Andrei Rublev, Russian Orthodox Monk and Iconograph​er

Today the Church celebrates the life of a medieval Russian Orthodox monk who gave glory to God by his artistic work, Andrei Rublev, who was born in the 1360s and died on this day in 1427.  Very little is known of the man.  James Kiefer writes:

 

The first mention of Rublev is in 1405 when he decorated icons and frescos for the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Moscow Kremlin in company with Theophanes the Greek and Prokhor of Gorodets. His name was the last of the list of masters as the junior both by rank and by age. Theophanes was an important Byzantine master who moved to Russia, and is considered to have trained Rublev.

 

Chronicles tell us that in 1408 he painted (together with Daniil Cherni) the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir and in 1425–1427 the Cathedral of St. Trinity in the Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra. After Daniil's death Andrei came to Moscow's Andronikov Monastery where he painted his last work, the frescoes of the Savior Cathedral.

 

Let us pray: Holy God, we bless you for the gift of your monk and icon writer Andrei Rublev, who, inspired by the Holy Spirit, provided a window into heaven for generations to come, revealing the majesty and mystery of the holy and blessed Trinity; who lives and reigns through ages of ages. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Please pray for all of those Christians who are under persecution in Nigeria and in Sri Lanka as reported by the BBC and the Anglican Communion News Service: Sri Lanka: Christian protests after attacks by Buddhist extremists  and Nigerian bishop tells of church 'slaughter'.

 

The 165th Diocesan Council in Galveston on the 7th & 8th of February.  Michelle Allen will carry our banner in the processional of the Celebration of the Eucharist on Friday evening.  Tammie Taylor will be our lay delegate. If you are able to, please sign up to volunteer.

 

Bishop Fisher will be at St. Augustine on Sunday, the 9th of February, at 12:30 p.m.  There will be no 9 a.m. service.  It will be at 12: 30 p.m. with a lunch to follow.

 

The Seaside Seniors will meet on the third Thursday of February, the 20th, the celebrate St. Valentine’s Day.  The children, with the help of Lee Runion and the Sunday School Team, will be making centerpieces for the Seniors.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Karen and Pat.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Thomas Aquinas: Priest & Scholar

Today the Church remembers the life and ministry of St. Thomas Aquinas who lived from 1225 to 1274.  He was born into a wealthy family in the Italian town of Roccasecca.  Although his family did not want Thomas to become a priest, he did joining the Dominican order.

He did something that was quite revolutionary for his day; he used the newly rediscovered works of Aristotle in his theological work. For Thomas, theological discourse begins with what God has revealed about Himself and His action in creating and redeeming the world, and the world is understood in that light. Philosophical discourse begins with knowledge of the world, and if it speaks of God, what it says is conditioned by what is known of the world. Thomas Aquinas, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1999, revised 2009).

It was Thomas who came up with the theory of transubstantiation in connection with the Eucharist and the Real Presence, which has become a mainstay of Roman Catholic theology.  Essentially, Thomas stated that once the bread and wine are consecrated, they cease being bread in wine in any sense that they were before, and they become in substance the real flesh and blood of Jesus even though they still have the appearance and taste ("accidentals") of bread and wine.  This became a real sticking point during the Reformation a few hundred years later, where Martin Luther taught that Jesus was truly present in the consecrated elements of bread and wine, but that the elements were not destroyed.   In essence, Luther did not want to define how it happened, but he acknowledged that Jesus was really present.

 

Let us pray:  Almighty God, you have enriched your Church with the singular learning and holiness of your servant Thomas Aquinas: Enlighten us more and more, we pray, by the disciplined thinking and teaching of Christian scholars, and deepen our devotion by the example of saintly lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.   Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMIDNERS
 

The 165^th Diocesan Council in Galveston on the 7^th & 8^th of February.  Michelle Allen will carry our banner in the processional of the Celebration of the Eucharist on Friday evening.  Tammie Taylor will be our lay delegate. If you are able to, please sign up to volunteer.

Bishop Fisher will be at St. Augustine on Sunday, the 9^th of February, at 12:30 p.m.  There will be no 9 a.m. service.  It will be at 12: 30 p.m. with a pot luck lunch to follow.

The Seaside Seniors will meet on the third Thursday of February, the 20^th, the celebrate St. Valentine’s Day.

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Karen and Pat.

