. . . in the Episcopal Church and in the Anglican Communion around the world. The hardest thing to do - whether you're liberal, conservative, moderate or "just want to talk about something else" - is to stay in the conversation.
Bill Moyers interviewed Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori on the June 8 edition of the Bill Moyers Journal; she spoke about "science, the environment, and the challenges in the Anglican Communion concerning issues of human sexuality."
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/06082007/watch2.html
I hope you'll listen to the interview. Really listen. The Presiding Bishop's words called me to think more deeply about the issues and to see from different perspectives. Let me know what you think. If people are interested in talking about Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori's remarks, we can get together to chat over coffee or dessert.
Blessings,
Janet+
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
Rules of the Road from the Vatican
Did you see the Connecticut Post on Wednesday? It carried a front page article on what the Vatican has been up to lately - laying down some rules of the road!
One of the most radical and outspoken of the Vatican officials, Cardinal Renato Martino (head of the office for migrants and itinerant people), issued a very unusual document: "10 Commandments" for today's drivers.
Here are the "new" commandments:
1. You shall not kill.
2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.
3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.
4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.
5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.
6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.
7. Support the families of accident victims.
8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.
9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.
10. Feel responsible toward others.
When I read these, I thought to myself - "Wow. This Catholic guy really expects Christians to act on their faith."
When Jesus walked the earth, he expected the same thing from his followers. He still does.
Blessings,
Janet+
One of the most radical and outspoken of the Vatican officials, Cardinal Renato Martino (head of the office for migrants and itinerant people), issued a very unusual document: "10 Commandments" for today's drivers.
Here are the "new" commandments:
1. You shall not kill.
2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.
3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.
4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.
5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.
6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.
7. Support the families of accident victims.
8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.
9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.
10. Feel responsible toward others.
When I read these, I thought to myself - "Wow. This Catholic guy really expects Christians to act on their faith."
When Jesus walked the earth, he expected the same thing from his followers. He still does.
Blessings,
Janet+
Monday, June 18, 2007
Funeral Service for Dorothy Floberg
Dear Friends in Christ -
Mark Floberg's mother, Dorothy, passed away on Friday morning, June 15th. Please keep Mark and Paula and their girls in your prayers during these days of celebrating Dorothy's life and of mourning her death.
You may wish to support Mark and his family by attending the wake and/or funeral:
The Wake - Tuesday, June 19th, 4:00-8:00 p.m. - William R. McDonald Funeral Home - 2591 Main Street, Stratford
The Funeral - Wednesday, June 20th, 10:00 a.m. - St. Paul's Lutheran Church - 1475 Noble Avenue, Bridgeport
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made in Dorothy's memory to:
"Covenant to Care" c/o St. Paul's Lutheran Church.
Of course, you may also send cards and notes to the Floberg family at their home: 27 Bonita Drive, Shelton.
May God bless you for your steadfast care and loving encouragement of Mark and his family.
Blessings,
Janet+
Mark Floberg's mother, Dorothy, passed away on Friday morning, June 15th. Please keep Mark and Paula and their girls in your prayers during these days of celebrating Dorothy's life and of mourning her death.
You may wish to support Mark and his family by attending the wake and/or funeral:
The Wake - Tuesday, June 19th, 4:00-8:00 p.m. - William R. McDonald Funeral Home - 2591 Main Street, Stratford
The Funeral - Wednesday, June 20th, 10:00 a.m. - St. Paul's Lutheran Church - 1475 Noble Avenue, Bridgeport
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made in Dorothy's memory to:
"Covenant to Care" c/o St. Paul's Lutheran Church.
Of course, you may also send cards and notes to the Floberg family at their home: 27 Bonita Drive, Shelton.
May God bless you for your steadfast care and loving encouragement of Mark and his family.
Blessings,
Janet+
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Thank you . . .
Dear Friends in Christ -
Grace Free Evangelical Church and the Camiglio family send their great thanks to all who have been praying for Lillian and her family, and to all who contributed food for the reception following the funeral service on Friday.
You are the hands and feet and voice and heart of Christ.
Thank you.
Blessings,
Janet+
Grace Free Evangelical Church and the Camiglio family send their great thanks to all who have been praying for Lillian and her family, and to all who contributed food for the reception following the funeral service on Friday.
You are the hands and feet and voice and heart of Christ.
Thank you.
Blessings,
Janet+
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Help in a Time of Need
Dear Friends -
Tragedy has struck one of our dear families. Michael Camiglio died in an accident on Sunday afternoon in North Carolina, where he and his family were vacationing.
Lillian and the kids have returned home, and they need our support. Here's how you can help:
1. Pray for comfort and peace for Lillian and the kids and for the whole Camiglio family during this difficult time.
2. Attend the wake and/or the funeral service.
The wake will be Thursday, June 14 from 4:00-8:00 p.m. at Lacerenza Funeral Home - 8 Schuyler Avenue, Stamford.
The funeral service will be Friday, June 15 at 10:00 a.m. at Grace Free Evangelical Church - 341 Courtland Avenue, Stamford. A lunch reception will follow at the church.
3. Provide food for the lunch reception following the funeral service. For more information, please contact Dianne Dobosz - 925-1095.
4. Stay tuned for more ways that you may be able to help. Information will be available through St. Paul's parish office as soon as possible.
