St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo and Theologian

Today the Church celebrates the life and ministry of our own St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo in North Africa.  He was born on 13 November 354 in North Africa, about 45 miles south of the Mediterranean, in Tagaste in Numidia (now Souk-Ahras in Algeria), near ancient Carthage (modern Tunis).  His mother, Monica, was a devout Christian who was married to a Roman who was not a Christian until much later in his life.  Augustine was a man about town in his younger days.  He had a mistress (Augustine never tells us her name) and at the age of 18 Augustine fathered a son, Adeodatus.  Monica constantly prayer for Augustine and his father that they would one day embrace the faith.  Putting it mildly, Augustine did everything but, and he dabbled in all sorts of things, including Manichaeism which was a kind of synthesis of Christianity with Zoroastrianism, the dominant religion of Persia. It is a dualist thinking teaching that there are two gods of equal power and eternity, and that the universe is the scene of an unending battle between light and darkness, good and evil, knowledge and ignorance, soul and body, etc. The Manicheans as they moved west into the Roman Empire adopted many traits of what is generically called Gnosticism. Eventually Augustine gave it up and studied some more philosophy. 

 

Eventually, he ended up in Milan as a lawyer and teacher where met Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, who through his preaching and with the grace of God, brought Augustine to the faith and Augustine was baptized on Easter in the year 387.

 

He wound up in North Africa where he was ordained a priest in 391 and became Bishop of Hippo in 396.  Augustine dealt with the Donatist heresy. Donatism developed as a result of the persecution of Christians ordered by Diocletian in 303 in which all churches and sacred scriptures of the Christians were to be destroyed. In 304 another edict was issued ordering the burning of incense to the idol gods of the Roman empire. Of course, Christians refused; but it did not curtail the increased persecution. Many Christians gave up the sacred texts to the persecutors and even betrayed other Christians to the Romans. These people became known as “traditors,” Christians who betrayed other Christians.  At the consecration of bishop Caecilian of Carthage in 311, one of the three bishops, Felix, bishop of Aptunga, who consecrated Caecilian, had given copies of the Bible to the Roman persecutors. A group of about 70 bishops formed a synod and declared the consecration of the bishop to be invalid. Great debate arose concerning the validity of the sacraments (baptism, the Lord's Supper, etc.) by one who had sinned so greatly against other Christians.  As a result, the Donatists thought that the effectiveness of the sacraments depended on the moral character of the minister. In other words, if a minister who was involved in a serious enough sin were to baptize a person, that baptism would be considered invalid.  Augustine said that was not so.  The effectiveness of the sacrament is by virtue of God’s grace and not the moral state of the minister.  Augustine also noted that the Church was a hospital for sinners, since we are all sinners; it was not a museum of saints.

 

Augustine also spent a considerable amount of time fighting Pelagianism.  Pelagius was a teacher in Rome, though he was British by birth. It is a heresy dealing with the nature of man. Pelagius taught that people had the ability to fulfill the commands of God by exercising the freedom of human will apart from the grace of God.  Augustine said that we need both, God’s grace because our free will is corrupted.

 

Augustine was a great thinker, and is considered a Doctor of the Church.  His works include The Confessions (his autobiography), On the Trinity and The City of God. 

He wrote: "Our hearts are restless unless they rest in you, O God." Augustine died on this day in 430.

 

Let us pray:  Lord God, the light of the minds that know you, the life of the souls that love you, and the strength of the hearts that serve you: Help us, following the example of your servant Augustine of Hippo, so to know you that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may fully serve you, whom to serve is perfect freedom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Next Sunday is Blessing of the Backpacks at the 9 AM Eucharist.

 

Invite Someone to Church Sunday is on the 21st of September 2014.  Please invite someone to Church to experience the joy of the Good News.

 

The 6th Annual Art Show, “Let There Be Light,” will be from the 4th of October for 1 week.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

"Rise Peter, slay and eat!"

One of the appointed readings for today is taken from the Acts of the Apostles where we read how Peter, a good practicing Jewish person, is confronted with the dietary laws he has followed his entire life in the context of the church expanding to include Gentiles, non-Jewish people:

 

In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort, as it was called. He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God. One afternoon at about three o’clock he had a vision in which he clearly saw an angel of God coming in and saying to him, ‘Cornelius.’ He stared at him in terror and said, ‘What is it, Lord?’ He answered, ‘Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is called Peter; he is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside.’ When the angel who spoke to him had left, he called two of his slaves and a devout soldier from the ranks of those who served him, and after telling them everything, he sent them to Joppa.

