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EASTERTIDE
‘Is it because you have seen me that you have believed?’
Shortly after dinner on Easter Day a clergy friend sent me a meme of an exchange between the disciples Peter and John. Peter says to John:
“Hey, John, maybe we should walk over to the tomb and see what’s going on…”
John’s reply is simply an image—an image of a fit, athletic young man in a Nike tracksuit squatting on one knee and fully stretching his other leg: coiled energy ready to spring into a racing stride like a bolt of lightning.
As the Gospel told us on Easter Day, the two raced to the tomb, John arriving first, yet pausing and exercising reserve at the entrance to the open tomb. Meanwhile, Peter, coming second, pushes past John and hurls himself into the tomb.
The meme made me laugh, funny, but also ironic to me personally--- I spent this Easter Day at home recovering from knee replacement surgery—gingerly walking about the house not able to sprint anywhere.
I love all the Gospel readings over Eastertide. I especially love the one for this last Sunday—of the appearances of Jesus to his disciples and of the emotional response of Thomas to the news of his Lord’s resurrection.
The evening of that first Easter Day Jesus appears to his disciples, only Thomas is absent. Later, after they told Thomas “We have seen the Lord” he replied,
“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe”.
A week later Thomas is given what he asks for. Jesus says to Thomas,
“Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe’.
And the final words of Jesus to Thomas bring us all into the scene: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe”. I love Thomas for all his doubting and for all his vitality of heart and affection.
His doubting is not insignificant, nor should it be for any of us. We cannot but ask of the Bible, or for that matter the Gospel, the primary and insistent question, as the poet, John Betjeman, put it:
And is it true? And is it true/This most tremendous tale of all’.
And if you are going to ask for a sign, what better sign than that for which Thomas asked. As one Christian writer has aptly said:
‘The wounds of Christ are his credentials to the suffering race of man.’
William Temple, the wonderful Anglican theologian of the 20th century summed it up thus:
‘Only a God in whose perfect Being pain has its place can win and hold our worship.’
I love Thomas for all his vitality of heart and affection--- Thomas loved Jesus and Jesus was willing to submit himself to the disciple’s will and give him a sign. “Reach out your hand and put it in my side”. Not everyone got a sign. In Mark’s Gospel it is recorded a group of Pharisees confronted Jesus and demanded a sign. He replied to them: ‘There shall no sign be given to this generation”.
I don’t know why the Pharisees were refused. Perhaps the Pharisees were void of any desire to think better of the man they confronted. Perhaps they had no desire to believe. If they were given a sign from heaven, they would have been reluctant adherents not true disciples. Their demand stemmed from ill-will. The apostle’s demand stemmed from a desiring and affectionate heart.
Jesus asks Thomas, ‘is it because you have seen me that you have believed?’
Well, yes, in one sense, seeing him again put him back on the road to faith. But the real thing was already there in Thomas’ life: his devotion and loyalty to Jesus.
And this I suspect is true for most all of us as well this beautiful Eastertide.
What it means to be a Christian is simply to affirm that you think, ‘the truth is in Jesus’. Our faith rests in, as someone has said:
‘a single human being, in all the richness of his particular words and actions----
a single human being, in whom God was incarnate, Jesus Christ.’
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The Collect
ALMIGHTY and everliving God, who, for the greater confirmation of the faith, didst suffer thy holy Apostle Thomas to be doubtful in thy Son's resurrection; Grant us so perfectly, and without all doubt, to believe in thy Son Jesus Christ, that our faith in thy sight may never be reproved. Hear us, O Lord, through the same Jesus Christ, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, now and for evermore, Amen.
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Bishop's Institute Interview with
Wayne Plummer
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BISHOP’S INSTITUTE INTERVIEW WITH WAYNE PLUMMER, A member of the Episcopal Church of Our Saviour, Mandarin, and the Diocesan Council. | |
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Wayne and Mary Jo Plummer with Kelly Posze,
Her Song’s National Program Director
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Wayne, I was very pleased to meet you and I was particularly interested to hear about your commitment to the ministry and work of the charity Her Song that was created to help women who are survivors of human trafficking.
