Offering Counters:  Bob Cascella; Diocesan Council Delegate: Kathy Oliver (Amelia Nicholson, alternate delegate);

Michael Knowles   

Any non-perishable food will be saved for the original scheduled dental clinic on Oct 19.

As always , thank you for your generosity.

Ann Nelson

703-560-2429 

ann_garrard@msn.com

 - Cookies for Coeds have been moved to 5:00 PM, this Sunday, October 6th.  Would you like to participate in sending cookies to our young people who are away from home at college?   We need lots of help gathering *homemade* goodies and packing boxes.  Our Catherine Dubas will make announcements on when the donated cookies should be brought to the church.  Please contact her at catherine_dubas@cox.net , or 703-207-0424, to let her know if you will be able to provide cookies and/or join in packing the boxes, or for any questions you may have.  Thank you!

 

 

 

-  Mark your calendar:  On Sunday, October 6, at 4:00 PM we will bless the animals.  Bring your friends and join us in scripture reading, songs (with our friends' enthusiastic voices) and prayers.   Cookies for Coeds will follow this event.  Some of us will have to take their friends home and come back for the cookies packing, because the friends are allergic to chocolate! 

 

 

 

 

 

-  Fr. Tinh will train acolytes and young lectors on Saturday, October 26, at 11 AM.   Youth and parents are welcome to lunch on Vietnamese sandwiches following the session.  

 

 

 

-  Calling all the talented cooks of Saint Patrick's:  We need your help to make the October 27th's Harvest Day's Dinner for Youth and Adults a success!!! Amelia Nicholson has agreed to coordinate the event and she will be contacting you soon.  The event will begin with Evening Prayer at 5:30 PM;  dinner starts at 6:00 PM.

-  The Bazaar of this year will be held on Saturday, November 2nd, from 9 AM to 3 PM.   Our Kathy Oliver and Debbie Clark will lead us in this event.  More information on the fun day is coming our way soon.  Time to think about what you want to bring for the White Elephant table.  Please mark your calendar and be at church on that Saturday.

- FCS CROP Walk -- Sunday November 10th, 1-2 PM.   The Falls Church Community Service, Inc. (FCS) will be holding its very first "CROP Walk" for hunger relief.  They are planning a 5K walk in the Falls Church area to raise pledges and donations for the FCS food pantry. 

-  Bishop Shannon will visit Saint Patrick's on Sunday, December 8, 2013. The service on that day will be held in the afternoon.  This will be an opportunity for baptism, confirmation, reception and affirmation of faith.  Fr. Tinh+ will teach a confirmation class that includes four after-church sessions on Oct. 13, Oct. 27, Nov. 10 and Nov. 24, and a visit to the National Cathedral on Saturday, November 30.  Parents and Sponsors of the confirmands are invited to join the class.

 

 

October 1, 2013  

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

 

I write to you today to ask you and your congregation to engage in prayer, conversation and action about immigration reform in our nation. This issue is at the heart of our faith as Christians and at the heart of our lives as Americans. Immigration reform that is just - that allows torn families to be reunited, and that offers a reasonable path to citizenship for millions who already support and strengthen our economy - is a matter of faith.

 

Our significant ancestors in the faith were immigrants. Abraham and Sarah were immigrants when they traveled from Ur to Haran to Canaan, following the command of God. The fledgling people of Israel were immigrants as they journeyed long through a desert land and entered a land they had never seen before. Jesus himself began his life as an immigrant when he and his family fled from Bethlehem to Egypt to escape the threat of death, then later traveled from Egypt to Nazareth.

 

Because our ancestors in the faith experienced life as immigrants, Holy Scripture gives us ample instruction about how we are to treat the strangers, foreigners and immigrants among us. In Deuteronomy 10:19 we read, "You ought to show love for strangers, because you also were strangers in Egypt." The book of Exodus tells us, "Do not mistreat or oppress aliens, because you and your people were aliens in Egypt." (Exodus 22:21). Leviticus puts it even more strongly: "When foreigners settle in your land, do not mistreat them. On the contrary, treat them as if they were one of you. Love them as you love yourselves, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord, the God of Israel." (Leviticus 19:33-34).

