|
|
|
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, This month marks the feast-day of our patron saint, St. Luke the Evangelist, the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. However since the feast (October 18th) falls on the day after the Spaghetti Dinner when everyone will be exhausted, we are moving the celebration to All Saints Day (November 1st), which this year conveniently falls on a Sunday. I don’t think Luke would mind, he was a practical man. All the saints deserve remembering. Traditional practice has usually employed the Sunday readings (previous or next) for midweek services but we use those for the saint whose feast falls on or near that day. We have our own Anglican calendar of saints, but we also borrow from the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox calendars if we need to. After all, saints are saints. They all deserve to be commemorated. It all began in a very haphazard way. Usually it began with martyrs, local martyrs whose day of rebirth in heaven (i.e. when they died) was kept as a memorial by their own community. Eventually with increased communications in the early Church these local commemorations were added together, initially region by region and then across the whole Church. By about AD 450 the Christians were generally celebrating a whole list of saints from all parts of the Church. By this time others had been added apart from martyrs. Obviously the Apostles and their disciples were added at an early date, and then leading Church figures who had not necessarily been martyred were added. Later on all kinds of Christians who in some way were felt to have contributed to the life of faith were included. The list of course became very long and some names were pruned since not much was known about the individual after such a long time and some of the stories seemed a bit fantastic to later generations. Even so, the present list of saints is a very full one and people can find some patron saints for almost anything. Patron saints were usually adopted because of some story in that saint’s life, or because the saint embodied some particular virtue that people wanted to emulate. So Crsipin and Crispinian were supposed to have been cobblers and became the patron saints of shoemakers. There was a time when people were only named after saints (not a bad idea) though many names in fact can be traced back to a saint’s name, as with Bella, Isabel, Bessy, Eliza, Betty, Lisa, all back to Elizabeth. Saints show us what God can do in people’s lives. They were all ordinary people who did extraordinary things by God’s grace. As such they remind us that we too can do extraordinary things by God’s grace. Perhaps that is why we need to remember the saints, they show us what we could be. Yours in Christ, Fr. Michael + Treasurer’s Report August, 2009 Expense ($9,932.40) Net Income $26,213.62
Treasures from the Trunk Third of an 8 Part Series Dick Klaesing Saturday, March 1 Mark 2:27-28 And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath; so the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath." The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke each proclaims that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. It is a day of holy rest. Also, the Old Testament says, God himself established the Sabbath, thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished the work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which He had done in creation (Gen 2:1-3). God created the Sabbath, blessed it and made it holy. We are God’s creation, His creatures, and should not treat the Sabbath in any way less than He did. Since the Sabbath days are holy we should be especially mindful of God’s great commandment to us, to love the Lord thy God with all your heart, soul, and strength (Deut 6:4-5) and ahead of everything else, to praise Him, worship Him, glorify Him, give thanks to Him. This is our duty! God commands it! It is the least we should do, every day, but especially on the Sabbath day. If you would like to read the scriptures regarding the verse, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath," I recommend these seven biblical sources for more meaning and proof: Genesis 2:1-3, Exodus 23:1 and 31:12-17, Deuteronomy 5:12-15, Matthew 12:1-14, Mark 2:27-28, and Luke 6:1-11. I pray that as we involve ourselves in the beauty, holiness and discipline of this Lenten season, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, will wholly open our eyes, ears, and mind to understand the messages of the Scriptures, however we encounter them. Dick Klaesing Weight Watchers Did you know that Weight Watchers meet at St, Luke's every Tuesday evening? Weigh-in starts at 5:00 with a meeting at 5:30. They are currently offering a buy one month at $39.95 and get a second month free special promotion! Other options are also available. You can contact Vicky Bailey, the Weight Watchers Team Leader at 414-704-2397 to get more information.
