July 26, 2010

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

From July 26 to August 3, I am co-chairing a Study Tour of Clergy to Israel. We will be writing daily reports on the people and places that we visit. If you would like to visit the blog to see our reports, please click here.

The Gospel lesson last Sunday was on Learning to Pray. To read last Sunday's sermon by the Rev. Moses Sowale, please click here.

In response to requests for practical assistance in prayer and meditation, Peter Stringham and I will present a mini-course "Learning to Pray" on Thursdays September 16 and 23 at 6:45 pm. To download the flyer for this course, please click here. We will follow this course with an ongoing Meditation Group that will meet every Thursday at 6:45 pm, starting September 30.

You are invited to a Celtic Mini-Retreat on the Spirit of Lughnasa on Saturday, August 7, from 3:00 to 4:30 pm. The ancient Irish festival of Lughnasa is one of the important "quarter feasts" celebrated among many Celtic peoples since ancient times. Like other pre-Christian holidays, the coming of Christianity seems to have transformed rather than destroyed these ancient festivals. Lughnasa marks the beginning of the harvest in Ireland, and had many beautiful customs and traditions that continued into our own time.

The retreat will be led by Harvard Divinity School graduate Kieran Conroy, who will share the history and themes of Lughnasa and its sister-celebrations in Scotland and other places of Celtic influence. To download the flyer, please click here.

SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR THIS WEEKEND

In the Book of Hosea, the prophet speaks of God's tender love for Israel, as a father loves his son: "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called them, the more they went from me; they kept sacrificing to the Baals, and offering incense to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them ... My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath." (Hosea 11:1-11)

Psalm 107 expresses Israel's praise for the mercy of God: "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, and his mercy endures for ever. Let all those whom the LORD has redeemed proclaim that he redeemed them from the hand of the foe. He gathered them out of the lands; from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. Some wandered in desert wastes; they found no way to a city where they might dwell. They were hungry and thirsty; their spirits languished within them. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He put their feet on a straight path to go to a city where they might dwell. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his mercy and the wonders he does for his children. For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things."

In the epistle to the Colossians, Paul urges Christians to live a renewed life: "So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry) ... Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!" (Colossians 3:1-11)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus teaches his disciples to have a generous spirit and to avoid greed: And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, 'What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' Then he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God." (Luke 12:13-21)

Please join us for the Holy Eucharist Saturday at 5:00 pm and Sunday at 10:30 am.

Sincerely,

David A. Killian
Rector

Worship Services for

The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, July 31-August 1, 2010
Saturday, July 31, at 5:00 pm: Preacher: Mr. James Daniell
Sunday, August 1, at 10:30 am: Preacher: Mr. James Daniell

We want your feedback!

Please tell us :

• if you find All Saints Weekly a helpful spiritual resource
• if you have trouble seeing this email or opening the links
• or if you do not wish to receive this e-newsletter.

Please let Barbara know at office@allsaintsbrookline.org. THANK YOU!