St. Turibius

Today the Church remembers the life and ministry of someone I had wondered about for years.  When I was in the seminary at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, in what now seems a lifetime ago, the main chapel was St. Turibius.  When I was there, I never bothered to look him up assuming him to be a saint from the early days of the Church, and I thought that he was a Roman.  Well, I was wrong. 

Turibius of Mongrovejo was born on 16 November 1538, and died 23 March 1606. He was ordained priest in 1578 and sent to Peru. In 1579, Turibius became the Archbishop of Lima and spent his ministry doing mission work by travelling on foot, baptizing and teaching the indigenous population. He built roads, schoolhouses and chapels, many hospitals and convents, and at Lima, in 1591, founded the first seminary in the Western hemisphere.

Let us pray:  Merciful God, you sent your Gospel to the people of Peru through Turibius of Mogrovejo, who founded the first seminary in the Americas and baptized many: Help us to follow his example in bringing fearlessly the comfort of your grace to all downtrodden and outcast people, that your Church may be renewed with songs of salvation and praise; through Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Please remember in your prayer the family of Sue Frost who died last night.  Let us pray: Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant Sue. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive her into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

Adult Christian Education every Sunday at 11:00 a.m.: Contemporary Moral Issues.

Sunday, 25 August at 9:00 a.m. the Feast of St. Augustine will be celebrated with Eucharist Rite II and a pot luck lunch after.  This is the 129^th anniversary of our church community.  We will also have our “Blessing of the Backpacks” for all of those returning to school.

Sunday, 8 September we will: (1) begin Sunday School for the children, and (2) bless all of those participating in EFM which is being facilitated by Tammie Taylor.

Sunday, 15 September 2013: Invite Someone to Church Sunday.  The Anglican Communion will be doing this all over the world.  Be a part of it!

Retreat on 19-22 September 2013 at Holy Cross Monastery led by the Rev. Dr. Tom  Bain, “Standing at the Center with God and Ourselves.”  Here is a link to the website:

http://www.holycrossmonks.org/images/2013%20HFC%20brochure.pdf

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List especially Jim Reagan and all of those who are starting college and will be away from home for the first time.

Your servant in Christ,

The Rev. Chester J. Makowski

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

God of the Living

The Gospel reading for the Daily Prayer of the Church is taken from Mark where we read:

Then they sent to him some Pharisees and some Herodians to trap him in what he said. And they came and said to him, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?’ But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, ‘Why are you putting me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me see it.’ And they brought one. Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ And they were utterly amazed at him.

Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, saying, ‘Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. There were seven brothers; the first married and, when he died, left no children; and the second married her and died, leaving no children; and the third likewise; none of the seven left children. Last of all the woman herself died. In the resurrection whose wife will she be? For the seven had married her.’

Jesus said to them, ‘Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the story about the bush, how God said to him, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”? He is God not of the dead, but of the living; you are quite wrong.’ (Mk. 12:13-27).

The Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection, try to trap Jesus with questions about the resurrection with the question of a woman who had successive marriages.  They ask Jesus who she will be married to after the resurrection.  They are trying to ridicule the idea of the resurrection.  Jesus responds by telling them that the resurrection is really something that they cannot even imagine.  God is beyond their conception.  Rather, Jesus tells them and us that our God is the God of the living.  All of history has been pointing to Jesus and his reconciliation of God and humanity, and from that, all of creation will be remade, a new heaven and a new earth.

Let us pray:  O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on us; let the whole world see and know that things which were being cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

Adult Christian Education every Sunday at 11:00 a.m.: Contemporary Moral Issues.  This Sunday we will discuss medical issues. 

Sunday, 25 August at 9:00 a.m. the Feast of St. Augustine will be celebrated with Eucharist Rite II and a pot luck lunch after.  This is the 129^th anniversary of our church community.  We will also have our “Blessing of the Backpacks” for all of those returning to school.

Sunday, 8 September we will: (1) begin Sunday School for the children, and (2) bless all of those participating in EFM which is being facilitated by Tammie Taylor.

Retreat on 19-22 September 2013 at Holy Cross Monastery led by the Rev. Dr. Tom Bain, “Standing at the Center with God and Ourselves.”  Here is a link:

http://www.holycrossmonks.org/images/2013%20HFC%20brochure.pdf

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List especially Jim Reagan and all of those who are starting college and will be away from home for the first time.

Your servant in Christ,

The Rev. Chester J. Makowski

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

 

Today the Church celebrates the life and ministry of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, a theologian and monk, who was born in 1090 and died in 1153.  He was born into a wealthy family in Burgundy, France, near Dijon.  Believing he was called to the monastic life, at 22 years of age Bernard joined a new austere religious order, the Cistercians.  He even persuaded 4 of his brothers, 1 uncle, and 26 other men to join him. They were the first novices that the monastery in Citeaux had in several years. After just 3 years, the abbot ordered Bernard to take 12 monks and found a new house at La Ferte. The first year was a rocky one; they had no place to store food so they lived on roots and barley bread. Bernard was so hard on his monks that they became discouraged and despondent. Eventually Bernard saw the error of his ways and lightened up. That monastery became known as Clairvaux and its reputation spread all across Christendom.

