February 2024
Spirit of the Eagle
St. John the Evangelist ACC
Spiritual Tidbits & Rector’s Reflections for
February 2024 from Father Tim
The Church Year 2024 feels like it is stuck on fast-forward (for those of you who remember audio and video tapes). The Pre-Lenten Season has arrived quickly. Besides the ‘Gesima’ Sundays, the month of February has several important dates to note. The Purification of Saint Mary the Virgin (Candlemas) is on the 2nd of February. Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) falls on the 14th (Saint Valentine’s Day). Thus we had better celebrate chocolates and romantic dinners on Shrove Tuesday or before. The Ember Days of Lent arrive on the 21st, 23rd, and the 24th. Ember Saturday the 24th is also the day we celebrate the feast of S. Matthias the Apostle. Since the earliest times of the Church, there is evidence of some kind of Lenten preparation for Easter. For instance, S. Irenaeus (130-202 AD) commented on the celebration of Easter and the differences between practices in the East and the West: “The dispute is not only about the day, but also about the actual character of the fast. Some think that they ought to fast for one day, some for two, others for still more; some make their ‘day’ last forty hours on end. Such variation in the observance did not originate in our own day, but very much earlier, in the time of our forefathers…” Thus since the time of “our forefathers”– always an expression for the Apostles themselves – a forty-day period of Lenten preparation existed. However, the actual practices and duration of Lent were not always alike throughout the Church. But by the end of the 4th century, the 40 day period of Easter preparation known as Lent existed, and that prayer and fasting constituted its primary spiritual exercises. Some areas of the Church abstained from all forms of meat and animal products, while others made exceptions for food like fish. Some early Christians had one meal a day, in the evening or at three o’clock in the afternoon. Eventually Lenten fasting rules evolved. They were eased during the day to keep up one’s strength for manual labor. Eating fish was allowed, and later eating meat was also allowed through the week except on Ash Wednesday and Friday. Dispensations were given for eating dairy products if a pious work was performed, and eventually this rule was totally relaxed. However, the abstinence from even dairy products led to the practice of blessing Easter eggs and eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. Just remember this year to finish off your Valentine Chocolates on Shrove Tuesday as well. ~ Father Tim
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Is there someone in your life who could benefit from a Lenten observance? Do they relish in a secular Valentine celebration and ignore the Ashes of Repentance? If so, February is the month to invite them to church to experience what a Holy Lent is all about. ~ Father Tim
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The Lord measures out perfection neither by the multitude nor the magnitude of our deeds, but by the manner in which we perform them. ~ S. John of the Cross, 1542-1591, Spanish Priest, Mystic, & Carmalite Friar
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Did you know?
Did you know Saint John’s made a charitable gift to the ACC Mission Fund in January? Did you know our Book of Life Club will be discussing To Good To Be False, How Jesus’ Incomparable Character Reveals His Reality, by Tom Gilson in February? Did you know that we are moving forward on our final stain glass window protection and improvement in 2024?
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“Give something, however small, to the one in need. For it is not small to one who has nothing. Neither is it small to God, if we have given what we could.” ~ St. Gregory Nazianzen, 329-390 AD, Archbishop of Constantinople & Theologian
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Saint John February Ordo Kalendar
Sunday, the 4th of February at 10:30 AM, Sexagesima Mass
Wednesday, the 7th of February at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Sat., the 10th of February, at 2:00 PM, The Usual Suspects Club, Bible Study Lineup
Sat., the 10th of February, at 3:15 PM, The Book of Life Club, Too Good To Be False
Sun., the 11th of February, at 10:30 AM, Quinquagesima Mass
Tuesday, the 13th of February, from 5:00-8:00 PM, Shrove Tuesday Pancake Day
Wed., the 14th of February, at 12:00 PM, Ash Wednesday Mass & Imposition of Ashes
Wed., the 14th of February, at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer & Imposition of Ashes
Sunday, the 18th of February, at 10:30 AM, Lent I Mass
Wednesday., the 21st of February, at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer Ember Wednesday
Friday, the 23rd of February, at 12:00 PM, Stations of the Cross, The Litany & Penitential Office
Sat., the 24th of February, at 2:00 PM, The Usual Suspects Club, Bible Study Lineup
Sat., the 24th of February, at 3:15 PM, The Book of Life Club, Too Good To Be False
Sun., the 25th of February, at 10:30 AM, Lent II Mass, Vestry Meeting
Wed., the 28th of February, at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
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Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one’s flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of lust, kindles the true light of chastity. ~ S. Thomas Aquinas, 1225-1274, Dominican Friar, Priest, Philosopher, & Theologian
February Birthdays & Anniversaries
Kyle Maycock – Birthday – February 3
Lincoln Bock – Birthday – February 3
Helena “Lennie” Fisher – Birthday – February 11
Brian Miller – Birthday – February 13
Donna Davis – Birthday – February 21
Bob Petrie – Birthday – February 23
Sarah Miller – Birthday – February 26
Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Dunn – Birthday – February 26
Sheila Myers–Birthday–February 27
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Why should we want to worship Jesus well?
As God then sees all hearts, and knows every movement of pride, whether we see it or not, His purpose is to humble us! When I look back upon my life, and see all my sins, all my follies, all my slips, all my falls, my conscience testifies of the many things I have thought, said, and done, which grieve my soul, make me hang my head before God, put my mouth in the dust, and confess my sins unto Him. When I contrast my own exceeding sinfulness with God’s greatness, God’s majesty, God’s holiness, and God’s purity… I fall down, humbly and meekly before Him, I put my mouth in the dust, I acknowledge I am vile. “I am nothing but dust and ashes.” (Abraham) “Behold, I am vile!” (Job) “Woe to me! I am ruined!” (Isaiah) “I am a sinful man!” (Peter). ~ J.C. Philpot, 1802-1869, Church of England Clergyman & later Strict Baptist Pastor
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The best mirror is an old friend . . . and . . . Living well is the best revenge. ~ Bl. George Herbert, 1593-1633, Anglican Priest, Confessor & Anglican Worthy, commemoration the 27th day of February
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Gianlorenzo Bernini, (Siena Cathedral, 1661-1663) S. Jerome embraces the crucifix like a violin.
“The holy Mr. Herbert,” as his parishioners called Bl. George, spent time in the desert of divine absence and spiritual desolation. “Denial” is one of his saddest poems, lamenting a God who is not only hidden, but unresponsive, seemingly deaf to Herbert’s prayers. Only the poem’s final line is granted the mending grace of rhyme.
When my devotions could not pierce
Thy silent ears;
Then was my heart broken, as was my verse:
My breast was full of fears
And disorder:
My bent thoughts, like a brittle bow,
Did fly asunder:
Each took his way; some would to pleasures go,
Some to the wars and thunder
Of alarms.
As good go anywhere, they say,
As to benumb
Both knees and heart, in crying night and day,
Come, come, my God, O come,
But no hearing.
O that thou shouldst give dust a tongue
To cry to thee,
And then not hear it crying! all day long
My heart was in my knee,
But no hearing.
Therefore my soul lay out of sight,
Untun’d, unstrung:
My feeble spirit, unable to look right,
Like a nipped blossom, hung
Discontented.
O cheer and tune my heartless breast,
Defer no time;
That so thy favors granting my request,
They and my mind may chime,
And mend my rhyme.
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The seeking of Jesus Christ and the quest for chivalry combined lead directly to one place only: Anglican-Catholicism. Courage, honor, courtesy, justice, and a readiness to help and defend the weak and the poor. Welcome to the Anglican Catholic Church. ~ Father Timothy Butler