This is Our Story
Although all Sundays are Feasts of our Lord, some feasts fixed on a certain day take precedence.  These other Feasts of our Lord are: The Holy Name (January 1), Epiphany (January 6), The Presentation (February 2), The Transfiguration (August 6), All Saints‘ Day (November 1), and Christmas Day.  All other Feasts of Our Lord that are appointed on fixed calendar days, when they occur on a Sunday, are transferred to the first convenient day within the following week.  These feasts are the Annunciation (March 25), the Visitation (May 31), St. John the Baptist (June 24), and Holy Cross Day (September 14).  When desired, the Propers appointed for the transferred feast may be used on Sunday.  This substitution is not allowed from the Last Sunday after Pentecost through the First Sunday after Epiphany, nor from the Last Sunday after Epiphany through Trinity Sunday.  Other Major Feasts celebrating apostles or evangelists include St. Stephen (December 26), Holy Innocents (December 28), St. Joseph (March 19), St. Mary Magdalene (July 22), St. Mary the Virgin (August 15), St. Michael and All Angels (September 29), St. James of Jerusalem (October 23), Independence Day (July 4), and Thanksgiving Day (Book of Common Prayer, pp 16-17).
~Dr. Gil Haas, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
If you have a liturgical question or an inquiry about anything that transpires during or around our worship service, please forward the question you would like researched to: gghaas@aol.com. Please note whether we can credit you as the source of the question.  

A Sermon delivered by The Reverend Joseph C. Alsay
St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, OKC
Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany and the Commemoration of Absalom Jones
February 13, 2022
Luke 6:17-26

​In our gospel reading today we encounter a rather familiar passage of scripture to students of the bible. When one looks at the Beatitudes at surface level ones first inclination might be to regard them as simply a set of principles, a collection of rules, ethical teachings that are a happier and much improved version of the Ten Commandments. What makes the Beatitudes worthy of notice is not their abstract virtue, their essential correctness; at face value they make no sense at all. Let be real folks, there is little happiness in mourning or joy in persecution. Where the rubber meets the road is in the “personality “of the Beatitudes and hence the so- called authority, rests in the person and the life of Jesus, and in the persons and lives of those people who hear, believe and act on these beatitudes. The Rev. Dr. Clarence Jordan, was an ordained Baptist minister and Greek scholar soon after completing his theological studies founded the Koinonia Farms in Georgia which later become the roots of the organization now known as Habitat for Humanity. Dr. Jordan while setting up an inter-grated society in the midst of racial segregated Georgia wrote that the Sermon on the Mount or Sermon on the Plain without Jesus is senseless idealism, an impossible frustrating ethical assignment. It might make you bitter and cynical because the tasks are so huge. At the same time, accepting Jesus without the Sermon on the Plain is unreal emotional cynicism. We need the salvific work of Jesus and we need the ethical teachings of the Sermon on the Mount. It is not the Christian ethic which makes Christian men and women, it is Christian men and women who can live the Christian life; and we might add, they cannot do so without Christ. Many translations of the Beatitudes do not do justice to the meaning. The Greek seems to state them as exclamations, ecstatic utterances of present reality, literally; Congratulation and the bestowal of the kingdom now for those poor, hunger, weeping and persecuted. In fact, Nadia Bolz-Weber's modern-day list from Accidental Saints. Is still so spot on. "Blessed are the agnostics. Blessed are they who doubt. Those who aren't sure, who can still be surprised. Blessed are they who are spiritually impoverished and therefore not so certain about everything that they no longer take in new information. Blessed are those who have nothing to offer. Blessed are the preschoolers who cut in line at communion. Blessed are the poor in spirit.You are of heaven and Jesus blesses you. Blessed are they for whom death is not an abstraction. Blessed are they who have buried their loved ones, for whom tears could fill an ocean. Blessed are they who have loved enough to know what loss feels like. Blessed are the mothers of the miscarried. Blessed are they who don't have the luxury of taking things for granted anymore. Blessed are they who can't fall apart because they have to keep it together for everyone else. Blessed are the motherless, the alone, the ones from whom so much has been taken. Blessed are those who "still aren't over it yet." Blessed are Larry's wife and Billy's mom and Amy Mack's friends. Blessed are those who mourn. You are of heaven and Jesus blesses you. Blessed are those who no one else notices. The kids who sit alone at middle-school lunch tables. The laundry guy at the hospital. The sex workers and the night-shift street sweepers. Blessed are the losers and the babies and the parts of ourselves that are so small, the parts of ourselves that don't want to make eye contact with a world that loves only the winners. Blessed are the forgotten. Blessed are the closeted. Blessed are the unemployed, the unimpressive, the underrepresented. Blessed are the teens who have to figure out ways to hide the new cuts on their arms. Blessed are the meek. You are of heaven and Jesus blesses you. Blessed are the wrongly accused, the ones who never catch a break, the ones for whom life is hard, for Jesus chose to surround himself with people like them. Blessed are those without documentation. Blessed are the ones without lobbyists. Blessed are foster kids and trophy kids and special ed kids and every other kid who just wants to feel safe and loved. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are they who know there has to be more than this. Because they are right. Blessed are those who make terrible business decisions for the sake of people. Blessed are the burned-out social workers and the overworked teachers and the pro bono case takers. Blessed are the kindhearted NFL players and the fundraising trophy wives. Blessed are the kids who step between the bullies and the weak. Blessed are they who hear that they are forgiven. Blessed is everyone who has ever forgiven me when I didn't deserve it. Blessed are the merciful, for they totally get it." Absalom Jones understood something of what was at the center of Jesus’ beatitudes. For it was Absalom who was born a house slave in 1746 in Delaware. He taught himself how to read out the New Testament, among other books. When he was sixteen, he was sold to a store owner in Philadelphia. There he attended night school for Blacks operated by the Quakers. At twenty, he married another slave and purchased her freedom with his earnings. Some 18 years later he bought his own freedom. Now there’s a true Valentine Day love story. He along with Richard Allen served as lay ministers for the Black membership at St. George Methodist Church. The vestry became increasing uncomfortable with the increase of Black membership under Absalom and Richard’s leadership. And decided to segregate the Black membership to the balcony without notifying them. So, the Black membership left in -mass. In 1792 a Society was founded and began to build a church in 1794. In October the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas was admitted into the Diocese of Pennsylvania.1795 Jones was ordained a deacon in 1802 he was ordained a priest. Absalom was known for his constant visiting and mild manner that made his beloved by his own members and by the community. During the first year the congregation to over 500 and he became known as the “Black Bishop of the Episcopal Church.” It tends to be our temptation to postpone the Beatitudes to some future event, the good stuff comes later. Yes, it’s “Pie in Sky in the Sweet by and by.” Tomorrow has become today, the kingdom that is to come is already here; that which we seek we have, that which we would be, we are. Yes, the kingdom is here in our midst now.

