Some doubted

Today is Ascension Thursday where the Church remembers Jesus’ ascending to the Father.  In the Gospel according to Matthew we read:

 

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ (Mt. 28:16-20).

 

Forty days after the Resurrection, the Son returns to the Father.  Prior to the ascension, Jesus calls his disciples together.  One of the amazing things in this passage is Matthew’s frankness that “some doubted.”  The 11 had been with Jesus throughout his entire public ministry.  They knew that he was crucified.  They saw the resurrected Jesus.  Nevertheless, some doubted.  Whenever doubts creep into your life, just remember that even some of the 11 who had witnessed the Resurrection and Jesus’ ascension doubted, but they soon found themselves doing just what Jesus told them to do—they went forth and made disciples and they baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and taught them to obey everything that Jesus commanded them.

 

Let us pray: Gracious God, there are times when my ability to trust seems absent. My heart longs for truth and I even find within me a kernel of desire to believe, but my mind seems unable to grasp the truth and belief that I seek. Let your sure and true presence wash over me, shedding shafts of light where only darkness resides, and in those shafts of light may I see the outline of your face. I ask this for the sake of your love. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Every Wednesday, the Healing Arts Ministry with Lee Runion starting at 11:00 AM with a light lunch provided.

 

The Seaside Seniors meet every third Thursday of the month in Sutton Hall at 1100 AM.

 

The Adult Christian Education series continues: “The Resurrection: Now What?”  We have explored how the Bible came to be and now we will explore the Patristic period and the Nicene Creed.  Come join us at 11:00 AM on Sunday mornings.

 

Gospel by the Sea is 14 June at 6 PM at Greater St. Matthew’s Baptist Church, 6333 Highway 6, Hitchcock, Texas 77563.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List and especially Pat, Patricia, and all of those who are serving in the Armed Forces.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Ephesians: Paul's Great Letter About the Church

The Epistle reading appointed for today is taken from the beginning of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:

 

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Ephesians 1:1-10).

 

Ephesians is Paul’s great letter about the church. It deals, however, not so much with a congregation in the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor as with the worldwide church, the head of which is Christ, the purpose of which is to be the instrument for making God’s plan of salvation known throughout the universe. This idea of church is anchored in God’s saving love, shown in Jesus Christ, and the whole of redemption is rooted in the plan and accomplishment of God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Paul uses the language of praise and of liturgy and hymns.  Paul reminds us that you and I are the church; we are the body of Christ and Jesus is our head.  God’s plan is to gather everyone and everything together in Christ.

 

Let us pray:  Gracious God, we thank you for the gift of your son, Jesus who is the Christ.  Send your Holy Spirit to make us one in Christ that we may reflect your love in the world.  Amen.

 

Today the Church also remembers and honors a Reformer, John Calvin who was born on 10 July 1509 and died on 27 May 1564.  He was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Reformation. Calvin was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530. After religious tensions provoked a violent uprising against Protestants in France, Calvin fled to Switzerland, where in 1536 he published the first edition of his seminal work Institutes of the Christian Religion.

 

Let us pray: Sovereign and holy God, you brought John Calvin from a study of legal systems to understand the godliness of your divine laws as revealed in Scripture: Fill us with a like zeal to teach and preach your Word, that the whole world may come to know your Son Jesus Christ, the true Word and Wisdom; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, ever one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Every Wednesday, the Healing Arts Ministry with Lee Runion starting at 11:00 AM with a light lunch provided.

 

The Seaside Seniors meet every third Thursday of the month in Sutton Hall at 1100 AM.

 

The Adult Christian Education series continues: “The Resurrection: Now What?”  We have explored how the Bible came to be and now we will explore the Patristic period and the Nicene Creed.  Come join us at 11:00 AM on Sunday mornings.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List and especially Pat, Patricia, and all of those who are serving in the Armed Forces.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Today's Martyrs

Today the Church remembers those who gave their lives for their faith in the Sudan on this day in 1983:

 

