St. Agnes

Today the Church remembers and honors St. Agnes, a martyr in the Early Church. James Kiefer writes:

Agnes is a Christian martyr who died at Rome around 304 in the persecution of Diocletian: the last and fiercest of the persecutions of Christianity by the Roman emperors. The anniversary of her martyrdom is observed on 21 January. Her name means “pure” in Greek and “lamb” in Latin. She is said to have been only about twelve or thirteen when she died, and the remains preserved in St Agnes' Church in Rome are in agreement with this.

It is said that her execution shocked many Romans and helped bring an end to the persecutions. Some said, “It is contrary to Roman law to put a virgin to death. Our leaders say that it is necessary to kill Christians in order to preserve the old Roman ways: but they are themselves scorning those ways in the process.”

Others said, “Do young girls constitute such a threat to Rome that it is necessary to kill them?”

Others said, “If this religion can enable a twelve-year-old girl to meet death without fear, it is worth checking out.”

Mr. Kiefer does not tell us why Agnes was martyred, so here is the rest of the story.

Procop, the Governor's son, had made advances on the young Agnes, but she refused him. Procop became quite angry with Agnes, and he continued to pursue her. Agnes kept refusing his advances. Procop then accused Agnes of being a Christian, which of course she was. Procop brought Agnes to his father, the Governor. The Governor promised Agnes wonderful gifts if she would only deny God, but Agnes refused. He tried to change her mind by putting her in chains. Next the Governor had Agnes dragged through the streets naked to a brothel.

Finally, she was condemned to death. When led out to die she was tied to a stake, but the bundle of wood would not burn, whereupon the officer in charge of the troops drew his sword and beheaded her.

Collect of the day: Almighty and everlasting God, who choose those whom the world deems powerless to put the powerful to shame: Grant us so to cherish the memory of your youthful martyr Agnes, that we may share her pure and steadfast faith in you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

22 January at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church: funeral for Patrick Williams, 10 a.m.

5 February: Celebrating the Life of Absalom Jones, Eucharist Service, officiated by the Rt. Rev. Andy Doyle at 10:00 a.m. at Christ Church Cathedral. Special Guest: The Rev. Canon Harold T. Lewis – Luncheon speaker following the service. The luncheon, featuring Treebeards specials, will be at the Great Hall starting about 11:30 a.m. The Rev. Canon Lewis will also be book signing his new release A Church for the Future.

The Rev. Canon Harold T. Lewis, Ph.D., D.D., D.C.L. has been the rector of Calvary Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, since 1996. Since his ordination in 1971, he has served congregations in Honduras, England, Washington, D.C., New Haven, CT and his native Brooklyn, NY. From 1983 until 1994, he served on the staff of the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church as Director of the Office of Black Ministries. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University, a Master of Divinity from Yale, and a Doctor of Philosophy (in theology) from the University of Birmingham (England). He has also been awarded two honorary degrees: Doctor of Divinity from the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale; and Doctor of Canon Law from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. A former research fellow at St. John’s College, Cambridge University, he has also pursued graduate studies at Catholic University in Washington; the Center for International Documentation in Cuernavaca, Mexico; and St. George's College, Jerusalem. He is an honorary canon of the Diocese of Bukavu, Congo, and the first recipient of the Mikkelsen Prize for excellence in prophetic preaching, and of the Dean’s Cross for Servant Leadership from Virginia Theological Seminary. Currently an adjunct professor in church and society at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Dr. Lewis has also taught at the George Mercer School of Theology in Garden City, NY and the General Theological Seminary, and has been visiting lecturer at Anglican seminaries in the Congo, South Africa, Mozambique and Barbados. He was coordinator of the second International Conference on Afro-Anglicanism in Cape Town.

11 and 12 February: the 162nd Diocesan Council in the Woodlands.

12 February: St. Valentine’s Day Dance at St. Augustine.

13 February at the 9:00 a.m. Eucharist, the Renewal of Marriage Vows.

PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST.

