C.S. Lewis

Today the Church remembers and honors C.S. Lewis who lived from 1898 to 1963. If you have read his children’s stories, The Chronicles of Narnia, you may be more familiar with C.S. Lewis that you might imagine. After the death of his mother during Lewis’ childhood, Lewis became an atheist and a firm believer, and it wasn’t until he was teaching at Magdalene College at Oxford that he became not only a firm believer, but a defender of the faith as well.

James Kiefer writes:

Clive Staples Lewis ("Jack" Lewis to his friends) was a tutor and lecturer at Oxford University, and later Professor of Medieval and Renaissance English Literature at Cambridge University. In the judgment of many, he is the most popular and most effective explainer and defender of the Christian faith writing in English in this century. He tried to make a point of avoiding disputes on matters where Christians disagree, and defending those beliefs which they hold in common. His work was valued by many Christians of widely differing backgrounds: Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic.

James Kiefer provides a brief and non-exhaustive list and description of his works:

(1) MERE CHRISTIANITY. This originated as a series of fifteen-minute radio talks addressed to a very general audience, undertaking to give a general account of Christian belief. It begins with a discussion of some reasons for believing that God exists, and why it matters that He does, and then continues with an account of the redeeming work of God in Christ. It includes a discussion of Christian moral standards, and Trinitarian theology. Throughout, the author undertakes to confine himself to the common Christian core of belief, and to steer clear of disagreements between denominations -- hence the word “mere” in the title.

(2) MIRACLES. Lewis defines a miracle as "an interference with Nature by a supernatural power," and proceeds to examine the question of whether we have grounds for believing that there exists something that can properly be called supernatural (this involves definitions of Nature other than just "everything that exists"), whether there are grounds for supposing that that something could not or would not interfere with the workings of Nature, and what sort of view of reality is involved in the Christian assertion of the Miracle of the Incarnation (God took human nature upon Himself in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth). A cogent discussion and analysis of fundamental questions.

(3) THE PROBLEM OF PAIN. Undertakes to answer the question, "If God is good and God is omnipotent, then why is there pain and evil in the world?" or, as otherwise put, "If God loves me, why can't I get my locker open?"

(4) THE GREAT DIVORCE. A dream (owing some ideas to Dante) in which the author visits Heaven and Hell. The question is not what they are like physically, but rather what it means to be in Hell or in Heaven.

(5) THE ABOLITION OF MAN. Not explicitly Christian. Three lectures defending the concept of Natural Law (a moral standard known in principle to all human societies).

(6) THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS. A series of letters from Screwtape, an experienced devil, to his nephew Wormwood, a junior tempter on his first assignment. The letters deal with the psychology of temptation, and will make most readers laugh -- and wince. (NOTE: Some copies have at the end an essay, "Screwtape Proposes a Toast". This was written years later on a totally different subject. By all means read them both, but not as a single work, or in rapid succession.)

(7) REFLECTIONS ON THE PSALMS. Problems or questions that occurred to Lewis while praying or studying the Psalms, and his thoughts thereon.

If there is an interest, we could certainly study one of Lewis’ writings.

Let us pray: O God of searing truth and surpassing beauty, we give you thanks for Clive Staples Lewis whose sanctified imagination lights fires of faith in young and old alike; Surprise us also with your joy and draw us into that new and abundant life which is ours in Christ Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Thank you to everyone for the wonderful Thanksgiving Feast yesterday. As usual, the food was great and there was plenty of it.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

Please remember to sign-up for Sunday Fellowship.

Advent begins on Sunday 28 November. The liturgical color will be purple and we will switch to Rite I as well as begin Year A in the Lectionary.

Join Lee Runion who will offer an art class on making Christmas decorations on Saturday, 4 December from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. He is a wonderful teacher and it is a great opportunity to be creative even for those of us who may be challenged in that area.

The day is drawing near, Big Mista BBQ fundraiser for the Community Garden, Saturday, 11 December. Melva Pope has tickets, so please pick some up for friends and family. There is also a Facebook page for the event. Here is the link to the Diocese’s website where Neil Strawder is featured front and center: www.epicenter.org. Help get the word out to everyone!

PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST.

Your servant in Christ,

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

Be Patient

In today’s passage from James’ Epistle, he counsels patience:

Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Indeed we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Above all, my beloved, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. (James 5: 7-12)

None of us knows when our end will come. As Jesus told us, it comes like a thief in the night. But we all know that it will come. The day will come when the trumpet shall sound, and we will meet our Lord and Savior face-to-face. Our day-to-day lives should be lived getting ready for that day when Jesus will ask us, “How have you lived the life that my Father gave you? Have you done as I have asked? Have you welcomed the Holy Spirit into your heart? Has your life been lived in service to others?”

Let us pray: Loving Father, we do not know the day that death will claim us. Open our hearts to follow Your Son in all things, and send Your Holy Spirit to sanctify our lives to You. We ask this in the name of Your Son, Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

Please remember to sign-up for Sunday Fellowship.

This year we will celebrate a Thanksgiving liturgy, along with the Feast of Christ the King, on Sunday, 21 November. After the Eucharist, we will have our Thanksgiving luncheon and hymn sing. Please invite your friends and family to offer thanks for all of God’s blessings. Please remember to sign up to bring a dish to share.

