T H E B E N E D I C T I O N


Newsletter of St. Benedict’s Anglican Catholic Church

O  WORSHIP THE LORD IN THE BEAUTY OF  HOLINESS

Our parish, which was founded in 1979, has maintained the Liturgy of the traditional Book of Common Prayer. Our preaching and teaching draw on the Holy Scriptures in light of the Tradition of the Church from the earliest days.

Easter 2019

A prophecy of Christ’s triumph over death is in the 25th chapter of the Book of Isaiah 
(vs. 6-8):

“And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.”

Christ’s resurrection, in that time and place almost two thousand years ago, was the death of death itself, for death has been dealt a mortal wound and will not recover. It is the last enemy, and St. Paul tells us that it will be destroyed when Christ appears in glory. The human race will never become extinct, because Christ’s resurrection is our resurrection. In fact, you, if you belong to Christ by faith, will never yourself become extinct. You will not become a dinosaur, a fossil of a vanished species. You will live forever as a child of God, and, as St. Peter wrote, “a partaker of the divine nature.” (II Pet. 1:4)

In the past, I think I used too much the phrase “the empty tomb.” It is popular to speak of Christ’s resurrection this way. But, to speak too much about the empty tomb is to speak about a puzzle, a story that ends with a question mark. But, in fact the Gospel history does not end with a question mark about an empty tomb, but with an exclamation point about a certainty, a certified fact documented by the evidence of many a triumphant martyr’s blood. The curtain does not come down on Mary Magdalene weeping outside the empty tomb and saying, "They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.” The curtain stays up as she says “Rabboni!” The curtain does not come down on the weary and frightened band of apostles as they hide sorrowing. Because the curtain is yet up, and we hear the words: “Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.” (John 20:11-23)

And, the curtain has never come down. For Christ is alive even now. Through us He continues His ministry here in this fallen world. So, let us not speak of the empty tomb unless we speak also of the risen Christ, seen by eyewitnesses, most of whom died as martyrs in order to give us the certainty of their faith. Consider well the faith of those eyewitnesses; that is, eyewitnesses to the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.


Food Basket
Please remember that we have a food basket by the door of the church. What we collect is taken directly to, or collected here by, needy families and individuals, or taken to the food bank of the Interfaith Council in Carborro.

Diocesan Synod
            The dates for the Diocesan Synod will be May 2 and 3. It will hosted by St. Michael and All Angels Anglican Catholic Church located in Fleming Island, Florida, which is about 30 minutes southwest of Jacksonville.  Fr. Hart will be the clergy delegate, and the lay delegates will be James Lazenby, Jackie Kylander and Diane Hart.

Parish Growth
Thanks be to God for several new members of our parish family. Along with thanksgiving to God, I ask you to offer daily prayers for our growth, perhaps also joining with those of us who gather Wed. evenings at 6:30. I also urge you to pray for and be sensitive to opportunities to invite people to come. Studies prove that is the most effective means of growing.

Prayer for parish growth

O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Whose will is that none should perish, and Who hast given us gifts by thy Holy Spirit to do thy will on earth, By the power of the same Holy Spirit make us always true and living witnesses for thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; And so guide us and use us to bring people into thy holy church. Grow this parish in Chapel Hill that is named in honor of thy saint Benedict. Make us a light to the world around us. Draw people to our parish that they may partake of Christ and His salvation in our fellowship. And Father,  Direct us in all our doings, with thy most gracious favor, and further us with thy continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in thee, we may glorify thy holy Name, and finally, by thy mercy, obtain everlasting life; All of this we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Holy WeekPlease see the schedule of services below. I urge everyone to attend as much of these as you can. The services are, each of them, unique. They are part of the whole experience of going through Christ’s Passion and Death, and entering into the Joy of His resurrection.

Holy Week Schedule :

Wednesday before Easter: (April 17) Holy Communion at 12: noon and Evening Prayer at 6:30

Maundy Thursday (April 18) Holy Communion 7:00 PM (with the Stripping of the Altar)
Good Friday (April 19) Observances at 12:00 Noon and at 6:00 PM
Holy Saturday (April 20)  The usual service at the Stratford Senior Care Facility will be the celebration of Easter at 3:00 PM                                           Easter Eve Vigil at 5:00 PM
Easter (April 21) Sunday 8:30 Morning Prayer & 10:00 Holy Communion

Regular Schedule:

Sundays
8:30 AM Morning Prayer & Holy Communion (Said).
10:00 AM Holy Communion (Sung Mass) with Sunday school for children in the parish hall.
Wednesdays
Holy Communion 12:00 noon
Evening Prayer 6:30 PM (special emphasis on church growth and evangelism)
Saturdays
3:00PM Holy Communion at the Stratford Senior Care Facility

St. Benedict’s Anglican Church is a parish of the Diocese of the South, Anglican Catholic Church,
Original Province
Most Rev. Dr. Mark D. Haverland,
Archbishop Ordinary

Rev. Robert Hart, Rector
Mr. James Lazenby, Organist
Mr. Michael Murray, Senior Warden
Dr. Gordon Ibeanu, Junior Warden

St. Benedict’s website: www.saintbenedicts.net.

Phone# 919-933-0956


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
        T H E     B E N E D I C T I O N Newsletter of St. Benedict’s Anglican Catholic Church   O  WORSHIP THE LORD IN THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS Our parish, which was founded in 1979, has maintained the Liturgy of the traditional Book of Common Prayer. Our preaching and teaching draw on the Holy Scriptures in light of the Tradition of the Church from the earliest days.   Passiontide and Easter 2024   FROM THE RECTOR’S DESK Imagine it is one year after the time when Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah long awaited, had died on a Roman Cross and had risen from the dead. You are in Jerusalem, part of the infant Church with the Apostles themselves present. And along with the Apostles are many other eyewitnesses to whom the risen Christ, in transformed human nature that is now immortal, completely free from even the possibility of death, had appeared and proved himself alive again “by many infallible proofs.” And wha...
Read more

ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY 2022-3

          T H E    B E N E D I C T I O N Newsletter of St. Benedict’s Anglican Catholic Church   O   WORSHIP   THE   LORD   IN   THE   BEAUTY   OF   HOLINESS Our parish (founded in 1979) has maintained the Liturgy of the traditional Book of Common Prayer. Our preaching and teaching draw on the Holy Scriptures in light of the Tradition of the Church from the earliest days.   Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany 2022-3 From the Rector’s Desk The meaning of Christmas   The humility of God is a staggering fact that leaps off the pages of the Gospels. For we see the Son, equal with God, deem to be made human for the sake of all people who were lost in sin and death; to take upon Himself our very nature, to be found in fashion as a man, to take upon Him the form of a servant, to be obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, as written in Saint Paul’s famous passage to the P...
Read more

Holy Week and Easter 2022

  T H E     B E N E D I C T I O N Newsletter of St. Benedict’s Anglican Catholic Church   O   WORSHIP THE LORD IN THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS Our parish, which was founded in 1979, has maintained the Liturgy of the traditional Book of Common Prayer. Our preaching and teaching draw on the Holy Scriptures in light of the Tradition of the Church from the earliest days.   Passiontide and Easter 2022   FROM THE RECTOR’S DESK The most dramatic and moving services of the year are about to take place at Saint Benedict’s and all over the world. There is a definite emotional contrast that we move into in those few days of Holy Week and Easter. Compared, of course, to what the original disciples experienced, our experience can be only mild. They really suffered the distress of knowing that Jesus, their Rabbi, had been flogged and crucified. With him died their hope. All was lost.           The problem...
Read more