"Show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another."

On this Friday in the third week of Advent, we hear from the prophet Zechariah who reminds us that God asks for us remember the widow and the orphan:

The word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another. But they refused to listen, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears in order not to hear. They made their hearts adamant in order not to hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. Just as, when I called, they would not hear, so, when they called, I would not hear, says the Lord of hosts, and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and a pleasant land was made desolate.

The word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. Thus says the Lord: I will return to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts shall be called the holy mountain. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of their great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Even though it seems impossible to the remnant of this people in these days, should it also seem impossible to me, says the Lord of hosts? Thus says the Lord of hosts: I will save my people from the east country and from the west country; and I will bring them to live in Jerusalem. They shall be my people and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.  (Zech. 7:8-8:8).

During Advent we remember Christ’s first coming, his presence among us and we look with joyful hope for his coming again.  Today’s Old Testament lesson reminds us what the Kingdom of God is supposed to look like.  Jesus, in his public ministry, made it clear that you and I are to “show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.” Jesus came to fulfill that law.  You and I are to live as Jesus calls us to live.

Let us pray:  Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

This Sunday, the 4th Sunday in Advent, the Children will preach the sermon through their Advent Program. After the Eucharist, we will have a pot luck lunch.

We continue this Sunday at 11 a.m. with A World Awaits, Advent Reflections by C.S. Lewis.

Christmas Eve Eucharist Rite II will be at 4 PM.

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially the very old and the very young who are ill and all of those who are alone this Christmas Season.

Your servant in Christ,

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

"Then the kingdom of God will be like this."

On this Thursday in the third week of Advent, we hear from the Gospel according to Matthew about being ready, a true Advent theme:

 

‘Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, “Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” But the wise replied, “No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.” And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, “Lord, lord, open to us.” But he replied, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.” Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.  (Mt. 25:1-13).

 

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this.”  This passage is about the Kingdom of God.  There are those who are helping to build the Kingdom, to bring justice, peace and the light of Christ into this world, and there are those whose lamps don’t even have enough oil to get them through a short period.  When Christ comes in power and great glory, will you be one of those who has worked to build the Kingdom of God, or will you be asleep having done nothing?

 

Let us pray: Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.  

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

This Sunday, the 4th Sunday in Advent, the Children will preach the sermon through their Advent Program. After the Eucharist, we will have a pot luck lunch.

 

We continue this Sunday at 11 a.m. with A World Awaits, Advent Reflections by C.S. Lewis.

 

On Thursday, 19 December, the Seaside Seniors will have their Christmas Party in Sutton Hall at St. Augustine’s where St. Nicholas will give out gifts and the Children’s Choir from St. Vincent’s House will provide holiday cheer.

 

Christmas Eve Eucharist Rite II will be at 4 PM.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially the very old and the very young who are ill and all of those who are alone this Christmas Season.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Praising God Through Works of Art

Trinity Episcopal Church, Houston, Texas

 

Today we remember those who have brought us closer to the Divine by their works of art in stone and steel, artists who have enhanced our worship of God: Ralph Adams Cram (16 December 1863 - 22 September 1942), Richard Upjohn (22 January 1802 - 16 August 1878), and  John La Farge (31 March 1835 – 14 November 1910).

 

Cram was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic style.  During an 1887 Christmas Eve mass in Rome, he had a dramatic conversion experience. For the rest of his life, he remained a fervent Anglo-Catholic.  He designed such churches as All Saints' Church, Ashmont, Massachusetts (1892); Church of St. John Evangelist, St. Paul, Minnesota (1892); Emmanuel Church, Newport, Rhode Island (1900); Calvary Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1904); Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, New York, with Henry Vaughan (1904); All Saints' Chapel, Sewanee (begun 1904, finished 1959); St. Thomas Church, New York City (1905-1913); Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Detroit, Michigan (1908); All Saints Cathedral, Halifax, Nova Scotia (1910); Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City (begun 1912, unfinished); multiple buildings at Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey (1913-1927); Cole Memorial Chapel, Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts (1917); in our own Diocese, Trinity Episcopal Church, Houston, Texas (1919); St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Hastings, Nebraska (1921-1929), and St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Winston-Salem, NC Winston-Salem (1928).