As my heart goes out to Lillian and her family, my heart is also filled with comfort and with appreciation for all the ways in which I know you will help. You are the hands and feet of our Beloved Christ.
Faithfully yours,
Janet+
Tragedy has struck one of our dear families. Michael Camiglio died in an accident on Sunday afternoon in North Carolina, where he and his family were vacationing.
Lillian and the kids have returned home, and they need our support. Here's how you can help:
1. Pray for comfort and peace for Lillian and the kids and for the whole Camiglio family during this difficult time.
2. Attend the wake and/or the funeral service.
The wake will be Thursday, June 14 from 4:00-8:00 p.m. at Lacerenza Funeral Home - 8 Schuyler Avenue, Stamford.
The funeral service will be Friday, June 15 at 10:00 a.m. at Grace Free Evangelical Church - 341 Courtland Avenue, Stamford. A lunch reception will follow at the church.
3. Provide food for the lunch reception following the funeral service. For more information, please contact Dianne Dobosz - 925-1095.
4. Stay tuned for more ways that you may be able to help. Information will be available through St. Paul's parish office as soon as possible.
As my heart goes out to Lillian and her family, my heart is also filled with comfort and with appreciation for all the ways in which I know you will help. You are the hands and feet of our Beloved Christ.
Faithfully yours,
Janet+
Thursday, June 7, 2007
CAR WASH CANCELLED
The Youth Group Car Wash scheduled for this Saturday, June 9th, is CANCELLED, due to a death in Leslie and Dan Beard's family. Please keep them and Emily and their extended family in your prayers.
If you purchased a ticket for the car wash you may
1. Hold on to the ticket and use it at a future car wash (likely there will be one in the fall)
2. Present it to Sue Donegan for a refund.
Thank you for your understanding!
Blessings,
Janet+
If you purchased a ticket for the car wash you may
1. Hold on to the ticket and use it at a future car wash (likely there will be one in the fall)
2. Present it to Sue Donegan for a refund.
Thank you for your understanding!
Blessings,
Janet+
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Summer Book Group Anyone?
Dear Friends -
Did you see the Religion Section in the Connecticut Post on Sunday?
I was very interested in the article on religious books (front page, below the fold). As always, I salivate over many of them as I imagine what they will taste like when read, marked and inwardly digested. I know I won't get to all of them. I would like to get to at least a couple of them, and I know that there's a better chance of that if I've got a date with some folks to discuss what I've read.
If you're interested in getting together to discuss one of those books (or another related book that's caught your eye, please let me know (I'll try to list the the books in the article on the blog when I it; I can't seem to locate it at the moment!). When the votes are in, I'll let you know which one or two books we'll read and talk about.
Blessings,
Janet+
Did you see the Religion Section in the Connecticut Post on Sunday?
I was very interested in the article on religious books (front page, below the fold). As always, I salivate over many of them as I imagine what they will taste like when read, marked and inwardly digested. I know I won't get to all of them. I would like to get to at least a couple of them, and I know that there's a better chance of that if I've got a date with some folks to discuss what I've read.
If you're interested in getting together to discuss one of those books (or another related book that's caught your eye, please let me know (I'll try to list the the books in the article on the blog when I it; I can't seem to locate it at the moment!). When the votes are in, I'll let you know which one or two books we'll read and talk about.
Blessings,
Janet+
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Trinity Sunday - A Visual Meditation
Dance I - Henri MatisseDear Friends in Christ -
I offer this to you as a visual mediation. Henri Matisse said his painting represents life and rhythm. Standing before this huge work of art hanging in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, you can feel the energy in it.
In the wake of Trinity Sunday worship and reflection, I hope you can imagine yourself and another dancing with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, just as the figures in this painting are moving together in dance.
Blessings,
Janet+
Friday, June 1, 2007
What didn't make it into last Sunday's sermon . . . a favorite poem . . .
. . . something to meditate on in this season of Pentecost . . . along with a summary on its focus and meaning . . .
Blessings,
J+
God's Grandeur - by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)
THE WORLD is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
Summary
(from www.sparknotes.com/poetry/hopkins/section1.html)
The first four lines of the octave (the first eight-line stanza of an Italian sonnet) describe a natural world through which God's presence runs like an electrical current, becoming momentarily visible in flashes like the refracted glintings of light produced by metal foil when rumpled or quickly moved. Alternatively, God's presence is a rich oil, a kind of sap that wells up "to a greatness" when tapped with a certain kind of patient pressure. Given these clear, strong proofs of God's presence in the world, the poet asks how it is that humans fail to heed ("reck") His divine authority ("his rod").
Blessings,
J+
God's Grandeur - by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)
THE WORLD is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
Summary
(from www.sparknotes.com/poetry/hopkins/section1.html)
The first four lines of the octave (the first eight-line stanza of an Italian sonnet) describe a natural world through which God's presence runs like an electrical current, becoming momentarily visible in flashes like the refracted glintings of light produced by metal foil when rumpled or quickly moved. Alternatively, God's presence is a rich oil, a kind of sap that wells up "to a greatness" when tapped with a certain kind of patient pressure. Given these clear, strong proofs of God's presence in the world, the poet asks how it is that humans fail to heed ("reck") His divine authority ("his rod").
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