Wednesday, November 27, 2013

The Eye of a Needle


 
The Gospel reading for the Daily Prayer of the Church in this last week of the Church year and the day before Thanksgiving, is a continuation of Matthew where we read about how difficult it can be to enter into the Kingdom if we put our trust in temporal things:

Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, 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.’ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.’

Then Peter said in reply, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first. (Mt. 19:23-30).

The simple fact is this: if we put our trust in temporal things to save us, we will be sorely disappointed.  On what has become known as “Black Friday,” hundreds and thousands of people will be stationed in front of stores where they have camped out for a few days.  And as soon as those doors are opened, like a camel trying to get through the eye of a needle, they will rush, push, elbow, shove and fight their way past their fellow bargain hunters and stampede toward that all important thing that is on sale.  People will be trampled and injured, and for what? They will have done it for a sale item that they could have purchased at the Veteran’s Day sales just a few weeks before. 

As we start this holiday season, ask yourself this: what do I put my hope and trust in?  Do I put my hope and trust in sale items to fulfill me and bring me joy, or do I put my hope and trust in God alone?

Let us pray:  Gracious Father, we are thankful for all that you have given us, life, loved ones, and most of all, your Son, Jesus Christ, who gave his life for us so that we might live with you and the Holy Spirit now and always.  Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

World Aids Day on the Island at St. Augustine’s starting at 1 p.m. on Sunday, 1 December.

Adult Christian Formation the 4 Sundays of Advent at 11 a.m. with C.S. Lewis and A World Awaits: Advent Reflections.

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

Your servant in Christ,

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

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Sell all you have, give it to the poor and come follow me.

The Daily Prayer of the Church continues with the Gospel according to Matthew in this last week of the Church year:

Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’ And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.

Then someone came to him and said, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’ And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ He said to him, ‘Which ones?’ And Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these; what do I still lack?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.  (Mt. 19:13-22).

This Gospel passage can be troubling for many people, and few Christians take this to heart.  One Christian who did take it to heart was St. Francis who lived this Gospel passage to the fullest.  Francis gave up all that he had and lived the life of a beggar spreading the Gospel by the way he lived his life and when necessary he used words.  It did not take long before many people who saw the way Francis lived wanted to join him and his way of life, and so the Order of Friars Minor, now known as the Franciscans, was born.  That order still takes to heart the words in today’s Gospel passage. 

Let us pray:  Gracious God, give us the grace not to be attached to material things, and give us the strength to put you and your kingdom first,  We ask all this through your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit now and forever.  Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

World Aids Day is December 1, and St. Augustine’s will host the event on the Island.

This Advent for our Adult Christian Formation we will use the writings of C.S. Lewis.  Please join us at 11:00 a.m.

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

Your servant in Christ,

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

Monday, November 25, 2013

“Will all of you witnessing these promises do all in your power to uphold these two persons in their marriage?”

On this Monday in the last week of the Church year we hear from the Gospel according to Matthew:

When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. Large crowds followed him, and he cured them there.

Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?’ He answered, ‘Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning “made them male and female”, and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’ They said to him, ‘Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?’ He said to them, ‘It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but at the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery.’

His disciples said to him, ‘If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.’ But he said to them, ‘Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.’ (Mt. 19:1-10).

This Gospel reading can be a difficult one for many.  This is a society where divorce is a daily event.  The divorce rate in America for first marriages is 41%, for second marriages is 60% and for third marriages is 73%.  According to age, here are the statistics:

Age at marriage for those who divorce in America (2011)

Age
Women
Men
Under 20 years old
27.6%
11.7%
20 to 24 years old
36.6%
38.8%
25 to 29 years old
16.4%
22.3%
30 to 34 years old
8.5%
11.6%
35 to 39 years old
5.1%
6.5%

 

Source: http://www.divorcerate.org/

Note that the majority of divorces occur before the age of 30 for both men and women.  There is a definite lack of commitment and of placing the other first.  That is what Jesus called us to, faithfulness in our relationships, and especially so in marriage.  The only exception Jesus makes is when the spouse breaks that covenantal faithfulness.

