Blog & Parish News

Although the season of Advent is not so strictly penitential a season as Lent is, it nevertheless has a penitential aspect—or, rather, we might say that it has an aspect of conversion. We hear the clarion call of the Baptist: “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Mt. 3:2). The coming of Christ demands that we put off our old ways of acting, thinking, and being so that we may be fitted to the new life made available to us in the Kingdom.

Last week, we discussed the ways in which mission is essential to the life of the Church, and we noted how taking responsibility for our own spiritual formation is a key component of this. As we celebrate the Feast of All Saints, we ought to consider the role that the saints play in our spiritual lives. The saints are those who presently enjoy the everlasting bliss and peace of beatitude in the Vision of God. They are conformed perfectly to the likeness of Christ, drawn unceasingly deeper into the divine depths of love and holiness: “Still they joy and weary never, / More and more delighting ever” (Hymn 129).

Mission is fundamental to the life of the Church. Following the Lord’s Resurrection, He called the Church to her primary mission: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Mt. 28:19-20). Referred to as the Great Commission, these “marching orders” form the basis of the Church’s common life and ministry to bring all men to the knowledge and love of Christ by incorporation into the supernatural society of the Mystical Body through baptism and through ongoing spiritual formation as disciples of the Risen One.

Living as stewards is an on-going process of conversion. As disciples who are committed to living our lives as good stewards, we must constantly be attentive to ways we are called to give and share. This is a process of discernment, in which we take stock of the ways we have been blessed and the gifts we have been given, and then consider what and how we are called to give back, as a grateful response to God.

Over the course of our lives, the goal of discipleship is to become more like Jesus—loving as he loves, forgiving as he forgives, being merciful as he is merciful—and to join him in caring for others and healing our world. Paradoxically, as we become more like him, we also become more ourselves—the unique, beloved child of God we were created to be. Stewardship involves giving back for what we have received.

On June 23th, St. Edward's held the first of what will hopefully become a traditional event to celebrate the nativity of St. John the Baptist. This wonderful evening began with sung Evensong in the church, and was followed by food and fellowship in our parish hall, and outside around the fire. We were delighted to be joined by clergy and parishioners from St. Cuthbert's, an Anglican Ordinariate parish in Indianapolis.

Sermon given on Sunday, August 27, 2023
This morning we gather together with a sense of heaviness, of loss. Many of us are still in shock, still trying to process the sudden loss of our friend and our bishop, Rommie Starks. There are no magic theological words to clear up the grief, to make this all seem to make sense to us. We feel the bishop’s absence and lament the fact that we will no longer have his familiar, companionable presence among us.

Taken individually, each of these words marks a crucial aspect of our identity and calling as a parish. Taken together, they name what we exist to do: We are continuing a transformative tradition.

The earliest mention we have of bells in the Church comes in the sixth century, where they were used to summon communities and monasteries to services. In the eighth century, Pope Stephen II erected a belfry with three bells (campanae) at St. Peter’s Basilica. By this time, bells had come to be an integral part of a church’s furnishings, and exterior towers for the purpose of holding larger bells began to be constructed.

As I often complain this time of year, we have a tendency to treat the Ascension as something of an after-thought, a way to get Jesus off-stage after His Resurrection so that the Holy Ghost can take over at Pentecost. But the Ascension is far from an after-thought; rather, it is the consummation, the fulfillment, of all that Our Lord’s Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection were for.