Recognizing Jesus in the Breaking of the Bread

The Gospel reading for the Eucharist on this Wednesday in Easter Week is taken from Luke, where 2 of the disciples who were on the road to Emmaus recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread:

 

Now on that same day, the first day of the week, two of the disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him." Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

 

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. (Lk. 24:13-35).

 

During this Easter season, the journey we began in Lent really continues for 50 more days until the Feast of Pentecost.  In the Early Church, those preparing for baptism were walking the journey of preparation, and after being baptized on the Easter Vigil, their continued instruction in the faith and journey continued until the Feast of Pentecost when they were ready to live their lives infused with the power of the Holy Spirit.  Today’s Gospel reading reminds us that we too have the Risen Christ present in the elements of Bread and Wine, blessed, broken and shared, and then we are called to live as Christ in the world proclaiming the Good News.

 

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

 

Starting Tuesday, 14 April at 11:30 AM, “Lunch and Learn” with UTMB medical professionals regarding hot medical topics for seniors and others: diabetes, obesity, heart disease, COPD and dementia.  This series is in English and Spanish and will continue every Tuesday at the same time for 5 weeks. 

 

Michael Harvey

A Galveston Island Episcopal Event

All are invited

Tuesday, April 28th

7:00 PM

at St. Augustine of Hippo

(1410 41st Street)

 

Michael Harvey will be joining us on the Island all the way from Great Britain. He is the founder of Back to Church Sunday, a day we have dubbed in the Diocese of Texas as Invitation Sunday. Michael has spoken across 17 countries and 5 continents about the power of invitation and ministry to visitors and newcomers. He has written the book, Unlocking the Growth which addresses the power of invitation and the potential for the church. He has recently been inducted into the College of Evangelists and become a Visiting Fellow of St. John’s College of Durham University. His humorous and engaging presentation style challenges the individual to simply invite others to church. He presented and was enthusiastically received at past Warden and Vestry Conferences, other churches and last year’s clergy conference. He is back by the invitation of Bishop Doyle and we are thrilled to have him with us for this Galveston Island Episcopal Event. You are invited. Invite others to come to this great event!

 

Bigmista & Friends BBQ on Saturday, 2 May.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Kristi, Susan, Liz, Angela, and those in the Middle East and Kenya.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

 

Tuesday in Easter Week

The Church’s Daily Prayer continues with Paul’s letter to the Church in Corinth where we read:

 

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).

 

It always seems that right around Easter, we see stories on TV that they have found the bones of Jesus.  Well, this year is no different. A story going back to 2007 has “resurrected.” In 2007, James Cameron and Simcha Jacobovici made a documentary where they alleged that they found the tomb of Jesus and that shows Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, had at least one child named Judah, and, of course, that Jesus did not physically rise from the dead.  Well, they’re back in the “news” again.  According to The Jerusalem Post’s article on 5 April 2015, "After 150 chemical tests, Canadian-Israeli filmmaker-journalist Simcha Jacobovici and geoarcheologist Aryeh Shimron claim they’ve reached a scientific breakthrough with theological implications."

 

Paul is right. If Christ has not been raised, our faith is futile and we are still in our sins.

 

Let’s look at the rest of the story: Jesus and Joseph were common names of the time, and another ossuary bearing the same inscription [Jesus son of Joseph] was revealed by archaeologist Eleazar Levi Sukenik in a 1931 lecture in Berlin. However, this ossuary is set apart by its presence in a tomb alongside others bearing names associated with Jesus' family. The fact is that "Jesus son of Joseph" exists elsewhere in archaeological findings.  3.25% of the Jewish women in the first-century Judea had the same name of Mary. Again, this is evidence of a very common name usage.  1.Jesus, James, Judah are inscribed in Aramaic. Yose (Jose, Joseph), Maria, and Matthew are in Hebrew. "Marianmene e Mara" (Mary Magdelene) is the only one written in Greek. If the tomb is of Jesus' family, why are the inscriptions in different languages? Does this suggest that different individuals, perhaps in different times, and of different backgrounds were buried in the tomb? Remember, families used the same tomb and ossuaries for generations. Matt Slick, Has the tomb of Jesus been found?

 

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

 

Starting Tuesday, 14 April at 11:30 AM, lunch with UTMB medical professionals regarding hot medical topics for seniors and others: diabetes, obesity, heart disease, COPD and dementia.  This series is in English and Spanish and will continue every Tuesday at the same time for 5 weeks. 