How did you first hear of Her Song and feel led to participate in this ministry?
My wife, Mary Jo told me about Her Song in 2013. She was seeing a Christian LMHC who was a co-founder of Her Song and learned about it at an appointment. Mary Jo is a quilter and has been making quilts for women in the program since 2013. Learning about the local impact of human trafficking moved us to get involved. I was invited to join the Her Song board in 2016 and served as its Treasurer with daily responsibility for accounting and money matters through 2020.
What are the main services this ministry provides to women in order to “interrupt the cycle of human trafficking and lead them to freedom” as stated in the Her Song vision?
The services include Victim Outreach which involves reaching out to identify women in jail, prison or living in the community to offer support. Another is Care Coordination which involves engaging with a woman to identify services and tailoring a program and resources to provide her healing, empowerment, and a brighter future.
Her Song also operates a long-term residential program, through local safe houses, where survivors receive counseling, life skills and educational and employment opportunities but most of all they are given unconditional love and introduced to God. Volunteering with Her Song we have witnessed the inside-out transformation of many women.
I see Her Song is endorsed and supported by the Tim Tebow Foundation. How is Tim Tebow involved in Her Song?
Her Song is a ministry of The Tim Tebow Foundation (TTF) a part of TTF’s Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation effort. TTF absorbed Her Song during 2020, which enabled program improvements plus expansion to Chattanooga, TN; Columbus, OH and soon to Albany NY.
Tim and Demi Tebow are engaged in leading TTF and setting the direction for Her Song. They also both make time to engage the women at milestone celebrations and in informal settings throughout the year. The Tebow’s work is ministry.
Is there a particular aspect of the ministry that you are active in? or do you support the program in general? How are you involved?
Her Song opened its first residential house in 2017 and since then, Mary Jo and I visit a house each month to share a meal and spend time with the women. Sometimes we watch a movie, play cards, or just talk. This has resulted in many friendships and allowed us to see the Gospel at work.
Mary Jo also shares time with the women while teaching them to sew, and I teach “financial literacy”, a part of life skills. Our volunteering with Her Song is a part of our regular routine and we have been blessed by the friendships and joy that it has given us.
Is it just individuals who get involved in the ministry or do whole groups--- like churches--- that get involved?
The nature of this ministry and client base does not readily support “whole group” involvement. Opportunities for direct ministry are limited and would be based upon meeting a specific need such as a GED Tutor. Anyone having an interest should contact Her Song directly via the volunteer page on its website to discuss how they might serve.
What does the ministry here in Jacksonville need? Do you need more of us from our Episcopal churches to get involved? If so, how? Who would we contact?
Her Song’s needs and how to get involved are shown on its website: https://www.hersong.org/.
Working with Her Song has helped us to understand the whole picture of trafficking, something more widespread than most people know. The TTF website, https://timtebowfoundation.org/ provides other ways to get involved plus is an excellent resource to learn about trafficking in the US and world-wide. I would urge people and Episcopal churches to learn about trafficking and then consider how they might want to respond. Trafficking is EVIL and people of God need to be working against it.
If we added Her Song to our prayer list--- what do you recommend we pray for more specifically?
Pray for strength and resolve for the staff that works diligently every day to minister to the needs of women in the program. Pray for the women in the programs as they are doing the hard work of healing and recovery and that they feel the Holy Spirit in their lives. Pray for law enforcement as they work against this EVIL impacting our city, state, country, and world.
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Thinking further about the interview with Wayne Plummer and his Jacksonville work with Her Song, the charity focused on human trafficking, my mind turned to an author who has always had the ability to awaken my conscience and move my heart--- Caroline Cox, a Christian humanitarian whose work in the areas of anti-trafficking and anti-slavery has been worldwide in conflict zones in the Armenian enclave of Nagorno Karabakh, Sudan, Nigeria, Uganda, the Karen, Karenni, Shan and Chin peoples of Burma.
