Ash Wednesday is the beginning of our observance of the 40 days of Lent. We begin in silence and then hear the message of repentance and forgiveness in our scripture lessons. As a sign of that intention to return to the Lord we receive the imposition of ashes on our foreheads in the sign of the cross as we hear the words, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Our Ash Wednesday Liturgies are held at 7:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Everyone is invited and will be welcome.
This week we are staging our own Mardi Gras. Tuesday, Feb. 21, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. our men are cooking and serving up pancakes and sausages along with orange juice and lots of hot coffee. There’s no charge, but we will take any offering you might want to offer to help fund the Tuesday and Friday morning breakfasts we serve to the community.
For those who have dietary needs we will serve gluten free pancakes and offer sugar free syrup for those who need it.
I don’t know if you could call it entertainment, but some of the guys have threatened to sing.
Oh, and be sure to come back the next day, Ash Wednesday for our service that is the beginning of Lent. Three services will be held, at 7:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Fr. Tom
A Very Romantic Meal, Spaghetti
Want to treat your sweetheart to a very romantic evening? Here’s a hint. Bring your special friend to Saint Paul’s second annual Spaghetti Dinner. Its this coming Sunday, February 12 at 6:00 p.m. here in our dinning room. Come share fresh pasta with authentic Italian sauce, salad and bread. There’s a rumor that some very romantic music will be provided by very romantic musicians.
This is one event you can’t afford to miss. Donations will be accepted to go for our scholarship program for Education for Ministry.
Men's Breakfast
There’s a song we sang in grade school. “The more we get together, together, together; the more we get together the happier we’ll be. Believe it or not, that’s true. Humans are social animals. We thrive with the contacts we have with others. That is the point of our many gatherings here at Saint Paul’s. Whether it’s a women’s gathering, the men’s breakfast or youth group, we know that our getting together helps to foster our sense of well being and even spiritual growth. I know there are times when we are sure that whatever is happening can’t be very spiritual (especially at men’s breakfast) but I am sure there is a spiritual benefit whenever the people of God gather.
This month we will have extra opportunities to gather. In addition to our men’s breakfast and Saint Paul Saturday we have our annual Spaghetti Dinner on February 12. The offering from that will go for Education for Ministry scholarships. On Saturday, February 18 we are invited to get together from 8:30 to noon for a different kind of preparation for Lent. There should be something for everyone in the three presentations we will offer. Come to one or all of them. Then we turn around and gather for the Shrove Tuesday and our annual Pancake Supper from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. on February 21. It seems this is an important entre into the beginning of Lent and our Ash Wednesday services the next day. Ash Wednesday services will be held at 7:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on February 22.
But wait! That’s not all! on February 29 we begin our Wednesday evening Lenten Soup Suppers and Programs. This is yet another opportunity to gather and enjoy each other’s company. Remember, the more we get together the happier (and more spiritual) we’ll be.
In the eighth chapter of 1 Corinthians the apostle Paul launches into a discussion that seems to say there’s nothing wrong with eating meat that has been offered to a god. And yet he asks what happens if someone who doesn’t understand the teaching about food happens to see us eating. Could they be led to wrong conclusions and hence be led astray to worship false gods? I struggle to understand this controversy. We have plenty of controversy about food now-a-days, but it is mostly from a health point of view. Looking at food from a moral point of view is a bit different.
I suggest that we might ask ourselves what a modern version of the dilemma might look like. I remember a friend of mine being asked if it was immoral for a person to have a pair of expensive boots made of some exotic animal skin. He thought about it for a while and said he thought it might be more wrong for him to have many pairs of shoes and boots in his closet while at the same time he knew people who didn’t have any shoes and did nothing to change that. The problem with all of this assessing of right and wrong is that we are completely capable of accusing others of heinous sin and at the same time missing our own due to our own blindness.
We will hear this passage read during our service this Sunday. I am looking forward to hearing what our preacher will say about it.
Fr. Tom
This past week we conducted our Annual Meeting. No, I don’t think it was boring for those of us who were there. One reason is that we were pretty well invested in the process of governing ourselves and our parish. We elected members and officers of the parish vestry and representatives of the congregation to bodies outside our own parish. We approved a budget and heard and approved the report of our very diligent treasurer. But we also reported and listened to each other as we shared how our year has gone. All of this was important stuff. But one thing happened that I think is very necessary. We honored some members of our community and told them how important they are to us and how much we value them.
I realize that the inherent danger in doing this is that there are ever so many people who deserve to be honored. We would never have enough time to accomplish the task of honoring everyone who deserved it. So we have to understand that those honored stand as representative of our esteem for one another. Ultimately, we have to find more ways of showing our respect. I suspect that those people I most admire are quite adept at the skill of honoring others–so adept, in fact, that we don’t quite notice that we are being complimented. All we know is we feel better coming away from those conversations than we did going in. We feel like we are valued by those persons, somehow worthy of being listened to.