The Christian bishops, chiefs, commanders, clergy and people of Sudan declared, on May 16, 1983, that they would not abandon God as God had revealed himself to them under threat of Shariah Law imposed by the fundamentalist Islamic government in Khartoum. Until a peace treaty was signed on January 9, 2005, the Episcopal Church of the Province of the Sudan suffered from persecution and devastation through twenty-two years of civil war. Two and a half million people were killed, half of whom were members of this church. Many clergy and lay leaders were singled out because of their religious leadership in their communities. No buildings, including churches and schools, are left standing in an area the size of Alaska. Four million people are internally displaced, and a million are scattered around Africa and beyond in the Sudanese Diaspora. Twenty-two of the twenty-four dioceses exist in exile in Uganda or Kenya, and the majority of the clergy are unpaid. Only 5% of the population of Southern Sudan was Christian in 1983. Today over 85% of that region of six million is now mostly Episcopalian or Roman Catholic. A faith rooted deeply in the mercy of God has renewed their spirits through out the years of strife and sorrow. (From the proposal before the 75th General Convention)

 

This continues even today.  In a very recent new story (15 May 2014) from the Morning Star News we read:

 

A judge in Sudan today confirmed the death sentence for “apostasy” (leaving Islam) for a pregnant Christian woman after she refused to recant, sources said.

 

After her conviction on April 30, Judge Abaas Al Khalifa had given Meriam Yahia Ibrahim 15 days to recant or be executed, with the ultimatum repeated at her hearing on Sunday (May 11). He also confirmed the sentence of 100 lashes for having sex with her husband, considered illicit in Islam because he is a Christian.

“The court has sentenced you to be hanged till you are dead,” Al Khalifa told Ibrahim, who also has a 20-month-old son, after Islamist crowds shouted for the court to punish her.

 

As other Sudanese convicted of leaving Islam have recanted their new faiths in order to avoid execution, the 27-year-old Ibrahim is the first person to be sentenced to death under Sudan’s apostasy law, according to Amnesty International.

 

Before the court appearance, a Muslim scholar went to Ibrahim — as has happened repeatedly since her incarceration without trial in February — and spent nearly 40 minutes trying to force her to recant, sources said. She told him what she told the judge.

 

“I am a Christian, and I have never been a Muslim,” she told Al Khalifa in court.

 

Let us pray:  O God, steadfast in the midst of persecution, by your providence the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church: As the martyrs of the Sudan refused to abandon Christ even in the face of torture and death, and so by their sacrifice brought forth a plentiful harvest, may we, too, be steadfast in our faith in Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

WE HAD A WONDERFUL EVENING LAST NIGHT AT THE SHARING OUR FAITH DINNER AT THE PUTMANS’ HOME.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Safeguarding Adults and Children Program at Grace tomorrow starting at 8:30 AM.

 

Adult Christian Education: “The Resurrection: Now What?” continue Sunday at 11 AM.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Jesus Calls Us To Do More than the Law Requires

The appointed Gospel reading for the Daily Prayer of the Church is taken from the Gospel according to Matthew where Jesus calls us to go beyond what the 10 Commandments require:

 

‘You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder”; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.” But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, “You fool”, you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. (Mt. 5:21-26).

 

To be sure, the Pharisees were sticklers for following the Law, the 10 Commandments which they added about 638 more commandments to.  Jesus calls you and me not to merely follow the Law, but to follow the spirit of the 10 Commandments.  A person can be technically in compliance with the law, while not living up to and into the spirit of the law.  For example, the 10 Commandments tell us not to kill an innocent human being.  But how many times have we “killed” others with our words?  Jesus calls us to go beyond the letter of the law; he calls us to do more than the letter of the law requires.

 

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 you 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

 

Sharing Our Faith Dinner will be Thursday evening at the Putmans’ home on 1718 Avenue N at 7 p.m.  Please let Stacy know if you are coming by calling her at 832-382-4463.

 

Adult Christian Education: “The Resurrection: Now What?”  Join us Sundays at 11 AM as we study the development of the Old and New Testament canons, the early Church and the Patristic period and the Creeds.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Julie, Pat, Lee Runion’s mother, and Patricia.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Good News Spreads Quickly

One of the appointed readings for today is taken from 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10:

 

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.  We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of people we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place where your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.

 

Good news spreads quickly.  The Thessalonians accepted the Good News of Jesus Christ, and they lived it out.  Their living out the Good News spread to the neighboring regions.  Have you and I at St. Augustine’s received the Good News the same way the Thessalonians did?  Has the word spread about the impact that the Good News of Jesus has had in our lives?  If not, then we need to reassess how we are living our lives.  As St. Francis said, we should always preach the Gospel, and when necessary, use words.