Your servant in Christ,

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

Signs of the Kingdom

The appointed Gospel reading for today comes from the Gospel according to John where we read how Jesus went about establishing the Kingdom of God:

Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Then Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.’ The official said to him, ‘Sir, come down before my little boy dies.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your son will live.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, ‘Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him.’ The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’ So he himself believed, along with his whole household. Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee. (Jn. 4:46-54)

One of the signs of that the Kingdom of God was at hand was that the dead would be brought back to life.  Other signs included the healing of the sick.  Underlying these signs in John’s Gospel was the idea that God was putting the world back together as he intended it to be.  That he was eradicating the “old order” of sin and death and reconciling and restoring us, and even creation itself, to life in God through Jesus.  I know that I need to be reminded of this reality especially when it seems that the old order of sin and death seems to be winning.  I need to be reminded that God already has the victory in Jesus Christ, and that the God’s world will be finally restored to wholeness in the fullness of time. 

Let us pray:  O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

CALENDAR REMIDNERS

The 165^th Diocesan Council in Galveston on the 7^th & 8^th of February.  Michelle Allen will carry our banner in the processional of the Celebration of the Eucharist on Friday evening.  Tammie Taylor will be our lay delegate. If you are able to, please sign up to volunteer.

Bishop Fisher will be at St. Augustine on Sunday, the 9^th of February, at 12:30 p.m.  There will be no 9 a.m. service.  It will be at 12: 30 p.m. with a pot luck lunch to follow.

The Seaside Seniors will meet on the third Thursday of February, the 20^th, the celebrate St. Valentine’s Day.

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Karen and Pat.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

Just Ask Abraham: You Are Never Too Old

The appointed Old Testament reading for today is taken from the Book of Genesis where we hear about Abraham’s call:

 

Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’

 

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’ So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. (Gen. 12: 1-8).

 

Sometimes we think, “I’m getting along in years, and my best years are behind me. I’m too old to do anything.” Abraham is an example to you and to me that a person is never too old to say “yes” to God.  Abraham was 75 when God called him to leave everything that he knew behind and to start a new life in a place that he did not know.

 

In our Diocese, the Rev. Dr. Helen Appelberg facilitates the Abundant Living program which will meet at Camp Allen from the 10^th to the 12^th of March.  Even though our society tells us that the older members of our society should just sit back and do nothing, God’s message is quite the opposite.  Like Abraham, we are all called to live into God’s calling for us no matter what our age is.  I invite you to go to the Abundant Living conference at Camp Allen and listen to God’s call for you.  Just ask Abraham, you are never too old!

I would also invite you to come to our Seaside Seniors events the third Thursday of every month.  Every time that I go I am astonished at the joy, love and life that I experience. 

 

Let us pray:  Loving God and Father, we thank you for people of all ages, and today we especially thank you for our seniors who have so much to share with us.  Give us the grace through the Holy Spirit to respect every stage of the gift of life so that we may love one another as Christ has loved each and every one of us.  Amen.

 

REMINDERS

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Karen and Pat.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Phillips Brooks: Bishop, Preacher, Author

Today the Episcopal Church celebrates and honors the life and ministry of Phillips Brooks.  He was born in 1835 in Boston and died on this day in 1893 while serving as the Bishop of Massachusetts.  Brooks was born to William and Mary Brooks. Four of their six sons became Episcopal clergymen. 

 

Brooks went to Harvard and then he studied for the priesthood at Virginia Theological Seminary. After ten years of ministry at two churches in Philadelphia, he returned to Boston in 1869 and was rector of Trinity Church there until 1891. He was then elected Bishop of Massachusetts, and died two years later.

 

During the American Civil War, Brooks was an opponent of slavery.  At the death of Abraham Lincoln, Brooks preached a sermon that was an eloquent expression of the President’s character.  He said, in part: “It is the great boon of characters like Abraham Lincoln that they reunite what God has joined together and man has put asunder.”

 

Phillips Brooks is best known today as the author of “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”

 

Let us pray:  O everlasting God, who revealed truth to your servant Phillips Brooks, and so formed and molded his mind and heart that he was able to mediate that truth with grace and power: Grant, we pray, that all those whom you call to preach the Gospel may steep themselves in your word, and conform their lives to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

REMINDERS

Please pray for everyone on our Prayer List, but especially for Pat and Karen.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

The Rev. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Come and See

The appointed Gospel reading for the Daily Prayer of the Church is taken from the Gospel according to John where we hear about the call of Jesus’ first disciples:

 

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said of him, ‘Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’ Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you come to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.’ Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.’ And he said to him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’ (Jn. 3: 43-51)

 

Nathanael (whose name means “Given of God”) is a bit skeptical when he is told by Phillip that they have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote.  Nathanael makes a snide comment: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Jesus responds: “Come and see.”  Nathanael spent the rest of his life seeing what Jesus could do and did.