 

Upton was an English-born architect who emigrated to the United States and became most famous for his Gothic Revival churches.  He designed the following: Trinity Church in New York City (1839-46); The Church of the Ascension in New York City (1840-41); Grace Church, Providence, Rhode Island (1845; later remodeled by Ralph Adams Cram, above); St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Burlington, New Jersey (1846-54); Christ Episcopal Church in Raleigh, North Carolina (1846-48); Grace Church in Newark, New Jersey (1847-48); St. Paul's Cathedral in Buffalo, New York (1849-51); Zion Episcopal Church in Rome, New York (1850-1851); St. John Chrysostom Church in Delafield, Wisconsin (1851-56); St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland (1854); All Saints Episcopal Church in Frederick, Maryland (1855); St. Mark's Episcopal Church (San Antonio, Texas) (1858); St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Albany, New York (1859); Church of the Holy Comforter in Poughkeepsie, New York (1860); St. Philip's Church in the Highlands in Garrison, New York (1860-61); St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Providence, Rhode Island (1860-62); Memorial Church of St. Luke The Beloved Physician, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1861); Trinity-St. Paul's Episcopal Church (New Rochelle, New York) (1862); All Saint's Memorial Church in Navesink, New Jersey (1863-64); and St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Selma, Alabama (1871-75).

 

LaFarge was an American painter, muralist, stained glass window maker, decorator, and writer.  His stained glass works include: Sealing of the Twelve Tribes, Trinity Episcopal Church, Buffalo, New York (1889); two windows at the Thomas Crane Public Library, Quincy, Massachusetts; 14 windows at the Judson Memorial Church, Greenwich Village, New York City; four windows at the Trinity Church, Boston; the windows at the St. Paul's Chapel, Columbia University, New York City; the rose window at the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia.

 

Let us pray:  Gracious God, we thank you for the vision of Ralph Adams Cram, John LaFarge and Richard Upjohn, whose harmonious revival of the Gothic enriched our churches with a sacramental understanding of reality in the face of secular materialism; and we pray that we may honor your gifts of the beauty of holiness given through them, for the glory of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

This Sunday, the 4th Sunday in Advent, the Children will preach the sermon through their Advent Program. After the Eucharist, we will have a pot luck lunch.

 

We continue this Sunday at 11 a.m. with A World Awaits, Advent Reflections by C.S. Lewis.

 

On Thursday, 19 December, the Seaside Seniors will have their Christmas Party in Sutton Hall at St. Augustine’s where St. Nicholas will give out gifts and the Children’s Choir from St. Vincent’s House will provide holiday cheer.

 

Christmas Eve Eucharist Rite II will be at 4 PM.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially the very old and the very young who are ill and all of those who are alone this Christmas Season.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Do We Have It Backwards?

The Pharisees really take a beating in today’s Gospel reading for the Church’s Daily Prayer for Thursday in the second week of Advent.  Today’s reading is known as the “woe” passages:

 

‘But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

 

‘Woe to you, blind guides, who say, “Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.” You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? And you say, “Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.” How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; and whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it.

 

‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

 

‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean.  (Mt. 22:14-26).

 

The Pharisees do not fare well.  But what is the key issue Jesus is getting at here?  The Pharisees’ priorities are out of order and they are leading others in the same disordered direction: they place the gold in the sanctuary gold over the sanctuary itself; they place the gift on the altar over the altar itself; they place their monetary tithing over God’s call to justice; and they place outwardly cleanliness over the state of their hearts and souls.  In short, they have things in reverse.

 

During this Advent season, when the world around us is constantly telling us that it just isn’t Christmas unless we have a new luxury car in our driveways, we must stop and consider whether we, like the Pharisees, may have our priorities backwards.