Baroness Cox (she was created a Life Peer in 1982 and was a deputy speaker in the House of Lords from 1985-2005) was a nurse by training and profession. Some years ago, I invited her to preach in my college chapel and her sermon was electrifying in bringing the needs of our fellow Christians in conflict zones and in danger to our attention.
She is the author of several books and two come to mind regarding the interview on human trafficking in this Newsletter: Cox’s Book of Modern Saints and Martyrs, 2006 and This Immoral Trade: Slavery in the 21st Century, updated 2021 with a new chapter on human trafficking.
EXCERPTS FROM COX’S BOOK OF MODERN SAINTS AND MARTYRS
(1) ‘Pastor Simon, born 1949,’ is a thumbnail portrait of a courageous Christian pastor ministering to the Kachin people of Burma or Myanmar who have suffered numerous and continuous violations and transgressions against their community, including rape and sexual assault, extrajudicial killings, forced labor and torture. Pastor Simon shared this meditation he wrote with Caroline Cox on a visit she made to his community:
They call us a displaced people,
But praise God; we are not misplaced.
They say they see no hope for our future,
But praise God; our future is as bright as the promises of God.
They say they see the life of our people is a misery.
But praise God; our life is a mystery.
For what they say, is what they see,
And what they see is temporal.
But ours is the eternal.
All because we put ourselves
In the hands of the God, we trust.
(2) Bishop Desmond Tutu’s reflections from his book God Has a Dream are reprinted in Cox’s book:
Tutu on hope despite circumstances:
“During the darkest days of apartheid, I used to say to P. W. Botha, the president of South Africa, that we had already won, and I invited him and other white South Africans to join the winning side. All the “objective” facts were against us—the pass laws, the imprisonments, the teargassing, the massacres, the murder of political activists—but my confidence was not in the present circumstances but in the laws of God's universe.
This is a moral universe, which means that, despite all the evidence that seems to be to the contrary, there is no way that evil and injustice and oppression and lies can have the last word. God is a God who cares about right and wrong. God cares about justice and injustice. God is in charge. That is what had upheld the morale of our people, to know that in the end good will prevail. It was these higher laws that convinced me that our peaceful struggle would topple the immoral laws of apartheid.
Tutu on the Cross as the supreme sign of Transfiguration:
“Of course, there were times when you had to whistle in the dark to keep your morale up, and you wanted to whisper in God's ear: “God, we know You are in charge, but can't You make it a little more obvious?
I doubt, however, that we could produce a more spectacular example of this principle of transfiguration than the Cross itself. Most people would have been filled with revulsion had someone gone and set up electric chair or gallows or the guillotine as an object of reverence. Well, look at the Cross. It was a ghastly instrument of death, of an excruciatingly awful death reserved for the most notorious malefactors. It was an object of dread and shame, and yet what a turnaround has happened.
This instrument of a horrendous death has been spectacularly transfigured. Once a means of death, it is now perceived by Christians to be the source of life eternal. Far from being an object of vilification and shame, it is an object of veneration.
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The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary | |
April 8 (transferred from March 25) | |
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The Collect
We beseech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our hearts; that, as we have known the incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ by the message of an angel, so by his cross and passion we may be brought unto the glory of his resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Saint Benjamin, Deacon
(d. 424 A.D.)
While most of us were enjoying Easter festivities on Sunday the 31st of March we may have forgotten that Easter this year coincided with the feast day of Saint Benjamin. Oh, you forgot, don’t worry, I just found out myself.
So, who is Deacon Benjamin and how did he become a Saint? Benjamin, lived during the late 4th through early 5th century. It is believed that he was born around 329 to 340 A.D., in Persia (modern Iran). Not much is known of his childhood or early life.
