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Jesus encounters the Syrophoenecian woman
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Isaiah 35:4-7a; Psalm 146; James 2:1-17-37; Mark 7:24-37
Our God is a God of miracles. Isaiah makes that obvious in Sunday's Hebrew Bible reading. We thrill to it even though we don't identify with the shortages in Palestine in Isaiah's time. We don't lack for water in Dutchess Country and most of us are neither lame nor deaf. But whether we apply a literal or a metaphorical understanding to the reading, believing in a God who can make waters "...break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert" gives us confidence that the Almighty can satisfy our needs and help us as well.
Equally powerfully, our psalm assures us that God helps those "whose hope is in the Lord their God." We are discouraged from putting faith in anyone or anything other than God. It is when we fulfill that requirement that we find that all those other things fall into place. But as long as we place our faith elsewhere, God somehow is not accessible to us.
Our examination of the Letter of James continues this Sunday and now James conveys a message interpreting the admonition to love our neighbor. He says, "You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors." James is working double time to try to hold the infant church together and he needs to remind the followers of Jesus of the modest and loving and mild ways of the Savior.
In our Gospel reading Jesus changes directions. When first asked to heal the possessed daughter of the Syrophoenecian woman, he demurs. But she persuades him with her belief, arguing "even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." From this and other experiences with people of other faiths and traditions the earthly Jesus comes to realize he is called to serve all, not just those of the Jewish faith.
New programs and activities
result from ministry review
When your Vestry gets involved in something that is going to bring change to St. Paul's the members like to make sure the parishioners know about it and understand what it's going to mean. At its recent Mutual Ministry Review and strategic planning session the vestry and the chairs of the committees of the parish laid out 21 projects that they want to initiate.
The projects were broken down into four areas: Outreach, Community life and fellowship, Worship and Faith enrichment. Each of these four areas had 4-6 new initiatives assigned to it for implementation in the coming one to three years. Here is a summary of the projects in each area:
Community Outreach
Enhance Hispanic Ministry
Incorporate youth Small Blessings food pantry and thrift shop
Generatre new resources to inform Small Blessings clients of human services resources
Partner and collaborate on projects with other organizations/churches
Community life
Restore community dinners
Restore concerts and other special events, recruit more musicians
Parties and activities for youth
Worship - items in this category were assigned to the Worship Committee
Further expand the music repertoire and make it even more diverse
Make greater use of liturgical options
Provide for more "call and response" opportunities in the liturgy
Increase youth participation in liturgy
Recruit and use more lectors
Establish a combined service quarterly
Faith Enrichment - All items were assigned to the Faith Enhancement Task Force
Expanded (year-round) mid-week or twice monthly class with seasonal liturgy, and food
Daily Office
Spiritual Retreats
Grief Counseling
Spiritual Direction
Make use of mid-week services and class events to explore new music
This list gives you a sense of the new efforts your vestry and committee chairs are planning to initiate in the coming months.