 

Let us pray:  You have made for yourself O Lord, and as our patron St. Augustine prayed, our hearts are restless until they rest in you. We ask you to bless our restlessness in our search for you will live in our lives, and in the events confronting us. Finding you, may we be faithful to you God of history, faithful to Christ our Lord and Savior, faithful to the Church and her teaching and faithful to our particular state of life which we have chosen to serve you. This we ask of you loving Father, through Christ our Lord with lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit now and always. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

This Sunday, the 3^rd Sunday in Advent, the Galveston Heritage Chorale will provide the music for the Eucharist.

 

We continue this Sunday at 11 a.m. with A World Awaits, Advent Reflections by C.S. Lewis.

 

On Thursday, 19 December, the Seaside Seniors will have their Christmas Party in Sutton Hall at St. Augustine’s where St. Nicholas will give out gifts and the Children’s Choir from St. Vincent’s House will provide holiday cheer.

 

On the 4^th Sunday of Advent we will have a pot luck lunch following the Eucharist.

 

Christmas Eve Eucharist Rite II will be at 4 PM.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

The Humility of God

The Gospel appointed for this Wednesday in the second week of Advent is taken from Matthew where we read:

 

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have people call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.  (Mt. 23:1-12)

 

The last line of the passage is particularly striking especially in Advent where we wait in hopeful and joyful anticipation for the coming of the Word Incarnate.  “All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”  The second person of the Trinity, the Son, he through whom all things were made, humbles himself to become one with us, to become the Suffering Servant Isaiah spoke about, to live and die and we do, and ultimately, to be exalted after the Resurrection when he ascends to the Father’s right hand.  Jesus lived out today’s Gospel passage.  He calls you and me to humble ourselves and to be servants to all of God’s people.

 

Let us pray:  Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

This Sunday, the 3^rd Sunday in Advent, the Galveston Heritage Chorale will provide the music for the Eucharist.

 

We continue this Sunday at 11 a.m. with A World Awaits, Advent Reflections by C.S. Lewis.

 

The Seaside Seniors will have their Christmas Party in Sutton Hall at St. Augustine’s where St. Nicholas will give out gifts and the Children’s Choir from St. Vincent’s House will provide holiday cheer.

 

On the 4^th Sunday of Advent we will have a pot luck lunch following the Eucharist.

 

Christmas Eve Eucharist Rite II will be at 4 PM.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Karl Barth & Thomas Merton

On this Tuesday in the second week of Advent, we remember two giants of the 20^th Century: Karl Barth, a theologian, and Thomas Merton, OCSO, priest, monk and contemplative.

Regarding Karl Barth, James Kiefer writes:

Karl Barth (May 10, 1886– December 10, 1968) (pronounced “bart”) was a Swiss Reformed theologian whom critics hold to be among the most important Christian thinkers of the 20th century; Pope Pius XII described him as the most important theologian since Thomas Aquinas. Beginning with his experience as a pastor, he rejected his training in the predominant liberal theology typical of 19th-century European Protestantism. Instead he embarked on a new theological path initially called dialectical theology, due to its stress on the paradoxical nature of divine truth (e.g., God's relationship to humanity embodies both grace and judgment). Other critics have referred to Barth as the father of neo-orthodoxy — a term emphatically rejected by Barth himself. The most accurate description of his work might be "a theology of the Word." Barth's theological thought emphasized the sovereignty of God, particularly through his innovative doctrine of election.

Here is what Br. Patrick Hart, OCSO, of Gethsemani Abbey, writes about his fellow Cistercian monk:

Thomas Merton, known in the monastery as Fr. Louis, was born on 31 January 1915 in Prades, southern France. The young Merton attended schools in France, England [Oakham School, 1929-32; Clare College, Cambridge, 1933-4], and the United States [Columbia University, M.A.]. 

At Columbia University in New York City, he came under the influence of some remarkable teachers of literature, including Mark Van Doren, Daniel C. Walsh, and Joseph Wood Krutch. Merton entered the Catholic Church in 1938 in the wake of a rather dramatic conversion experience. Shortly afterward, he completed his master’s thesis, “On Nature and Art in William Blake.”