At that time the Christians in Persia enjoyed 12 years of peace during the reign of the Persian King Isdegerd. In 420 A.D. the peace was disturbed when the Christian Bishop Abdas burned the pagan Temple of Fire, the great sanctuary of the Persian Zoroastrians. The King threatened to destroy all the Christian churches in the realm unless Bishop Abdas would rebuild the Temple. Abdus refused to aid the pagans in any way and a 40-year persecution of all Christians began throughout Persia. Bishop Abdus himself was put to death, and many Christians were arrested including Deacon Benjamin.
In 421 A.D. Isdegerd died and his son and successor Varanes carried on the persecution. Benjamin had been imprisoned for about a year when the ambassador of the emperor Constantine obtained his (and others) release. However, Benjamin was a great speaker, and concerned that he would win new converts the Persians would only release Benjamin on the condition that he would never speak about his religion again.
Saint Benjamin was unaware of this agreement. Subsequently learning of it after his release, he declared that it was his duty to preach about Christ, and that as a deacon he could not be silent. Although he had been liberated on the agreement made with the ambassador the Persian authorities, rearrested him.
After being brought before King Varanes, Benjamin was threatened with torture and death, unless he stopped preaching. It is alleged that Benjamin made no other reply to the threats than by putting this question to the king: ‘What opinion would he have of any of his subjects if they were to renounce their allegiance to the king and join in war against him?’ The enraged King immediately removed him to have reeds to be run in between the nails and the flesh of both of his hands and feet, and the same to be thrust into other most tender parts, and drawn out again, and this to be frequently repeated with violence. He lastly ordered a knotty stake to be thrust into his bowels, to rend and tear them, in which torment and unwavering faith he expired in the year 424 A.D.
Deacon Benjamin took seriously the words of our Lord “whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven” (Matt 10:33). Benjamin would not deny the Lord and so he suffered the terrible consequences of evil men.
Because of his steadfast faith Deacon Benjamin is known as the patron saint of preachers and his feast day is celebrated every 31st March.
Praying that our Lord finds you and yours well.
Archdeacon,
The Ven. Mark Richardson
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Bishop's Institute and St. John's Cathedral Liturgy Workshop Part 1: Saturday, May 25 | |
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A Survey of Worship Services Created since the BCP 1979
Part One: Eucharistic Liturgies
Taliaferro Hall
256 E Church St, Jacksonville, FL 32202
10 a.m. - 2 p.m. (Lunch included)
Fifty years passed between the 1928 Prayer Book and the 1979 Prayer Book. Another 50 years has past since then...
Language is a living thing, it is always changing and shifting. Take the word awful. Before the 18th century, this word used to refer to something inspiring, full of awe. Today it means really bad. We have all kinds of new words today that we never had before such a tweet, blog, bot. As Anglicans, we believe that the scripture must be translated into the language that people can understand.
But if language shifts, then the Scripture must consistently be retranslated, or the meaning will slip out from under us. The words of our worship also must be translated and upgraded in order to speak to younger modern minds, and yet the meaning of the words and the sense of the beauty of holiness must forever be preserved.
Join Dean Kate to explore the liturgical rites that have been licensed by the Episcopal Church since the Book of Common Prayer. This is series of classes. Part One will focus only on Sunday Eucharistic Worship options. Future classes will include The Saints Calendar, Funeral Rites, and other pastoral offices. This is a chance to know the resources with no pressure as to whether to use them. All worship resources will be available for sale at the Cathedral Bookstore.
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Easter Garden: Images of Resurrection at
St. John's Cathedral
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Join St. John's Cathedral for a reflective weekend, led by the Reverend Canon Susanna Gunner as part of the Cerveny Speaker Series on May 3-5, 2024.
As we near the end of the 50 days of Eastertide, let’s delve into the gospel stories of Jesus’ resurrection and consider how we can embody that resurrection in our daily lives. How can we continue to embrace the message of hope and new beginnings long after Easter, and how can we share this hope with a world in need of healing?
Throughout the weekend, Susanna will incorporate music, poetry, and art to enhance our study of the texts and inspire fresh perspectives. You’ll have the opportunity to reflect, appreciate creativity, and even unleash your creative spirit.
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