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From Deacon Ron Reno:

Good morning! I pray everyone is having a great week. We had a wonderful service last Saturday and I especially loved the two anthems the choir sang “Arise, Shine, For the Light” and “Almighty and Everlasting God.”  We were also blessed to know most of the Epiphany music and could sing (well) along with our blessed choir. We will be doing a sung Morning Prayer and Communion of the Presanctified Gifts this Saturday.

From the “Imitation of Christ” by Thomas A. Kempis. These words were written in the 1400’s and translated in the 1500”s by William Benham.

“The kingdom of God is within you, saith the Lord. Turn thee with all thine heart to the Lord and forsake this miserable world, and thou shalt find rest unto thy soul. Learn to despise outward things and to give thyself to things inward, and 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.”

Attached is Father Andrew’s homily for Epiphany 3. May God continue to bless His mission church here in Omaha.

From Deacon Ron Reno:

We had an invigorating New Years Evening prayer service with David leading. 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.

Christmas(2022)

EpiphI(2023)

From Deacon Ron Reno:

Merry Christmas! Here we are on Christmas Day to celebrate the birth of Christ. From our childhood we know of Caesar, the three Kings and the birth in the manger. The sad thing in His time the only people who recognized Him were the shepherds, the most humble of society, and the Magi who were the wisest of the times. The Israelites totally missed the importance of this birth. Here was born our Messiah and God incarnate; the Man who was to offer salvation to all, born in the most humble of situations. We are blessed to know the true meaning of Christmas and celebrate His birth with our families.

Our plan for our next service is New Years Eve with said Evening prayer. We will meet at 6:30 pm at Saint Mary’s Chapel. Thank you Lynda in procuring that time. David (Skip) will lead this for the very first time. Deacon Reno will assist in this service. Our God is a loving God and He brings people like David and Julie to do His work. I can’t think of a better way to end this year and a great way of starting the next. The campus will be officially open for our January 7th, 12 (13) days of Christmas service. May you have a blessed Christmas Day. May the Prince of Peace bless this day.

Father Andrew’s lovely Christmas Homily:
Christmas(2022)

From Deacon Ron Reno:

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.

Please note that we meet at 11:00 Sunday not Saturday this week. Our Christmas service will be Thursday night December 22nd at 6:30. More information about our Christmas service is coming. May God bless our Bishops and Priests and give them His armor and protection.

Adv3(2022)

From Deacon Ron Reno:

Good afternoon, It looks as if winter is truly upon us. We were blessed with a 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.

Third Sunday in Advent (Rose). Normal time at 9:30 on Saturday morning.

Fourth Sunday in Advent, we will have actual Sunday services here at 11:00 AM December 18th.

Christmas Day service will be held on Thursday evening December 22nd at 6:30 pm.

New Years service is still to be determined.

This coming Sunday (Gaudette) we light the Rose candle. It is lit in remembrance of John the Baptist who paved the way for the Messiah. It is a time for rejoicing and take a pause from our Advent Penance. It is time to rejoice and find joy in the salvation that is drawing closer. Continue to dedicate your Advent by reading the Advent book furnished by this mission church. Continue seeking hope and being charitable this busy season. Continue to pray for the sick on the Saint Jude Intercessory list and especially the ones we know on that list. The Deacon’s are praying for a great Advent and Christmas season for all of you. God bless

From Deacon Ron Reno:

Good morning! The weather is a far cry from last Wednesday; at least we were blessed with a Fall for once and not go directly from summer to winter. We had the Deacon’s liturgy with the lighting of the first purple candle for Advent 1. We are blessed that David (Skip) has started acolyte training and is doing very well. It is a blessing to this mission church to have someone go through the confirmation process, lay reading, acolyte training and all for the glory of God. We are blessed to have Julie, David’s wife who did the greenery for the altar. She did a beautiful job. We are blessed to have Deb who gave David some direction on lighting the Advent candles. We are blessed to have Osiris, Jeffery, John, Lynda, Julia, Nick, Deacon Ted, Sue and the Roberts family in our midst. We have much to be thankful for.

