Far be it from me to not believe. 

Even when my eyes can't see

And this mountain that's in front of me

Will be thrown into the midst of the sea…

So let go my soul and trust in Him

The waves and wind still know His name…

Through it all, through it all

My eyes are on You

Through it all, through it all

It is well with me…

It is well, it is well, with my soul

(“It Is Well", Kristene DiMarco).

In this week’s bible study, Paul tells the good folks in Philippi that sometimes things go well and sometimes things don’t go well, but Jesus Christ always sustains the believer. I know that the war in Ukraine, inflation, and this ongoing pandemic are taking their toll on many of us. In the song, “It is Well” performed by Kristene DiMarco, we get a glimpse of the hope that God offers us. Despite our failings and the difficulties that we face, our relationship with Christ gets us through the toughest of times. When we are tired of this pandemic, lose a loved one, have difficulties at work, are fighting sickness or disease, or struggle with depression, it is a comfort to know that Christ came to know and feel our pain. Our faith in God’s redeeming hope gives us the strength to go on even when there are mountains in front of us. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is proof that death does not hold a grip on us. One day we will all be accountable for our lives, but what a blessing that we are forgiven of all our sins and are offered new life in Jesus Christ.

It is well with my soul when I see children in Sunday school, our confirmation class, our youth group and the first communion class hungry and thirsty for the love of Jesus Christ. It is well with my soul when we have individuals like Deacon Claire, Ford Spilsbury, Christine Dore, Laura Wickey, and Sue McInnis who are willing to proclaim their faith to our children. It is well with my soul when we invite newcomers to the coffee hour to share a meal together. It is well with my soul when our Thrift Shop is thriving.

As we share a meal at the Lord’s table, at coffee hour, and anytime when we get together as a congregation to share a meal, please be aware that the Risen Christ is present with us. People come to us with outstretched hands every Sunday looking for the bread that will fulfill their hunger and the drink that will quench their thirst. The bread of life is a tangible taste of God’s love for us. The bread is broken as Christ was sacrificed for our sins. We are called to have faith God comes again and again to make us whole. So celebrate the resurrection with zeal and passion. There is nothing in the world that can make you whole in troubled times like the love of God in the resurrected Christ.

My hope is that our love and relationship with Jesus Christ will open the eyes of our faith to see his redeeming work. I know that God loves us all and sent his son that we might have life and live it abundantly. Jesus Christ came to redeem us from being self-absorbed and selfish. By looking outward to others instead of inward toward ourselves, we can become the Easter people that God created us to be.

In Christ’s love,

Rev. Duncan Burns 

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First and last alike, receive your reward.

Rich and poor, rejoice together!

Conscientious and lazy, celebrate the day!

You who have kept the fast, and you who have not,

rejoice, this day, for the table is bountifully spread!

Feast royally, for the calf is fatted.

Let no one go away hungry.

Partake, all, of the banquet of faith.

Enjoy the bounty of the Lord's goodness!

Let no one lament persistent failings,

for forgiveness has risen from the grave.

Let no one fear death,

for the death of our Saviour has set us free.

~John Chrysostom

We celebrate the Eucharist by remembering the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The prayer of remembrance is called the Anamnesis. This Greek word for remembrance comes from one who has lost their amnesia. Those who have lost their identity or purpose need to re-member what God has done for them and to know that they are unconditionally loved by God. I urge you to call your friends and family who have wandered from the church and invite them to re-member that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Palm Sunday and Easter are the core liturgical observances of the Christian year because we re-member what God has done, is doing, and will do for us. They are also the time when many people who have been away, come back to church. This year we ask all our parishioners to join us at our Holy Week Services in the church or online. Bishop Wolf will be at our 10:00 Palm Sunday Service. We meet in the Great Hall, then process with our palms through the Garden of Blessings into the church singing Hosannah in the highest! Hosannah!

Maundy Thursday is a simple service in the tradition of the last supper. We begin our evening at 5:30pm with a zoom Christian Seder. The Gospel from John is read and we wash each other’s feet at the 7:30pm service. The service ends with a dramatic stripping of the altar and we begin a prayer vigil through the night.

Good Friday is a somber reminder of the depth of God’s love for us. We pray at the foot of the cross with Mary and John. At 7pm we have a zoom and in-person Stations of the Cross followed by a 7:30pm Good Friday service in the church, on Facebook and on zoom. We pray in silence and ponder the incredible love of God in the act of Jesus death on the cross for our sins.