Big Mista BBQ fundraiser for the Community Garden, Saturday, 11 December. Melva Pope has tickets, so please pick some up for friends and family. There is also a Facebook page for the event. Here is the link to the Diocese’s website where Neil Strawder is featured front and center: www.epicenter.org. Help get the word out to everyone!

Advent begins on Sunday 28 November. We will switch to Rite I and we will begin Year A in the Lectionary.

PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST, especially Pamela Bowser at M.D. Anderson, Joe Hogan and Carol Freeman.

Your servant in Christ,

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

If the Lord Wishes

James’ Epistles continues in today’s Daily Office, and we hear about priorities:

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.” Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin.

Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts on a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you. (James 4:13-5:6)

Much is said in Scripture regarding our relationship to material things and wealth. Jesus talks about that topic more than any other. There is a way, Jesus and James tell us, that wealth has a way of corrupting us. Wealth corrupts us when we become consumed by it. The same can be true of the rich and the poor alike. Some wealthy people focus on it and how to acquire more, while some of the poor focus on wealth by wondering why they are not rich and how they can become rich. This inordinate obsession with wealth begets crimes of all sorts from those committed on Wall Street by money managers like Bernie Madoff to drugs dealers on the corner of 42nd Street and M1/2. They are obsessed with worshipping the almighty dollar and its short lived salvation.

Material goods have their place, but it is not at the head of the line. James tells us that we must keep things in perspective. We should do all things, even in our business dealings, as the Lord wishes. If we do as God wills, then there would be far fewer money managers like Bernie Madoff and drugs dealers on the corner of 42nd Street and M1/2. Our calling is to preach the Good News to them that there is much more to life than a dollar bill.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

Please remember to sign-up for Sunday Fellowship.

This year we will celebrate a Thanksgiving liturgy, along with the Feast of Christ the King, on Sunday, 21 November. After the Eucharist, we will have our Thanksgiving luncheon and hymn sing. Please invite your friends and family to offer thanks for all of God’s blessings. Please remember to sign up to bring a dish to share.

Big Mista BBQ fundraiser for the Community Garden, Saturday, 11 December. Melva Pope has tickets, so please pick some up for friends and family. There is also a Facebook page for the event. Here is the link to the Diocese’s website where Neil Strawder is featured front and center: www.epicenter.org. Help get the word out to everyone!

Advent begins on Sunday 28 November. We will switch to Rite I and we will begin Year A in the Lectionary.

PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST, especially Pamela Bowser at M.D. Anderson, Joe Hogan and Carol Freeman.

Your servant in Christ,

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

Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from?

The Epistle reading for today is a continuation of the Letter of James. Tradition has it that it was written by James, the brother of Jesus; however, we really do not know who wrote it. We do know that it was written in excellent Greek and that it reads very much like a sermon. It places a great deal of emphasis on putting into practice our faith. In today’s selection, we are given good counsel regarding strife in the community:

For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.

Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, “God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another, speaks evil against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbor? (James 3:17-4:12)

James tells his readers that if they give in to popular culture, if they give in to their appetites, what he calls “the way of the world”, then there will be trouble for the community of faith. Rather what we should do is to seek out God’s will for us and live as God would have us live, that is, be pure, peaceable, gentle and merciful. That is a tall order, but doable, according to James, if we submit to God and draw near to God.

Let us pray: Loving Father, drive away from our hearts all envy and wrong desires. Give us the grace of Your Holy Spirit to draw near to You and to submit to Your will as Jesus did, always praying Jesus’ prayer, “Your will be done.” Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

Please remember to sign-up for Sunday Fellowship.

Rather than have a service the morning of Thanksgiving, this year we will celebrate a Thanksgiving liturgy on Sunday, 21 November, so that everyone can attend. After the Eucharist, we will have our Thanksgiving luncheon. Please invite your friends and family to offer thanks for all of God’s blessings. Please remember to sign up to bring a dish to share.

Big Mista BBQ fundraiser for the Community Garden, Saturday, 11 December. Melva Pope has tickets, so please pick some up for friends and family. There is also a Facebook page for the event. Here is the link to the Diocese’s website where Neil Strawder is featured front and center: www.epicenter.org

Advent begins on Sunday 28 November. We will switch to Rite I and we will begin Year A in the Lectionary.

PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST, especially Pamela Bowser at M.D. Anderson.

Your servant in Christ,

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

Be Careful What You Say

In today’s Epistle of James, we hear about the power of the tongue:

Look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.

So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh. (James 3: 4-12)

The tongue is such a small part of the body, but with the ability to cause so much trouble. The author of the letter of James is so right: “How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire.” The good name or reputation of another can be damaged, or even totally destroyed, in a number of ways. For example, have you ever been the subject of calumny, or have you yourself engaged in calumny? Calumny is the telling of lies about another person.

Have you ever been the subject of detraction or engaged in it? Detraction is revealing the hidden faults or sins of another without sufficient cause so that the person’s reputation or good name is seriously damaged.