 

Let us pray:  All powerful and ever living God, we thank you for showing us your face in Jesus Christ, and we thank you for his saving work.  Send your Holy Spirit to make our hearts burn with the Good News and to spread the Word to everyone that we meet.  Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Sharing Our Faith Dinner will be Thursday evening at the Putmans’ home on 1718 Avenue N at 7 p.m.  Please let Stacy know if you are coming by calling her at 832-382-4463.

 

The Seaside Seniors will meet this Thursday at 11 A.M. in Sutton Hall.  The theme is Cinco de Mayo, and turkey tacos are on the menu.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Julie, Pat, Lee Runion’s mother, and Patricia.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

The Bread of Life

The Gospel reading for the celebration of the Eucharist today is taken from the Gospel according to John where we hear how Jesus is the Bread of Life:

 

So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” ’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’

 

Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.  (Jn. 6:30-35).

 

Today we have any number of diets that are low carb; bread is bad!  In Jesus’ day, that was not the case.  Bread was a staple; it was a good thing.  Bread was a source of nourishment and life.  It still is.  Jesus tells us today that he is the very source of life and sustenance.  Jesus keeps us going. Jesus keeps us alive.  You and I encounter the risen Lord in the Breaking of the Bread and the Sharing of the Cup.  Jesus becomes manifest to us in simple bread, and simple wine.  Jesus is present; he is the source of our life and being.

 

Let us pray:  Heavenly Father: thank you for sending your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, to be the Bread of Life for the world.  Forgive us for elevating earthly appetites above devotion to you.  Feed us with the knowledge of Christ so that we recognize our sin and gladly repent in his name.  Amen.

 

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO MADE OUT 4^TH ANNUAL “BIGMISTA AND FRIENDS BBQ” A SUCCESS.  It was a lot of hard work!

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

New Christian Adult Education Series:  “The Resurrection: Now What?”  We will look at the early Church, the development of the canon of Scripture and the Patristic period over the next several weeks.  Join us at 11:00 AM after breakfast.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Julie, Pat, Gladys and all of those serving in the Armed Forces at home and abroad.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

The Rev. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

St. Athanasius: The "Black Dwarf"

Today the Church celebrates the life and ministry of St. Athanasius, a bishop, a theologian and a defender of the faith.  Athanasius was born around 298 and he lived in Alexandria, Egypt. 

 

His enemies nicknamed him the “Black Dwarf” because he was short and dark skinned.  Athanasius was exiled 5 times by 4 Roman emperors spending 17 of the 45 years he served as bishop of Alexandria in exile. In the end, Athanasius won out because his writings that shaped the theological vision of the Church.

 

Here was the controversy; it centered on the nature of Jesus Christ.  Arius, a priest in Libya, said that there was a time when the Son was not.  Specifically, he wrote: “If the Father begat the Son, then he who was begotten had a beginning in existence, and from this it follows there was a time when the Son was not.”   Athanasius said that the Son was eternal; he was of the same “stuff” as God the Father.  Just as the Father is eternal, so is the Son.

 

Word of the dispute made it to the Emperor Constantine, who wanted a unified Church, so to settle the matter, he called a council of bishops.

 

Of the 1,800 bishops invited to Nicaea, about 300 came; they argued, fought, and eventually fleshed out an early version of the Nicene Creed. The council condemned Arius as a heretic, exiled him, and made it a capital offense to possess his writings. Constantine was pleased that peace had been restored to the church. Athanasius, whose treatise On the Incarnation laid the foundation for the orthodox party at Nicaea, was hailed as “the noble champion of Christ.”

 

Let us pray: Uphold your Church, O God of truth, as you upheld your servant Athanasius, to maintain and proclaim boldly the catholic faith against all opposition, trusting solely in the grace of your eternal Word, who took upon himself our humanity that we might share his divinity; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

TOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY—THE 4^TH ANNUAL BBQ WITH NEIL “BIGMISTA” STRADER AND HIS FRIENDS IS FINALLY HERE!  Please be there to help if you have committed to do so, and remind all of your friends and family about it.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski, Vicar

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550