From Deacon Ron Reno:
Good morning, another beautiful spring day in the 40’s today and close to 70 degrees this coming Sunday. Hallelujah! We had a lovely MP service with the distribution of the Holy Sacrament last weekend. We were blessed to chant the Venite, Psalms and the Benedictus along with our choir. What a blessing and learning experience. I especially loved the Communion Hymn chosen “O Lamb of God, Still keep me near.” James George Deck’s prayer of Thanksgiving. Father Andrews’s homily was especially appropriate for a Passion service, Thank you Father Andrews for all you do for this mission church. Father’s homily is attached.
Our Palm service this weekend is a reminder and commemoration of Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Jesus’s path to victory started with His choice of riding on the back a donkey (a beast of burden) to go into Jerusalem. We should pray for God to give us the humility that Jesus chose. This Saturday as we transition from Lent to Holy week, we need to pray for our turbulent world. We need to pray for everyone on the St. Jude’s intercessory list, continue on your fast and abstinence, for humility, humbleness, and think about this man who was stripped naked, who endured incredible pain and yet offered us salvation through His death and Resurrection. Thank God for all the blessings He has given us, Deacon
Chesterton Student Art
progress. We need to look at how well we are praying, fasting, and almsgiving. We need to prepare ourselves to celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection at Easter and not get lost to distraction in our daily lives. To Jesus, His 40 days meant the birth of a new Israel liberated from sin, reconciliation to God and a new governance by the law of the spirit. Always remember that this mission church is His and we are His humble servants. Something we rarely do is a confession to a priest. When Father Andrew’s is back, please consider doing a confession. That would be a triumph for us during this Lent. Father Andrew’s homily is attached, God bless, Deacon
thou shalt see the kingdom of God come within thee. For the kingdom of God is peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, and it is not given to the wicked. Christ will come to thee, and show thee His consolation, if thou prepare a worthy mansion for Him within thee. All His glory and beauty is from within, and there it pleaseth Him to dwell. He often visiteth the inward man and holdeth with him sweet discourse, giving him soothing consolation, peace, friendship that exceeds wonderful.”
We also had an inspiring 13th day of Christmas last Saturday with our delayed Christmas service. It was wonderful to have such a great mix of people doing lessons. Thank you Julie, David, Jim, Jane, and Joanna with doing such a good job with those readings. Nick and the choir did a masterful job with the music. The choir led off singing a Cornish Carol prelude, our usual mix of Christmas Carols and ended with the All-Saints Day Carol with Nick singing the introduction part in Cornish. We are so blessed to have such God-lovers amongst us. Continue praying for all you know in need of those prayers, especially our Bishops and Priests. They especially need God’s armor and protection. Attached is Father Andrew’s Christmas and Epiphany 1 homilies in case you missed them in previous emails. Morning Prayer with the Deacon’s liturgy this Saturday. God bless.
As we continue this Advent Season of hope; please keep in mind others who may need our prayers. This Advent season has kept most of us very busy, but remember to walk by faith in your daily actions. God loves us when we humbly accept what He has offered us. Let’s remember His love during this Advent season and remember His offer of the “Throne of Heaven.” This mission church has many reasons to feel blessed, especially for the one that led us to this chapel, to do God’s work on the campus of College of Saint Mary.
beautiful fall. We had the Deacon’s liturgy with chanted Litany last weekend. The music was beautiful and it was joyful to sing the Advent hymns that were chosen from our 1930 Hymnal. Julia sang the Introit and it was beautifully done. We are blessed to use the CSM Chapel but it gets interesting as the Chapel is shut down when the college students are on break. The scheduling gets interesting and this is the best we could do. Remember this is all for the glory of God and we are one of His mission churches. God loves us whenever we can do His work.