, and there is no darkness at all in God. You and I are children of the light because Jesus has brought us into the light through His redemptive death and the seal of the resurrection. By our lives, you and I are to give witness to Jesus who gave His life for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus reconciled us to God.

Let us pray: Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Please remember everyone on our prayer list, especially Liz Mack, and the family of Robyn Bishop who died today: she is a sheep of Jesus’ flock, and a sinner of His own redeeming.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550