St. Athanasius: The "Black Dwarf"

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski, Vicar

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Compline: "I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety."

One of the appointed Psalms for today is Psalm 4 where the Psalmist prays:

 

Answer me when I call, O God of my right!

   You gave me room when I was in distress.

   Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.

How long, you people, shall my honor suffer shame?

   How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies?

But know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself;

   the Lord hears when I call to him.

When you are disturbed, do not sin;

   ponder it on your beds, and be silent.

Offer right sacrifices,

   and put your trust in the Lord.

There are many who say, ‘O that we might see some good!

   Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!’

You have put gladness in my heart

   more than when their grain and wine abound.

I will both lie down and sleep in peace;

   for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.

 

I flew out of Houston Saturday night and arrived in London Sunday afternoon. Yesterday evening I went to Southwark Cathedral for compline. I was met at the door by the Cathedral’s mouser, Doorkins Magnificat who walked me down the aisle to my seat. The word “compline” comes from the Latin word “completorium” meaning the completion of the working day. It is the last prayer service in the Church’s day. 

 

Today’s Psalm reminds me of the compline service.  At the end of our day, we come before God in thanksgiving for the day that has gone by and as we prepare to lie down and rest for the next day.  The Psalmist prays: “I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.”  We begin our day coming before God and we end our day in the same way. 

 

Let us pray:  Gracious God, in you we live, move and have our being.  Out of love, you have created all that is.  We respond to you by coming before you in prayer.  We thank you for the start of the day which reminds us of the new life we have in Christ.  We thank you at the end of the day when we are reminded that one day our own lives will come to an end where we will look forward to our own resurrection.  Amen.

 

REMEMBER: The big BBQ is this Saturday!  We still have lots of work to do before the big event.  Please invite all of your friends and family to the event.  We will have the best BBQ around with Neil “Bigmista” Strawder and friends!

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski, Vicar

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Do Not Be Afraid

The appointed Gospel reading for this Wednesday if Easter week is taken from Matthew, and it is his account of the Resurrection:

 

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, “He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.” This is my message for you.’ So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’

 

While they were going, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened. After the priests had assembled with the elders, they devised a plan to give a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, ‘You must say, “His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.” If this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.’ So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story is still told among the Jews to this day.

 

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. (Mt. 28:1-16).

 

Fear is a mighty power that can rule our lives.  We are afraid of many things.  What will people think of me?  I can’t do it! People will make fun of me because I am a Christian. I am afraid to open myself to others. I am afraid to share my faith.  I am afraid to say that I have trouble believing.

 

But the angels say, “Do not be afraid!”  When Mary Magdalene and Mary encounter the Risen Jesus, he says, “Do not be afraid!”  These are the same words that the angels and the Risen Lord say to you and to me: “Do not be afraid!  Do not be afraid of what people will think; do not be afraid that you cannot do it.  Do not be afraid to leave yourself vulnerable.  Do not be afraid if people make fun of you. Do not fear if your faith is weak. Go out and proclaim that Jesus is indeed alive; he is risen!”

 

Let us pray:  O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

THE BIG BBQ IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER—SATURDAY, 3 MAY!  Tell all of your friends and neighbors about it—spread the word!  This year we will have 8 pit masters including our own Neil “Bigmista” Strawder.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List and especially all of those who are discerning a call to ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

The Rev. Chester J. Makowski, Vicar

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

You Have Been Raised With Christ Jesus

On this Tuesday in Easter Week, we continue in Paul’s first letter to the Church in Corinth.  Paul speaks about the reality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ:

 

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

 

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For ‘God has put all things in subjection under his feet.’ But when it says, ‘All things are put in subjection’, it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all. (1 Cor. 15:12-28).

 

Paul focuses on two things: (1) Jesus was raised from the dead, and (2) you and I will also share in his resurrection at the last day and be raised from the dead. The Resurrection and our redemption cannot be separated; they go hand in hand.  Through his death and resurrection, Jesus reconciled God and humanity by restoring humanity to the state God intended it to be, in full relationship with God just as Jesus is in full relationship with God the Father.

