Spirit of the Eagle – August 2015

Spiritual Tidbits for August from Father Tim

August has arrived with the summer heat in tow! We are now on the downhill side of 2015. I pray, as you look back at the prior seven months, you can see the life of Christ in the wake of all that you have experienced and accomplished. I pray that our worship and fellowship at Saint John’s has helped you seize each day with holy passion. I pray that your relationship with Jesus Christ continues to grow the remainder of this year, and are reminded daily you never have to fear the loss of Him, Who always reminds His sheep not to fear death—but to be afraid of the unlived life. ~Father Tim

The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot. It is curiously silent, too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color. Often at night there is lightning, but it quivers all alone. ~Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting

August Spirituality Class

Please join us on the 16th of August* after Mass as we’ll continue discussing Revenge verses Forgiveness, Redemption, Forgiveness verses The Law, Love, Hard-Work and Integrity verses Playing the System, and finally Freedom. How do all these relate to us in our own lives? How do our choices guide us to avoid vice and achieve virtue? How are we to use the Bible, the Holy Saints and Martyrs, the Church Fathers, the Apostles, and — most importantly — the life of Christ to help us in our every day journey back toward God? As a backdrop we will also consider the story line in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables. Please come and bring a family member or friend!!!

* Please note the Spirituality Class has been moved to the 3rd Sunday of the month. This will make it easier on me to prepare because Father Neuroth is the celebrant on the 3rd Sunday. ~Father Tim

El Kbab, August 15, 1955

Your letter was a great joy to me, and I mean this literally, for at last you have found Christ. It is in the darkness of our whole selves—the night of St. John of the Cross—that He wants to be sought and found. But often we do not look for Him there, because it is ourselves that we are seeking in Him.

“Where were you, O Christ, while I was desperately struggling to hold on to you?” “I was near you, my child. If I had not helped you, you would have lost me, I would no longer be yours. . . .” This is a dialogue between Jesus and St. Catherine of Siena. She had lived through a temptation in which she felt that no trace of Christ remained in her.

Do you think, my child, that you paid too great a price for this moment of “calm, silent, cold and obscure certitude, outside the realm of feeling,” as you describe it? It is a milestone in your spiritual life, and, having received so much even in these few seconds, from now on you know that you possess all. And so what a good year lies ahead for you, since you must know with certainty that Christ was near you, with you, in you. Turn the light of this certainty back over the past year to discover what has been given you. It is beyond the realm of feeling that we reach Christ. ~Father Albert Peyriguere, Voice from the Desert, from a 25 year collection of letters to a teaching Nun.

Children’s Ministry

The Children’s Ministry will be the second Sunday, the 9th of August. Once again it will be after Mass (during the Coffee Hour – all children should attend the Mass). It is designed for age 2 through 12 years. Please commit to bringing all related children in your family for this once a month fun and educational class. While you enjoy fellowship during the Coffee Hour, the children will participate, enjoy, and learn the foundation and building blocks of the Christian faith through bible stories and created crafts.

Provincial Synod

The Provincial Synod will take place October 28th through October 30th in Athens, Georgia. St. Stephen’s ACC will be the host parish. Any parishioners who would like to attend please let me know as soon as possible and forms are available to be filled out. You can also confirm with Mrs. Harriet King at frcharlesking@hotmail.com as well. The 27th of September is the deadline for discounted hotel room reservations.

August Birthdays & Anniversaries

Robert Hooks – Birthday – August 1
+ Fr. Neuroth – Birthday – August 22
Carolyn Schmerge – Birthday – August 28
Janet Butler – Birthday – August 28
Savannah Butler – Birthday – August 29
Tim Lenz – Birthday – August 29

August Ordo Kalendar Dates

August 2 – Trinity IX – Celebrant: Fr. Neuroth
August 9 – Trinity X – Celebrant: Fr. Butler – 11:45 Coffee Hour – Childrens’ Ministry
July 16 – Trinity XI – Celebrant: Fr. Neuroth – 11:45 Spirituality Class
August 23 – Trinity XII – Celebrant: Fr. Butler

Just what the world needs:
More Lenz Boys
================

Congratulations to Tim and Jerri Lenz on the arrival of their 3rd grandson, Noah.

(L to R) Logan, Hunter and Noah
================

Congratulations to Mike and Ruth Lenz on the arrival of their 2nd grandson Carter.

(L to R) Jaxon and Carter
================