Volume 48, February 2023

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. . . Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5.1-5.

Towards the end of Epiphany-tide, the Gospels have been taken from Matthew 5 (The Sermon on the Mount prefaced by the Beatitudes). In a series of wise sayings on a number of subjects, Jesus challenges us to always look deeper. It is not just murder that matters; it’s being angry. It’s not just adultery; it is how you look at another person.

One commentator on the Sermon on the Mount drew my attention to an observation made by the Jewish rabbi Jonathan Sacks about the way Jesus introduced his teaching by the phrases, ‘you have heard it said,’ but ‘I say to you’. Rabbi Sacks tells us that this little phrase ‘but I say to you’ marks Jesus out from all of his contemporaries and from all Jewish prophets throughout history. Others would seek to interpret and explain the words of Scripture; no one has ever dared say, “but I am saying something different’. Food for thought.

My old teacher at Sewanee, Mr Andrew Lytle, used to say that if one makes a journey or trip, it is important to eat plenty for the journey. Forget the diet. Our Lenten pilgrimage is before us now. What will sustain us? Certainly, the usual sources of nourishment in our Christian life: a daily routine of prayer; the sacrament of Holy Communion and feasting on the word of God. I find it also makes a lot of sense to read something special that one might otherwise not allow time to do. If you don’t have a Lenten read --- it is not too late. There are some book suggestions in this e-Newsletter.

Finally, a postscript on the Beatitudes, e.g., ‘blessed are the poor in spirit’, ‘blessed are the meek’. I am reminded of a reminiscence from someone on the death of Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, the Russian bishop and the author of the classic Beginning to Pray. The person reflecting said: 

I have never forgotten [Metropolitan] Anthony’s response to a question he was asked during a workshop at the diocesan conference a few years before his death. Someone wanted to know if he had advice about how to become humble. “Humility is too exalted a goal,” he replied, “but perhaps you could aim for the halfway house of gratitude.”

There is a thought worth holding onto this Lent: gratitude is within our grasp. Gratitude is a part of love and a part of every act of worship. Indeed, the word ‘eucharist’ means thanksgiving—gratitude.

Every blessing this Lent, to you and all your loved ones,

Yours sincerely,

Douglas

To Keep a True Lent

 Is this a fast, to keep

                 The larder lean?

                             And clean

From fat of veals and sheep?

Is it to quit the dish

                Of flesh, yet still

                             To fill

The platter high with fish?

Is it to fast an hour,

                 Or ragg’d to go,

                             Or show

A downcast look and sour?

No;  ‘tis a fast to dole

              Thy sheaf of wheat,

                             And meat,

Unto the hungry soul.

It is to fast from strife,

                 From old debate

                             And hate;

To circumcise thy life.

To show a heart grief-rent;

                 To starve thy sin,

                             Not bin;

And that’s to keep thy Lent.

Robert Herrick (1591-1674)

Books for Lent

Stephen Cottrell. The Things He Did: The Story of Holy Week (Paperback. 2016).



I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord (Isaiah 63.7). The Archbishop of York helps us meditate on the things Jesus did during Holy Week.

‘One extraordinary week.

Jesus rides a colt into Jerusalem.

He shows righteous rage in the temple.

He eats with the wrong sort of people.

He lets a woman anoint him with oil.

He washes his disciples’ feet.

He breaks bread and shares wine.

He prays passionately in the garden.

He allows himself to be arrested.

Jesus stands in the prophetic tradition of those who embody what they teach. The things he did were carefully planned.’

Paul Dominiak. The Falling of Dusk: The 2023 Lent Book. (Paperback. 2023).



Paul Dominiak is Senior Tutor of Jesus College, Cambridge (and a Sewanee graduate). In this Lenten meditation on the seven last words of Jesus, he points us towards seeing these words as attending to doubt ‘as the refining fire of faith, not its enemy’.

Pope Francis. A Gift of Joy and Hope (Hardback. English translation September 2022).