 

Let us pray:  O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light: Grant that we, who have been raised with him, may abide in his presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be dominion and praise for ever and ever. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

THE BIG BBQ IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER—SATURDAY, 3 MAY!  Tell all of your friends and neighbors about it—spread the word!  This year we will have 8 pit masters including our own Neil “Bigmista” Strawder.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List and especially all of those who are discerning a call to ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

The Rev. Chester J. Makowski, Vicar

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

The Good News & the Witnesses to the Risen Christ

On this Monday in the week of Easter, we hear from Paul’s first letter to the Church in Corinth where he writes:

 

Now I should remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.

 

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to someone untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace towards me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe. (1 Cor. 15:1-11).

 

Paul presents the Good News in short form and he also recounts the experience of the Risen Jesus.  Here is the Good News: Christ died for our sins, he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day.  Then Paul tells of the Apostles’ experience of the Risen Jesus, and then others who were witnesses to the Risen Jesus.  Paul also tells us of his encounter with the Risen Christ.  The resurrection is a reality!  The Apostles and Paul dedicated the rest of their lives to the reality of the Resurrection, and they gave their lives for it. During this Easter Season (the 50 days to Pentecost), you and I should meditate on the reality of this history changing event.  Alleluia Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

Let us pray:  Grant, we pray, Almighty God, that we who celebrate with awe the Paschal feast may be found worthy to attain to everlasting joys; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

THE BIG BBQ IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER—SATURDAY, 3 MAY!  Tell all of your friends and neighbors about it—spread the word!  This year we will have 8 pit masters including our own Neil “Bigmista” Strawder.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

The Rev. Chester J. Makowski, Vicar

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord.

On this Maundy Thursday, we hear from St. Paul’s first letter to the Church in Corinth:

 

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves. For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. (1 Cor. 11: 27-32).

 

Tonight we celebrate the institution of the Eucharist.  Paul reminds the Church in Corinth and all of us that when we received the Body and Blood of Jesus, we must be mindful of the entire community of faith to whom we are answerable.  If we receive and are unmindful of the entire body, we in effect, bring condemnation on ourselves.

 

Let us pray:  Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

THE BIG BBQ IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER—SATURDAY, 3 MAY!  Tell all of your friends and neighbors about it—spread the word!  This year we will have 8 pit masters including our own Neil “Bigmista” Strawder.

 

Seaside Seniors at 11 AM on Thursday in Sutton Hall.

 

Holy Week & Easter Schedule:

 

         Maundy Thursday at 7 PM, foot washing, Eucharist and the stripping of the altar.

 

         Good Friday at noon, traditional service.

 

          Easter at 9 AM, festival Eucharist followed with Easter Egg Hunt and Pot luck lunch.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

The Rev. Chester J. Makowski, Vicar

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

The Rejected Cornerstone

On this Wednesday in Holy Week, we hear from the Gospel according to Mark where Jesus foreshadows the events later in the week:

 

Then he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watch-tower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed. He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this scripture: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes?’” (Mk. 12:1-11).

 

The owner of the vineyard is God, the vineyard is Israel, the slaves who come on the owner’s behalf are the prophets and the son is Jesus.  Nevertheless, we can apply that very same parable to our own lives.  God sends us people to show us the way, but we reject them out of hand not wanting to see the truth.  God has sent Jesus not only to show us the way but to be the way, and yet we manage to disregard what he has to say to us and what he has to show us. In short, you and I reject Jesus. Yet, Jesus is persistent; he comes after us time and time again to offer us life.  It is indeed amazing in our eyes.

 

Let us pray: Lord God, whose blessed Son our Savior gave his body to be whipped and his face to be spit upon: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

THE BIG BBQ IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER—SATURDAY, 3 MAY!  Tell all of your friends and neighbors about it—spread the word!  This year we will have 8 pit masters including our own Neil “Bigmista” Strawder.

 

Wednesday at 6 PM at Trinity, we will have the final installment in our Lenten Series, Nic at Night, with the Rev. Michael Chalk. 

 

Seaside Seniors at 11 AM on Thursday in Sutton Hall.

 

Holy Week & Easter Schedule:

 

         Maundy Thursday at 7 PM, foot washing, Eucharist and the stripping of the altar.

 

         Good Friday at noon, traditional service.

 

         Easter at 9 AM, festival Eucharist followed with Easter Egg Hunt and Pot luck lunch.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

The Rev. Chester J. Makowski, Vicar

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550