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| Weekly E-Newsletter |
Week Ending April 24, 2009 |
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Dear Parishioner
St. Thomas the Apostle is an Episcopal Parish in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. We are called by God to be a holy place where love is found, where all are named and where hearts are freed to change the world. |
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| Stephen, Abbot of Triglia celebrated on April 26 by Christians around the world |
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On Sunday April 26 Christians around the world commemorate Stephen, Abbot of Tiglia.
 Confessor Stephen, Abbot of Triglia Stephen, abbot of Triglia lived during the reign of king Leo the Armenian in 815. He loved the ascetic way of life since his youth.
Because of his virtuous life and after a lot of entreaties from the part of the people, he became abbot of the monastery of Triglia.
After he had spent a lot of time living ascetically as the abbot of this monastery, he was called by the aforementioned impious King Leo the iconoclast, who had started a great persecution against those who venerated and honoured the holy icons. The tyrant tried to make him deny the veneration of the holy icons and sign against the orthodox faith. However, Stephen was not convinced but instead he called those iconoclasts, who tried to make him do this, impious. So, he was punished severely, thrown to prison and exiled. |
| Earth Day & The Episcopal Church |
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 From the gathering and reanimation of the bones in Ezekiel 37 (read at the Easter Vigil) to the Spirit's descent on those gathered to celebrate the first Christian Pentecost, Easter season is about new life in community. In John's Gospel we hear about the meeting in the upper room where the risen Christ breathed the Spirit on the regrouped band of disciples. In the lessons from Acts the story of a new kind of community in Christ unfolds throughout the Great Fifty Days.
New Creation is an image historically associated with Easter, but one whose broader meaning we sometimes lose track of in our emphasis on individual renewal through baptism. For the Hebrew prophets, healing of individuals, renewal of human communities, and restoration of natural environments were seen as all of a piece. They understood that the thriving of humanity is interdependent with the thriving of the rest of creation.
In scripture community comes first, and community flourishes when it is diverse. We know this, too, through the sciences of ecology, genetics and evolutionary biology which help us see that all life is interconnected. The science of cosmology impresses on us that our life is bound up with the evolution of the elements and the movement of stardust through the universe.
As Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said in her address to the HOPE (Healing Our Planet Earth) conference in April 2008:
People of faith ... have a critical responsibility to recover, or rediscover, the underlying Hebraic and tribal traditions that point to the value of community over independent and disconnected individuals. All of the Pauline language about the body of Christ applies equally to the body of God's creation. We are all part of one larger body, none of us lives for ourselves alone, and indeed our very meaning is dependent on our relationships with God and each other. Our focus on Trinitarian theology says that social relationships, community relationships, are innate to God's very identity.
Just as the emerging Christian community described in Acts 4:32-35 was conscious of the interdependence of their lives and the sharing of resources, so we must in our time develop a global consciousness of all earth's riches and beauty as held in common.
By The Rev. Phina Borgeson who is Episcopal News Service correspondent for science and environment. |
| Women at Risk |
WOMEN AT RISK, one of the organizations our Angel Tree sponsored at Christmas, has put out a heart breaking plea. One of their clients passed away leaving 3 young children, and 2 young grandchildren. The 3 children were kicked out of a facility for HIV+ women where they and their mother were living. They are now living with their 19 year old sister and her two very young children. The family is in crisis. And the following items are needed:
- Size 10 women's business suit(s) (the 19 year old will soon be interviewing for jobs. She just completed a paralegal course)
- Clothing, shoes, food and school supplies for the children (Ralph's and Target gift cards are encouraged)
- A girl's baseball mitt (one of the children is a baseball fan...left or right hand TBA)
Women At Risk is also looking for items for some of their other programs. Their "Youth Group" (children with HIV/AIDS) is in need of 15 passes to zoos, museums, amusement parks, or theatres. Their "Casa Madonna Group" ,for undocumented women, needs toiletries, gently used clothes, and cribs.
Please bring your items or gift cards to the Parish Hall on Sunday, April 26th. Look for the table set up for WOMEN AT RISK. Thank you for your outreach! |
| Services |
MASSES & DAILY OFFICES Sundays 7:30 AM - Morning Prayer 8:00 AM - Low Mass 10:30AM - High Mass with Choir - Childcare Available 4:30 PM - Evening Prayer Monday - Friday7:30 AM - Morning Prayer 8:00 AM - Low Mass 6:30 PM - Evening Prayer 7:00 PM - Low Mass (Tuesday only) Saturday10:00AM - Low Mass 5:00 PM - Vigil Mass with Gregorian Chant 6:30 PM - Compline ROSARY Sunday 9:45 AM - Preceding High Mass RECONCILIATION - CONFESSIONS Tuesday 6:00 PM - Preceding Mass
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We hope to see you soon!
Blessings from
St. Thomas the Apostle |
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| Third Sunday of Easter Homily |
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The homily this Sunday will be delivered by Assistant Priest The Rev. Fr. James Sprague.
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| Third Sunday of Easter |
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Celebrant:
The Rev. Fr. James Sprague
Deacon:
The Rev. Mr. Walter S. Johnson
Readings: |
Acts 3.12-19
Psalm 4
1 John 3.1-7
Luke 24.36b-48 |
| Big Sunday |
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BIG SUNDAY '09, sponsored by our neighbor Temple Israel, is just around the corner, MAY 2nd and 3rd. BIG SUNDAY is the largest regional service event in America. Please check their website www.bigsunday.org to see how you might volunteer and contribute to this great cause benefiting our community. |
| Save the Date |
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A town-hall meeting to review the Church's year-to-date budget and address other issues will be held on Sunday, May 3, 2009 after 10:30am Mass in the Parish Hall.
Join us!
The annual ministry fair will be held after mass on Sunday, Mary 17, 2009. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn about all of the ministries of St. Thomas and participate with those that interest or inspire you.
Join us!
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| Featured Article |
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Fr. Stuart will be in Wisconsin April 21 - April 26 visiting Nashotah House Seminary and attending a Memorial Mass for Bob Krueger in his hometown.
Please keep Fr. Stuart in your prayers during his travels.
Requests for Pastoral Support are coordinated through the Parish Office. Fr. Cooper, Fr. Sprague, Deacon Johnson are available during Fr. Stuart's travel. |
| Mother Knows Best |
Interesting facts about
St. Thomas the Apostle  |
The mensa (altar stone) in the St. Thoams altar was donated by Terrance Coakley. He had rescued it from a church in Boston that was being torn down. Within the mensa are holy relics of Saints including one of St. Thomas himself. It for this reason that the priest always kisses the altar at the beginning of mass and partly why incense is used at the altar: to honour those saints. |
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Shopping
Online =
Donations
to St.
Thomas! |
Do you shop online? If you shop at Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, eBay.com...or any of thousands of companies - they will contribute up to 30% of your purchase to St. Thomas the Apostle at no additional cost to you.
It's easy - goto GoodShop.com ( www.goodshop.com) and in the box "Who Do You Support" put in " St. Thomas the Apostle." Click on the St. Thomas located in Hollywood, CA. Then click on your store - and follow the link "Goodshop this Store." For St. Thomas to receive donations, you must click through to the store from this site.
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