SPAGHETTI DINNER IS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17. Please mark your calendars for the all-church function. As usual, we will need lots of help from everyone to make it a success. Please consider the following opportunities for you to help and let me know your choices. 1. Selling ads for the placemats. All ads and money need to be given to me by Sunday, September 27 so that I can get them to the printer in time. 2. Helping set up the tables etc. on Friday night, October 16 at 6:30p.m. 3. Donating booze for the booze basket 4. Donating theme baskets 5. Helping with serving and cleaning up the night of the dinner With the help of everyone inviting their friends and neighbors AND selling 50/50 tickets, this event will be a success even in this time of a troubled economy!!! Doris Holaday The Outreach Committee Here are some of our Upcoming Events:
Parishioners are encouraged to participate in all Outreach events. To volunteer, please contact Dana at 414-327-0949. Thanks for your support of our committee. Respectfully submitted, FREE HEALTH CARE CLINIC The Open Door Free Clinic for the uninsured and underinsured between the ages of 19 and 64 will be open every Wednesday in the months of August, September and October 2009. The clinic is located inside Unity Lutheran Church, 1025 E. Oklahoma Avenue. Sign-in is a 5 PM and the medical staff will see patient’s from 6 to 8:30 PM or until the last patient has been seen. For dates the clinic is open, you can also contact: Telephone 414/481-1778 or Website – www.opendoorfreeclinic.org Please note the change in the sign-in time and the inclusion of the age group served. Also please mark your calendar for October 10, when the Open Door Free Clinic will be having its annual spaghetti dinner. More information will follow. APPLE CAKE 2 lg. or 3 sm.
eggs 2
tsp. Cinnamon Frosting: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix eggs and oil. Beat until foamy. Add sugar, vanilla and beat. Then add flour, cinnamon, and soda. Stir in by hand apples and nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Frosting: Beat together until smooth.
MEMORIAL MARKERS The last of the pre-ordered stones have been "planted" in the Memorial garden on the south side of church. Thanks to Ed Mueller and Jim Stringfellow, for all their help. If you would like to order a stone(s), stop in the office and get a form from Bobbie. If you so desire, you can just have your name engraved on the stone as several members of the parish have done. Stones cost $50 each. If I receive some orders, stones will be ordered and "planted" next spring. Submitted by Why Go to Church? A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all." This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher: "I've been married for 30 years now.. In that time my wife has cooked
some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for
a single one of those meals. But I do know this. They all nourished me and gave
me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals,
I would be physically dead today.
Lenten Journey Introduction to the Scriptural Passages As a spin-off to Treasures from the Trunk, we are attempting to create our
own Lenten Day by Day for Lent 2010. Below are the Scriptural Passages (20) with
either the entire passage or the theme of the passage to help you in selecting
one, two, or more. There is a sign up sheet in the Guild Hall or you can
just leave a note in my mailbox if you want to be anonymous. All are invited to
participate including teens, young adults, children, and adults. We all have
feelings or thoughts about scriptural passages. We are seeing some written some
years ago. Now it is our time. Scriptural Passages February 17 Ash Wednesday (Matt 6:1-6, 16-21
February 18 Thursday after Ash Wednesday (Luke 9:25)
February 19 Friday after Ash Wednesday (Matt 9:14-15) About Fasting February 20 Saturday after Ash Wednesday (Luke 5:32)
February 21 Sunday 1st Week of Lent (Luke 4:1-13) The Temptation of Jesus February 27 Saturday of 1st Week of Lent (Matt 5:44-46) Love Your Enemies February 28 Sunday 2nd Week of Lent (Luke 13:22-30, 31-35) The Narrow Door March 6th Saturday of 2nd Week of Lent (Luke 15:20)
March 7 Sunday 3rd Week of Lent (Luke 13:1-9) Repent or Perish/The Barren Fig Tree March 13 Saturday of 3rd Week of Lent (Luke 18:14)
March 14 Sunday 4th Week of Lent (Luke 15:11-32) The Prodigal Son March 20 Saturday of 4th Week of Lent (John 7:41-43) Division Among the People March 21 Sunday 5th Week of Lent (Luke 20:9-19) The Wicked Tenants March 27 Saturday of 5th Week of Lent (John 11:50)
March 28 Palm Sunday (Philippians 2:5-11) Christ’s Example of Humility March 29 Monday of Holy Week (John 12:1-11) Mary Anoints/Chief Priests Plot March 30 Tuesday of Holy Week (John 12:37-38) Unbelief/Salvation March 31 Wednesday of Holy Week (John 13:21-35) One of You Will Betray Me April 1 Holy Thursday (John 13:1-15) Jesus Washed the Feet of the Disciples April 2 Good Friday (Isaiah 52:13 – 53: 12) Wounded for Our Transgressions April 3 Holy Saturday (Matt 28:1-10) The Resurrection April 4 Easter Sunday (Colossians 3:1-4) Put on the New Self Lectionary Year C COMING SOON TO A CHURCH NEAR YOU ANNUAL STEWARDSHIP CAMPAIGN |