Your servant in Christ,

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

Paul & Marriage

In today’s Epistle passage from the fifth chapter of Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, we hear about the relationship between husbands and wives:

Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind—yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, because we are members of his body. ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church. Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband. (Eph. 5: 15-33).

In the modern day, this passage has caused some controversy notably in Paul’s description of the husband as “the head of the wife.” But Paul was a man of his time, influenced by the morays of his day and there are portions of his writing that reflect that. But Paul was also far ahead of his time because he was influenced by the love of Christ. Note, however, how Paul speaks of the mutuality of love between a husband and a wife. For Paul’s day, this was certainly revolutionary because women in the first century lacked many freedoms and they were largely restricted. It was even a common belief that women were inferior to men. So when Paul wrote to the Ephesians telling them that husbands should love their wives as themselves, Paul made the husband and wife equals. To say the least, this would have been a radical concept to his readers in Ephesus. Furthermore, Paul uses the marriage relationship, as he redefined it, to describe the relationship between Christ and the Church: “He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, because we are members of his body. ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church.”

Let us pray: O God, you have so consecrated the covenant of marriage that in it is represented the spiritual unity between Christ and his Church: Send therefore your blessing upon all those who are married, that they may so love, honor, and cherish each other in faithfulness and patience, in wisdom and true godliness, that their home may be a haven of blessing and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

Tonight, 20 January at 7 p.m. at St. Michael Episcopal Church, Lake Road, LaMarque, Pre-Council Meeting.

22 January at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church: funeral for Patrick Williams, 10 a.m.

5 February: Celebrating the Life of Absalom Jones, Eucharist Service, officiated by the Rt. Rev. Andy Doyle at 10:00 a.m. at Christ Church Cathedral. Special Guest: The Rev. Canon Harold T. Lewis – Luncheon speaker following the service. The luncheon, featuring Treebeards specials, will be at the Great Hall starting about 11:30 a.m. The Rev. Canon Lewis will also be book signing his new release A Church for the Future.

The Rev. Canon Harold T. Lewis, Ph.D., D.D., D.C.L. has been the rector of Calvary Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, since 1996. Since his ordination in 1971, he has served congregations in Honduras, England, Washington, D.C., New Haven, CT and his native Brooklyn, NY. From 1983 until 1994, he served on the staff of the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church as Director of the Office of Black Ministries. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University, a Master of Divinity from Yale, and a Doctor of Philosophy (in theology) from the University of Birmingham (England). He has also been awarded two honorary degrees: Doctor of Divinity from the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale; and Doctor of Canon Law from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. A former research fellow at St. John’s College, Cambridge University, he has also pursued graduate studies at Catholic University in Washington; the Center for International Documentation in Cuernavaca, Mexico; and St. George's College, Jerusalem. He is an honorary canon of the Diocese of Bukavu, Congo, and the first recipient of the Mikkelsen Prize for excellence in prophetic preaching, and of the Dean’s Cross for Servant Leadership from Virginia Theological Seminary. Currently an adjunct professor in church and society at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Dr. Lewis has also taught at the George Mercer School of Theology in Garden City, NY and the General Theological Seminary, and has been visiting lecturer at Anglican seminaries in the Congo, South Africa, Mozambique and Barbados. He was coordinator of the second International Conference on Afro-Anglicanism in Cape Town.

11 and 12 February: the 162nd Diocesan Council in the Woodlands.

12 February: St. Valentine’s Day Dance at St. Augustine.

13 February at the 9:00 a.m. Eucharist, the Renewal of Marriage Vows.

PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST.

Your servant in Christ,

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

Close Your Eyes and Listen for Singing

The appointed Epistle reading for the day is taken from the fifth chapter of Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, and it starts with words that you will easily recognize because they are often used as the Offertory Sentence:

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

But fornication and impurity of any kind, or greed, must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints. Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk; but instead, let there be thanksgiving. Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be associated with them. For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light— for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Eph. 5: 1-14).