Advent means “Coming,” He promises to come again and He won’t be hidden away. He won’t be in swaddling clothes but He will be wearing a Judge’s robe. Advent is a good time to remember that He is coming again. During the first weeks of Advent; try putting off Christmas music a little while and maybe play Handel’s Messiah. Take time to read your Advent readings and remember He will fulfill what He promised. Remember the first commandment “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul and with thy whole mind.” In the homiletics class with Bishop Ashman, he discussed the importance of charity in our lives. Charity being patient, being kind, giving, and thinking of no evil but rejoicing in the Truth that God loves us. Have charity in your heart this Advent and Christmas season. May God continue blessing this mission church.

Two homilies for you to reflect on.

Adv1(2022)

Advent 1, 2016

From Deacon Ron Reno:

Good morning, I pray all is well. We are getting closer to the season of Advent. This Sunday in the church calendar is called the Sunday next before Advent; it is the end of the green Trinity season and the start of the purple season of Advent. Advent means the season where we reflect and prepare for the coming of the Messiah and the celebration of Christmas with the birth of Jesus Christ. It will last four Sundays leading up to Christmas. It is a time time to pray for yourselves, pray for patience, pray healing changes in your lives, pray for peace in the world and pray against turmoil wherever it is, whether it is in our lives or elsewhere. After this brutal election year we need to pray for Christ in our nation, for direction and especially for healing. The world needs Jesus Christ more than ever.

We had a lovely God centered service with music last week and will be looking forward to Nick leading MP this coming Saturday. We are blessed to have such good men and women in our mission church. David (Skip) started his acolyte training last Saturday. God puts people where He needs them and David after some personal discernment has added acolyte training in his future. Pray for David in this new God centered journey.  Continue to pray for the people on Deb’s Saint Jude Intercessory list and especially for Arch Bishop Upham and our own Deacon Ted. God bless

From Deacon Ron Reno:

Good afternoon! Another amazing Fall day and wishing for many more. God willing that may occur. We all have a busy calendar ahead of us including Thanksgiving. We have a lot to be grateful for but it is hard to believe that we are less than three weeks away from the First Sunday in Advent with Christmas Day right around the corner. It is a good time for us to prepare our hearts and minds for Advent. The church calls us as our Mother to think about these things. We are blessed to live in the light of the Paschal Mystery and the offer of salvation.

We had a lovely Deacon’s liturgy with chanted Litany and sung responses last Saturday. Our choir led by Nick Behrens gets better and better as the Green season unfolds. Please continue praying for the people on the Saint Jude’s Intercessory list that Deb maintains. Pray for our members with her recent additions of Jim Roberts and Deacon Ted.

O Lord Jesu! make it possible to me by Grace,  what is impossible to me by nature. Thou knows well that I may little suffer, and that I am cast down anon with little adversity. Wherefore I beseech Thee, that trouble and adversity may hereafter for Thy Name be loved and desired of me; for truly to suffer and be vexed for Thee is very good and profitable to the health of my soul. “Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis in the year of the Lord 1486.”  May God continue to bless our mission church. Deacon Ron

From Deacon Ron Reno:

Good afternoon. Another amazing fall day with upper 70 degree temperatures; we have been blessed to enjoy the beauty of this Fall. My memory of last year was going from summer to winter with very little Fall to enjoy. Our weather has been good but we need to pray for rain; a lot of the state is in severe drought.

We had a lovely Christ the King service last Saturday with lovely music committed to that service. We also celebrated the birthday of Father Ponec. Deb Ponec brought in lovely flowers and food for our gathering after mass, in memory of our beloved Priest. Deacon Ted, Deacon Ron and others were around this man and are still in awe of his work on this earth. Father was a very unassuming, kind Priest whose love of God showed in every thing he did. He is greatly missed.

Remember to set your clocks back one hour this Saturday night. It wouldn’t affect our service this Saturday but it might for your Sunday plans.

The last two Homilies from Father Andrews:

Christus Rex (2022)                             Trinity 19 (2022)

God bless.