This Week's Announcements
July 24, 2017
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Message from the Rector
July 24, 2017
Jesus put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field;
but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away.
So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.
And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?'
He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?'
But he replied, 'No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them.
Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'" Matthew 13:24-30
Every year, I try my hand at growing a few vegetables and herbs. Some years I get good crops, some years I get not so good crops. Some people have lots of room for a garden, so they can plant lots of different things. I, however, am limited to a few pots that fit on and around the porch of the Rectory, so I don't plant as many different things that I'd like. But even in my little pots of tomatoes, basil, peppers, and such, something that starts growing in the pot that I did not plant. There's always something unexpected that pushes through the soil. I'm not an expert in horticulture, so I can't always identify what's coming up. I have to let it grow until I figure out what it is. Sometimes it turns out to be another basil plant, because I forgot that I had thrown some random basil flowers in that pot last fall. Sometimes it's a pepper plant, because some dead peppers fell into the soil last winter when I cleaned out the pots because I was tired of looking at dead branches stuck in dry soil. And sometimes that unexpected plant turns out to be a dandelion, a weed, a useless plant for my purposes, but a hearty one that will take over if I let it. No matter what kind of soil we plant in, whether rocky, sandy, fertile, or not, whether it's in a huge garden or a pot on a porch the one thing we can be sure of is that something we hadn't planted will grow in it. Then it's up to us to decide whether it's a good plant or a weed--whether it's something to be transplanted or thrown away. Often we can't tell, but if we pull it up too soon, we might be destroying something good. Sometimes we have to let the weeds grow next to the good seeds until they declare what they are, and then we can deal with them appropriately.
That's exactly what today's gospel is about. Today's message from our Lord and Savior is that weeds will always grow in the same soil next to the good crops. In fact, Jesus knew about a type of weed called darnel that looks like wheat until it matures, and then it can be properly identified. You can't tell the difference until the crops grow to a certain point, and that's when you can separate the wheat from the weeds.
The meaning of this parable on life is that good and evil coexist side-by-side. That's a hard reality to accept, but it's the truth. Good and evil coexist side-by-side and there is nothing we can do about it. Good and evil coexist side-by-side and we often can't tell the difference. Sometimes things that we think are good for us turn out to be not so good. Sometimes the thing we rejected or the person we let out of our lives or the choice that we didn't take was the one that would have put us in a different place than where we are right now. We can't always tell the difference between the wheat and the weeds until the plants mature. We don't know how the choices we make in life will really turn out at the time we make them. We can speculate. We can make a logical, well-researched and thought out decision, but we won't know how it turns out until it actually does. And often it's not anything like what we had anticipated.
The other hard reality is that what's good for one person or group of people may not be so good for someone else. In every political revolution there is a group of people feeling in some way oppressed by the ruling government and they rise up to stand up for their rights. They often win and gain political power, legitimacy, and the respect they asked for, but inevitably, even the revolutionaries become oppressive and corrupt and want to hold on to power and do bad things to do so, until the next oppressed group comes along to save the day.
How many times have you wondered, "Why can't God just take it all away and make it better? Why can't God simply get rid of the evil in the world?" It may not be so easy. What's good today might be bad tomorrow. Several years ago when I was practicing medicine we were telling people to avoid eggs, butter, and sugar because they were considered bad for you. Nowadays, doctors tell us that eggs are good for you and butter and sugar are better than the artificial substitutes. God won't simply rid the world of evil, because created order has a free will and evil will always exist side-by-side and often shifts roles from one day to the next. The next time any one of us wants to feel self-righteous or judgmental about what's good and what's not, who's right and who's wrong, step back. There is a thin line between good and evil; there's always more to an iceberg below the surface of the water than what you can actually see above. What's good for some may be bad for others. We can only rely on God to help us distinguish the difference, to be able to recognize the weeds from the wheat.
As we heard Paul say in his letter to the Romans, "We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved." All we can do is hope. All we can do is ask God to guide us along the right path, to help us be wheat growing in fertile soil, and to give us strength, fortitude, and endurance when we come up against the weeds of life.
Click here for the full text of Fr. Whitmire's sermon.