The passage starts with words familiar to us from our liturgy, and it ends with words that were familiar to Paul from the liturgy of his day. The last line is, in all likelihood, taken from an early Christian hymn and is based on Isaiah 60: 1, “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”

We don’t often think of the early Christians singing hymns, but they did. In their celebration of the Eucharist in the early Church, they would start out in the synagogue for the Liturgy of the Word where they would listen to God’s Word read to them from the Hebrew Scriptures, and then move to someone’s home for the Great Thanksgiving. The basics were the same then as they are now. The words of institution (“On the night before he died…”) are the same. The Eucharistic celebration is something that transcends time and space. Christ is just as present today when we “do Eucharist” as he was when on that night when he broke bread, gave it to his disciples and said, “take this all of you and eat it, this is my body. … Take this all of you and drink from it, this is the cup of my blood, the new and everlasting covenant which is shed for you and for the many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me.” Jesus was present when the Ephesians “did Eucharist”. And if you close your eyes and listen, you can hear them singing: “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

CALENDAR REMINDERS

22 January at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church: funeral for Patrick Williams, 10 a.m.

5 February: Celebrating the Life of Absalom Jones, Eucharist Service, officiated by the Rt. Rev. Andy Doyle at 10:00 a.m. at Christ Church Cathedral. Special Guest: The Rev. Canon Harold T. Lewis – Luncheon speaker following the service. The luncheon, featuring Treebeards specials, will be at the Great Hall starting about 11:30 a.m. The Rev. Canon Lewis will also be book signing his new release A Church for the Future.

The Rev. Canon Harold T. Lewis, Ph.D., D.D., D.C.L. has been the rector of Calvary Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, since 1996. Since his ordination in 1971, he has served congregations in Honduras, England, Washington, D.C., New Haven, CT and his native Brooklyn, NY. From 1983 until 1994, he served on the staff of the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church as Director of the Office of Black Ministries. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University, a Master of Divinity from Yale, and a Doctor of Philosophy (in theology) from the University of Birmingham (England). He has also been awarded two honorary degrees: Doctor of Divinity from the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale; and Doctor of Canon Law from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. A former research fellow at St. John’s College, Cambridge University, he has also pursued graduate studies at Catholic University in Washington; the Center for International Documentation in Cuernavaca, Mexico; and St. George's College, Jerusalem. He is an honorary canon of the Diocese of Bukavu, Congo, and the first recipient of the Mikkelsen Prize for excellence in prophetic preaching, and of the Dean’s Cross for Servant Leadership from Virginia Theological Seminary. Currently an adjunct professor in church and society at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Dr. Lewis has also taught at the George Mercer School of Theology in Garden City, NY and the General Theological Seminary, and has been visiting lecturer at Anglican seminaries in the Congo, South Africa, Mozambique and Barbados. He was coordinator of the second International Conference on Afro-Anglicanism in Cape Town.

11 and 12 February: the 162nd Diocesan Council in the Woodlands.

12 February: St. Valentine’s Day Dance at St. Augustine.

13 February at the 9:00 a.m. Eucharist, the Renewal of Marriage Vows.

PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST.

Your servant in Christ,

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

Presiding Bishop's Sermon at St. Augustine of Hippo, Galveston, Texas, 16 January 2011

The Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church celebrated and preached at St. Augustine of Hippo in Galveston, Texas on Sunday, 16 January 2011.

Below is a video link to her sermon:

http://dljstudios.com/tv-st-aug.html

The Confession of St. Peter

Today the Church remembers when the Holy Spirit led St. Peter to acknowledge that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, and the Son of God. We read about it in the Gospel according to Matthew:

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ (Mt. 16:13-19).

In this second week after Epiphany, Peter sees who Jesus is. He sees that Jesus is a man, but not just a man. He sees that Jesus is much more. Peter comes to realize that in Jesus he can see and experience the very face of God. In response, Jesus tells Peter that he will build the Church upon him and the powers of hell can prevail against it.