 

About noon the next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat; and while it was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air. Then he heard a voice saying, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.’ The voice said to him again, a second time, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ This happened three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven. (Acts 10:1-16).

 

 

These words are familiar to anyone who has been at St. Augustine’s on Sunday morning when right after the grace for breakfast Charles Lemons proclaims: “Rise Peter, slay and eat!”

 

Cornelius, a Roman officer, is described as a devout person who respects God who is ending him to see Peter.  For his part, while Peter is praying, God tells him that everything manner of thing that he has made is fit to eat because God made it; therefore, Peter is free to eat even those things that had been prohibited by the Jewish dietary laws.  What we see in this passage is the Early Church coping not only with growth, but with growth outside of its Jewish roots to a wider idea of the people of God.  Indeed, Christ came to save not only the people of Israel, but Gentiles as well.  Jesus came to restore all of creation to God, to reconcile the world.  Everything is a new creation in Christ!

 

Let us pray: Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Next Sunday is Blessing of the Backpacks at the 9 AM Eucharist.

 

Invite Someone to Church Sunday is on the 21st of September 2014.  Please invite someone to Church to experience the joy of the Good News.

 

The 6th Annual Art Show, “Let There Be Light,” will be from the 4th of October for 1 week.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

To whom Lord shall we go?

The appointed Gospel reading for the Daily Prayer of the Church comes from John and it is part of the Bread of Life discourse:

 

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’ But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, ‘Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, ‘For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.’

 

Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, ‘Do you also wish to go away?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’ (Jn. 6:60-69).

 

Jesus tells the people that he is the bread of life, and that they must eat of the flesh and drink his blood of they are to have life.  In response to that, many leave Jesus.  So, Jesus turns to his disciples and asks them if they will do the same.  Peter responds: “‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” 

 

Yes indeed, to whom can we go?  Jesus not only has the words of eternal life, he is the source of sum of life itself.  Jesus is the climax of human history; at the moment of his Resurrection, the world was not only redeemed but recreated and in him we have a new life, a life without end.  So when you feel discouraged, sorrowful, dejected or unloved, remember that you are a new creation in Christ, and in him, you live, move and have your being, and that you are loved completely.

 

Let us pray: Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord's resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

If you want to pray the Daily Office (the Daily Prayer of the Church around the world), you can do so easily by clicking on Today’s Prayer Service at http://www.missionstclare.com/english/

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Next Sunday is Blessing of the Backpacks at the 9 AM Eucharist.

 

Invite Someone to Church Sunday is on the 21st of September 2014.  Please invite someone to Church to experience the joy of the Good News.

 

The 6th Annual Art Show, “Let There Be Light,” will be from the 4th of October for 1 week.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

St. Bartholomew

Today the Church remembers the life and ministry of St. Bartholomew, an Apostle.  The New Testament mentions Bartholomew 4 times: Matthew 10:3; Mark 3.13-23; Luke 6:14; Acts of the Apostles 1:8-18.  The name “Bartholomew” is a patronymic, meaning “son of Tolmai (or Talmai)”; therefore, it is likely that he had another name, perhaps Nathaniel as in John 1:45–51 where he is introduced as a friend of Philip. He is described as initially being skeptical about the Messiah coming from Nazareth, saying: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  Nevertheless, he follows Jesus.

 

Legend has it that he preached in India and Greater Armenia, where he was flayed and beheaded by King Astyages.

 

What we do know is this; Bartholomew left all that he had and followed Jesus.  He did not follow Jesus to become famous or wealthy, but quite the opposite.  Bartholomew followed Jesus because he knew him to be the Christ, the Redeemer of the world, and Bartholomew gave up all that he had to preach the Good News of Jesus without counting the cost.  How many of us can say that we have left even a fraction of what we have to follow Jesus?  Bartholomew is a reminder to us that each of us is called, in our own way, to make Christ known in the world by the way we live and interact with others.

 

Let us pray: Almighty and everlasting God, who gave to your apostle Bartholomew grace truly to believe and to preach your Word: Grant that your Church may love what he believed and preach what he taught; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

 

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT MADE OUR 130^TH ANNIVERSARY AND ST. AUGUSTINE’S FEAST DAY A WONDERFUL AND FAITH FILLED EVENT.

 

If you want to pray the Daily Office (the Daily Prayer of the Church around the world), you can do so easily by clicking on Today’s Prayer Service at http://www.missionstclare.com/english/

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Next Sunday is Blessing of the Backpacks at the 9 AM Eucharist.

 

Invite Someone to Church Sunday is on the 21^st of September 2014.  Please invite someone to Church to experience the joy of the Good News.