 

Some of us may be skeptical when we are told about Jesus.  Jesus says to those of us who are skeptical, “come and see.”  That is an invitation worth accepting.

 

Let us pray:  Lord Jesus, when you ask us to come and see, send the Holy Spirit to lead the way so that we may go in all earnestness.  Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Seaside Seniors will meet in Sutton Hall this Thursday, 16 January 2014 for lunch and activities.

 

The Churches on the Island are hosting the 165^th Diocesan Council which begins on Friday, 7 February 2014 and end on Saturday, 8 February 2014.  If you have not yet signed up to volunteer, please do.

 

Bishop Jeff Fisher will visit St. Augustine on Sunday, 9 February.  The service time has been changed to 12:30 p.m. for that day.  Please note this for your calendar.

 

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 Christ became one with us so that we might become one with God

In today’s appointed Epistle for the Daily Prayer of the Church, the Letter to the Hebrews tells us about the intimate connection between Jesus and us in the miracle of the Incarnation:

 

For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying, ‘I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.’ And again, ‘I will put my trust in him.’ And again, ‘Here am I and the children whom God has given me.’

 

Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested. (Heb. 2:11-18)

 

The author tells us that Jesus had to become like us, his brothers and sisters, in every respect in order to redeem us. Christ who had no sin, took on our sinfulness, so that you and I might be elevated to the status of the sons and daughters of God.

 

Let us pray:  Gracious God, we thank you for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who became one with us so that we might become one with You.  Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Seaside Seniors will meet in Sutton Hall this Thursday, 16 January 2014 for lunch and activities.

 

The Churches on the Island are hosting the 165^th Diocesan Council which begins on Friday, 7 February 2014 and end on Saturday, 8 February 2014.  If you have not yet signed up to volunteer, please do.

 

Bishop Jeff Fisher will visit St. Augustine on Sunday, 9 February.  The service time has been changed to 12:30 p.m. for that day.  Please note this for your calendar.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Do Not Drift Away

The appointed Epistle for the Daily Prayer of the Church comes from the Letter to the Hebrews:

 

Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the message declared through angels was valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty, how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? It was declared at first through the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him, while God added his testimony by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will.

 

Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. But someone has testified somewhere, ‘What are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them?  You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honor, subjecting all things under their feet.’

 

Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

 

It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.  (Heb. 2:1-10)

 

The author of Hebrews asks the same question the Psalmist did: “Who are we human beings that the Creator of the whole universe loves us?” In order to rescue us, God became one of us.  God humbled himself in Jesus Christ and He offered himself in order to reconcile us to God the Father.  We should never forget that, or as the author of the letter says, we should not drift away from it.”

 

Let us pray:  Gracious God and Father, you so loved us that You sent Your only Son to be one with us; send the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with grace to ever remember You infinite love for humanity.  Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Seaside Seniors will meet in Sutton Hall this Thursday, 16 January 2014 for lunch and activities.

 

The Churches on the Island are hosting the 165th Diocesan Council which begins on Friday, 7 February 2014 and end on Saturday, 8 February 2014.  If you have not yet signed up to volunteer, please do.

 

Bishop Jeff Fisher will visit St. Augustine on Sunday, 9 February.  The service time has been changed to 12:30 p.m. for that day.  Please note this for your calendar.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List especially Sharyl.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Bishop Hilary of Poitiers: Defender of the Faith

Today the Church celebrates the life and ministry of Hilary who lived from 315 to 367, and served as Bishop of Poitiers in France.  He defended Christ’s divinity in the face of Arianism which denied the divinity of Jesus.  Hilary taught that Jesus was true God and true man, and he suffered for it.  Hilary was exiled to Phrygia where he wrote his great work on the Trinity. It is a vigorous defense of the faith, which, he said, “triumphs when attacked.” After four years he was permitted to return to his native land. Hilary’s favorite saying was: "Servants of the truth ought speak the truth."

 

Let us pray:  O Lord our God, who raised up your servant Hilary to be a champion of the catholic faith: Keep us steadfast in that true faith which we professed at our baptism, that we may rejoice in having you for our Father, and may abide in your Son, in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit; who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Seaside Seniors will meet in Sutton Hall this Thursday, 16 January 2014 for lunch and activities.

 

The Churches on the Island are hosting the 165^th Diocesan Council which begins on Friday, 7 February 2014 and end on Saturday, 8 February 2014.  If you have not yet signed up to volunteer, please do.

 

Bishop Jeff Fisher will visit St. Augustine on Sunday, 9 February.  The service time has been changed to 12:30 p.m. for that day.  Please note this for your calendar.