In this series of meditations, the Pope looks at different aspects of the Christian virtues of hope and joy that sustain us even in the most difficult times. He writes: Life is always a journey. We become that which we move toward. Let us choose the way of God, not of the self; the way of ‘yes’, not ‘if’. Together we shall discover that there is no unexpected event, no difficult climb, no dark night that cannot be faced with Jesus by our side.

Esau McCaulley. Lent: The Season of Repentance and Renewal (Hardback. 2022).

Esau McCaulley is an Anglican priest and an Associate Professor of New Testament at Wheaton College and the author of Reading While Black: African American Interpretation as an Exercise

in Hope. His little book on Lent is one of the first in a series of books on the Christian seasons published by InterVarsity Press. season of Lent.

Absalom Jones' Day

From a diamond image in a chapel window of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Jacksonville, honoring Absalom Jones. The image is taken from the logo of the St Thomas Church Absalom Jones founded in Philadelphia: St. Thomas, a carpenter’s square over an African ankh-shaped cross.

On February 13 each year the Episcopal Church commemorates Absalom Jones (1746-1818) the first African American to be ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church.

This year in Tallahassee the parishes of St Michael and All Angels and St John’s came together for a joint service at 10 a.m. Sunday, February 12 in observance of Absalom Jones’ Day. The service was held in St. John’s Church with a reception for the two congregations following. The Rev. Hugh Chapman, Rector of St Michael and All Angels preached.

In his sermon at St. Thomas's African Episcopal Church (Philadelphia) on January 1, 1808, the Rev. Absalom Jones, said in his final prayer, "Give peace in our day, we beseech thee, O thou God of peace! and grant, that this highly favoured country may continue to afford a safe and peaceful retreat from the calamities of war and slavery, for ages yet to come."

Reflecting on these words, on this Absalom Jones’ Day in Jacksonville, in an introduction to a weekly Monday evening prayer meeting in which some sixty participants join in via phone conference, James Pierce, Senior Warden of St Philip’s Church, Jacksonville, observed: 

Well, it appears that ages yet to come are still waiting for that peaceful retreat. In this sermon, dear Absalom shared his vivid experience as a slave, comparing it to the slaves of Egypt so long ago. He knew what prayer, education, and hard work meant to overcoming the ravages of inhumanity to man. We too have the knowledge of history, that many are trying to suppress, knowing that if we do nothing, history will repeat itself. So, there you have it. We do nothing and we are no better than the slaves of Absalom's time. We are charged to make a difference. Let us start with prayer and go forward with a plan, whether individually or within an organization, to make the change needed to provide that peaceful retreat for all.

February Quiz

This month’s quiz is prompted by the Beatitudes: “Happy are the poor in spirit, happy are those who mourn, happy are the meek, happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness . . .” Many of the saints experienced suffering and hardship but many were renowned for their balance and good humor, even those who suffered hardship. What can they teach us about happiness? Some of these quiz questions and quotations might start us thinking of an answer. The answer bank is below the questions. Enjoy.

If you would like to explore the question of what the saints teach us about happiness, you can do no better than Robert Ellsberg’s The Saints’ Guide to Happiness: Practical Lessons in the Life of the Spirit (Paperback. 2005).

1.  Who said: “The glory of God is the human being fully alive.” 

2. Who prayed: “God, deliver us from sour-faced saints”?

3. Who said: “A sad saint is a sad sort of saint”?

4. When overhearing someone remark on his cheerful demeanor, which saint replied: “You have reason to call us happy, for this is our name. But if we are happy in despising the world, are not you miserable who live slaves to it?” 

5. Which saint suffered many excruciating physical and psychological trials in the wilderness yet, as noted by his biographer, re-emerged not half dead but physically fit: “neither fat from lack of exercise, nor emaciated from fasting and combat with demons” and, “that from the soul’s joy his face was cheerful as well”?

6. Which Christian sage observed: “If you look carefully, you will see that there is one thing and only one thing that causes unhappiness. The name of that thing is Attachment. What is an attachment? An emotional state of clinging caused by the belief that without some thing or some person you cannot be 

Happy”?

