Good Shepherd Sunday - APRIL 29, 2007

This is Good Shepherd Sunday where we reflect on Jesus as the one who leads, protects and loves His people. In the Book of Revelation it says

“The one who sits on the throne will shelter them. They will not hunger or thirstanymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them. For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Today our world needs to hear the voice of the Shepherd. This becomes increasingly difficult when so many other voices clamor for our attention. We live in a world of violence as the tragedy at Virginia Tech reminds us. We live in a world that says “look out for number 1,” the one with the most toys wins, don’t get even, get ahead. In this world we can so easily miss the voice of the Shepherd that urges us “to act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with our God.”

Next weekend our second graders will receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament for the first time. We pray especially for the parents of these children. May they be true Shepherds to lead their children to God. For the Word of God to be heard we need to create strong communities where the Word of God can be heard and celebrated. We speak a lot today of “safeenvironment” to protect our children. May our parish be one safe environment where the Word of God can grow in thehearts of our children.

Fr. Bob Hawkins - APRIL 29, 2007

Photo of Good Shepard Window from Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Tucson, AZ by Lars Hammer via flickr used with permission under a Creative Commons Licnese

Upcoming Events at St. Luke's - APRIL 22-2007

It was nice to have Luc Willenberg join us for the Easter Vigil. It brought back good memories of the time he spent with us last summer. On May 12 he will be ordained a deacon at the Cathedral by Bishop Tobin.

The next morning here at 11:30 a.m. he will diaconate and preach at the liturgy. Afterwards there will be a reception in the parish hall. Here’s where you can help. We are asking parishioners to help with baking, setting up and with keeping everything flowing smoothly during the reception. If you can help please call Ann Marie at the rectory.

Also we will be instituting Communion under both species on the weekend of May 5-6. If you attended the Vigil you saw the procedure. To institute the practice we need a few instructional sessions. Here are 3 opportunities to come and learn the procedure:
Saturday, April 28th at 4:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 29th at 9:30 a.m.
Monday, April 30th at 7:00 p.m.

Please pick one of these sessions. Thank you!

I’m sure we are all anxious to see how Fr. Matt and our young people made out in Jamaica. In the days ahead we will be hearing from them.
Fr. Bob Hawkins - APRIL 22-2007

A wonderful Holy Week here at St. Luke’s - APRIL 15, 2007

It was a wonderful Holy Week here at St. Luke’s. So many people got involved in so many areas of parish life. A big thank you to the environment committee, Steve Kirby and the choir, the lectors, altar servers and reception committee.

Both on Holy Thursday and the Easter Vigil we offered Holy Communion under both species. We are planning to initiate this practice on a weekly basis starting the weekend of May 5-6. There will be some training sessions for our Eucharistic ministers.

Please keep Fr. Matt and the mission group in your prayers during this week. A big thank you to all who were so generous to this worthwhile cause.

Fr. Bob Hawkins - APRIL 15, 2007

“Let him Easter in us” The Wreck of the Deutschland - APRIL 7, 2007

Gerard Manly Hopkins wrote a poem entitled The Wreck of the Deutschland. It concerned itself with five Franciscan nuns who were on their way to Missouri to do missionary work. Their ship sank in a terrible storm in the North Sea. The young nuns sacrificed their own lives so that others might be rescued. Hopkins ends the poem with this line: “Let him Easter in us,” be a dayspring to the dimness of us.

“Let him Easter in us” that we may live our lives in the light of his compassion and peace, his justice and forgiveness.

“Let him Easter in us” that we may be a people who live the life of stewardship; sharing our time, talent and treasure with others.

“Let him Easter in us” that we may bear our crosses for one another as he bore his cross for us.

Here Easter is used as a verb. In other words Easter is a way we think, we feel, something we do. Simply put Easter is something we “do” every day. Thank you to all who make our Easter celebrations so joyful here at St. Luke’s: to our choirs, altar servers, lectors, Eucharistic ministers, environment committee, greeters, ushers. So many people living stewardship make Easter happen for all of us. We pray especially for our young people who will leave for Jamaica with Fr. Matt next week.

Fr. Bob Hawkins - APRIL 7, 2007

The image above, used with permission of the Wheaton Francisons shows a quilt which hangs in the Deutschland Chapel at the Motherhouse in Wheaton, Illinois and serving as a tribute to the five Sisters who perished in the wreck of the Deutschland.

The Shipwreck image by Jody9 via flickr under Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 )