 

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 Is the Good Shepherd

The Daily Prayer of the Church continues today with the Gospel according to John where Jesus tells us that He is the Good Shepherd:

 

So again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

 

‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. (Jn. 10: 7-17)

 

You and I are well aware of the thief that comes only to steal, kill and destroy.  Not one of us has been spared the death dealing effects of evil.  At first, evil is alluring; evil peddles its shiny wares.  Once we are in deep, we experience how shallow it all is.   But the Good Shepherd is there to offer protection, safety and life.  Jesus, the Good Shepherd, does that at a great personal cost.  Jesus’ ultimate act as the Good Shepherd was his laying down his life for you and me on the cross.  Jesus did that so that you and I can “have life, and have it abundantly” as we live into His Resurrection.

 

Let us pray:  O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people; Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Thursday, 16 January, the Seaside Seniors will have their monthly lunch at Sutton Hall at St. Augustine’s.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Karen.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Walk in the Light

The appointed Gospel reading for the Daily Prayer of the Church comes from the Gospel according to John:

 

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’ Then the Pharisees said to him, ‘You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.’ Jesus answered, ‘Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.’ Then they said to him, ‘Where is your Father?’ Jesus answered, ‘You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.’ (Jn. 8:12-19)

 

This passage shows us the intimate connection between the Father and the Son.  As we say in the Nicene Creed which we pray every Sunday, “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.” The Pharisees failed to see the connection.  Jesus’ disciples and the Early Church saw the connection; that was their experience of Jesus, God with us.  That has been the experience of the Church through the ages, and it is ours as well because whoever follows Jesus will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.

 

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

 

Thursday, 16 January, the Seaside Seniors will have their monthly lunch at Sutton Hall at St. Augustine’s.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Karen.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Harriet Bedell, Deaconess and Missionary

Today the Church celebrates the life and ministry of Harriet Bedell, deaconess and missionary.  The Florida Memory Project tells us that Bedell was:

 

[A] missionary and friend to the Seminole Indians of Florida, [who] was born in Buffalo, New York on March 19, 1875. She was trained as a schoolteacher but was inspired several years later by an Episcopalian missionary who spoke at her church describing the many needs of missionary work. In 1906 she applied to, and was accepted by, the New York Training School for Deaconesses, where her one-year course of study included instruction in religious matters, missions, teaching, hygiene, and hospital nursing. Following her training she was sent as a missionary-teacher to the Cheyenne Indians at Whirlwind Mission in Oklahoma.

 

Bedell's duties at the Whirlwind Mission were many. She cared for the sick and the poor, organized social services for the tribe, performed the duties of the rector in his absence, and provided education for the women and children. She provided religious instruction, hoping to win the confidence of the Indians and convert them to Christianity.

 

Because of her experience in both teaching and working with Indians, in 1916 an Episcopal bishop requested that she consider an assignment in a remote area of Alaska. Saddened by the prospect of leaving Oklahoma, she nevertheless accepted her new assignment in Stevens Village, Alaska. While there, in 1922 she was finally made a deaconess in the church, instilling in her a new and profound dedication to her vocation. The mission at Stevens Village was moved to Tanana so that a boarding school funded by church members' contributions could be established for the children who could not travel in the bad winter weather. However, by 1931, funds were so scarce that Deaconess Bedell traveled to New York to plea for more contributions. Because of the Great Depression, there was little available money, and although the church paid off the school's existing debt, there was little reason for Bedell to return to Alaska.

 

Through speaking engagements following her service in Alaska, Bedell was invited to visit a Seminole Indian reservation in southern Florida. Appalled by their living conditions, she began her campaign to improve the quality of life among the Mikasuki-Seminole Indians by living and working with them, not merely teaching them. She sought to revive the doll making and basket weaving skills which had become nearly extinct. She encouraged the incorporation of the intricate patchwork designs made by Indian women into articles of clothing for both women and men. Sales from the arts and crafts store at Blades Cross Mission helped to provide improved income for the Mikasuki-Seminoles.

 

Bedell emphasized health and education rather than religious conversion in her work with the Seminoles; their spiritual and physical comfort was more important to her than religious conversion, and her work and friendship with the Seminoles of Florida reflected those values.

 

Let us pray:  Holy God, you chose your faithful servant Harriet Bedell to exercise the ministry of deaconess and to be a missionary among indigenous peoples: Fill us with compassion and respect for all people, and empower us for the work of ministry throughout the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Thursday, 16 January, the Seaside Seniors will have their monthly lunch at Sutton Hall at St. Augustine’s.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Karen.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550