Jesus says the very same thing to you and to me. Once you and I acknowledge who Jesus is, then you and I are transformed by the power of Christ, and transformed by Christ we become living stones in the Church. You and I as believers in Jesus are the Church, the Body of Christ. Peter, you and I are given the keys of the kingdom because we are, with Jesus, building the Kingdom of God.

Let us pray: Almighty Father, who inspired Simon Peter, first among the apostles, to confess Jesus as Messiah and Son of the Living God: Keep your Church steadfast upon the rock of this faith, that in unity and peace we may proclaim the one truth and follow the one Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

22 January at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church: funeral for Patrick Williams, 10 a.m.

5 February: Celebrating the Life of Absalom Jones, Eucharist Service, officiated by the Rt. Rev. Andy Doyle at 10:00 a.m. at Christ Church Cathedral. Special Guest: The Rev. Canon Harold T. Lewis – Luncheon speaker following the service. The luncheon, featuring Treebeards specials, will be at the Great Hall starting about 11:30 a.m. The Rev. Canon Lewis will also be book signing his new release A Church for the Future.

The Rev. Canon Harold T. Lewis, Ph.D., D.D., D.C.L. has been the rector of Calvary Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, since 1996. Since his ordination in 1971, he has served congregations in Honduras, England, Washington, D.C., New Haven, CT and his native Brooklyn, NY. From 1983 until 1994, he served on the staff of the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church as Director of the Office of Black Ministries. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University, a Master of Divinity from Yale, and a Doctor of Philosophy (in theology) from the University of Birmingham (England). He has also been awarded two honorary degrees: Doctor of Divinity from the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale; and Doctor of Canon Law from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. A former research fellow at St. John’s College, Cambridge University, he has also pursued graduate studies at Catholic University in Washington; the Center for International Documentation in Cuernavaca, Mexico; and St. George's College, Jerusalem. He is an honorary canon of the Diocese of Bukavu, Congo, and the first recipient of the Mikkelsen Prize for excellence in prophetic preaching, and of the Dean’s Cross for Servant Leadership from Virginia Theological Seminary. Currently an adjunct professor in church and society at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Dr. Lewis has also taught at the George Mercer School of Theology in Garden City, NY and the General Theological Seminary, and has been visiting lecturer at Anglican seminaries in the Congo, South Africa, Mozambique and Barbados. He was coordinator of the second International Conference on Afro-Anglicanism in Cape Town.

11 and 12 February: the 162nd Diocesan Council in the Woodlands.

12 February: St. Valentine’s Day Dance at St. Augustine.

13 February at the 9:00 a.m. Eucharist, the Renewal of Marriage Vows.

PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST.

Your servant in Christ,

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

The Body of Christ: the Church

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR MAKING YESTERDAY’S HISTORIC VISIT OF THE PRESIDING BISHOP TO ST. AUGUSTINE’S A BLESSED EVENT! From the Bishops' chairs to the food, from the music to the flowers, from the service program to all of those who participated in the liturgy and the overall spirit of welcome, it was indeed a blessed event. Bishop Doyle conveyed to me that St. Augustine’s has a special place in his heart. The Presiding Bishop was very impressed how a relatively small community could make such a strong impact; it is a testament to the faith of the people that make up St. Augustine’s. Both Bishops stayed until the very end and left only after everyone (except Carol Freeman and the Boys & Girls’ Club who were cleaning up).

And St. Augustine’s cannot let anyone go away hungry. The Presiding Bishop had in her hand a container of food: shrimp and fruit! She welcomed it as she was not able to eat during the reception since she wanted to visit with as many people as she could during her visit.

As we were standing at the door by the sacristy getting ready to load up their luggage, both Bishops and their spouses thanked me and wanted me to convey to everyone at St. Augustine’s their thanks for the wonderful liturgy and reception, for being a blessing in their lives, and most especially to the Church, and not just the Church in Galveston or in the Diocese of Texas, but to the entire Episcopal Church and the wider Anglican Communion, to the greater Church, the Church of God where ever it is.

