From Deacon Ron Reno:
We are closing in on the Third Sunday after the Epiphany with some upbeat warmer weather coming this weekend. God willing we are hopeful for mid 30’s. The windchill in Omaha on Tuesday was -28 degrees below O and it was brutal early.
Our liturgical period has been revealing the divinity of Jesus and lasts until the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple on February 2nd. We have been enjoying our Epiphanytide collects (special prayers) this season and it gives us a chance to reflect on those collects. This Manifestation of Jesus to the Gentiles allows us Christians to know our faith, His presence has given to the Gentiles (Christians) our chance for Salvation. Please read Father Andrew’s homily and how we must
rise up to the challenge as Jesus did from His comfortable life in Nazareth, to be the savior of mankind and our chance to know God.
O GOD, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles; Mercifully grant we, who know thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of thy glorious Godhead; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Collect for the first Sunday.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who dost govern all things in heaven and earth; Mercifully hear the supplications of thy people, and grant us thy peace all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Collect for the second Sunday.
Continue to pray for the Californians and their children who have lost their homes, schools and businesses by these devastating wildfires.
Josh, his children and Nick’s Godchildren join us. Mom and Dad were there too. Our coffee hour has some very interesting conversations going on and the sound of children make it special.
“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.
Christmastide. The twelve days of Christmas really starts on December 25; the secular world would object. The Church gave us the Twelve Days of Christmas to celebrate between Christmas and Epiphany to deepen our love of God and the real meaning of Christmas. The twelve days is much more serious than the “12 Days of Christmas” children’s song. Each day celebrates the birth of Christ, honors a saint or references to a feast to be honored. This is a wonderful time to deepen our sense of holiness and learn about Saint Stephen, the Apostle John, Thomas Becket and maybe we should study about Saint Basil the Great. Remember the season of Christmastide is an older tradition and must not be allowed to fade, in this more secular world.
Christmas gifts for the children of the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota in South Dakota. Our church and others have helped with this project. If you can help, contact our Nick Behrens about possible donations. According to Nick this reservation is one of the poorest so even bedding, toilet paper, paper towels etc would be welcome. Jesus wants us to help the poor, so please do what you can to help for this project.
Our service last weekend included the Litany. This was the first officially sanctioned liturgy into English in the English Church during the time of Henry VIII. It came about with the English Reformation following the break from Rome. This work was done by Archbishop Cranmer and is mostly from the Latin Sarum Rite. Influences for this litany came from Cranmer himself, influences from Martin Luther and from early church father John Chrysostom. We at Saint John’s sing the Litany at the first service in any calendar month for its historical, ancient penitential and intercessory nature.
We celebrated Saturday with Sung Morning Prayer and Communion of the Presanctified Gifts, with an emphasis on All Saint’s Day in our music and our homily. Who doesn’t love to sing music we know such as “For All the Saints” and “I Sing a Song of the Saints.” The choral postlude “The Souls of the Righteous” was especially moving. We are so blessed to have a joyous group and sing music honoring God and His Saints. Our homily gets into the reason why we 
celebrated this day. Our observance goes back to the early centuries of the Christian Church when we celebrated the many martyrs on the anniversaries of their death. In the fourth century the Church established a common day to honor all martyrs. Both All Saints and All Souls Day have special prayers. We Anglicans believe in the power of prayer and sometimes ask for these Saints to have a spiritual connection to us and pray for those who have passed. By the way those martyrs have eternal life with Jesus. Our purpose on this earth is to do our best to have eternal life with Jesus too.
What a blessing it is to hear the noise of children in our midst. We have new people with children. God loves it when His children make joyful noise. That definitely includes all of us with our choir, Nick, Lynda, Julia and the rest of us singing out of the 1940 Hymnal. We are all God’s children. We use the 1940 with its supplements because it is simply one of the best hymnals ever printed. Our hymnal is a nice worship resource and can be used at home as well at the church. Our hymnal, along with the 1928 BCP, is very orthodox in its following of scripture, the seasons of the church, Saints days and it follows our one year lectionary. Some of our hymns are ancient and go back to the late 1500’s. I especially appreciate that its text is dark, easy to read and feels like a history book companion to me.
peace, that they may be cleansed of all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Collect for the Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity. Jesus is always teaching us. He is telling us to be strong in the Lord, trust Him and you will find pardon and peace. We read collects at every service because their importance to lead us in a short prayer and a petition to God. That request, an invocation and doxology (praise to God) that ends with Amen is a wonderful Anglican practice. Collects are good spiritual food for you to intellectually digest.
We had three adults with three children visit us last Saturday. It was a blessing to have them and the children to be amongst us. One visitor, Josh, was there the previous week and brought friends and family this week. God willing they will be back with us this week.
devotion. O my God, Eternal Love, my whole Good, Happiness without measure, I long to receive Thee with the most vehement desire and being reverence, which any Saint ever had or could have.
Fall is finally here in Nebraska. I love this time of year, for the cooler weather, the changes of color of the season and a great time to be outside. Please get outside as much as you can and embrace the beauty that God has given us. Stand under one of our golden trees; see the light filter itself through the leaves and take time to thank God for His beauty. In class we discussed looking for the Comet
Tsuchinshan-Atlas looking to the southwest after dusk, the beauty of Fall and discussed the Aurora that was visible in Nebraska last week. One of the main purposes of these discussions is to get these students to look up and see the beauty that surrounds them. It is important for all of us to take time to see God’s beauty and get away from the digital world that tries to impose itself upon us.
O ALMIGHTY and merciful God, of thy bountiful goodness keep us, we beseech thee, from all things that may hurt us; that we, being ready both in body and soul, may cheerfully accomplish those things which thou commandest; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.