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The Parish Messenger
February 1999
Christians fast and "give things up" for Lent because they are in
love. "Little in itself," the nineteenth century Anglican theologian E, B. Pusey
wrote of the Lenten fast, "it is connected with high things, with the very height of
Heaven and the depths of Hell, our Blessed Savior and our sins. We fast with our Lord and
for our sins."
Dreary sorts who believe fasting to be the practice of a morbid mind or a
vulgar attempt to bribe God simply do not understand being in love. Anyone who truly
believes the Gospel of redemption will respond to God as lovers respond to love, with
(humanly) meaningless gifts and acts - with, for example, the offering of a day's worth of
food or a Lent's worth of chocolate.
When in love, we give our loved one gifts with no real practical use; we give
flowers, not plumber's helpers or motor oil. In the midst of romance, even sober adults
commit themselves to small and meaningless rituals of which the loved one may never know.
Christians in love with their Lord have, apparently, since the very beginning of the
Church instinctively offered their Lord the gift of abstinence.
This love of Christ naturally issues in a desire to imitate Him. He Himself
fasted and instructed others in fasting (Luke 4:2; Matthew 6-16-18; Mark 2:20). This love
issues also in a desire to cooperate with God in the ways He has given us to purge
ourselves of sin; so loathsome to anyone who loves the sinless Christ. "God has
wonderfully blended together our souls and bodies so that they must ever be in harmony
with each other, act upon one another," Pusey wrote. "One of the subtlest
devices of the Enemy," he also observed, "is to persuade us that we may become
spiritual, through means merely spiritual." We are so made, in other words, that
training our bodies trains our spiritual lives, and we have Christ's words and examples to
show us that God has approved fasting as a training method.
Jesus' instructions on fasting (Matthew 6:16-18) are obviously applicable to
observing Lent. Many spiritual writers have given longer rules for fasting and observing
Lent which can be summarized as: fast in obedience to the Church and on the schedule the
Church has ordained (and preferably, if you are new at it, under the guidance of a
priest); spend more than your usual time in prayer and meditation upon Scripture; and give
alms. The service of Ash Wednesday in the Book of Common Prayer (pp. 264-269) is the
liturgical summation of the period of spiritual discipline preceding the celebration of
the Resurrection.
The priest invites the congregation on Ash Wednesday "to the observance of
a holy Lent." One way to do this, one with the Church's seal of approval, is to
express in small offerings to God our love for the Christ who offered everything for us.
- David Peter Mills taddled from The Anglican Digest, Lent 1991
Feast of King Charles the Martyr
The Society of King Charles the Martyr Great Plains Chapter
invites you to attend our annual commemoration service to remember the martyrdom of
Charles Stuart, King of Great Britain on Saturday, February 6, 1999 at 10:00 a.m. in St.
Barnabas Church.
Beheaded on January 30, 1649, King Charles I chose to die rather than allow the
office of bishop to be abolished in the Church of England. Thus, he chose to die for the
very apostolic succession that has linked Anglicanism to the New Testament Apostles. Saint
Charles is the only person to be declared a saint by the English Church since the
Reformation. In these times, when the Apostolic Succession for which he gave his life is
again in jeopardy, it is especially appropriate to gather invoking Saint Charles to once
again guard the historic succession as given to this branch of Christ's One, Holy,
Catholic and Apostolic Church.
The service will be a High Mass with Choral Morning Prayer serving as the
Liturgy of the Word. The Rev. Fr. Robert Scheiblhofer, Rector of St. Barnabas will preach.
The music will include works by Gibbons, Farrant, Stone, and Merbecke. The music will be
led by Mr. Nick Behrens, Organist/Choir-Master of St. Barnabas Church and Assistant
Organist of St. Cecilia\rquote s Cathedral.
A reception will follow in Bishop Warner Hall.
Early Lent Schedule
Shrove Tuesday
Pancake Supper
6:30 - 7:30
Donations Accepted
Ash Wednesday
February 17, 1999
Low Mass 12:10 p.m.
High Mass 6:30 p.m.
Stations of the Cross and Benediction
Fridays in Lent
7:30 p.m.
High Tea, Solemn Evensong
and Benediction
Sunday, February 21
beginning at 4:30 p.m.
"Remember, man, that thou art dust"
The Right Reverend James Krotz
and
The Very Reverend Thomas Hurley
request the pleasure of your company at an
Open House
at the
Bishop Clarkson Center
the new offices of the Diocese and Cathedral
Sunday, February 14, 1999
High Tea 2-5 p.m.
Evensong 5 p.m.
Sherry Hour 6 p.m.
Please join us for any part of the afternoon |
Annual Meeting
The Annual meeting of St. Barnabas Parish was held in the Undercroft on Sunday,
January 24th. The meeting was preceded by a potluck dinner with the ham being provided by
the Alan Jackson family. Reports by the rector, senior and junior wardens and treasurer
were presented. Upon a motion from the floor, the vestry slate was elected as presented.
Vestry members elected at the meeting were Norma Morehouse, filling out the unexpired term
of Gary Sullivan; James Pierson and Frieda Wagner for three-year terms; Holly Walsh was
re-affirmed in her position as Junior Warden and David Salyards was elected to a single
one-year-term enabling him to continue as senior warden during this transitional time for
the vestry. Continuing on the vestry are Louis Jaspeer Crouse, Jill Jackson and Turner Tefft.
Vestry meetings are held regularly on the second Monday of the month at 7:00 p.m.
The Music Department
of
St. Barnabas Church
invites you to attend
High Tea and Solemn Evensong and Benediction
The First Sunday in Lent
February 21, 1999
High Tea 4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Evensong and Benediction 5:30 p.m.
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Ask Father..
Why do we genuflect?
The Holy Scriptures admonish us,"at the Name of Jesus,
every knee shall bow." Before the Blessed Sacrament, all who love and serve their
Lord acknowledge Him in His sacramental present by a full bending of the right knee.
Altars wherein the Blessed Sacrament is not present receive a profound bow as do images of
Our Lord crucified and His Blessed Mother.
Lectionary Readings
February 7 The Presentation of Our Lord
(transferred from February 2)
Malachi 3:1-4
Hebrews 2:14-18
Luke 2:22-40
February 14 Last Epiphany
Exodus 24:12-18
Philippians 3:7-14
Matthew 17:1-9
February 17\tab Ash Wednesday
(Fast and Abstinence)
Joel 2:1-2,12-17
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Matthew 6:1-6,16-21
February 21 I Lent
Genesis 2:4b-9,15-17,25-3:7
Romans 5:12-21
Matthew 4:1-11
February 24 St. Matthias
Acts 1:15-26
Philippians 3:13-21
John 15:1,6-16
February 28\tab II Lent
Genesis 12:1-8
Romans 4:1-17
John 3:1-17
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