7. Which ascetic saint observed: “There are those who have given away worldly wealth in gold or silver or lands, and who are afterwards agitated about a knife, a pencil, a pin, or a pen.  … They have given up all their property for the love of Christ; and yet keep their old acquisitive attitude over little things and quickly become upset over them”?

8. Sometimes the ‘appeal’ of a saint seems difficult to name. Who is the saint of whom one of his followers remarked: “Why you? Why does all the world seem to be running after you, and everyone seems to want to see you and hear you and obey you? You are not a handsome man. You do not have great learning or wisdom. You are not a nobleman. So why is all the world running after you?”? 



9. Which saint remarked: “There can be no joy in living without joy in work”?

10. Of which saint is this anecdote true: A journalist, overwhelmed by the saint’s tireless efforts and trials, said to the saint, “I wouldn’t do what you do for a million dollars”. The saint replied, “Neither would I”.

Answer Bank

A. St Irenaeus (b. 130)

B. Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)

C. St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

D. Anthony de Mello, SJ (1931-1987)

E. St Teresa of Avilla (1515-1582)

F. St Francis of Assisi (d. 1226)

G. St Antony of Egypt (251-356)

H. St Macarius of Egypt (300-391)

I. St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

J. Abba Moses, Egyptian Desert Father (330-405)

Please click here to view the quiz answers.

Archdeacon's Corner

From the Rector, Douglas Dupree, writing this month for the Archdeacon who returns to us in March.



The Conversion of St. Paul

I never forget the Prayer Book Feast of the Conversion of St Paul (January 25) as my birthday is the same day. During Epiphany-tide each year we commemorate the Confession of St Peter (January 18) and within a week the Conversion of St Paul. It is interesting to note that in the early Church, the primary commemoration of St Paul was in association with St Peter on June 29 and it was related to his martyrdom, not his conversion. Curiously, the English Reformers, eliminated the June anniversary, so that the Prayer Book, traditionally, contains no celebration of St Paul’s witness in blood for his faith, as it does for the other apostles [The 1979 Book of Common Prayer includes the joint commemoration on June 29].

It may be that the Reformers did not wish to have two feasts devoted to the same saint; and since the New Testament contains three accounts of St Paul’s conversion and none of his martyrdom, they preferred the commemoration of the conversion. You could argue, as some have, that the conversion of St Paul was, after Pentecost, the single most significant event in the life of the early Church. The significance lies in the fact that Paul was incomparably the greatest missionary spirit in Christian history. And the fact that he is so indispensable to us goes even deeper.

St Paul remains our great witness to the Resurrection. Ironically, he had not been with Jesus in Galilee and knew nothing of the Lord’s last four days except what he had heard from some of His followers. Yet he goes on to proclaim the risen and living Christ, and to write the greatest of all proclamations of the meaning and good news of Easter (1 Corinthians 15). At our Christmas carol services and eucharists we have St John, and his great Prologue for all of that; but for Easter and the message of Redemption and the Resurrection we have St Paul.

If we try to imagine the meaning of the Resurrection apart from St Paul, if we try to abstract what he alone says from the total sense of what it means to say “Jesus lives," we are back to the eye-witness accounts of the first day of the week and the fifty days after it, which, powerful and mysterious as they are, leave us somewhat out because, like St Paul, we were not there. It is Paul who bridges the gap for us, and for all succeeding generations of Christians.

Nothing surpasses the scope of the Easter message and Paul’s essential role in proclaiming it, but, secondarily, there is also the amazing far-reaching effects of Paul’s conversion in spreading the Gospel in the ancient world and in so doing, being intimately linked to the development of modern Western civilization. Geoffrey Rowell, church historian and bishop, summarized the impact of Paul in his own day and in the modern world that emerged from it:

Paul’s mission took him from Jerusalem to Rome. It is a symbolic journey, which ends by setting at the heart of empire the faith of Jesus Christ. This is the faith that draws into its service Roman law and Greek philosophy, shaping the whole of Europe we know today. Without Paul there would be no Europe, no Christian faith which provided the ground for science because the world is God’s creation, and therefore a world that can be understood scientifically because its order witnessed to the truth of God. Likewise, the sense of history, or purpose, for the whole world, is part of the Gospel preached by Paul. We are not bound by an endless cycle of reincarnation in which history ultimately has no meaning.