 

Michael Harvey

A Galveston Island Episcopal Event

All are invited

Tuesday, April 28th

7:00 PM

at St. Augustine of Hippo

(1410 41st Street)

 

Michael Harvey will be joining us on the Island all the way from Great Britain. He is the founder of Back to Church Sunday, a day we have dubbed in the Diocese of Texas as Invitation Sunday. Michael has spoken across 17 countries and 5 continents about the power of invitation and ministry to visitors and newcomers. He has written the book, Unlocking the Growth which addresses the power of invitation and the potential for the church. He has recently been inducted into the College of Evangelists and become a Visiting Fellow of St. John’s College of Durham University. His humorous and engaging presentation style challenges the individual to simply invite others to church. He presented and was enthusiastically received at past Warden and Vestry Conferences, other churches and last year’s clergy conference. He is back by the invitation of Bishop Doyle and we are thrilled to have him with us for this Galveston Island Episcopal Event. You are invited. Invite others to come to this great event!

 

Bigmista & Friends BBQ on Saturday, 2 May.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Kristi, Susan, Liz, Angela, and those in the Middle East and Kenya.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

 

The Kerygma

On this Monday in Easter week, the appointed epistle for the Daily Prayer of the Church is taken 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).

 

This is the “kerygma” (Greek κήρυγμα) meaning the preaching or the message of the New Testament.  It is the story of what Jesus did in a nutshell prefaced with the phrase: “For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received,” and followed by the message: “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.” 

 

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

 

Starting Tuesday, 14 April at 11:30 AM, lunch with UTMB medical professionals regarding hot medical topics for seniors and others: diabetes, obesity, heart disease, COPD and dementia.  This series is in English and Spanish and will continue every Tuesday at the same time for 5 weeks. 

 

Michael Harvey

A Galveston Island Episcopal Event

All are invited

Tuesday, April 28th

7:00 PM

at St. Augustine of Hippo

(1410 41st Street)

 

Michael Harvey will be joining us on the Island all the way from Great Britain. He is the founder of Back to Church Sunday, a day we have dubbed in the Diocese of Texas as Invitation Sunday. Michael has spoken across 17 countries and 5 continents about the power of invitation and ministry to visitors and newcomers. He has written the book, Unlocking the Growth which addresses the power of invitation and the potential for the church. He has recently been inducted into the College of Evangelists and become a Visiting Fellow of St. John’s College of Durham University. His humorous and engaging presentation style challenges the individual to simply invite others to church. He presented and was enthusiastically received at past Warden and Vestry Conferences, other churches and last year’s clergy conference. He is back by the invitation of Bishop Doyle and we are thrilled to have him with us for this Galveston Island Episcopal Event. You are invited. Invite others to come to this great event!

 

Bigmista & Friends BBQ on Saturday, 2 May.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Kristi, Susan, Liz, Angela, and those in the Middle East and Kenya.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

 

Maundy Thursday: Love One Another as I Have Loved You

Today is Maundy Thursday and we read from the Gospel according to John:

 

Before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

 

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord--and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

 

Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, `Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (Jn. 13:1-17, 31b-35).

 

On this day we remember Jesus command (Latin, mandatum meaning command) to love one another as he has loved us; it is the love of self-giving, of being servant to others, and so we wash eachother’s feet.  It is also the day when the first Eucharist was celebrated.  It is a day of intimacy. 

 

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

 

Holy Week Schedule:

 

         Maundy Thursday, 6 PM, foot washing, Eucharist, stripping of the altar.

 

         Good Friday, 12 noon, Good Friday Service.

       

        Easter Sunday 9 AM with egg hunt and pot luck lunch afterward.

 

Michael Harvey

A Galveston Island Episcopal Event

All are invited

Tuesday, April 28th

7:00 PM

at St. Augustine of Hippo

(1410 41st Street)

 

Michael Harvey will be joining us on the Island all the way from Great Britain. He is the founder of Back to Church Sunday, a day we have dubbed in the Diocese of Texas as Invitation Sunday. Michael has spoken across 17 countries and 5 continents about the power of invitation and ministry to visitors and newcomers. He has written the book, Unlocking the Growth which addresses the power of invitation and the potential for the church. He has recently been inducted into the College of Evangelists and become a Visiting Fellow of St. John’s College of Durham University. His humorous and engaging presentation style challenges the individual to simply invite others to church. He presented and was enthusiastically received at past Warden and Vestry Conferences, other churches and last year’s clergy conference. He is back by the invitation of Bishop Doyle and we are thrilled to have him with us for this Galveston Island Episcopal Event. You are invited. Invite others to come to this great event!

