Welcome to Holy Trinity Church! Holy Trinity is a small parish, located in Troy, Montana right on US Highway 2 at the corner of Third Street and Missoula Avenue. Here you'll find a lovely 'Carpenter Gothic' church with red doors and a garden out front, between the Sanctuary and parish hall doors. See the "About" page for worship times and dates. The Episcopal Church welcomes you!
2 And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. (Genesis 2-4)
And later, in the New Testament, Jesus tells the Pharisees: I am the Light of the world. He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
These days, we are aware that the spectrum of light provided by the sun gives mankind Vitamin D - a necessary element for our lives that is absorbed through the skin.
So, given that light was important enough to create first, that Jesus is the light of the world, and that light is necessary for our existence, "light" is a very good word to meditate upon.
And of course, if you get a group a singers together, "This Little Light of Mine" is one everybody knows and can sing several harmonies to, making it just fun to sing.
Activity for the Day: This being the third Sunday in advent, the keyword representing the third candle is JOY. Think about what makes you joyful - and go do it!
Beloved - dearly loved. While these words are often heard throughout the Bible, there are two that stand out most. The first is when God declares at the baptism of Jesus by John in the river, that "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." From an interesting discussion, the author supposes that this was a test of Christ's resolve, and "At his baptism, Jesus chose to willingly identify with fallen humanity in order to 'fulfill all righteousness.'" The beginning of His journey. One has to wonder at the tests that Christ experienced throughout His lifetime. And what He might have been thinking as He met His cousin at the river, knowing that life as He knew it was about to change, in a very dramatic way. The second is one you will often find between couples who are married, a phrase from the Song of Songs 2:16: "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine." Some friends of mine used the Hebrew version in their wedding rings (דּוֹדִי לִי וַאֲנִי לוֹ), always as a reminder to each other that they were "dearly loved." So in your meditation today, I'm going to ask you to put yourself in the shoes (so to speak) of God as His Son begins a journey to redeem mankind. Think about what Jesus was thinking as he stepped into the river to become the Christ. And think about who in your own life is beloved. Activity for Today: Be nice to someone you are not particularly fond of; pray for them and for yourself, that your heart may be open.
The Baptismal Covenant is something that we, as Episcopalians renew periodically. The question is - do you think about the response as much as you did the first time you did this voluntarily (generally at confirmation)? Before you go to look at the answers, here's your meditation for today. Answer these questions, in your own words - gut reaction - and then think about it:
1. Do you believe in God the Father?
2. Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
3. Do you believe in God, the Holy Spirit?
4. Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?
5. Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
6. Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?
7. Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
8. Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
Activity for the Day: Make a card for someone - could be a Christmas card, a Hanukkah card, a birthday card for a friend - or a birthday card for Jesus.
Today's word, prepare, goes back to the "messenger" before. John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ:
2 As it is written in the Prophets: “Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee.” 3 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.’” (Mark 1:2-3)
Apostles of Christ prepared the way for Christ's return. And disciples of Christ continue to prepare the way. There's a lot of work to be done, and many hands make light work, but all hands are needed.
The video below was the rather more tame video than the first one I looked at from Godspell. However, it shows many ways that need to be prepared in order to make the path straight for Christ's return:
People need both their minds and their hearts engaged. This is something the Episcopal Church could use some work in. The liturgy is awesome - when you know the reasons behind it, the passion that went into it, the history and the tradition; and yet, like every good teacher, we have to find a way to get the students to engage in the process of learning those things, so they, too, can love it.
Every teacher can tell you, if the belly is empty, the mind cannot comprehend. And yes, we, as a church must help to feed the souls of those who are spiritually hungry - but sometimes they are also physically hungry and are unable to hear you. Jesus fed a crowd with fish and bread, knowing that He could go on speaking and all would listen, but many would not hear. Volunteer your time, your resources, your excesses to help those who need to hear the message of Christ, and will hear better with fully bellies and warm bodies.
Always we have the need to pray - to know without doubt that God listens; that we're not just babbling out loud, but talking to God. Part of this again, goes back to teaching - we have to teach others to look for God in the great and the small, in the beauty of the sunrise and the laugh of a child, in the intricacies of DNA and the simplicity of a single cell. The wonder and awe of God should fill our hearts, even as our minds work at comprehending. That wonder and awe lead to prayer; the need for understanding leads to prayer; the breakthroughs in knowledge lead to prayer - if that is your automatic response to the world around you. Teach your children to pray. If someone asks you to pray for them, to "add them to the prayer list", stop right then, take their hand and pray. If, like me, you have difficulty with extemporaneous prayer, have a "go to" prayer that you've memorized, but remember to personalize it for the situation. The Book of Common Prayer has a prayer for most situations.