 

Based on this heritage of faith, we in the Diocese of Virginia adopted resolution R-9s, "Working for a Just and Humane Immigration Policy," at our Annual Council in 2008. Among other things, we resolved to welcome strangers as a matter of Christian responsibility, to be advocates for their well-being and protection, and to call upon U.S. senators and members of Congress to pursue a just and humane immigration policy.You can read the full text of that resolution here. We as a diocese have not yet lived into this resolution. The time to do so is now.     

 

For we now stand at a crucial crossroads as Christian Americans, as our House of Representatives considers immigration reform. I invite you, indeed I urge you, to make your voice heard on this matter. Whatever your political views, I invite you to:

 

• Reflect and pray about what Holy Scripture says about the immigrants among us.
• Talk with the clergy and lay leaders who serve our Latino, Korean and multi-ethnic congregations about the experiences of immigrants in our Diocese of Virginia congregations.
• Talk with the immigrants you encounter in your daily life.
• Write, text, e-mail or call your representatives to share your reflections.
• Participate in activities this Saturday, Oct. 5, the National Day of Respect and Dignity, when there will be gatherings in Sterling, Fredericksburg, Harrisonburg and Richmond to witness for legislation that will lead to just immigration reform. You can learn more about the day at octoberimmigration.org orfacebook.com/NOVAPRESENTE, or from this flyer. 
• Join Bishop Gulick and me on the National Mall on Tuesday, Oct. 8, for the Camino Americano rally and concert for Immigrant Dignity and Respect. Details are at octoberimmigration.org.
• Learn about the life issues facing immigrants in your own community and partner with them for a better life.

 "The righteous will [ask], 'Lord, when was it that we . . . saw you a stranger and welcomed you?' . . . And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'" (Matthew 25: 38, 40).

 

May our words, our prayers, our reflections and our actions be a blessing to our brothers and sister in Christ.

 

Faithfully yours,

 

The Rt. Rev. Susan E. Goff

Bishop Suffragan of the Diocese of Virginia  

 

Texts:     

Habakkuk 1:1-6

Psalm 37:3-10

2 Timothy 1:6-14

Luke 17:5-10 

Collect:    Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve:  Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

 

Proper 21 -- Year C -- September 29, 2013
Luke 16:19-31, Ps. 146:4-9; 1 Timothy 6:11-19           

Tinh Huynh+
-----------------------------------     

 

This morning, in the letter of Paul to Timothy,

we heard the phrase, "Fight the good fight of the faith."

Sounds militant, doesn't it?

 

Yet in the original language of the letter,

the idea speaks to the energy of an athlete.

The phrase could be better understood as "contest the good contest."

You are called to be like a good athlete in maintaining and living the faith.

One of my close friends is a martial art master.

He began learning the Vietnamese traditional martial art when he was 10 years old,

and since then he never misses a day of practice.

He does mental practice of the fighting art all the time,

in every step and every moment of the daily life.

This is exactly what Paul teaches Timothy about his spirituality.

A follower of Christ has only one thing in his or her mind.

He or she always thinks about partaking of God's heavenly treasure.

-------------

The passage we read this morning follows a warning

against the love of money.

Paul must have observed the behavior of some members of the early Church, and have seen them as

being trapped in the snare of money.

Paul says that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

----------------------

The last verse in today's Second Reading may have caught our attention:

Paul says, "Take hold of the life that really is life."

---------------------

The word "take hold of" that Paul used implies a violent action.

The life that really is life is not something that comes by itself.

You cannot obtain real life just by sitting around.

Paul means we have to grasp, to catch, to run after it in order to seize that "real" life.

-------------------

Oftentimes we think of eternal life as an award for our good deeds,

which is to come after this earthly life ends.

Yet eternal life can begin in the present, here and now.

-------------------

When Jesus spoke about heaven and hell

he did not speak about life in a different realm.

Heaven and hell in the parable of Jesus do not necessarily belong to the afterlife.

--------------------

In the story in Luke, the rich man ends up being in Hades (or hell), and Lazarus the poor beside Abraham (or heaven).

Lazarus is covered with sores, and the dogs come and lick him all over.

Here we have the picture of Lazarus as hungry, weak, despised and humiliated.

By contrast, the rich man enjoys his "good" life.