 

Bigmista & Friends BBQ on Saturday, 2 May.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Susan, Liz, Angela, those in the Middle East.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Wednesday in Holy Week

On this Wednesday in Holy Week, the Gospel reading for the Eucharist is taken from John where we read:

 

At supper with his friends, Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples-- the one whom Jesus loved-- was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.” Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival”; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

 

When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.” (Jn. 13:21-32).

 

Jesus tells his disciples that one of them will betray him.  We all know about Judas, but were there others?  All of the disciples were nowhere to be found by Jesus’ side. The only one at the foot of the cross was John, Mary, Jesus’ mother, and some of the other women. 

 

How many times have you and I betrayed Jesus?  How many times have we denied even knowing him, just like Peter, when someone may have ridiculed Christ or a belief in God? My guess is that each and every one of us has betrayed Jesus.

 

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.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Holy Week Schedule:

 

         Tonight at 6 PM, The Rule of Life, at Trinity, the Rev. Bob Flick.

 

         Maundy Thursday, 6 PM, foot washing, Eucharist, stripping of the altar.

 

         Good Friday, 12 noon, Good Friday Service.

 

Michael Harvey

A Galveston Island Episcopal Event

All are invited

Tuesday, April 28th

7:00 PM

at St. Augustine of Hippo

(1410 41st Street)

 

Michael Harvey will be joining us on the Island all the way from Great Britain. He is the founder of Back to Church Sunday, a day we have dubbed in the Diocese of Texas as Invitation Sunday. Michael has spoken across 17 countries and 5 continents about the power of invitation and ministry to visitors and newcomers. He has written the book, Unlocking the Growth which addresses the power of invitation and the potential for the church. He has recently been inducted into the College of Evangelists and become a Visiting Fellow of St. John’s College of Durham University. His humorous and engaging presentation style challenges the individual to simply invite others to church. He presented and was enthusiastically received at past Warden and Vestry Conferences, other churches and last year’s clergy conference. He is back by the invitation of Bishop Doyle and we are thrilled to have him with us for this Galveston Island Episcopal Event. You are invited. Invite others to come to this great event!

 

Bigmista & Friends BBQ on Saturday, 2 May.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Susan, Liz, Angela, those in the Middle East.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550

Tuesday in Holy Week

On this Tuesday in Holy Week, the Epistle for the Eucharist is taken from Paul’s letter to the Church in Corinth:

 

The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

 

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

 

Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Cor. 1:18-31).

 

The cross was an instrument of execution.  Yet God used it to redeem us, to show us His infinite love for us.  That God would do such as thing was deemed to be foolish by the culture of Jesus’ day where the Roman Empire ruled, and where their panoply of gods used humanity as their play things to demonstrate their lust for power.  What a strange thing it was for God to be absolutely weak and vulnerable, to have submitted himself to the might Roman Empire and to be crucified.  To a world absorbed with the thirst for power and pleasure, it seemed foolish indeed. 

 

Let us pray: O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Holy Week Schedule:

 

         Wednesday at 6 PM, The Rule of Life, at Trinity, the Rev. Bob Flick.

 

         Maundy Thursday, 6 PM, foot washing, Eucharist, stripping of the altar.

 

         Good Friday, 12 noon, Good Friday Service.

 

Michael Harvey

A Galveston Island Episcopal Event

All are invited

Tuesday, April 28th

7:00 PM

at St. Augustine of Hippo

(1410 41st Street)

 

Michael Harvey will be joining us on the Island all the way from Great Britain. He is the founder of Back to Church Sunday, a day we have dubbed in the Diocese of Texas as Invitation Sunday. Michael has spoken across 17 countries and 5 continents about the power of invitation and ministry to visitors and newcomers. He has written the book, Unlocking the Growth which addresses the power of invitation and the potential for the church. He has recently been inducted into the College of Evangelists and become a Visiting Fellow of St. John’s College of Durham University. His humorous and engaging presentation style challenges the individual to simply invite others to church. He presented and was enthusiastically received at past Warden and Vestry Conferences, other churches and last year’s clergy conference. He is back by the invitation of Bishop Doyle and we are thrilled to have him with us for this Galveston Island Episcopal Event. You are invited. Invite others to come to this great event!

 

Bigmista& Friends BBQ on Saturday, 2 May.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Susan, Liz, Angela, those in the Middle East.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550