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Welcome to St John's Huntington
The Chalice
Friday, January 31 2025

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How lovely is your dwelling place,

O LORD of hosts!

My soul longs, indeed it faints

for the courts of the LORD;

my heart and my flesh sing for joy

to the living God. (Psalm 84:1)

Last week I spoke of the Living God in our midst. I hope you know in your heart the deep satisfaction of resting in the Lord. Augustine said that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. I hope you yearn in your heart for the peace that passes all understanding and if you do, I pray you will light that lamp for others to see. Today’s Gospel tells of the faith of two elderly individuals at the Presentation of the Lord:

“Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,

LORD, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word.

For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

To be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of thy people Israel” (Luke 2:25-32).

 

Simeon yearned for this prophetic moment when he would recognize the redemptive work of God. My prayer for each of you is that you yearn for an experience of the Living God and walk in faith all the days of your life until you depart in peace. The true strength of church is the faith of its members. This is what undergirds all evangelism, mission work and outreach. We should all invite our friends, neighbors and family to visit St. John’s and welcome, get to know, and involve our newcomers in the life and ministry of St. John’s. We give of our time by witnessing our faith to each other and especially to our children. God also calls us to usher in the kingdom of God through transformative mission and outreach. God unites us together with the poor, the oppressed, the sick, the hungry, and the disenfranchised. God calls us to passionate worship that brings the life changing presence of God to others.

                                                                              

Let me end with the twelfth century writing from Guerric of Igny:

“Behold then, the candle alight in Simeon's hands. You must light your own candles by enkindling them at his, those lamps which the Lord commanded you to bear in your hands. So come to him and be enlightened that you do not so much bear lamps as become them, shining within yourself and radiating light to your neighbors. May there be a lamp in your heart, in your hand, and in your mouth: let the lamp in your heart shine for yourself, the lamp in your hand and mouth shine for your neighbors. The lamp in your heart is a reverence for God inspired by faith; the lamp in your hand is the example of a good life; and the lamp in your mouth are the words of consolation you speak.”

 

In Christ’s love,

Fr. Duncan

Posted by: Rev. Duncan A. Burns AT 01:35 am   |  Permalink   |  Email
Friday, January 24 2025

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Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:



 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

   because he has anointed me

       to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

   and recovery of sight to the blind,

       to set free those who are oppressed,

 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:14-19)

Isaiah proclaimed to an oppressed people that soon they would be freed. But God also proclaimed to the oppressors that they must let his people go! Martin Luther King Jr. zealously preached, “It's alright to talk about streets flowing with milk and honey, but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can't eat three square meals a day. It's all right to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God's preacher must talk about the New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee. This is what we have to do.” Today we offer you the ability to enter into this scripture by doing an act of service for your community during this Martin Luther King Jr. Week.

“Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to zealously preach to them,

 "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing"(Luke 4:20-21).

Jesus sums up what he is preparing to do in the shortest sermon you’ll ever hear. “The scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus is going out into the world to demonstrate God’s love and mercy through his ministry. That is what evangelism is all about, being the light of Christ in a self-indulgent, greedy, violent, and sinful world. St. Francis of Assisi asked us to preach the Gospel through our deeds. If we are to follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then we must do so by active participation. Did you think fulfilling scripture is only open to Jesus and saints like Martin Luther King Jr.? In fact, it is open to each and every one of us. The Good News is that when you follow the path of God in helping people in need, the whole universe conspires to help you. God just puts wind in your sails when you are on the right course. Maybe you haven’t stopped to think about it, but while most churches are struggling, we are thriving. I give credit both to God who sends the Holy Spirit to help us and to those individuals that give of themselves for the sake of others. There never seems to be enough money for next year, but we always seem to enough. The fact is that God provides everything we need to do the ministry that God calls us to do.

Today our youth are called to serve 44 dinners to homeless folks in Huntington Station. Please be a part of the HIHI ministry by praying for the homeless, making chicken and rice today at 4:00PM in the St. John’s Kitchen, or by providing some Burger King or McDonald’s coupons so the men can get out of the cold for a hot lunch. We are called to go out into the world and confidently shine the light of Christ to the world. I urge you to pray for the poor, give a little of what you have to those in need right here in Huntington, or to help those in California that were devastated by wildfires. Be the light of the living Christ to a world that sorely needs God’s love and mercy and fulfill the scripture by your actions.   

In Christ's love,

Fr. Duncan

Posted by: Rev. Duncan A. Burns AT 01:35 pm   |  Permalink   |  Email
Friday, January 17 2025

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Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, 

and your faithfulness to the clouds.