Following some teaching at Columbia University Extension and at St. Bonaventure’s College, Olean, New York, Merton entered the monastic community of the Abbey of Gethsemani at Trappist, Kentucky, on 10 December 1941. He was received by Abbot Frederic Dunne who encouraged the young Frater Louis to translate works from the Cistercian tradition and to write historical biographies to make the Order better known.

The abbot also urged the young monk to write his autobiography, which was published under the title The Seven Storey Mountain (1948) and became a best-seller and a classic. During the next 20 years, Merton wrote prolifically on a vast range of topics, including the contemplative life, prayer, and religious biographies. His writings would later take up controversial issues (e.g., social problems and Christian responsibility: race relations, violence, nuclear war, and economic injustice) and a developing ecumenical concern. He was one of the first Catholics to commend the great religions of the East to Roman Catholic Christians in the West.

Merton died by accidental electrocution in Bangkok, Thailand, while attending a meeting of religious leaders on 10 December 1968, just 27 years to the day after his entrance into the Abbey of Gethsemani.

Many esteem Thomas Merton as a spiritual master, a brilliant writer, and a man who embodied the quest for God and for human solidarity. Since his death, many volumes by him have been published, including five volumes of his letters and seven of his personal journals. According to present count, more than 60 titles of Merton’s writings are in print in English, not including the numerous doctoral dissertations and books about the man, his life, and his writings.

Let us pray:  Almighty God, source of justice beyond human knowledge: We thank you for inspiring Karl Barth to resist tyranny and exalt your saving grace, without which we cannot apprehend your will. Teach us, like him, to live by faith, and even in chaotic and perilous times to perceive the light of your eternal glory, Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, throughout all ages. Amen.

Gracious God, you called your monk Thomas Merton to proclaim your justice out of silence, and moved him in his contemplative writings to perceive and value Christ at work in the faiths of others: Keep us, like him, steadfast in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

This Sunday, the 3^rd Sunday in Advent, the Galveston Heritage Chorale will provide the music for the Eucharist.

We continue this Sunday at 11 a.m. with A World Awaits, Advent Reflections by C.S. Lewis.

The Seaside Seniors will have their Christmas Party in Sutton Hall at St. Augustine’s where St. Nicholas will give out gifts and the Children’s Choir from St. Vincent’s House will provide holiday cheer.

On the 4^th Sunday of Advent we will have a pot luck lunch following the Eucharist.

Christmas Eve Eucharist Rite II will be at 4 PM.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

St. John of Damascus

Today the Church celebrates the life and ministry of St. John of Damascus who was born around 676 and died around 750.  John was born into a wealthy Arabic family known as Monsur.  He became a monk and priest around the age of 51 at Mar Saba near Bethlehem.  In 726, the Emperor Leo III outlawed the veneration of icons, and that is when John blossomed. 

In 730 Leo III commanded the destruction of all religious likenesses, and the iconoclasts (Greek for "image smashers") demolished nearly all of the icons in the Empire.

From his monastery, John challenged the Emperor arguing that icons should not be worshiped noting: “I do not worship matter; I worship the God of matter, who became matter for my sake and deigned to inhabit matter, who worked out my salvation through matter. I will not cease from honoring that matter which works for my salvation. I venerate it, though not as God.”

John wrote theological works and hymns and he is recognized as one of the principal hymn writers of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Let us pray:  Confirm our minds, O Lord, in the mysteries of the true faith, set forth with power by your servant John of Damascus; that we, with him, confessing Jesus to be true God and true Man, and singing the praises of the risen Lord, may, by the power of the resurrection, attain to eternal joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for evermore.  Amen.

Thank you to all for opening St. Augustine’s for the second year to the World Wide Aids Day.  We had over 100 people gather at St. Augustine’s to pray, to be educated about AIDS and to get tested. 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550