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Weekly News Update

Deans' Note | March 06, 2022


Every year on the First Sunday in Lent we hear one of the account's of Jesus' wilderness experience. In Luke's version of the story, it's striking how Jesus uses his intimate knowledge of the Torah to fend off the Devil's temptations. While it may seem like Jesus is just batting Bible verses at his adversary, his use of texts, all from Deuteronomy, bespeaks a deep and grounded knowledge of Israel's Scripture. 


Many contemporary Christians would do well to emulate our teacher Jesus, not simply by improving our Bible literacy, but by steeping ourselves in the knowledge of the Scriptures and being formed by them. I know many Episcopalians are insecure when it comes to knowing the Bible, despite the fact that we probably hear more of the text in our weekly worship than most of those often called "Bible Christians."


This is why the lion's share of our adult Christian Education focuses on studying the Scriptures, not only to learn about the text, context, history etc. but to let the text speak to us, and hopefully to form and transform us. We currently are in a six-part study of the Gospel of Luke, a Gospel we will hear all the way through this year until next Advent. This Sunday we welcome one of the foremost experts on Luke's Gospel in the nation, Professor Luke Timothy Johnson. Throughout this series we hope to uncover the Jesus who speaks and is alive through the presence of the Holy Spirit in the words of the Gospel. 


Study of the Scriptures can of course be done in your own personal devotional reading, but it is best to be broken open together, using both the expertise of wise scholars, and the insights and experiences of ordinary Christians reading and struggling with these sacred writings.


In the service for Ash Wednesday, the Church invites us to the "observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word" (emphasis added). So this Lent, make it a priority of your Lenten practice to read, meditate on and study the Bible. Come to our Christian Education events on Sunday mornings, read the Daily Office and immerse yourself in God's story and ours:


Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for

our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn,

and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever

hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have

given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with

you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

(Collect for Proper 28 in the Season after Pentecost)


Upcoming Events

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First Sunday in Lent

Sunday, March 06, 2022


Said Mass at 8:00 am | In-Person Only

Choral Mass at 10:00 am | In-Person & Online


Watch on Vanco Live

Watch on Facebook

Watch on YouTube

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Meeting Jesus in the Gospel of Luke

"Luke's Portrayal of Jesus"

Sunday, March 06, 2022 at 11:30 am

In-Person and Online


Take a deep dive into the Gospel of Luke, who we read throughout this liturgical year in our Sunday masses. How does Luke tell the story of Jesus? How is his story distinct, and how similar to the other writers who tell the story of Jesus? Like all tours, we will see the whole map, but pay particular attention to key places of interest. We will combine the study of the text with time to allow ourselves to meet the Jesus who speaks in a unique way through this telling of the Gospel.


Luke Timothy Johnson is Robert W. Woodruff Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Christian Origins at Candler Scholl of Theology, Emory University, Emory’s most distinguished endowed chair. A noted scholar and an award-winning teacher. He previously taught at Yale Divinity School, where he also received a PhD, and Indiana University. Among his many areas of research is the study of Luke-Acts. The author of some 30 books, he received the Catholic Press Association’s 2012 Catholic Book Award in Scripture for his book Prophetic Jesus, Prophetic Church (2011), and also wrote The Gospel of Luke commentary in the Sacra Pagina series (1991). He is also the author of numerous scholarly and popular articles. He made national headlines with The Real Jesus: The Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the Truth of the Traditional Gospels (1996), the first book to systematically challenge the Jesus Seminar’s controversial claims, among them that Jesus said only 18 percent of what the Gospels attribute to him.

Learn more about our Christian Education Series
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The Rev. Canon Carl F. Turner

Sunday, March 13, 2022


Next Sunday, March 13, we welcome as our guest preacher, The Rev. Canon Carl F. Turner, Rector of St. Thomas Church, Manhattan, a congregation known internationally for its excellence in liturgy and music, with one of only two residential boy choir schools in the world, the other being Westminster Abbey. Before coming to St. Thomas, Canon Turner was Precentor of the 850-year-old Exeter Cathedral, responsible for all the cathedral's liturgy and music. Fr. Dan served his curacy at St. Thomas and received his liturgical training there.

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Lenten Fridays

Fridays in Lent

Starting March 11, 2022 at 12:00 pm


The Stations of the Cross are a time-honored Lenten tradition especially on Fridays. This year we offer short meditations led by our clergy on one station each week followed by a time of brief intercessory prayer. You can access these meditations live at noon on Lenten Fridays our Facebook page and YouTube Channel.

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Lenten Book Study with Mother Lyn

Thursdays: March 10, 17, 24, 31 & April 7

at 7:00 pm via Zoom


Come join us in our Lenten Book Study on Zoom each Thursday evening following Evening Prayer.


  • Daily Meditations
  • Coordinating Scriptures
  • African American Spirituals
  • Discussion Questions
  • Fellowship


Order your book on online. Scholarships available, contact Mother Lyn.


Click here to download our meeting and reading schedule!

Lenten Mite Boxes

Lenten mite boxes will be available on the welcome table at the back of the church. Boxes should be returned on the Sunday of the Passion (Palm Sunday). It has been a tradition at St. John’s to drop your loose change into these boxes throughout the five weeks of Lent as we remind ourselves of the value in humble giving: 


As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” Mark 12:38-40

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Vestry On-Call

This Sunday's Vestry Person On-Call

Kelly Coyne

Vestry members are partners with clergy, encouraging the growth of community and the establishment of common ground in the spiritual life of the congregation. Parishioners are always welcome to speak with these individuals on Sunday morning; they assist in making sure our questions, comments, or concerns are heard.

Community

Lenten Quiet Morning : Architectural Meditations | St. John's Cathedral

Anyone who visits Los Angeles will find his visit incomplete who does not make a pilgrimage to St. John's Church. A few weeks after the consecration of St. John's Church in 1925, a writer spent Holy Week and Easter Day visiting the many new churches in the growing city of Los Angeles.

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Online Lenten Resources | St. John's Cathedral

During Lent, in addition to the various opportunities for prayer and study at St. John's, check out these other online offerings:


The Society of St. John the Evangelist

The Society of St. John the Evangelist, a religious order in the Episcopal Church, offers brief daily meditations for their monastery in Cambridge Massachusetts..

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Cathedral Life | Spring 2022 | St. John's Cathedral

We publish this edition of Cathedral Life just as we are about to enter Lent. The name itself comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word, 'lencten" or lengthen, and a word for spring, since the days lengthen throughout the season and the Season of Lent moves towards Holy week and the brightness of Easter.

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AN INVITATION FROM THE LA REGIONAL FOOD BANK


We invite you to come volunteer at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank! It would be great to have you as part of the team; our volunteers' hard work sorting, inspecting, packaging and distributing food helps power our programs and provide needed food resources to our network of over 700 community partner agencies located throughout LA County.

 

Here you can search through all our volunteer opportunities by location, date, and interest. Many of our volunteer opportunities are at our warehouses, but we also have opportunities to volunteer at drive-thru distributions for our senior supplemental nutritional program and several of our partner agencies in LA county.

 

Click Here to Register for Our Weekday Events!

 

Click Here to Register for Our Saturday Events!

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