 

The 6^th Annual Art Show, “Let There Be Light,” will be from the 4^th of October for 1 week.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

A Change in Life

One of the appointed readings for today is taken from the Acts of the Apostles where we read how Saul, a zealous defender of Pharisaical Judaism, finds the unexpected in his life:

 

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ He asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’ The men who were travelling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. (Acts 9:1-9).

 

Saul is out to get the followers of Jesus, and he was given the authority to do so.  As he is in the process of carrying out the persecution, he encounters the living Christ who asks Saul why he is persecuting him.  Notice that Saul answers the voice saying “Lord.”  It is as if he knows who is talking to him, and Saul is right.  It is Jesus.  Jesus tells Saul what to do, and Saul obeys.  What a turn around!  Saul literally goes from persecuting the Christians to becoming not only one of them, but their most ardent proponent. 

 

Let us pray: O God, by the preaching of your apostle Paul you have caused the light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world: Grant, we pray, that we, having his wonderful conversion in remembrance, may show ourselves thankful to you by following his holy teaching; 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

 

The Feast Day of St. Augustine and our 130th Anniversary: Sunday, 24 August 2014 with Eucharist Rite II and a brunch following.  Please invite everyone to this festive and historic occasion. The preacher will be the Rev. Freda Marie Brown and the main celebrant will be the Rev. Dr. Helen Appelberg.  We will also baptize Arianna Rene Martin-Lujan.

 

LIFE STORY WRITING GROUP: Enjoy listening and sharing your written stories. Leave a legacy as you develop quality writing. 6:30-8:30 p.m. in Eaton Hall at Trinity Episcopal Church on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of September through December with 8 2 hour sessions. Confidential environment, No tests, No grades, writing skills of all levels. Limited to 14 people. $25 fee to Trinity (Register in Eaton Hall) Contact: Alison Barker at jerryalisonbarker@gmail.com or Meredith Griffin at meredith.marie.griffin@gmail.com

  

Blessing of the Backpacks: Sunday, 31 August 2014.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Lee’s mother, Lee and his family, Gladys, Pat, Patricia, Lloyd, Liz, those in war torn areas, and for all those persecuted for their faith.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

The Old Testament lesson appointed for today comes from the Book of Job.  It is the beginning of the story:

 

There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. His sons used to go and hold feasts in one another’s houses in turn; and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the feast days had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt-offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, ‘It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.’ This is what Job always did.

 

One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the Lord, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.’ The Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.’ Then Satan answered the Lord, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.’ The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!’ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

 

One day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said, ‘The oxen were ploughing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell on them and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.’ While he was still speaking, another came and said, ‘The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you.’ While he was still speaking, another came and said, ‘The Chaldeans formed three columns, made a raid on the camels and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.’ While he was still speaking, another came and said, ‘Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house, and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you.’

 

Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshipped. He said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’  In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing. (Job 1:1-22).

 

Within 22 verses, Job goes from being a wealthy man with a large family to being penniless and alone.  In the Hebrew, ha-satan (the accuser) argues that Job would not be such a great person if he lost everything.  The accuser says that the only reason Job loves God is because Job has everything a person could possibly want.  Take everything away from Job, and he will curse God.  Even after losing everything and, more importantly, everyone, “Job … fell on the ground and worshipped. He said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’”  How many of us truly appreciate that everything we have is God’s.  The Old Testament tells us in 1 Chronicles, “all things come from you O Lord, and of your own have we given you,” and as Paul says in Acts, “in God we live, move and have our being.”  Everything, even our very existence is God’s.  Everything is God’s gift.

 

Let us pray:  Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.  Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

LIFE STORY WRITING GROUP: Enjoy listening and sharing your written stories. Leave a legacy as you develop quality writing. 6:30-8:30 p.m. in Eaton Hall at Trinity Episcopal Church on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of September through December with 8 2 hour sessions. Confidential environment, No tests, No grades, writing skills of all levels. Limited to 14 people. $25 fee to Trinity (Register in Eaton Hall) Contact: Alison Barker at jerryalisonbarker@gmail.com or Meredith Griffin at meredith.marie.griffin@gmail.com

 

The Feast Day of St. Augustine and our 130th Anniversary: Sunday, 24 August 2014 with Eucharist Rite II and a brunch following.  Please invite everyone to this festive and historic occasion. The preacher will be the Rev. Freda Marie Brown and the main celebrant will be the Rev. Dr. Helen Appelberg.  We will also baptize Arianna Rene Martin-Lujan.

 

Blessing of the Backpacks: Sunday, 31 August 2014.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Lee’s mother, Lee and his family, Gladys, Pat, Patricia, Lloyd, Liz, those in war torn areas, and for all those persecuted for their faith.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550