Along the way, throughout St Paul’s ministry, he had so many trials, tribulations, fights and trouble one wonders in amazement how he kept going and why he did not try and beat a retreat from it all. Indeed, in his letter to the Philippians he almost suggests he was so tempted:

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain…For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful to you.

But finally, there is a line from Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians that is one of the loveliest things I know in the whole Bible. When I come to the end of my life I would like to be able to say these same words:

What I am now, I am through the grace of God, and the grace which was given to me has not been wasted.

Upcoming Course:

Licensed Lay Pastoral Care Minister Course

Are you a lay person who is passionate about offering your time and talent to reach out with God's love to experiencing changes, challenges and difficulties or are you already involved in pastoral care? The Licensed Lay Pastoral Care Minster Course may be of interest to you!

Starting on March 25, 2023, The Bishop's Institute for Ministry and Leadership is holding a 10 month course from March - December that will include one monthly in-person session on Saturday's at the Diocesan Office at 325 North Market Street, Jacksonville, 32202 in the Milam Room.

In addition to monthly attendance and active participation in class sessions, the course will focus on best practices of Christian pastoral care, outside reading, and a willingness to compose write ups of pastoral care encounters in which participants are invited to reflect upon what occurred and draw insight from these reflections. Registration includes the necessary recommendation and endorsement of your Rector or Vicar.

Cost for the Course

The cost per student is $400 for the course. The cost includes student worksheets, handouts, additional printing, tutors’ honorariums and expenses, lunches and any other costs to the Bishop’s Institute.

The overall fee may be made in up to four installments, i.e., with a down payment of $50 by March 1, 2023, with registration and the remainder by October 1, 2023. NB Prospective students may ask their Rector or Vicar for their respective church to sponsor them for the course or part of it.

Limited scholarships are available. Please inquire by email to the Rev. Canon Douglas Dupree: ddupree@diocesefl.org.

Meet the Tutor for the Course

The course designer and lead tutor is The Rev. Laura Magevney, JD, M.Div. (Vanderbilt University). The Rev. Laura Magevney has a heart for the ministry of presence and affirms the radical hospitality of Jesus who invites everyone to his table.

The Rev. Laura Magevney completed a CPE (Clinical Pastoral Care) Residency prior to ordination, serving as a chaplain resident at Wolfson Children’s Hospital and later a chaplain at Baptist MD Anderson in Jacksonville. As a lay person, Laura served for over a decade as the Director of Christian Formation at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Jacksonville, working with adults, children, and youth. 

Register for the Course

If you are interested in registering for the course, please reach out to Mrs. Sue Engemann: sengemann@diocesefl.org for an application.

Once you've completed the application form, please return it to Mrs. Engemann by email attachment or by mail to: Mrs. Sue Engemann, Episcopal Diocese of Florida, 325 N. Market Street, Jacksonville, Fl 32202.

Please note: All applications for the course should be received by Mrs. Engemann by March 1 for enrollment in the course.

If you have further questions about the course, please do not hesitate to contact either Mrs. Engemann: sengemann@diocesefl.org or the Rev. Canon Douglas Dupree: ddupree@diocesefl.org. You may also call (904) 325-1328.

To view the required reading, course work and syllabus, click the button below.

Art Exhibition at St. John's Cathedral, Jacksonville

Raquel: The Soul Speaks

The St. John’s Cathedral in Jacksonville presents an art exhibition of stunning deeply felt paintings by Raquel starting on Sunday, Feb. 19 and running until April 2. The exhibition will take place in the Taliaferro Hall Art Gallery.

All artwork is for sale through the Cathedral Bookstore and Gift Shop. To learn more, please click the button below.