Let me challenge you with this suggestion. Why wait for a big meeting to honor someone you think should be recognized? Why don’t we talk to people in such a way that they can know that they are appreciated? Further, why don’t we talk about them to others as if we were presenting their name for an honor? The world is full of people who are constantly running others down. I want to be different. I want to honor as many people as I can. If I get started right now I might be able to honor most of those I know deserve it.
Fr. Tom
It seems that most folks would rather not go to meetings, mostly because they think they are boring. Well as the veteran of a lot of meetings I can agree. But I would like to hold out an alternative view.
There are some meetings that are so needed that they have a compelling attraction. That is what I think about the Annual Meeting of our parish. Since we Episcopalians are used to having a say in our governance, we simply have to show up when we all have decisions to make. This week we will gather to choose who will guide our mission for the coming year. We’ll choose people who will represent us in meetings beyond the local church. And we will make some really important dollars and cents decisions for the coming year. And then there are the many reports that collectively give us a snap shot of how things are going here in our life and ministry.
There are several times when I sense the necessity of gathering our community. We gather for worship, for baptisms, for marriages and burials. And sometimes we gather for fellowship. This week we gather to demonstrate that we are a self governing parish capable of making decisions about our common life. If you are a member of this parish please make sure you are there.
Saint Paul’s Annual Parish Meeting
11:30 a.m. Sunday, January 15, in the nave of Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church, 601 Poyntz, Manhattan, Kansas.
See You There,
Father Tom
Christmas Eve: December 24
7:00 p.m. Family Christmas: Featuring singing of Christmas hymns, a children’s sermon, the long awaited arrival of the babe in the manger and the celebration of Holy Eucharist. All are welcome.
10:30 p.m. Music of the Season: Those who come will be invited to join in singing as many of our favorite Christmas hymns as we can before the Midnight Mass begins.
11:00 p.m. The festive Holy Eucharist of Christmas Eve: (sometimes called Midnight Mass) will be celebrated with choral music and carols of the season. This service is timed so as as to make it possible for us to receive communion as close to midnight (and Christmas Day) as possible.
Christmas Day: December 25
10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist for Christmas Day: This celebration of Holy Communion and Christmas hymns is once again a celebration of Jesus born in Bethlehem.
Please Note: There will be only one service on Christmas Day. The normal 8:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. services will not be held.
I recently asked a group of college students what they were most afraid of. As we sat around the table and told of our fears I realized how similar we all are in our fears. Then I made note of the fact that almost every time an angel appears in the New Testament the conversation begins with the greeting, “Don’t be afraid.” As we wondered about that for a while I noticed my friends had a number of proposed reasons why that was the most common greeting for an angel. Some thought it was because they are scary in appearance. One thought it was because they had scary messages from God. Another thought it was because angels usually bring a commission to their human hearers to do something that is either fearful or extremely difficult. No matter what their meaning I believe the greeting of the angels is both good advice and reliable.
Fear has a way of producing the most negative results in our lives. We become tense. Our blood pressure and pulse rise. While we may be temporarily enabled by adrenaline to make a fight or flight response we can be made ill by the prolonged response of fear. It is also likely to induce faulty thinking based on the emotional response rather than facts. And I think the most terrible result of fear is that it can make us freeze up. Some times we can get so scared that we can’t move or speak.
The admonition to ”fear not” is reliable too. Invariably these angelic visitors are indications that the humans they are addressing are in the gaze of a God who is about to intervene in their lives. While there may be fearful moments ahead the one who is in direct control of the situation is none other than the Living God. Our lives have purpose and meaning. Our salvation is at hand. The outcome is in the hands of the Almighty.
So, as you encounter all the stories of Christmas this year make note of all the times visitors greet their human subjects with the same words, “Fear not.” What’s that all about?
Father Tom
In a recent conversation I heard some folks saying that a general invitation to do something almost never gets results. And yet we continue to make announcements in church that such-and-such an event is happening, and we need help. And then we ask everybody to sign up to help. More times than not, this method simply does not work. As a matter of fact, a mantra of the sales world goes something like this. “Nothing happens until somebody asks somebody to do something. As a result of hearing this wisdom in many ways and in many circumstances I have begun to ask people personally to do whatever I would like them to do.
What this strategy does for me is to organize my priorities and activities. There are only so many hours in the day, so I have to decide what project gets first dibs on my time and the time of the people I am going to contact. I have to think about who I know who can do the job. I ask myself who would be most likely to respond. And then I approach the person and make my case. I know I won’t be one hundred per cent successful, but I have noticed this method gets more results than a shot gun invitation.
By reading this you have learned two things. You might get better results if you ask somebody to do something personally. And if I approach you with a request you know that I have thought about it and picked you out of many possibilities. You should be flattered.
Father Tom
