Spirit of the Eagle – March 2018

Spiritual Tidbits & Rector’s Reflections for March from Father Tim

March has arrived and, along with it, the final weeks of Holy Lent and the beginning of Spring. Easter falls on the very first day of April. The passing winter has had much variety including brutal cold, a record breaking day of warmth, a little snow, and plenty of rain. This year in March we will celebrate Passion Sunday, Palm Sunday, and of course Holy Week. Maundy Thursday falls on the 29th of March, and is the day of the commemoration of the Last Supper, the very first Holy Eucharist. On this holy evening Jesus washed the dirt from His Apostles feet and gave them ‘a new Commandment, that you love one another’. The term ‘Maundy’ comes from the Middle English maunde, ‘foot-washing’. This in turn comes from the Old French mande, ‘commandment’, referring to the new commandment that our Lord gave them after washing and drying their feet. Good Friday falls on the 30th of March and is the day of Jesus’ painful death on the cross. So why is it called ‘Good’ Friday? Because for all the brutality of the Crucifixion, the day is nevertheless good for you and I. By the death of Jesus the Christ we are freed from the bondage of sin. However, the name of the day itself is actually a passed down corruption of the Middle English Godes Fridai, ‘God’s Friday’. I know life is busy and each day is fleeting, but please do your best and arrange your schedule so you can attend our Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services. Consider the importance, the significance, and the depth of love which brought about these most holy events. Consider as well all those saints who have gone before us, who chose never to neglect such a Holy Week, and worshiped at those services in which we remember, and give thanks, for the deepest humility and the infinite love poured out for not just us, but all mankind. ~ Father Tim

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Hope means first of all a period of waiting, of waiting for someone or something. It implies ‘faith’ in a certain kind of coming—-in ‘the coming’. One does not know but one believes. It is a moral certainty, and inner certainty, not a scientific certainty. This waiting is inspired by love. Indeed love is its very foundation. One hopes for only what one loves. Thus hope is not only a matter of waiting. It is waiting permeated by love. ~ Lev Gillet, The Burning Bush

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A Lenten Friday

Please join us on Friday evening, the 16th of March for Evening Prayer 6:00 PM, Stations of the Cross 6:30 PM, and a Soup, Salad, and Bread Fundraiser 7:00 PM. We will be sending whatever amount of money raised for the meal to one of our favorite charities! Join us for all three events or attend the one that works with your Friday calendar.

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March Spirituality Class

Please join us after Holy Mass on the 18th of March as we conclude A Time to Turn: Anglican Readings for Lent and Easter Week, by Christopher L. Webber. For centuries Lent has been a time when Christians stop and take stock of their lives. It is a time for revisiting the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. It is a time of focusing on our sinfulness and the need to repent, as well as a season in which we focus on putting aside our luxuries and making sure that others have what they need. All of these themes, and more, are explored in this collection of Anglican readings that begin with Ash Wednesday and end on the Saturday of Easter Week. These readings are arranged in a regular sequence through each week of Lent. Sunday readings focus on God’s love, Mondays on the need for discipline, Tuesdays on fasting, Wednesdays on prayer, Thursdays on sin, Fridays on the cross, and Saturdays on baptism. A Time to Turn draws on the best sermons, books, poems, and hymns of Anglican writers throughout the centuries, with a reading for each day, followed by the brief suggestion for focusing the reader’s meditations. Writers include Christina Rossetti, John Donne, Philips Brooks, John Keble, Thomas Traherne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and many others. Brief biographies are included, along with a bibliography for those who would like to read more from a given writer.

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Especially in the Eucharist, the aura of associations seems spread to the very fringes of the created world; to include the most secret and close of all personal relationships, and plunge into those mysterious deeps of personality where the creature in its poverty and weakness feeds on a generous and abiding Life. For here a frame is made within each man, at whatever stage of growth he may be, has access to the incarnate, and thus to the transcendent, Reality. In the language of theology, he can here accomplish ‘in union with Christ’ the surrender of his self-hood to God. Since Christ’s Incarnation stands for the Christian as the most perfect self-expression of reality in terms of space and time, complete continuity is here established between the fullness of the supernatural generosity and the heart-breaking wonder of human sacrificial love; between every level of creation visible and invisible—the vine and wheat, the sunny terrace and ploughland, the ‘star-dust and the planet’, the Angels, Archangels and all the Company of Heaven—and the first holy feeding in the Upper Room. ~ Evelyn Underhill, Man and the Supernatural

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This month we continue our journey through Lent. On March 4th Savannah will cover the Loaves and the Fishes, on March 18th I will cover Passion Sunday and the Stations of the Cross, and on March 25th Judie will complete our Lenten journey by teaching the children about Holy Week. Please feel free to write down or e-mail me with intentions for our Prayer Cross. We invite all children ages 2-12 to join us as we learn through lessons, activities, and fellowship. ~ Mary Matias Akhtar

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St. John March Ordo Kalendar

Sunday, the 4th of March, we celebrate Lent III
Sunday, the 11th of March, we celebrate Lent IV Laetare Sunday
Friday, the 16th of March, beginning at 6:00 PM Evening Prayer and Stations of the Cross followed by Soup, Salad, Bread and Fundraiser
Sunday, the 18th of March, we celebrate Passion Sunday
Sunday, the 25th of March, we celebrate Palm Sunday
Thursday, the 29th of March, Maundy Thursday Holy Mass & Stripping of the Altar at 6:00 PM
Friday, the 30th of March, Good Friday Liturgy at 12:00 PM & Stations of the Cross at 3:00 PM
Saturday, the 31st of March, Easter Eve Service & Blessing of the New Fire at 3:00 PM
Sunday, the 1st of April, we celebrate Easter and the Resurrection at 10:30 AM!

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Mary Anne and Fr. Neuroth – Anniversary – March 13
Joanna Barnett – Birthday – March 16
Judy Hulsey – Birthday – March 28
Kay Matthews – Birthday – March 31
Kevin Matthews – Birthday – March 31