Photos

Our Lucille Selby at work

Fr. Matt Tucker paints St. Pat's entrance, July 5th, 2011

Many thanks, Fr. Matt!

Hao Tran and his son Kiet -- June 17, 2011 

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23  

Jesus says, "Listen! A sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up.  Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil.  But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away.  Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  Let anyone with ears listen!"

           The story makes me think of slash-and-burn agriculture in Vietnam highland.   My mother used to buy rice that the tribal people in Vietnam planted on the hills, and it tasted good.  The tribes who lived in the mountains did not grow rice the same way the Vietnamese did.  They did not do much to prepare the soil; they just cut down the trees in the jungles to make space for the planting, and they threw the seeds on it. 

           In Jesus' parable the sower throws the seeds upon the ground indiscriminately.  The story must have been shocking to the ears of the Jews, especially when Jesus uses it to describe the Kingdom of God. To them, waste is not godlike: God is choosy.   

           When I was growing up, I learned that one should behave like the seed that falls on good ground in the story, to become fruitful as Christ's witness.  I shook my head when the Sunday School teacher asked me whether I wanted to be like the one that falls on the thorny bush.   Now I join many other Christians in understanding the parable in a different way, pondering the recklessness of the sower in the story.

          Perhaps Jesus wanted to teach two things about the Kingdom of God:  indiscriminate generosity and intentional powerlessness.

          The Jews who listened to Jesus had always had in mind a God who sets clear boundary between who is in and who is out, and they had all along seen themselves as chosen people of God.  By contrast, the reckless sower in the story is the metaphor of a God who is indiscriminately generous.   

           There is generosity in the proclamation of the Kingdom of God in Jesus Christ.  The Gospel is preached to all.  Just as the sower who has no control over the result of the sowing, God has no control over our responses.   It is up to the individual to receive the Good News and to live a fruitful life.

            Jesus is the sower, brave and generous, and his disciples are called to emulate him in proclaiming his love to the world.  

Can we follow God's call, to be brave and generous, in proclaiming Christ's love to the people around us:  family members, friends and the people on the streets?   

           Sometimes the proclamation is about loving the unlovable and forgiving the unforgivable.  Occasionally it is about embracing the pain of seeing that the "seeds" are rejected or washed away.   

             Can we let our love be wasted?  Can we just practice Christ's love without demanding people to behave the way we expect, and trust that fruitfulness will come by God's grace?

                                                                      Tinh+  

This Sunday's Readings

Genesis 28:10-19a 

Psalm 139:1-11, 22-23

Romans 8:12-25

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 

We pray for members of St. Patrick's who travel, especially for those who fly frequently on business trips: Virginia Brown, Elisabeth Nguyen, Chris Nicholson, Jonathan Huynh; and for those who visit their home countries and state this summer: Alex and Jorden Benjamin (Sierra Leon), the Milton Thomas family (Liberia), the Frankie Haan family (Belgium), Tuyet and Nam-Tran Mai (Vietnam) and the Toua Vang family (Minnesota).  We also pray for Steve and Carolyn Gawarecki, who are visiting their daughter Susan in Tennessee this week. 

"O God, our heavenly Father, whose glory fills the whole creation, and whose presence we find wherever we go:  Preserve those who travel; surround them with your loving care; protect them from every danger; and bring them in safely to their journey's end; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen."

(Book of Common Prayer, Page 831)  

Parish Notes

-  Our condolences to Debbie Clark on the passing of her dear friend Dorothy Holsombach, on Saturday, July 9, 2011.  "May her soul and souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen." (BCP, 465)

-  Many thanks to Hannah Burris for the beautiful viola music that she offered, Bach's "Courante" from Suite No. 3, on Sunday, July 10th. 

-  Seminarian Toua Vang will begin field education at Saint Patrick's in September, and Tinh+ is setting up a lay committee for Toua.  The committee will meet with Toua once a month, usually for one hour on a Sunday, after church.  God willing, Toua will graduate from the Seminary in the summer of 2013, and will become the first Hmong Episcopal priest in the world.  If you are interested in joining the committee please let Tinh+ know. 

-  Cate Johnson will visit St. Pat's this Sunday.  Welcome back, Cate!   

If you wish to help the girls' orphanage in Lahore, Pakistan, please bring your donations to church.  We hope to collect the following items: 

School Supplies

- 25 notebooks (one for each of the girls)

- ball point pens

- #2 pencils

- colored pencils

- powdered paints  

Craft Materials to Support Their Cottage Industry

- 50 skeins polyester yarn, BRIGHT colors

- Interesting buttons (Cate mentioned seeing a purse decorated all over with bright, interesting buttons)

- 10 plastic crochet hooks

- 20 pairs plastic knitting needles

-  The Vestry met on Tuesday and discussed matters involving the hiring of a part-time youth minister.  We hope to have that person on board when school begins in the Fall.  Given Saint Patricks' modest financial situation, this is truly an act of faith.  We will pay the youth minister on a month-by-month basis, but plan to make a commitment to a term of service.  Fund raising for youth ministry will begin soon.    

The Sequence of this Sunday 

A sequence (Latin: sequentia) is a hymn sung during the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist before the proclamation of the Gospel.  

        This Sunday's sequence will be Hymn 705 in our 1982 Hymnal, "As those of old their first fruits brought."  It was written by Frank von Christierson (b. 1900), and the tune is an English melody, Forest Green, adapted by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958).  Hymn 705 is a hymn of thanksgiving.  You are invited to sing with us.  Click here for music :

As saints of old their first fruits brought

of vineyard, flock, and field

to God the giver all good,

the source of bounteous yield;

so we today first fruits would bring:

the wealth of this good land,

of farm and market, shop and home,

of mind, and heart, and hand.

A world in need now summons us

to labor, love, and give;

to make our life an offering

that others too may live.

The Church of Christ is calling us

to make the dream come true:

a world redeemed, your kingdom come,

all life in Christ made new.

In gratitude and humble trust

we bring our best today,

to serve your cause and share your love

with all humanity.

O God, who gave yourself to us

in Jesus Christ your Son,

teach us to give ourselves each day

until life's work is done. 

(Note:  The lyrics quoted here have been taken from the internet, and some words are not exactly the same with those in the 1982 Hymnal). 

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