Your righteousness is like the strong mountains,

your justice like the great deep; 

you save both man and beast, O Lord.

How priceless is your love, O God! 

your people take refuge under the shadow of your wings.

They feast upon the abundance of your house; 

you give them drink from the river of your delights.

For with you is the well of life, 

and in your light we see light.

Continue your loving-kindness to those who know you, 

and your favor to those who are true of heart. (Psalm 36:5-10)

Epiphany is the season that manifests the divinity of Jesus. This season is filled with powerful Gospels that bring us closer to God. The season starts with the recent birth of Christ and the coming of the Magi who follow the light in the sky on the day of the Epiphany. The Baptism of our Lord was observed last Sunday. We baptized three young men and celebrated the diaconal ministry of Deacon Claire Mis. Jesus was baptized and as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:21-22).

The gospels for next three Sundays of the Epiphany season describe the wedding at Cana, the reading of Isaiah in the temple by Jesus, and the opposition to Jesus in Nazareth. The next group of Gospels will describe the calling of the fishermen and the beatitudes. On the last Sunday of Epiphany we will experience the transfiguration. Jesus' identity as the Son of God will be dramatically revealed in the Transfiguration gospel. 

The prophet Isaiah speaks of the coming of the Kingdom of God in today’s lesson. He says that you will no longer be forsaken and you will no longer be desolate. You will be blessed and loved by God. So God sent his only Son so that everyone would know that God rejoices over them and brings about righteousness and justice so that we all will know that we are loved and blessed by God. When we affirm that Jesus is God’s son, our mission becomes spreading God’s love to the world. That mission is blessed by God and we are loved as Christ’s own. I ask each member of our congregation to listen to the word of God this Epiphany season as we prepare a new mission statement for our annual meeting on February 2nd. 

This weekend we celebrate a modern day prophet. Martin Luther King Jr. once said that he had a dream. God’s righteousness and justice were needed to change the way people were treating each other. “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’" He said that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. The evidence is massive that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. God does have a dream that we can live together and respect the dignity of each other.

In Christ’s light of love,

Fr. Duncan

Posted by: Rev. Duncan A. Burns AT 01:35 pm   |  Permalink   |  Email
Friday, January 10 2025

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This weekend we will be commemorating the Baptism of our Lord for the First Sunday after Epiphany which was this past Monday. It is one of the days that our Book of Common Prayer lists as special days in which baptisms can occur (though every Sunday outside of Lent allows for baptisms). This Sunday, we will be baptizing three young men, brothers, Casey, Grant, and Leo Poinelli, who recently started attending with their father, Les. The eldest son told me due to a TikTok challenge, he started reading the Gospel of Luke, reading a chapter day in December leading up to Christmas, as the Gospel has 24 chapters. I guess the Holy Ghost can use technology.

Also, we will be sending off Deacon Claire to her next chapter. Clergy departures are never easy, and I know this has greatly affected many people who have found inspiration, comfort, and connection from her and her ministry. Still, I find great symbolism in the fact that Claire’s last day with us is also a day of baptism. Such can be our Christian life, a life in which we allow for God to guide our steps and open up for us new adventures and new possibilities. 

This was a purpose of Jesus Christ being baptized, as you might be wondering why Jesus needed to be baptized at all. He had to submit to the Father in all ways and baptism, even in the pre-Chrisitan rite found in Judaism, was a symbolic way of doing that. As Jesus is also fully human, and Jewish, the rite of baptism was an act of repentance and ritual cleansing. No, Jesus did not sin and therefore had truly nothing to repent for, but he needed to mark his humanity in the same way as us.

Claire’s departure is a sign of the Holy Spirit in her life, which goes back to her baptism. If you’ve studied Acts of the Apostles, you know the movement of the Holy Spirit throughout the book and how it helped grow the early church. The Holy Spirit is the key to church movement and growth. And now as we bring in three new Christians into the fold, I rest in the fact the Holy Spirit is at work in the world today gathering in those who seek Jesus. And through others, helping them to disciple and minister. I pray that this year, we can seek deeper understandings of the Holy Spirit in our lives individually and as a parish to help us on this adventure of the Christian life. God bless!

In Christ,

Fr. Zach

Posted by: Rev. Zach Baker, curate AT 01:35 am   |  Permalink   |  Email
St. John's Episcopal Church
12 Prospect St. | Huntington, NY 11743 | PH: (631) 427-1752
Sunday Services at 8 AM and 10 AM
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