Christ Church Cobble Hill

26 Sunday - THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (Proper 16)

Church:

Sunday summer schedule  
Summer Eucharist in the Garden 11:00 AM
                          
Parish House:

27 Monday - Weekday

28 Tuesday - Augustine of Hippo, 430

Parish House:
COBBLE HILL BALLET - 1:00-2:30 PM

29 Wednesday - The Beheading of John the Baptist

Church:
Evening Prayer 6:00 PM

Parish House:

COBBLE HILL BALLET - 1:00-2:30 PM

30 Thursday - Weekday

Parish House:

AA - 6:30-7:30 PM

31 - Friday - Aidan, Bishop of Lindisfarne, 651  
Day of Special Devotion:  Abstinence

SEPTEMBER
1 Saturday - Weekday
                   
Parish House:
AA - 7:30-8:30 AM
COBBLE HILL BALLET - 10:00 AM-12:45 PM

2 Sunday - THE FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (Proper 17)

Church:

Sunday summer schedule  
Summer Eucharist in the Garden 11:00 AM

Parish House:
AA 7:30-8:30 AM

 

SUMMERTIME, AND THE LIVIN'S EASY

Church Members are reminded that church expenses do not take a summer break . . .  so please keep your pledge to your church up-to-date as you take your own summer vacations.  The Treasurer recently sent-out statements…check yours!

WE NEED YOUR HELP - HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?

Help is Needed in the Garden.   As summer progresses, so do garden chores, especially weeding!  We are also preparing the ANorth Forty@ (the Kane Street Garden) for a major make-over next year.  If you can give an hour or more, please call Haigo on 718-875-3144

CHRIST CHURCH BOOK READING GROUP

The Book Reading Group is reading Sovereign by C. J. Sansom.  I.S.B.N. 13: 978-0670038312..  $16.00 – please speak with the Vicar if you want a copy!  A full description with some questions is available on a hand-out  on the table by the entrance to the church.

The third book in the brilliant Shardlake historical crime series.  Lawyer Matthew Shardlake is caught up in the mysterious murder of a local glazier, an event which turns out to be linked to work he is undertaking for the King.  Set in the reign of Henry VIII, Sansom's vivid writing style will have you believing you've been sent back in time.  Great stuff!

The Christ Church Book Group meets monthly, more or less, for a meal and to discuss themes, a book at a time.   It is a great way to both get-together and to learn something about our faith as reflected in literature.  We meet next on Wednesday, 29 August, at 7:30 p.m.  Please plan to join us for a gala meal, generous drink, great discussion and good fellowship!

DOG DAYS

The phrase Dog Days or the dog days of summer conjures up the hottest, most sultry days of summer. They are a phenomenon of the northern hemisphere where they usually fall between July and early September but the actual dates vary greatly from region to region, depending on latitude and climate. Dog Days can also define a time period or event that is very hot or stagnant.

The term "Dog Days" was coined by the ancient Romans, who called these days caniculares dies (days of the dogs) after Sirius (the "Dog Star"), the brightest star in the heavens besides the Sun.

Popularly believed to be an evil time "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies" - Brady’s Clavis Calendarium, 1813.

The Dog Days originally were the days when Sirius, the Dog Star, rose just before or at the same time as sunrise, which is no longer true owing to precession of the equinoxes. The ancients sacrificed a brown dog at the beginning of the Dog Days to appease the rage of Sirius, believing that that star was the cause of the hot, sultry weather. Its easier to turn on the air conditioner or the fan! 

REFLECTION

As a theological doctrine, universalism claims that all of us will be saved, or restored to holiness and happiness. The biblical version of universalism is more complicated. It says that while God wants us all to be saved, we all must work at finding a place in God’s kingdom.

One of the questions put to Jewish religious teachers in Jesus’ time concerned the number of persons who will be saved, that is, will share in the great banquet in God’s kingdom. The occasion for Jesus’ teaching about biblical universalism in today’s text from Luke 13 is the question, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” Jesus does not answer that question. Instead he issues a series of sayings and parables that emphasize the difficulty involved in entering God’s kingdom, and he stresses the need for constant fidelity and vigilance throughout our lives. Thus Jesus reminds us that even though God wants all of us to be saved, we all need to work at it. Entry into God’s kingdom is not automatically granted, and we cannot presume on God’s mercy and do nothing by way of response to God’s invitation.

