St. Anne's is loving the wider world in a hand's on way this week.
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Saturday, January 23, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Loving One Another
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Deacon Pat Markie commissioned and sent the team of St. Annian's heading to Belize in a few days with these words:
Click here to learn more about this year's project and St. Anne's ongoing involvement in Belize.
Follow St. Anne's as they travel and work via our St. Anne's 2010 Belize blog.
Thank you for your support, love and prayers!
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Deacon Pat Markie commissioned and sent the team of St. Annian's heading to Belize in a few days with these words:
As Christians, our mission is to make God known to all people. We hear this in Jesus’ words: “I give you a new commandment , that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
We celebrate you and your devotion to the work ahead of you in Belize.
Through the gift of your service, you show others the love that God has for all people. This is both a privilege and a responsibility, and by standing here you are publicly affirming your commitment to this work.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, look graciously upon these people whom we now commission for your service. Give them your spirit, enrich them with your grace, and strengthen them for the tasks which lie ahead. Amen.
We rejoice to recognize you as representatives of this Congregation and we thank God for your dedication and your willingness to serve. We send you to Belize with our prayers and our support, and, with you, we renew our commitment to service in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Click here to learn more about this year's project and St. Anne's ongoing involvement in Belize.
Follow St. Anne's as they travel and work via our St. Anne's 2010 Belize blog.
Thank you for your support, love and prayers!
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Monday, January 18, 2010
An Extremist for Love
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...though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist: "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God." And John Bunyan: "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." And Abraham Lincoln: "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." And Thomas Jefferson: "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal . . ." So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.
- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail
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...though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist: "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God." And John Bunyan: "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." And Abraham Lincoln: "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." And Thomas Jefferson: "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal . . ." So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.
- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail
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Thursday, January 14, 2010
Haiti
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Prayer Service Thursday, January 14
Prayer Service Thursday, January 14
Bishop Jelinek urges all Minnesotans to join the Presiding Bishop in urging your prayers for those who have died, been injured, and are searching for loved ones. Please plan to join Bishop Jelinek at a prayer service on Thursday, January 14 at 7 pm at St. Mark's Cathedral.
Support relief efforts - as seen on the Diocesean home page
The diocese has established a dedicated fund to which you may make a tax-deductible donation. All funds collected will be distributed through the congregations participating in the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti Parish Partnership Program. Donations can be made on line or by check to the Episcopal Center (payable to the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota and write "Haiti Fund" in the memo line) or call Helena Bedell at 612-871-5311 and she can take your credit card information over the phone.
Additionally, you can make a donation to the Haiti Fund established by Episcopal Relief and Development to provide critical assistance such as food, water and medicine, as well as long-term recovery and rehabilitation aid.
Living God,
As we raise our hands helplessly, aching at the devastation we see on the streets and in the faces of the Haitian people, we raise our hearts to you. Through you, we offer hope and love to our sisters and brothers in Haiti. Through you, we send strength and peace. Through you, we offer courage to those who are searching and comfort to those who are mourning. Through you, we let them know they are not alone.
Amen.
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As we raise our hands helplessly, aching at the devastation we see on the streets and in the faces of the Haitian people, we raise our hearts to you. Through you, we offer hope and love to our sisters and brothers in Haiti. Through you, we send strength and peace. Through you, we offer courage to those who are searching and comfort to those who are mourning. Through you, we let them know they are not alone.
Amen.
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Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Forming a Star
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Forming a Star
Speeding through life,
we forget about just sitting
and watching,
the beginning of the star.
Night comes blue and dreamy,
undistrubed,
moving of its own rhythm,
forming a star.
Speeding through life,
we forget about just sitting
and watching,
the beginning of the star.
Night comes blue and dreamy,
undistrubed,
moving of its own rhythm,
forming a star.
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We could take lessons from the night.
Not to press too hard, not to forget
this majesty is in us
and forms us into who we are.
Our magic can get lost, but we can find it again,
in all our quiet moments,
like the night, blue and dreamy
forming a star.
- Sandi Walker
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Friday, January 8, 2010
Messy
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To reveal God, to find God, to make the journey into the lap of the Beloved, is messy. Why we have ever thought otherwise I do not know. Mary's journey was messy, full of whispers I'm sure, Joseph's journey was messy, full of the same, and doubt. The Magi's journey was hardly straight, following a star, guided by betrayers, forced home another way, unsure of what they left behind. The story of our Lord's birth, and epiphany is messy, and dangerous because that is the only way the Beloved is ever revealed. In the mess, in the pain, in the love that risks hurt, in the dust of the streets, in the blaze of the sun.
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Tuesday, January 5, 2010
It Is Not Over
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It Is Not Over
It Is Not Over
It is not over,
this birthing.
There are always newer skies
into which God can throw stars.
When we begin to think that we can predict the Advent of God,
that we can box the Christ
in a stable in Bethlehem,
that’s just the time
that God will be born
in a place we can’t imagine and
won’t believe.
Those who wait for God
watch with their hearts and not their eyes,
listening
always listening
for angel words.
- Ann Weems
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