Jesus describes him as wearing luxury clothing.  

In Palestine of Jesus' time, not many people could have meat every day.

If they were fortunate enough, they would have meat only one day per week.

The people did not use fork or chop sticks.

They did not have dinner napkins, either.

They ate with their hands.

------------------

How did rich people of Jesus' time deal with the sticky hands at their dinner table?

Rich people in that society would use bread to clean their fingers,

and then they threw the hunks of bread to the floor.

They ate bread and threw bread away at the same time.

The dogs under their tables would be better off,

because they could get food.

The poor at the gates get nothing.

-----------------

Did the rich man in the story do anything wrong?

No.  

He did not chase Lazarus away.

He did not scold Lazarus.

He just enjoyed the wealth he had worked hard for.

He might have inherited it from his parents.

------------------

So what was so wrong with the rich man?

He ignored Lazarus.  

He did not see him at all.

He was completely blind about the miseries of the poor.

He was mindful only about himself.

His attitude was an "I-don't-care" attitude. 

------------------ 

The main point of the parable

is not about who goes to heaven and who goes to hell.

It is about care.

God is about care. Jesus is about care.

The rich man was living in hell without knowing it.

He was in no place near God.

He had no single thought about others.

He was very poor in soul.

---------------------

Are we today ignoring the suffering of people and the creatures of God in the world?

Mental illness is something we should think about.  

35% of the population of our country suffer from mental illness.

What about poverty?

What about human trafficking in the world?

We need to be attentive to the suffering of humanity,

and to know that we are all the same in poverty.

--------------------

This teaching is not only for us adults.  

We are to convey it to our children  

-- whether in the conversation at the dinner table,  

or in the attitude toward the poor,  

or in bringing in donations to the basket at the church entrance.

What about the reasons for not throwing away food? 

What about them observing some classmates in school

that nobody seems wanting to make friends with?

Would they want to befriend them  

and make them feel accepted?

Would they believe they want to do so  

because of the word of Christ hidden in their hearts?

We do not have to change the world,

but we can do the little things

that make change happens.

Sometimes we have to overcome our fears

to reach out and help.    

I often receive letters and notes from Westlawn Elementary School thanking us for the gift cards and other donations to help the poor children.

What we are doing at St. Pat's is exactly what the Kingdom of God is about.

Those belonging to the Kingdom are mindful

of the needs of others,

particularly of the poor, the sick,

the orphans and the widows.

A life that really is life is one that is given to Christ.  

It is not merely about what beliefs we hold

in order to go to heaven;

neither is it merely about good works to earn salvation.

It is about partaking in God's heavenly treasure,

like what we said in the collect for today.

Grant us the fullness of your grace,

that we, running to obtain your promises,

may become partakers of your heavenly treasure."

The life that really is life is a journey with our Lord, which results in generosity and care and the joy of love.  

May God's grace fill our heart today.

 

Amen.

 

Chúa Nhật, 29 tháng 9, 2013

Kinh Văn:  Luca 16:19-31; 1 Ti-mô-thê 6:11-19                  MS Tỉnh+ 

--------------------------------------

Hôm nay, tại nhiều nhà thờ trên toàn quốc Hoa Kỳ, người ta nói về Sức Khỏe Tinh Thần.  Chúng ta nhắc nhau cầu nguyện và quan tâm đến những người bị bệnh tinh thần.  Nhiều người trong chúng ta cu~ng đă biết rằng 35% người Hoa Kỳ bị bệnh tinh thần.  Trước đây, các xă hội trên thế giới khinh dể, chế diễu hay bỏ quên những người bị bệnh tinh thần, và dùng một số danh từ tiêu cực để nói về họ -- chẳng hạn như chữ "điên khùng" -- và các gia đ́nh có người bị bệnh thường che dấu.  Các cộng đoàn tin kính Kitô-giáo cu~ng từng xử sự với người bệnh tinh thần như thế, tin rằng họ bị "quỷ ám."  Gần đây, người ta khám phá ra rằng bệnh tinh thần có tính cách phổ quát, và có người cho rằng ai cu~ng có bệnh tinh thần, không nhiều th́ ít -- người b́nh thường và người bệnh nặng chỉ khác nhau về cấp độ mạnh yếu mà thôi.