Jesus goes on to present a positive picture of people from all the nations of the world joining Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the great banquet in God’s kingdom. Note the pivotal role played by historic Israel, as represented by the patriarchs in the scene. This vision is deeply rooted in the Old Testament. Today’s reading from Isaiah 66 provides a good example. That great book ends as it began, with a vision of all the peoples of the world streaming toward Jerusalem and acknowledging and praising the God of Israel. Likewise, today’s responsorial psalm (117) issues the call, “Praise the Lord, all you nations; glorify him, all you peoples.”

In Jesus’ vision the goal or destination of all the nations is the kingdom of God rather than the Jerusalem temple. While the destination has changed, the dynamic is similar. When we pray “Thy kingdom come,” we ask that all peoples may come to recognize and celebrate the absolute sovereignty of the God of Abraham who is the father of our lord Jesus Christ.

Will only a few persons be saved? The answer to that question remains hidden with God. The two great attributes of God in the Bible are justice and mercy. Which will prevail at the last judgment depends on God. Meanwhile we have to be satisfied with the guidance provided by Scripture. Today’s excerpt from Luke 13 offers at least the biblical version of universalism. It affirms that God wants all persons to enjoy eternal life with him. It insists on the pivotal role of historic Israel as God’s chosen people. And it reminds us that entry into God’s kingdom is not automatic. Rather, it requires faith in God, firmness of purpose and sharpness of focus and appropriate actions and constant vigilance. While the invitation to God’s banquet is extended to all, we all have to act upon it. How many will be saved in the end is a decision that rests with God.

• What must we do to be saved? Do we earn salvation? Or is it a gift?

• How do you envision the kingdom of God? What kinds of persons do you expect to find there?

• What problems might the biblical version of universalism pose in interreligious dialogue today? How do you deal with them??

PRACTICE OF FAITH: HEARLDING. This week the church remembers Saint Monica (27 August), Saint Augustine (28 August) and the beheading of St John the Baptist (29 August).  Many people have come to faith in Jesus and the church through these three people.  Monica and John worked tirelessly to point others to the life of Jesus in the church.  They met their own deaths with confidence in the mission of their lives.You can do the same for others.  Volunteer to help the children of our church by helping to lead a class in our Sunday School, Christ Church for Kids!  Or bring a friend to the Book Reading Group meeting this Wednesday, 29 August. Recall John the Baptist:  “I am not the Christ; I have been sent before him to prepare his way.  He must increase, and I must decrease.”

 

 

PRACTICE OF HOPE: DOORS AND LOCKS.  That’s it.  I’ve had it.  I’m going to bold my front door for good.  The only people who ever show up are solicitors, investigators and missionaries.  I don’t want to see them.  They can file a written complaint or send junk mail.  As a matter of fact, I’ll have a brick wall built behind the front door.  I’ll hang up a sing:  “Depart from here, ye sons of b ….” so that if they force the door they’ll be surprised, and they can gnash their teeth all they want.  ‘Cause, you see, all my real friends know the back way.  They come through the alley, across a few narrow doorways and through the wintergarden right into the kitchen. That’s where we sit and have a good time talking over coffee or tea.  Seems like I’m crazy, because I always leave the back door unlocked….

 

  
PRACTICE OF CHARITY: FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.  A Palestinian girl said, “I live across the street from the hospital in Jerusalem, where they take the bodies of the dead and dying after bombings.  Sometimes they are Israelis, sometimes Palestinians.  They all come in pieces.  I don’t want to see the blood flow.  Maybe I can make a difference.”  For three weeks at a camp in Colorado, Israeli and Palestinian teens talked, shred meals and slept in the same tents.  For the first time in their lives, the “enemy became human.  An Israeli girl said, “What the camp taught us about people is not to generalize but to seek out the human side, not the fearful and hating sides of our hearts.”  Join with us as we participate in the Dialogue Project’s “Talking Across Differences”.  Brooklyn has the largest concentration of Muslim and Christian Arab citizens and non-citizens in New York City, living alongside residents of many other ethnicities and faith traditions, predominantly Irish, Hispanic and Italian Roman Catholic and Jewish.  This group gets our neighbors together to talk and to listen:  to dialogue.  Join us!  Contact:  http://thedialogueproject.org