Bishop Doyle posted the Presiding Bishop’s sermon given at St. Augustine’s yesterday on his blog spot. Here it is:

http://texasbishop.blogspot.com/2011/01/episcopal-presiding-bishop-guest-post.html

In view of the yesterday’s visit and our reflection on it today, the Epistle to the Ephesians which is appointed for today’s Daily Office is especially meaningful in light of the thanks the Bishops wanted me to convey to everyone:

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it is said, ‘When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.’ … The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love. (Eph. 4: 4-16).

Present yesterday were some 200 laity, a deacon, 6 priests and 2 bishops: a body of diversity, the Body of Christ celebrating the gifts and the work each of us does in Building the Kingdom of God in love. And the entire communion of Saints, those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith, St. Augustine, his mother Monica, Martin Luther King, Jr., all of those who were members of St. Augustine’s for the 127 years prior to yesterday, all singing before the throne of God joining with us as we lifted our voices yesterday. Now that is Church, and what a gift it is! Amen.

Your servant in Christ,

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

My Servant

THIS SUNDAY, 16 JANUARY, AT 9:00 AM THE PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, THE MOST REV. DR. KATHARINE JEFFERTS SCHORI, AND THE BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF TEXAS, RT. REV. C. ANDREW DOYLE, WILL BE CELEBRATING THE EUCHARIST AT ST. AUGUSTINE. 1410 JACK JOHNSON (41ST), GALVESTON, TEXAS.

One of the appointed readings for today is taken from the Old Testament’s Book of the Prophet Isaiah, who writes:

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,*
a light to the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
I am the Lord, that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to idols.
See, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth,
I tell you of them.

Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth!
Let the sea roar and all that fills it,
the coastlands and their inhabitants.
Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice,
the villages that Kedar inhabits;
let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy,
let them shout from the tops of the mountains.
Let them give glory to the Lord,
and declare his praise in the coastlands.
The Lord goes forth like a soldier,
like a warrior he stirs up his fury;
he cries out, he shouts aloud,
he shows himself mighty against his foes.
For a long time I have held my peace,
I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out like a woman in labor,
I will gasp and pant.
I will lay waste mountains and hills,
and dry up all their herbage;
I will turn the rivers into islands,
and dry up the pools.
I will lead the blind
by a road they do not know,
by paths they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will do,
and I will not forsake them.
They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame—
those who trust in carved images,
who say to cast images,
‘You are our gods.’ (Is. 42: 1-17).

When I read these words from the Old Testament, it is very easy to see how the Early Church applied these words to their experience of Jesus. As Jesus made his way on the dusty roads of Palestine, he told of God’s love for His people. Jesus reached out to the outcast; he healed the sick. He offered the forgiveness of sins. He brought the good news that God has not forsaken His people; God was walking among them.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, help us to see your face in everyone we meet today. Help us to see your face in the lonely, the elderly, the young, the sorrowful, the sick, the outcast and even in ourselves. We thank you for giving your life for us, and we praise you for your Resurrection. Amen.

OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS, MANY HAVE WORKED SO HARD TO PREPARE FOR THE COMING OF THE PRESIDING BISHOP. All you have to do is to look around and see all of the wonderful work. Melva Pope reupholstered the Bishop’s Chair, Lee, Raul and Idell have been polishing brass. Tammie has produced a beautiful service leaflet. Betty Robinson and Idell are preparing the altar and changing the hangings. My thanks go to Fr. Paul Wehner and Grace Episcopal for their tremendous assistance in preparation for this event. They mounted the speakers and improved the sound 1000%. When I heard it yesterday, I could not believe it! Wow. Jo, Jim, Peggy and others are working on the food front, and Bill will be peeling 50 pounds of shrimp after Bubba prepares it! Sherman and the Galveston Heritage Chorale (which includes Jillian and Tom) have practiced for hours, and their sound is not only joyful and soulful, but blessed. This is an all community effort and I know that we will make Bishop Doyle proud of St. Augustine’s as the Presiding Bishop visits the Island.

Please remember the family of Pat Williams who has met his Savior face-to-face.

Your servant in Christ,

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