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Grace Notes from Father David March 2008 A Sunday school class was asked, “Who can tell me what Easter is about.?” An excited youngster waved his hand and yelled, “I know. I know.” When called upon he replied, “Easter is when Jesus comes out of the tomb and if he sees his shadow we will have winter for another 6 weeks!” It’s easy to get one’s theology and beliefs all mixed up especially for those involved in ‘do-it-yourself’ religion, a phenomenon that arose out of the Reformation wherein each individual decides for himself what constitutes religious belief. It’s kind of like burying your head in the sand, however. It’s not unlike being a groundhog. We of the Catholic tradition, however, put a lot of value in the lessons Christianity has learned over the centuries, especially the knowledge of the first years. That’s called Tradition or `the faith once delivered to the Saints.’ So when we interpret scripture, what we arrive at and what guides our life together, is not quite so individualistic, it has a more solid foundation. I’ve had so many people of the more ‘popular’ religious culture tell me how much they yearn for something of substance. That’s found within the hallowed walls of the Catholic faith which is why so many Episcopalians are converts. They came to faith somewhere else, which is wonderful, but it is here that they find substance and connection with our founding fathers. Willow Creek Community Church in South Barring- ton has been highly successful at the spread of the Gospel if numbers are any indication. A few years ago the Episcopal Church sent a fact-finding delegation to try and glean tidbits from the secrets of their success. At one point our people asked the Pastor, “What about discipleship?” He looked the Episcopalians in the eye and said, “That’s your job!” Being a disciple of Christ is risky business for he was the granddaddy of all liberals. There’s no telling who’s table a disciple of Christ will overturn next. But it is the disciples who make this a better world. In Latin `disciple’ is a kind of student, yet the Christian disciple is a bit more than that. It’s more of an apprenticeship which sees formal training and on-the-job experience as the way of Christian growth. So, there’s a bit more to it than listening to a sermon on Sunday morning. There are books to read, classes to take and work to be done. It is thrilling that we have so many earnest souls in this congregation seeking to grow into the fullness and stature of our Lord and Savior. Our Prayer of Jabez Classes have close to twenty in attendance and is still growing and people are always willing to step up to the plate and perform any ministry that is needed. Each of you can be proud of what you’ve accomplished and what you are doing. But don’t forget that in this business, to get what you want, you need to give it away. Share your faith story with others, bring your friends to church or the study night or movie night. We offer a lot of ways to be a disciple instead of a groundhog! ~ Father David April 2008 Spring is sprung, the grass has rizz, It seemed like most of the California citizenry was born elsewhere. Most often heard from these immigrants to the West Coast is that they missed the seasons. I suppose I did, too, for it just didn’t seem reasonable to celebrate Christmas without snow. There never seemed to be any reason for weather reports. But in all honesty, we really did have spring. It usually amounted to two weeks in February when all the hills were green. The rest of the time they were brown. Yes, there were things I missed from the East, and most of all it was springtime, and here I get to experience it again... That delightful feel in the air... New life wherever you look. I recall one of the very first jokes I ever heard. It was about the bedbug that thought she’d like to have her babies in the spring! What I missed most, and look forward to seeing again, were the Daffodils, Jonquils, and Hyacinths bursting forth, reaching up to praise God our Father. May we do the same. ~ Father David May 2008 May 11th marks the Birth of The Church, the beginning of Christianity! Better known as Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate that amazing day when the Spirit of God was poured out on the believers just as Jesus, John the Baptist and the prophet Joel had promised. What a day that was! You never heard such shoutin’ and carrying on. Many thought them to be drunk! It was probably the biggest and best birthday party of all time. So amazing was it that 3,000 people showed up for the festivities. God’s children had been around for centuries so what was so special about this event? Those whose faith was set firmly in Jesus the Christ received an unprecedented gift: the ability to live and move outside of their “comfort zone”… to dare great things… to dream the impossible dream. This rag-tag bunch of disillusioned followers of the Nazarene left hearth and home to turn the Roman Empire on its ear. It is an amazing story that lives on to this day. Still that gift is poured out upon the faithful and still we find more corners of the world to turn on its ear. Onward Christian Soldiers is more than a great old hymn,. It is the Christian life. It is life along the King’s Highway. It is walking on water! We don’t hear much about the Holy Spirit in this day and age. He is mentioned briefly in passing in the Nicene Creed and there are only a handful hymns commemorating the third person of the Trinity and the day of Pentecost. Yet wherever and whenever persons of good will seriously ask the Father, He will pour out his Spirit on them. Watch out then, for life will never be the same again. We make little of the Holy Spirit for just that reason. He is not a force that can be controlled or validated by the Church and its clergy, yet a huge percentage of the practicing Priests today find themselves to be Priests precisely because they, in an earlier time, sought the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. How wonderful and powerful the words of our Lord on this subject: And I tell you, Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Perhaps we should call it Dare Sunday instead. For underlying all the hoopla, God is really calling us to a higher place. Do you dare to ask for the Holy Spirit? Do you dare God to give you a bigger vision and purpose than you ever dreamed of? Do you dare to be used of God for greater achievements than you could have ever imagined? Do you even dare to dare? ~ Father David
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