From Deacon Ron Reno:
Last weekend we celebrated Whitsunday and that is an English term for the Christian Holy day of Pentecost. To us Anglicans and other Christians, it is the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, and it is commonly known as the birthday of our church. Pentecost is celebrated 50 days after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and 10 days after His ascension into heaven. The prophet Joel prophesied Pentecost when he said:
“And it will come to pass in the last days, saith God, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams…and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Joel 2:28-32a)
Let’s take an ‘overlook’ at the important holy days that we sometimes 
overlook. We begin with the basic training period to shape our souls into proper vessels. We call it Pre- Lent (the 3 weeks leading up to Lententide). And then we begin Lententide. Once we exorcise our sins out of us like a marine drill sergeant would exercise our bodies, we celebrate the Feast of the Resurrection, Easter day and the great 50-day feast which follows. But we are not done there, awaiting only the commercialized count-down until Christmas. In the fifth week of Eastertide, on Thursday, we have the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into the Kingdom of Heaven, where He prepares for us a place to live eternally with Him. A few weeks later we have Trinity Sunday and the beginning of Trinitytide. And right before that is Pentecost, formally addressed as Whitsunday, which is the feast which we celebrated last weekend. This paragraph came from a homily that Father Ponec gave in 2020 and is beautifully illustrated in his words.
O GOD, who as at this time didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people, by sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit; Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. Collect for Whitsunday
Student art attached. God bless, Deacon
Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.
“Arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel.” Joseph listened to the angel of the Lord in his dream while still in Egypt. Our homily goes on to speak of Joseph on how little we know of him. Take time to read this homily from Father Ponec written in 2016 and learn what we do know of him.
We were blessed! Father Andrews and Anneliese made it for the Ascension service. After all our tornado activity recently; it was wonderful to see them here safely. Earlier in the week Father suggested we do the Ascension of our Lord service. Father aspersed everyone while the choir sang the Vidi Aquam for that Rite. It was pretty dramatic that Pascal candle was extinguished during the reading of the Gospel as “He departed them.” Father also called all the mothers attending to the front to give them a blessing. That was another special moment. Thank you Father for all you do for this mission church. After Mass our mission group along with Father and Anneliese went to lunch at the LaCasa Restaurant. Thank you Vestry!
chapel. We will sing Evensong to celebrate Whitsunday/Pentecost. Our worship will be held this Sunday, May19 at 4PM. Please take note of this change. There will be no Anglican service at the Chapel this Saturday.
Good morning! Today is Memorial Day, keep in mind “freedom is not free.” it is a day to honor and mourn those who served and died for our freedoms. Keep in mind your prayers today of that sacrifice and pray for the families that you know who are in the military now. Pray for the families who have served in the past. Thank God for the wonderful country we are blessed to live in.
have had our fair share of thunderstorms but the glory of God’s Creation is still all around us. Everyday we see more trees and flowers showing that beauty.
through these last days of Lent and approach the Easter Triduum; we can reflect back to the beginning from the calling of the 12 Apostles through the events of God’s Holy Week. Ultimately the crucifixion and the Resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ is a new beginning offered to all of us. Pray for Christian unity that there will be one flock and one shepherd, Pray for the evangelization of all who have not heard and accepted the Good News about Jesus.