 

Bernard was a man of fierce loyalties and passionate dedication to whatever he believed was right.  Bernard was selected to preach at the Second Crusade, an affair which went wrong from its start.  He also got involved in papal politics and he was very critical of Peter Abelard, one of the most brilliant theologians of the day. James Kiefer writes that: “Bernard believed that Abelard was too rationalistic in his approach, and failed to allow sufficiently for the element of mystery in the faith.”  A mutual friend managed to get the 2 men to reconcile. 

 

Bernard’s sermons on the Song of Songs, treated as an allegory of the love of Christ, are his best-known long work. 

 

Let us pray:  O God, by whose grace your servant Bernard of Clairvaux, kindled with the flame of your love, became a burning and a shining light in your Church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and walk before you as children of light; 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

 

Adult Christian Education every Sunday at 11:00 a.m.: Contemporary Moral Issues.

 

Sunday, 25 August at 9:00 a.m. the Feast of St. Augustine will be celebrated with Eucharist Rite II and a pot luck lunch after.  This is the 129^th anniversary of our church community.  We will also have our “Blessing of the Backpacks” for all of those returning to school.

 

Sunday, 8 September we will: (1) begin Sunday School for the children, and (2) bless all of those participating in EFM which is being facilitated by Tammie Taylor.

 

Retreat on 19-22 September 2013 at Holy Cross Monastery led by the Rev. Dr. Tom  Bain, “Standing at the Center with God and Ourselves.”  Here is a link to the website:

http://www.holycrossmonks.org/images/2013%20HFC%20brochure.pdf

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List especially Jim Reagan and all of those who are starting college and will be away from home for the first time.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

The Rev. Chester J. Makowski

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

"My teacher, let me see again."

In today’s Daily Prayer of the Church, we hear from the Gospel according to Mark where we hear how powerful one’s faith can be:

 

They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.  (Mk. 10:46-52).

 

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  That is something each and every one of us can shout at the top of our lungs along with Bartimaeus.  Each of us has something that blinds us.  For some it may be their past, for some it could be their upbringing, for others it could be a prejudice, and for some it could be selfishness.  When Jesus asks us, “What do you want me to do for you?” make sure you respond, “My teacher, let me see again.” 

 

Let us pray: Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Adult Christian Education every Sunday at 11:00 a.m.: Contemporary Moral Issues.

 

Sunday, 25 August at 9:00 a.m. the Feast of St. Augustine will be celebrated with Eucharist Rite II and a pot luck lunch after.  This is the 129^th anniversary of our church community.  We will also have our “Blessing of the Backpacks” for all of those returning to school.

 

Retreat on 19-22 September 2013 at Holy Cross Monastery led by the Rev. Dr. Tom  Bain, “Standing at the Center with God and Ourselves.”  Here is a link to the website:

http://www.holycrossmonks.org/images/2013%20HFC%20brochure.pdf

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List especially Jim Reagan and all of those who are starting college and will be away from home for the first time.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

The Rev. Chester J. Makowski

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Mary, the Mother of Our Lord

Today is one of the days that the Church honors Mary, the mother of Jesus.  Since the early days of the Church Mary has held a special place in the hearts of believers.  She is the model disciple who tells us to listen to her son and to do whatever he tells us to do. See Jn. 2:5 (the Wedding Feast of Cana). 

 

Mary’s life was not easy by any means.  She was greeted by the good news that she would give birth to the one who would restore all things to God, the Immanuel, God with us, and she lived to stand and the foot of the cross witnessing her son’s brutal death. 

 

James Kiefer tells us that: “The New Testament records several incidents from the life of the Virgin: her betrothal to Joseph, the Annunciation by the angel Gabriel that she was to bear the Messiah, her Visitation to Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist, the Nativity of our Lord, the visits of the shepherds and the magi, the Presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple at the age of forty days, the flight into Egypt, the Passover visit to the Temple when Jesus was twelve, [Matt. 1:16,18-25; 2; Lk. 1:26-56; 2]; the wedding at Cana in Galilee and the performance of her Son's first miracle at her intercession [Jn. 2:1-11], the occasions when observers said, "How can this man be special? We know his family!" [Matt. 13:54-56; Mk. 6:1-3; Lk. 4:22; also Jn. 6:42], an occasion when she came with others to see him while he was preaching [Matt. 12:46-50; Mk. 3:31-35; Lk. 8:19-21], her presence at the foot of the Cross, where Jesus commends her to the care of the Beloved Disciple [Jn. 19:25-27], and her presence with the apostles in the upper room after the Ascension, waiting for the promised Spirit [Acts 1:14]. She is thus seen to be present at most of the chief events of her Son's life.”

 

She is also mentioned by name in the Apostles’ and the Nicene Creed: “He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.”  (The only other person mentioned by name, besides Jesus, is Pontius Pilate.)