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Saint of the Week
by Lance Davis
St. Anne, July 26th
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Statue of St. Anne with the BVM
Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Québec, Canada |
St. Anne is the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Protoevangelium of St. James
(AD 120) gives the following account of her life: In Nazareth there lived a rich and pious couple, Joachim and Anne. They were childless. When on a feast day Joachim presented himself to offer sacrifice in the temple, he was repulsed by a certain Ruben, under the pretext that men without offspring were unworthy to be admitted. Whereupon Joachim, bowed down with grief, did not return home, but went into the mountains to make his plaint to God in solitude. Also Anne, having learned the reason of the prolonged absence of her husband, cried to the Lord to take away from her the curse of sterility, promising to dedicate her child to the service of God. Their prayers were heard; an angel came to Anne and said: "Anne, the Lord has looked upon thy tears; thou shalt conceive and give birth and the fruit of thy womb shall be blessed by all the world". The angel made the same promise to Joachim, who returned to his wife. Anne gave birth to a daughter whom she called Miriam. At the age of three, Joachim and Anne took the child Mary to the temple, where Mary was given in consecration to a life of perpetual virginity in service to our Lord and his priests.
St. Anne is the patroness of Canada, expectant mothers, seamstresses, and housewives.
Good St. Anne, mother of her who is our life, our sweetness, and our hope,
pray to her for us!
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What's Happening at All Saints?
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Events this Week
8:00 PM - Family Movie Night
Wednesday, July 26
(Sts. Anne & Joachim, Parents of the BVM)
Friday, July 28
9:30 AM - Low Mass
Sunday, July 30
(8th Sunday after Pentecost)
10:00 AM - High Mass (Rite 1)
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Parish Hall Construction Update
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Summer Movie Nights
This summer we are showing free movies on selected Tuesday evenings outside on the lawn in front of the church. Pizza, popcorn, snacks, and beverages. Fun for the whole family! Bring friends.
Help is needed to set up at 7 PM.
Please call Fr. Whitmire if available.
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Mid-year Giving Statements
Statements of pledges and other contributions given to All Saints through June 30 are available. If your statement was not e-mailed to you, it should be available in the back of the nave. Please pick up your statement as quickly as possible to save on the cost of mailing them.
If your statement is missing, please contact Fr. Whitmire.
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Keep up with your pledges during the summer.
With all the excitement of summer plans and vacations, it's easy to forget that All Saints is still here while you are away. Send in your pledges before you go away. May we remind you that your pledge needs to be put in one of the dated envelopes with your number on it. If you forget, you may use a white envelope located on the table in the back of the church (ask an usher for one), but please make it clear that it's your pledge, otherwise the money might not end up in the right place. (Please do not put your pledge in an envelope marked "Episcopal Ministries" or the money will have to go there.)
Did you know that you can pay your regular pledge and make other contributions to the General Church Fund online? Simply go to our church management page and set up a personal password. Once it is set up, you can contribute online and see the record of your contributions at any time. Contributions can be made by e-check (preferred) or by credit/debit card, and are automatically credited to your church record within one or two business days.
Click here to be directed to our church management system. If you have any questions or trouble signing in, please send us an
e-mail or call the church for assistance.
In order for the parish to meet its monthly financial obligations, we require an average weekly pledge income of $4,000. This week we received $2,141.
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Gift Basket Raffle
St. Hilda's Guild is holding a raffle for a beautiful gift basket of assorted items. The gift basket is on display at the back of the nave. Raffle tickets are three (3) for $5. The basket will be raffled during the social hour after the 10 AM Mass on July 30. Proceeds will go to the John T. Schnabel Scholarship Fund. To purchase tickets please see Yvonne Pursoo (8:00), Aura Troché (9:30), or Minnie Narain (11:00).
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Faith Day at Citi Field
Saturday, August 5
Citi Field and Times Square Church are sponsoring a Faith Day of baseball, followed by praise and worship. See the NY Mets vs. the LA Dodgers baseball game, which begins at 4:05 PM. There are still a number of seats available where we could sit together. Anyone wishing to stay for the program afterward would have the option of doing so, if they wish. Tickets are $36 to sit in the Promenade Reserved section. Those persons interested in going to the game should speak to Fr. Whitmire by Friday, July 28.
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Do you enjoy gardening?
Let's start a Garden Guild. Come join other volunteers in beautifying our grounds on Saturday mornings when the weather is good. If you're interested and would like to help out, call the church or speak to Claudette Wharton.
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Please Put Litter in its Place
On Sundays after all our festivities are finished and clean up is in progress, please remember to place all trash bags into one of the containers, preferably one with a lid, behind the Rectory. DO NOT leave bags on the ground, because raccoons, cats, and squirrels also like our good cooking, but they don't have the same polite eating habits as we humans. By Monday, there are torn bags and food all over the place that the Rector has to clean up (and he more important things to do).
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SAVE THE DATE!
Sign up sheets for contributing food items are now available in the nave.
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