Our task as a Christian community, as a people of faith, is to uphold those who are married.  In the rite of marriage, the priest asks the people: “Will all of you witnessing these promises do all in your power to uphold these two persons in their marriage?”  And the people answer: “We will.”  You and I need to take this promise seriously.

Let us pray:  O gracious and everliving God, you have created us male and female in your image: Look mercifully upon all who are married, and assist them with your grace, that with true fidelity and steadfast love they may honor and keep the promises and vows they make; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

For our Adult Christian Formation this Advent we will study the reflections and writings of C.S. Lewis in A World Awaits: Daily Reflections for Advent.  We will meet at 11:00 a.m. each Sunday in Advent.

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

Your servant in Christ,

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

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Loaves & Fish: The Incarnation


The Gospel reading for the Daily Prayer of the Church is taken from the Gospel according to Matthew where we hear a familiar story:

After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
Feeding the Four Thousand
Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?’ Jesus asked them, ‘How many loaves have you?’ They said, ‘Seven, and a few small fish.’ Then ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish; and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all of them ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Those who had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children. After sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan. (Mt. 15:29-39).

 Jesus had compassion for the crowd, meaning that, Jesus suffered with the crowd (Latin: “cum passare”).  This passage highlights the incarnation, God one with us.  Jesus feeds the crowd because Jesus knows what it is like to be hungry.  God knows what you and I experience in and through the person of Jesus.

Sometimes we forget that Jesus, true God and true man, knows exactly what you and I experience.  For God so loved the world, that God became one with us. 

Let us pray: Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

This Friday at 6 P.M., we will bless all of those young men and women who will participate in the trip to Texas A&M from the Boys & Girls Club of Galveston.  This is a joint effort by St. Augustine’s and the Boys and Girls Club to encourage our youth to pursue a college education.  Thanks to Carol Freeman for her ministry in this regard.

Sunday, 24 November 2013, we will have our Thanksgiving Dinner at St. Augustine’s after the 9 A.M. service.

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

Your servant in Christ,

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

Monday, November 11, 2013

Veterans' Day & St. Martin of Tours


Today the Church honors the life and ministry of Martin of Tours and we as a nation remember all of our veterans.  It is interesting that these days coincide.  Martin of Tours was born in 330. His father was a soldier and Martin enlisted when he was 15. On a winter day, Martin saw a beggar at the city gate in Amiens. Martin did not have any money, so he cut his cloak in half and gave half to the beggar. That night in a dream, Martin saw Jesus wearing the part of the cloak he gave to the beggar. Martin had been considering becoming a Christian, and this ended his wavering; he was baptized. At the end of his next military campaign, Martin asked to be released from the military, saying: “Until now I have faithfully served Caesar, now let me now serve Christ."

Today we also remember all of those who have served this nation and who have put themselves in harm’s way because they were called by their nation to do so.  We owe these men and women much

Let us pray:  Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women who have served and those who continue to serve in our armed forces both at home and abroad. For those who are still in service, 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.

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

Your servant in Christ,

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

Friday, November 8, 2013

The First Black Bishop in the Episcopal Church

Today the Church remembers James Theodore Holly who was the first African-American Bishop in the Episcopal Church. He was born in Washington, D.C. in 1829, the descendent of freed slaves.
 
Holly was baptized and raised a Catholic yet gradually he moved away from the Catholic Church. He spent his early years with Frederick Douglass and other abolitionists.
 
James Kiefer writes:
 
Holly left the Roman Catholic Church over a dispute about ordaining local black clergy and joined the Episcopal Church in 1852. He was a shoemaker, then a teacher and school principal before his own ordination at the age of 27. He served as rector at St Luke’s Church in New Haven, Connecticut and was one of the founders of the Protestant Episcopal Society for Promoting the Extension of the Church Among Colored People (a forerunner of UBE) in 1856. This group challenged the Church to take a position against slavery at General Convention.
 