 

Let us pray: O God, who have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom; through your Son 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

 

Adult Christian Education every Sunday at 11:00 a.m.: Contemporary Moral Issues.

 

Sunday, 25 August at 9:00 a.m. the Feast of St. Augustine will be celebrated with Eucharist Rite II and a pot luck lunch after.  This is the 129^th anniversary of our church community.

 

Retreat on 19-22 September 2013 at Holy Cross Monastery led by the Rev. Dr. Tom  Bain, “Standing at the Center with God and Ourselves.”  Here is a link to the website:

http://www.holycrossmonks.org/images/2013%20HFC%20brochure.pdf

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List especially Jim Reagan and all of those who are starting college and will be away from home for the first time.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

The Rev. Chester J. Makowski

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

The Rt. Rev. Jeremy Taylor

 

Today the Church remembers and honors Jeremy Taylor who lived from 1613 to 1667.  Taylor was born in Cambridge, England.  His father was a barber, and he taught his son grammar and math. Taylor went to university at Caius College at Cambridge University where he received his B.A. in 1631, ordained in 1633 and then received his M.A. in 1634.

 

Archbishop William Laud took Taylor under his wing after he heard the young man preach.  Archbishop Laud encouraged Taylor to continue his academic studies, so Taylor became a fellow of All Souls, Oxford. Taylor became rector a country parish where he married and settled down to the work of a country priest. As a parish priest, Taylor was well known and people came to him from far and wide for advice and counsel.

 

During the Civil War in England, Taylor supported the King Charles I, and he became the King’s chaplain. Unfortunately, Oliver Cromwell and his lot executed King Charles I and Taylor found himself in prison.  After the Puritans were removed and the king regained the throne in 1661, Taylor became Bishop of Down and Connor in Ireland.

 

Jeremy Taylor is most known for his great spiritual writings, and most especially The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living (1650) and The Rule and Exercises of Holy Dying (1651).  Here is a sample of his writing from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer for the Ministration of the Sick:

 

O God, whose days are without end, and whose mercies cannot be numbered; Make us, we beseech thee, deeply sensible of the shortness and uncertainty of human life; and let thy Holy Spirit lead us in holiness and righteousness all our days: that, when we shall have served thee in our generation, we may be gathered unto our fathers, having the testimony of a good conscience; in the communion of the Catholic Church; in the confidence of a certain faith; in the comfort of a reasonable, religious, and holy hope; in favor with thee our God, and in perfect charity with the world. All which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

 

Let us pray:  O God, whose days are without end, and whose mercies cannot be numbered: Make us, like your servant Jeremy Taylor, deeply aware of the shortness and uncertainty of human life; and let your Holy Spirit lead us in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Adult Christian Education every Sunday at 11:00 a.m.: Contemporary Moral Issues.

 

Sunday, 25 August at 9:00 a.m. the Feast of St. Augustine will be celebrated with Eucharist Rite II and a pot luck lunch after.  This is the 129^th anniversary of our church community.

 

Retreat on 19-22 September 2013 at Holy Cross Monastery led by the Rev. Dr. Tom  Bain, “Standing at the Center with God and Ourselves.”  Here is a link to the website:

http://www.holycrossmonks.org/images/2013%20HFC%20brochure.pdf

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List especially Jim Reagan.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

The Rev. Chester J. Makowski

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Stumbling Blocks, Doing Away with Obstacles & Salt

On this Monday in the 12^th week after Pentecost, the Daily Prayer of the Church takes us to Mark’s Gospel where we read:

 

‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

 

‘For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.’ (Mk. 9:42-50).

 

Just because you have the right to do something does not mean that you have to do it especially if doing it hurts someone else.  Do not be a stumbling block to others. 

 

Jesus also tells us that we have to be ready to part with the thing that causes us to sin, the thing that separates us from God, from others, and even from ourselves.  Doing those things that are not in accordance with God’s will essentially makes us less human, it dims the image of God in us.

 

Then Jesus talks about salt. In Jesus’ day salt was used not only to flavor, but as a preservative to keep meat from spoiling.  It was a symbol of fellowship and a shared meal.  So, keep relationships from spoiling, be at peace, and share a meal together.

 

Let us pray:  Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve your Church throughout the world through your Holy Spirit; may we persevere with steadfast faith and in celebrating the Eucharist where Christ is present among us. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Adult Christian Education every Sunday at 11:00 a.m.: Contemporary Moral Issues.

 

Sunday, 25 August at 9:00 a.m. the Feast of St. Augustine will be celebrated with Eucharist Rite II and a pot luck lunch after.  This is the 129^th anniversary of our church community.

 

Retreat on 19-22 September 2013 at Holy Cross Monastery led by the Rev. Dr. Tom  Bain, “Standing at the Center with God and Ourselves.”  Here is a link to the website:

http://www.holycrossmonks.org/images/2013%20HFC%20brochure.pdf

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

The Rev. Chester J. Makowski

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550