The ability to communicate ideas and emotions through the spoken word is a gift. Yet we misuse that gift. We unleash our tongues and cause a world of hurt by telling lies about others, or even telling the deepest truth about people to others who have no business knowing it. Sometimes we even do it under the guise of being instruments of the truth: “I’m only telling the truth about that person, do you know what kind of sinner he is, do you know what he did?”

Today’s passage reminds us to be careful about what we say and how we say it. How do you and I use words? Do we build up people, or do we tear them down?

I am sure that each of us has said things to people, and especially to those closest to us, that have been hurtful and destructive. Once said, you cannot recapture the words to undo the hurt. You and I have done it with our spouse, our children, our family and our friends. We have misused God’s gift of speech, and we have said ugly things.

Today, think about those times when you have used your tongue not for good, but for evil, and ask the Lord to grant you pardon and peace and to restore broken relationships through the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

Please remember to sign-up for Sunday Fellowship.

Rather than have a service the morning of Thanksgiving, this year we will celebrate a Thanksgiving liturgy on Sunday, 21 November, so that everyone can attend. After the Eucharist, we will have our Thanksgiving luncheon. Please invite your friends and family to offer thanks for all of God’s blessings. Please remember to sign up to bring a dish to share.

Big Mista BBQ fundraiser for the Community Garden, Saturday, 11 December. Melva Pope has tickets, so please pick some up for friends and family. There is also a Facebook page for the event.

Advent begins on Sunday 28 November. We will switch to Rite I and we will begin Year A in the Lectionary.

PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST, especially Pamela Bowser at M.D. Anderson.

Your servant in Christ,

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

Faith Without Works Is Dead

In today’s Epistles reading from the Daily Office, we hear from the Letter of James:

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill”, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith without works is barren? Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”, and he was called the friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead. (James 2:14-26).

St. Augustine said, “Love God and do as you please.” At first hearing, it seems wrong, but if you think about it, St. Augustine is reflecting what we hear in today’s letter of James. If you really love God, then you will want to do God’s will. You will want to please God, not out of fear, but out of love. You will not want to offend God who has loved you first, and has expressed that love for you in Jesus Christ who gave his life so that you might have life to the fullest. Faith and good works go hand-in-hand. We express our faith, we live out our faith by the way we live our lives. If we do nothing, our faith is barely alive, almost dead. If we reach out to others in love as Christ reached out to us, then our faith is alive.

Let us pray: We thank you Lord God for the gift of Your Son who prayed that Your will be done. Enliven our faith with Your Holy Spirit and give us the strength to do Your will and to live as Jesus would have us live, dying to selfishness and giving birth to love and charity. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

Rather than have a service the morning of Thanksgiving, this year we will celebrate a Thanksgiving liturgy on Sunday, 21 November, so that everyone can attend. After the Eucharist, we will have our Thanksgiving luncheon. Please invite your friends and family to offer thanks for all of God’s blessings. Please remember to sign up to bring a dish to share.

Big Mista BBQ fundraiser for the Community Garden, Saturday, 11 December. Melva Pope has tickets, so please pick some up for friends and family. There is also a Facebook page for the event.

Advent begins on Sunday, 28 November. We will use Rite I, and Year A begins in the Lectionary.

PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST.

Your servant in Christ,

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

Be Doers of the Word

Today’s Epistle reading comes from the letter of James. James gives good counsel to us:

Do not be deceived, my beloved. Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.

If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (James 1: 16-27).

James' advice to you and me is to be a doer of the word and not just a hearer of the word. In other words, “don’t just talk the talk, but walk the walk.” Talk is cheap, living out the Gospel is costly. We are advised to live it out. How do we do that? The letter of James gives us direction: “to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” That is how we become doers of the word and not just hearers.

Let us pray: Almighty God, you sent the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, to show us how to live. Give us the strength to be doers of Your Word and not just hearers. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

We will need to have a brief meeting of the Bishop’s Committee to discuss approval of Pay Pal for the BBQ fundraiser. Pat Tate was kind enough to set it up and Neil set up a Facebook page for the event as well with the Pay Pal link.

This Sunday for Adult Christian Formation, we will begin a short series on Sundays until Advent at 11:00 a.m. in Sutton Hall—Stump the Vicar. Bring your questions whatever they may be, about Scripture, the Episcopal Church, the liturgy, you name it, bring it! There will be a prize for anyone who stumps the Vicar.

Art classes begin Saturday, 13 November at 10:00 a.m. in the art room in Bright-Davies Hall. Please join Lee Runion. The class is free. Lee’s phone number is 409-392 4171.

Rather than have a service the morning of Thanksgiving, this year we will celebrate a Thanksgiving liturgy on Sunday, 21 November, so that everyone can attend. After the Eucharist, we will have our Thanksgiving luncheon. Please invite your friends and family to offer thanks for all of God’s blessings. Please remember to sign up to bring a dish to share.

Big Mista BBQ fundraiser for the Community Garden, Saturday, 11 December. Melva Pope has tickets, so please pick some up for friends and family.

PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST, especially Pat Williams, the trumpeter who played at Second Sunday Jazz, who is in ICU.

Your servant in Christ,

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