Easter Sunday is a celebration of Christ’s resurrection and the hope that Christ gives to each of us. All are welcome to share with us in his resurrection. Easter Sunday Services are in the church at 7:30am, 9:00am, and 11am or on zoom. .The children will celebrate with an Easter egg hunt. We will proclaim the resurrection. The 11:00am service will feature the steel drum band from St. Augustine’s. These services help us to see ourselves as part of a community baptized into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I urge you to come to as many Holy Week services as you are able, to invite guests and to welcome everyone with open arms.

In Christ’s love,

Fr. Duncan

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“Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair” (John 12:1-3).

Barbara Brown Taylor, calls this display by Mary "an act so lavish that it suggests another layer to her prophecy: there will be nothing prudent or economical about the death of this man, just as there has been nothing prudent or economical about his life. In him, the extravagance of God's love is made flesh. In him, the excessiveness of God's mercy is made manifest." We heard last week about the extravagance of the father who celebrated the return of the prodigal son by giving him the finest robe, a ring, and the fatted calf. The point of last week’s Gospel is that the radical love of God is unfathomable and God’s mercy is unbounded. I love the extravagance of our faith during the next couple of weeks. Please try to be a part of it. We pray for the joy and hope of the Lord to fill our hearts. I give thanks to all of you who will work so diligently in the coming weeks. We could not do what we do at St. John’s without you.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus goes back to the place where he raised his friend Lazarus from the dead. Extravagant moves like bringing people back from the dead are bound to get noticed and Jesus is now considered dangerous and a serious threat to the status quo and the powerful men that benefit from keeping things as they are. We are six days before the Passover and just a few miles from Jerusalem. Jesus knows that his days are numbered and only hopes that his disciples can grasp the situation.

Martha cooks up a nice dinner and Jesus sits down with Lazarus. Mary does her disappearing act and comes back with a costly bottle of sweet smelling ointment that was used for burial. Mary anoints the feet of Jesus and wipes them with her hair. Mary is extravagantly showing her love of Jesus on one of his last few days.

Let us each show hospitality and grace to all those who will visit us over the holiday. On Palm Sunday, our confirmation class will read the passion. Bishop Wolf will be with us at the 10:00 service. Please gather in the Parish Hall before the service so we can process with our palms into the church. On Maundy Thursday, we will have a Seder at 5:30PM on Zoom and at 7:30PM we will have our “normal” Maundy Thursday service with footwashing and the stripping of the altar. On Good Friday, we will have Stations of the Cross at 7:00PM and Good Friday service at 7:30PM. Easter Sunday will be in in the Garden of Blessings at 7:30AM. We will light a fire and bring the light of Christ into our church. The family service is at 9:00AM with an Easter Egg hunt after the service. At 11:00AM we will celebrate Easter with the St. Augustine’s Steel Drum Band. Please join us in person or on zoom for all services except the Seder. 

In Christ’s love,

Fr. Duncan

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This week, we read the story of the Prodigal Son, in Luke 15: 11-32. Most of us are most familiar with this parable, but the lectionary actually takes us back to the beginning of Luke 15:  All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."

Jesus goes on the share two parables depicting loss. The first, is the parable of the lost sheep. If even one out of the hundred is lost, the Good Shepherd of us all will leave the other ninety-nine and go search for the one who is lost. When found, there is much rejoicing and celebration. The message to the Pharisees and Scribes is that there is more joy in heaven over just one sinner who repents than over the ninety-nine who believe they are righteous and need no repentance. The second parable is about a lost coin. “…there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15: 10. These parables say much about the character of God, whose love pours forth in measures we cannot even comprehend. They clearly remind us that God’s grace is sufficient for us, that we can rest in the safety of God’s arms if we are willing to turn and return to God when we have strayed – even like lost sheep – and we have all erred and strayed.

The parable of the Prodigal Son takes our lostness a little further. When we allow the words of our confession to flow through us – the words that say, “we have sinned against you in thought word and deed”, God, as represented by the father in this story, will not just rejoice when we turn toward him, but will actually run towards us. We, in fact are met on our way home by a loving and forgiving God.

In the rabbinic literature of Pesikta Rabbati, the story of turning and returning is summed up like this:

“A King had a son who had gone astray from his father on a journey of a hundred days. His friends said to him, ‘Return to your father.’ He said, ‘I cannot.’ Then his father sent word, ‘Return as far as you can, and I will come the rest of the way to you.’ So, God says, ‘Return to me, and I will return to you.’”

