January 14, 2022 Dear Doubters of Great Faith, Happy New Year! That may seem a bit belated, considering that we are already 13 days and counting into a year that is already shaping up to resemble so much of 2020 and 2021. But I have had the great good fortune, thanks to you, of several weeks of holiday, to reflect just a bit, and so, now it’s my turn to bid each of you a happy and joyous New Year, in spite of, or maybe even because of, the circumstances in which we find ourselves. For this time, we call it “omicron,” but before it was “delta,” and before that, “beta,” and who knows before that. If COVID-19 has taught us nothing else in the nearly two years we have been wed to her (and to each other, by the way!), it’s that we, the people of St. Thomas the…
Respectfully submitted by Paul McCright, Clerk
St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church
Stephen Waller First Sunday after Epiphany Isaiah 43: 1-7 Psalm 29 Acts 8: 14 -17 Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22 THE FEAST OF THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD: This morning you and I will be renewing our vows made by us at our Baptism or by our parents and Godparents for us. The Renewal of Baptismal Vows happens every time there is a baptism in the Church. The rubrics suggest that we do this only on certain days in the Church Year when it is especially appropriate: The Easter Vigil, The Day of Pentecost, All Saints’ Day or the Sunday after All Saints’ Day, on the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord…today. The other suggested day for Baptisms is any day when a Bishop is present. “Holy Baptism is appropriately administered within The Eucharist,” the rubric tells us, never privately. Some of you among us today may remember your own…
The Rev’d Virginia Holleman Christmas 2, Year C – 01/02/2022 Jeremiah 31:7-14 Psalm 84:1-8 Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-19a Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 In the Name of God, Father, Son & Holy Spirit. AMEN. My father was a West Pointer, a career military officer. He was always fair but as a child I did not always think of him as being warm or loving. I think he was but it wasn’t always apparent to me as a small child. He was very strict, and he could be stern when we didn’t live up to his standards; what was apparent though was that his word was as good as gold, and if he thought we had been wronged he set out to make it right, and he could be as protective and defensive as any mother bear with her cubs. Today we call that integrity, but to me as a little girl it meant…
