| | Weekly Dispatch, September 22nd, 2021 |
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| |  | | St. John's Schedule- Catechesis Hour - Sundays at 9:00 am before Church
- Holy Eucharist - Sundays at 10:30 am at Church and via Zoom
- Evening Prayer - Wednesdays at 6:30 pm via Zoom
- Eagle and Child Meeting - Thursday, Sept 23rd at 7:00 pm at The Semelsberger's
- Cana Vox Meeting - Friday, September 24th, at 7:30 pm at Church
- Women’s Get Together - Saturday, Sept 25th, at 6:00 pm at The Twisted Olive
- Maira’s Piano Students' Recital - Sunday, September 26th, at 4:00 pm at Church
- Institution of a Rector Service - Sunday, October 10th, at 10:30 am at Church
- Maira Liliestedt Piano Recital - Sunday, October 10th at 3:00 pm in Brush Hall at Mount Union
- Next Vestry Meeting - Thursday, October 14th, at 6:00 pm at Church
- Parent's Night Out - Friday, October 29th, at 6:00 pm at Church
| | A Message from Fr. Joe | | | | Lord Jesus, you called Matthew from collecting taxes to become your apostle and evangelist: Grant us the grace to forsake all covetous desires and inordinate love of riches, that we may follow you as he did and proclaim to the world around us the good news of your salvation; for with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen. |
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| Yesterday, September 21st, was the Holy Day for St. Matthew. Why do we recognize holy days or feast days and what is significant about St. Matthew? The Church calendar is a remarkable approach to how we view the times. It invites us to imagine time and space belonging to Christ and His relationship to the Church in the world. |
Truly, all of time belongs to the LORD, and followers of Jesus are called to see all things through the lens of Christ, His salvation, and His mission.
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Many of us are familiar with the “principal feast” days such as Christmas and Easter, but there are also other principal feasts like All Saints Day or The Epiphany. The Anglican Church also recognizes Holy Days, or traditionally called "Red-Letter Days", such as today’s Holy Day to St. Matthew. We recognize these days first because they give us Christ and the Gospel. Their lives direct us back to Christ and His work in the world. It is less about them, and more about seeing Christ through their ministry and witness.
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Secondly, recognizing these Holy Days connects us to the wider Church. It is to go beyond our own pews, taking us to the universal or “catholic” Church, both visible and invisible. As we pray before the Lord’s Table, we join our voices with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, who forever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of His Name. Today we sing with St. Matthew. Who was St. Matthew?
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As prayed in the collect of the day, Matthew was a tax collector who was called by Christ to be His apostle and evangelist. As a tax collector, he was the worst kind of person because he was a Jew who collected money from his fellow Jews for evil King Herod. Many tax collectors would also charge higher than what was required so as to skim off the top for themselves. They were known liars, cheats, and thieves. This was probably Matthew. Yet Jesus pursued and called Matthew. Jesus’ grace met Matthew in his greed, and he left his vocation to follow Jesus. Most of Matthew’s Gospel is considered an evangelistic message aimed for his fellow Jews, persuading them to recognize Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah. At the same time, there is a clear focus on Matthew’s Gospel to be extended out to the nations. Our message is the same. We proclaim that Jesus is the long-anticipated Messiah, who brought the kingdom of God to earth and is the prophesied fulfillment of God’s promise of true peace and deliverance for both Jew and Gentile.
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While not all of us are gifted evangelists, we are all called to proclaim this message, or in any way bear witness to it, for the sake of our neighbor, even if it simply looks like inviting them to church and sitting together. In light of this Holy Day, I pray for all the things the collect prays for both myself and for all of you. In your own prayers and reading of Scripture, below are the passages appointed for St. Matthew. Grace and Peace be with you this week. See you Sunday!
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| | Proverbs 3:1-12
Psalm 119:33-40
2 Timothy 3:1-17
Matthew 9:9-13 |
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Grace and Peace,
The Rev. Joe Gasbarre
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If you would like to support St. John's during this time, you can give online by clicking the button below. You may also send a check to the following address:
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PO BOX 36591, CANTON OH 44735
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| The Strength of Weakness by Fr. Joe |  | A message from the series "Sermons from Lectionary Texts." We all have different kinds of expectations. Sometimes we are either pleasantly surprised or sorely disappointed with our expectations. The disciples of Jesus had very different expectations of Jesus, His Kingdom, and their place in it. Fr. Joe opens up the Gospel of Mark in order to focus on why Jesus came into the world and what true greatness looks like in His Kingdom. It’s probably not what you expect, and that is really Good News.
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| | This Sunday's Hymns This section of the dispatch contains samples of hymns and other music that we will be singing the this Sunday. If you come across any hymns you are not familiar with, these will be helpful for you to review so that you may sing with greater confidence and attention each Sunday. Happy singing!
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| The Daily Office| Interested in a simple way to pray the daily office from the Book of Common Prayer? Follow this link for text and audio versions of the morning, noon, and evening prayer services taken directly from the 2019 ACNA BCP. |
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Contact Us| If you have questions about the content contained in this email or want to learn more about St. John's Anglican Church or, please let us know. You can fill out a form at this link, and you will receive a response from Fr. Bryan. |
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