We are in Lent, a time when we are called to quiet our minds and search our hearts. Where is it that we are being blocked from returning – returning to our loved ones, returning to church, but most of all returning to God. May we continue our Lenten journey with open hearts knowing that our most loving and gracious God is already celebrating our homecoming!

In God’s love,

Deacon Claire Mis

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At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’” (Luke 13:31-35)

“The Episcopal Church, one of the largest mainline Protestant denominations in the U.S., conducted the survey of American adults with market research company Ipsos in part to identify those gaps [how we perceive ourselves versus how other people perceive us], according to Curry. The denomination also wanted to open a conversation and dialogue, the presiding bishop said. Christians need to learn to listen, he added. “This was an attempt on our church’s part to actually listen to what others were saying about Jesus, about us. We dared to ask, ‘How are we perceived?’” “There is a disconnect between the reality of Jesus and the perceived reality of Christians,” Presiding Bishop Curry said.

We need to love one another as Christ loved us. To do this, we need to gather together and listen to the Word of God, repent of our sins, be forgiven, and go forth loving God with our entire self and loving our neighbors. God gathers us together as a mother hen gathers her chicks. Jesus asks us to turn from living in fear of one another and return to the loving arms of God. Thomas à Kempis said "If, however, you seek Jesus in all things, you will surely find Him" (The Imitation of Christ, Book II, ch. 7). In the parable of the lost sheep, the shepherd leaves 99 sheep unattended to look for the one lost sheep. The shepherd gathers the lost sheep over his shoulders and rejoices when the lost sheep is found. Jesus says that there will be great joy in heaven when just one lost person returns (Luke 15:1-7). The parable of the prodigal son is another great example of returning to God. The son asks for his inheritance and takes it to a distant country. The son squanders the money and then comes on very hard times. When he returns to his father he says, “I’ve been bad and I’m not worthy.” The father is so happy that he is back that he gives him a robe and a ring and slaughters the fatted calf for the celebration (Luke 15:11-32). Each year in Lent we are called back under the mother hen’s wing. Please join us on Saturday March 12th for a Lenten Quiet Day with Bishop Wolf.

In Christ’s love,
Fr. Duncan

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The Cross is the judgment seat of Christ, the holy of holies for Christians. In every Eucharist the faithful approaches and comes face to face with the crucified Christ. Here death is not the end but the threshold into eternal life. The gifts of bread and wine, the produce of the earth and of human labor and toil, are united with and transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ. In receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, our souls and bodies are united with Christ. This is our participation in the eternal life of Christ here and now (The Rt. Rev. Allen K. Shin, A Lenten Journey).

I invite any 7-12 grade students to join our confirmation class on Sundays at 5:30 pm. I invite any newcomer to join our newcomer’s classes at 11:15 am on Sundays starting March 20th. I invite any second grade student to take our First Communion classes on Wednesdays at 5pm. I invite all those wishing to be received by the Bishop to join us on Sundays at 5:30 pm. I invite every member of St. John’s to a holy Lent through prayer, study, and worship. Confirmation and Reception will be held on April 30^th at 11:00 am. First Communion will be held on May 1^st at 10:00 am.

Lent is a time of preparation, when we teach our confirmands, newcomers, children, and youth to draw closer to the one we love. It is by our example of worship, study, prayer, and outreach that they will see that Jesus Christ came that we might have life and live it abundantly. Jesus Christ came that we might be transformed from sin to the beautiful children of God that we were created to be. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Eternal life begins today and never ends. Please use these next few weeks of Lent to draw closer to the one who loves you deeply. The most significant preacher in a congregation is not the person in the fancy vestments in the pulpit, but the people in the congregation going out into the world. Apostles have been transformed by the bread of our Lord, to do the will of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit. The fact of the matter is that priests come and go, but the power of the Holy Spirit to transform the lives at St. John’s goes on from generation to generation. God loves us so deeply that Christ, God’s Son, suffered on a cross that we might be forgiven of our sins.

We have the power to transform the nightmare that the world can be into the blessing of the Kingdom of God. We are transformed through the bread of life, and we become the transforming power in the world. Please have hope that God can transform our hearts to see the problems of war, the environment, racism, and sexism. So if you have been hurting, frustrated, sick, or a little down, have faith that you can come to the altar at St. John’s and receive the bread of life that has the power to transform us all from sin to righteousness. Please join us at St. John’s this Lent. Masks are optional, coffee will be served after service, and small groups are meeting again in the church. Please join us for Holy Eucharist again so that you may participate in the eternal, right here and now.

