St. John the Divine Anglican Church

“You who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him– provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven.” From the Epistle to

Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” From the Gospel according to St. Luke. The Law of Moses was the defining code of behavior for the Hebrews.

Proper 9 C Independence Day But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; from the Gospel according to St. Matthew Today we celebrate our Independence Day.. Of course tomorrow is July 4th, the actual day, but our Prayer book permits us to transfer this important day to Sunday. In recent years, patriotism

“For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.” from the letter of St. Paul to the Galatians. St. Paul begins this section of the letter to the Galatians informing his readers that they have been set free. Freedom, in this case, is from slavery to sin and death. He urges

“Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come.” from the Revelation to St. John the Divine. You may recognize those words. You hear them every Sunday. In fact, we sing them every Sunday, or at least a variation of it. We sometimes use the Latin word, “Sanctus” to describe that phrase. It is inserted in our service during the Eucharistic prayer, where

The word Pentecost in Greek means Fifty Days, and is the translation of the Hebrew word Shavuot, meaning “weeks,” specifically, the seven weeks since Passover. Shavuot, or “The Feast of Weeks” commemorates the giving of the Law, the Torah, to Moses at Mt. Sinai. The Christian feast of Pentecost Sunday commemorates the giving of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles. The color of this feast is Red, which reminds us

The Revelation 19:1,4-9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.” … from the Revelation to St. John the Divine. You will notice that this reading from the Revelation to St. John the Divine is filled with images of marriage. Listen to these words: “Hallelujah! For

Acts 13:15-16, 26-33(34-39) Happy Mother’s Day to the dear Mothers here among us. St. Paul wrote to St. Timothy to regard all older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters. This shows his love and respect for all women, and we men today would be wise to do the same. And Happy Mother’s Day to the Mother of our Lord, the Ever Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of us

Easter 3 Our Gospel reading this morning chronicles the third time that Jesus appeared to his disciples since he was raised from the dead. You will recall that last Sunday we heard about the first two appearances. Jesus breathed on his disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” What

John 20:19-31 Today is the second Sunday in Eastertide, and as it is the 8th day of Easter, it is known as the Octave. The eight-day feast coincides with Passover this year, which ended at Nightfall last night. On this Second Sunday in Eastertide, in the year 2000, Pope John Paul II designated this day as Divine Mercy Sunday, in recognition of St. Faustina’s visions and conversations with Jesus. It