The challenge today is to think about what needs to happen before the return of Christ. We're now in advent, leading up to the celebration of the birth of Jesus (or as pointed out in the video below, Yeshua, the Hebrew pronunciation of Jesus' name). But we're also in the advent of the time leading up to the return of Christ, and we need to invite people in - let them know that they're welcome, whether it's for service, or for fellowship at another event, or even just for coffee hour. Small steps lead to questions, and we know God has the answers - they'll learn that too.
Activity for the Day: Invite someone to join you for a family meal or coffee or in some of the weather around the country, hot chocolate. Talk about your own upcoming celebrations, and find out what they're up to. Invite them to join you, and if you're interested in their celebrations, ask if you could also attend. Don't push - just prepare the way. God will do the rest.
Oddly, two things come to mind first with the word "proclaim".
The first doesn't use the word proclaim, but rather exemplifies it, from Luke 2:9-11:
9 And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
This is a public proclamation of the arrival of our Lord. And by definition, to proclaim is to declare something publicly.
So of course, the second thing that came to mind was how Christians found one another during times when it wasn't necessarily safe to proclaim their identity. Both the anchor and the fish symbols were common methods of visual identification for Christians during the Roman persecution. Most scholars believe that after a time, Christians didn't have to hide, and the anchor fell into disuse to be replaced by the cross. The anchor was based on the Greek and other "scholars ... think the anchor slipped from use because the 'symbol' was actually a word play in Greek—ankura resembling en kurio, or "in the Lord"—which disappeared as Christians chose Latin over Greek as their primary language." This, of course, would not explain the lasting use of the Icthys or fish, which also used Greek: "As early as the first century, Christians made an acrostic from this word: Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter, i.e. Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior." This symbol would have half of it drawn by one person, and the idea was that only another Christian would know to draw the other half of the symbol. Otherwise, someone was just considered doodling?
So today, ponder the word "proclaim". Think of how it's been used in history and what proclamations have had the most historic significance.
Activity of the Day: Drop off a new toy at Toys for Tots. If you're not able to do that, take some of the gently used toys that are in good condition, to your local Goodwill or Thrift Store. And maybe a trip to the Library to read the story of "The Velveteen Rabbit" might be in order, just to give you ideas.
The word "prophet" appears over 450 times in the Bible. Interestingly, the related words of "prophecy" and "prophecies" only occur a total of 23. So part of the question for today's meditation: what is the difference between a prophet and a messenger? How do you know that a prophet is true? Most of what is out there on prophecy is that you need to have a regular practice of prayer, and actually listening to the Holy Spirit - that voice that guides us along the right path, rather than the wrong one (and we do know the difference...). If we listen to that still, small voice (or the loud one that you've been ignoring for too long, and when you do finally listen, it's as if you finally understand that God's been trying to get your attention), then we have an awareness of what's true and what's false. And if you're still not sure, pray some more, and ask for assistance. God's pretty generous in His teaching us. There's an interesting sermon (by Eleanor Wellford at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Virginia) on modern day prophecy that should hopefully make you think. Activity for the Day: Visit a nursing home, a shut-in or an elderly neighbor. Take along something to read to them, something you baked yourself, or even a stuffed toy.
Messenger is a word that brings to mind so many things - the numerous angels who acted as messengers to men: the angel who came to Mary to let her know she was chosen to be the mother of God; the angel who visited Joseph in a dream to let him know that Mary had not broken her bond with him, but had been chosen - as had he - to parent the Son of God. Another Messenger in less angelic form would be John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Christ's arrival. That's what Mark talks about at the beginning of his Gospel:
1 The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in the Prophets: “Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee.” 3 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.’”
The image here is when Mary and Elizabeth meet, and John first moves in Elizabeth's womb at the presence of the Lord. The joy in that moment is certainly one worth celebrating.
Going back to the reflection mentioned at the end of yesterday's blog, the first Advent, and the second Advent, and many subsequent Advents have passed each year, as God waits for as many people as possible to know the way of the Lord. John the Baptist isn't here anymore to provide the message, but we are. We may not have a lot of wilderness to cry out in, but we have many places to share the joy of our Faith, to invite people to come and celebrate with us as we await the coming of Christ.
Are you ready to be a Messenger of Advent?
Activity for the Day: Choose three people - older, younger, same age - doesn't matter - and invite them to attend the Third Sunday of Advent with you. It's okay if they say no - but they don't have the opportunity to say no if they're never asked, do they? Be that Messenger, and make straight the path before them, so they too can experience the joys of Advent.