In 1861 he left the United States with his family and a group of African Americans to settle in Haiti---the world’s first black republic. In July 1863 Holly organized the Holy Trinity Church. He lost his family and other settlers to disease and poor living conditions but was successful in establishing schools and building the Church. He trained young priests and started congregations and medical programs in the countryside. During this time Haiti was split with the Vatican and most men of Haiti supported their religious sentiment through the symbolism and observance of the Masonic Lodge. As an experienced Masonic leader and scholar, Holly visited the Masonic temples and made friends among their members. He was also willing to perform Masonic burial services.
 
In 1874 he was ordained bishop at Grace Church, New York City, not by the mainstream Episcopal Church, who refused to ordain a black missionary bishop, but by the American Church Missionary Society, an Evangelical Episcopal branch of the Church. He was named Bishop of the Anglican Orthodox Episcopal Church of Haiti. He attended the Lambeth Convention as a bishop of the Church. Bishop Holly was also given charge of the Episcopal Church in the Dominican Republic from 1897-1911. He died in Haiti in on March 13, 1911.
 
Let us pray:  Most gracious God, by the calling of your servant James Theodore Holly, you gave us our first bishop of African-American heritage. In his quest for life and freedom, he led your people from bondage into a new land and established the Church in Haiti. Grant that, inspired by his testimony, we may overcome our prejudice and honor those whom you call from every family, language, people, and nation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for 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

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

No Matter What the Cost

The Gospel reading for the Daily Prayer of the Church today is taken from the Gospel according to Matthew where we hear of the value of the Kingdom of God and our response:
 
‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
 
‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
 
‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
 
Treasures New and Old
‘Have you understood all this?’ They answered, ‘Yes.’ And he said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.’  (Mt. 13:44-52).
 
Once you find the Kingdom of God, you give everything that you have for it.  You give up everything that you used to think was important; you give up everything that you were attached to no matter what that was.  Jesus tells us that the encounter is so life changing, so transforming, that you are not left the same.  May it be so for you and me.
 
Let us pray:  O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we maypurify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes againwith power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and 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

Monday, November 4, 2013

Sing Praise to the Creator!


One of the appointed Psalms for today’s Daily Prayer is Psalm 65:

Praise is due to you,
   O God, in Zion;
and to you shall vows be performed,
O you who answer prayer!
To you all flesh shall come.
When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,
   you forgive our transgressions.
Happy are those whom you choose and bring near
   to live in your courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
   your holy temple.
By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
   O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
   and of the farthest seas.
By your strength you established the mountains;
   you are girded with might.
You silence the roaring of the seas,
   the roaring of their waves,
   the tumult of the peoples.
Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.
You visit the earth and water it,
   you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
   you provide the people with grain,
   for so you have prepared it.
You water its furrows abundantly,
   settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
   and blessing its growth.
You crown the year with your bounty;
   your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
   the hills gird themselves with joy,
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
   the valleys deck themselves with grain,
   they shout and sing together for joy.

Have you ever just marveled at a beautiful sunset, a majestic mountain, or the power of the sea? I think every one of us has experienced such a moment.  The Psalmist did as well.  In Psalm 65, the Psalmist sings a song of praise to God who created everything and sustains creation.  Today, let us join in his prayer!

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

Your servant in Christ,

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

Friday, November 1, 2013

The Feast of All Saints

Today is the Feast of All Saints where the Church remembers all of those who have gone before us, marked with the sign of faith, and who have lived good and holy lives.

Throughout our lives, you and I have been “surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1), who have influenced our lives by the way that they lived their lives.  We can all think of someone in our lives like that.  It may be a parent, an aunt or uncle, a family friend, a teacher, a clergy person, or perhaps even a stranger, who showed us the love of Christ.  They are unsung heroes who led ordinary lives, but influenced us in extraordinary ways.

On Sunday, we will read the names of family and friends who have died in years past.  In your prayers today, I would ask that you remember all of these people and give thanks for them and for all that they have meant to you.

Let us pray: O Almighty God, who have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those indescribable joys which you have prepared for those who truly love you: through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting.  Amen.

THANK YOU to Jo, Jim, Karen, Joie, Tammie and especially to Stacy and Hugh who fed the adults manning the candy bowl.  Children from the neighborhood found a safe place for trick or treat at St. Augustine’s and I’d venture to say that the adults had more fun than the kids.

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

Your servant in Christ,

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