Here I am, a servant of the Lord, may it be according to your Word,

Rev. Duncan Burns

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“Life on the surface keeps us judging the circumstances. We look at the circumstances as a picture. If it is pretty, pleasing, and shows us what we want to see then God is good and life is as it should be. When we don’t see what we want then we often look for a new picture. The restless searching, the longing for more, the desire for meaning are not, however, usually answered by changed circumstances. The answer is found in depth, intimacy, and the vulnerability of the interior journey. We do not need to see new things. We need to see the same old things with new eyes. We do not need to hear a different voice. We need to hear the same old voice with different ears. We do not need to escape the circumstances of our life. We need to be more fully present to those circumstances. When this happens life is no longer lived at the surface. These are the transfigured moments, moments when the picture of our life has becomes a window into a new world and we come face to face with the glory of God.” (Michael K. Marsh)

Our presiding bishop asks us to meditate on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. He asks us to join the Jesus Movement. If we are to listen to Jesus, what is the message that he wants us to hear? The Jesus Movement begins with an internal movement of repentance, proceeds with a change of heart, results in a peace that passes all understanding, and moves externally by our finding our place in the world. As we approach Lent, I ask you to change your habits just enough to hear that still, small voice of God. In today’s collect we pray, “O God who before the passion of your Son revealed his glory on the Holy Mount, that we may we be strengthened to bear his cross.” As the world has moved closer to a World War, we need to remember the great toll the previous wars had on humanity. We need to see these wars with new eyes and ears so that they are never repeated. Please pray with me every day for the people of Ukraine and for world peace. Please pray daily as we approach another Lenten season.

Christian discipleship consists of the discipline of self-denial and taking up the cross daily. It is refraining from the narcissistic self-indulgence and from feeding the superficial false ego to self-destruction. It is rather embracing my true self, the true image of God reflected in the depth of my soul. It’s a daily journey of self-discovery as a child of God and a daily walk toward a spiritual union with God (Bishop Allen Shin).

When Jesus came down off the mountain, he loved those who were most in need of love, healed those who were most in need of healing, gave water to those who were the most thirsty and food to the hungry. He taught us about what the Greeks called agape love and what the Jewish people call hessed. Jesus came to teach us a way of loving one another. May we gather together on Ash Wednesday at 7pm at St. John’s or on Zoom. May we attend service regularly during Lent. Please join our bible study, Morning Prayer, Lenten retreat and Tuesday night programs during Lent. May we refrain from letting our anger turn to vengeance in the world and allow the lovingkindness of our Lord to fill our hearts.

In Christ’s love,

Fr. Duncan

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“I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:27-31)

What Jesus wants you to hear today is about the love and mercy of God. Let’s not start by thinking about who we despise, but look at ourselves. God is compassionate even when we are undeserving. God’s lovingkindness is called hessed in Hebrew. We know this way of being because we know the grace and mercy that God gives to each of us. We are loved with God’s unconditional agape love.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Love is understanding, redemptive goodwill for all people, so that you love everybody, because God loves them. You refuse to do anything that will defeat an individual, because you have agape in your soul. And here you come to the point that you love the individual who does the evil deed while hating the deed that the person does. The key to loving enemies is to resist the urge toward vengeance. When we show kindness, we provide opportunities for redemption. Love has redemptive power. It has the power to transform and to change both the lover and the beloved. This is our path into the Trinitarian life. The love between the Father and the Son is the Holy Spirit, and that same Spirit rests with us, giving us power to love in the face of all kinds of worldly evils.” (A Knock at Midnight p. 49)

Most of us understand the concept of unconditional love. Married couples vow to love one another unconditionally. This understanding of love leads us to the speech of prayer. We pray for those we love and those we don’t love to receive the blessing of God. God asks us to take the radical next step to literally act towards people that hate us with lovingkindness. This is very counterintuitive. Let me approach it in another direction. God’s lovingkindness begins with a deep love of Jesus Christ and the reciprocal love that God gives to us even when we are not deserving at times in our lives. Today’s lesson teaches us that even when we mess up, God loves us deeply. When we walk away, God calls us back and when we come again, God gives us a hero's welcome like the prodigal son received. God is good, all the time.

Love as you are loved by God. Forgive others as you are forgiven. Pray for those that hurt you. Love your enemies and act accordingly. The reward of lovingkindness of those who hate us is that we become the children of the most high. We begin to see the good in all people and in all things. When we love our enemies we possess the redemptive power that can restore individuals and people to the love of God. This power can overcome racism, sexism, and the problems of our day. This power can overcome our divided nation and maybe even our government. Ghandi said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

In Christ’s love,

Fr. Duncan

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