This is Our Story


Retreats in many Christian churches may have been first based in some loose form from the writings of St. Ignatius, the patron saint of spiritual retreats.  Cursillo retreats in the Catholic church were originally based on Ignatian spirituality.  Usually, Christian retreats lasting from just a few hours to months are a time spent away from one’s normal life for the purpose of reconnecting, usually in prayer, with God.  Jesus fasting in the desert for forty days is often used as a justification for such retreats.  This escape from life’s “rushing” hither and thither is discovered by many to be refreshing and relaxing.  Regrettably, most persons cannot regularly attend formal retreats except on an occasional weekend.  However, many philosophers argue that a regular, daily retreat practice can be established successfully by everyone.  The primary barrier to establishing this practice is a lack of discipline.  In addition, even the most ardent followers of daily retreat practices admit that every sitting is not always concentrated, but sometimes it can be highlighted only by boredom or restlessness. Nonetheless, it is the commitment and regularity of practice that is the ingredient that produces the desired result, not how any one sitting unfolds.
~Dr. Gil Haas, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
If you have a liturgical question or an inquiry about anything that transpires during or around our worship service, please forward the question you would like researched to: gghaas@aol.com. Please note whether we can credit you as the source of the question. 

Well, here’s to another unique year in the life of the church and in our daily lives as well. As we wrap up 2021 and look forward to a Spirit-filled and amazing 2022, we are still battling with Covid-19 and now have the Omicron variant in our midst. But we have been here before, and if 2021 is any indication, we are only going to come out stronger, more connected, and blessed by the Holy Spirit. We can truly say that our “Tests” have become our “Testimonies.” Like Peter and the disciples, we have seen God’s prevenient hand at work in the lives of those around us. I mean, look at our familiar gospel reading of the “miraculous catch” assigned for today: Most of us tend to think of fishing as something that is to be relaxing. You want a folding chair and a book when you fish. Cast out the line, sit down, and read a book until something bites. But being a fisherman in the first century was a tough life and required hard labor. First century fisherman would stand on the edge of the boat and cast large nets into the water and then haul the nets back in. For hours and hours a fisherman would continue to cast the nets into the water. A lack of fish was not only a disappointment but was the loss of a paycheck. In today’s story Peter and the others are exhausted after working all night. Now it is morning and they finally call it quits. They bring the boats into shore and begin washing their nets. All of us have had bad days like this. We have had days where we look at life and see complete emptiness: When we feel that we are wasting our time. When we are discouraged and frustrated. Things did not go how we had hoped and high expectations fall in flames. For all of our efforts and for all our time, we are not getting anywhere. We try to make more money only to never have more saved. We try to improve our talents only to never receive the promotion. We try to upgrade our possessions only to have more headaches and more things break. We become dismayed in life and wonder what is the point? So, after a hard night’s work with no success, Jesus comes along and tells Peter to try one more time! Can you imagine the look Peter might have cast Jesus’ way? With great resignation, Peter agrees to Jesus’ request to let down the nets. “It won’t do any good, but I will do what you say.” Peter has absolutely no expectations here, except failure. “I am only doing this because you say so, Jesus. But when I pull these nets back up, I am going to tell you that I told you so.” One final time, Peter and his men let down the nets. Suddenly, they felt a pull like they have never felt before on those nets. The pull on the nets is so great that the nets are beginning to tear. They signal for the other boat to come over and help them get the nets up. But there are so many fish in the nets that they fill both boats and they begin to sink. I would imagine that if the camera were to pan to Jesus in this event, we would see a little smirk from Jesus. The unimaginable has just taken place. Peter and his crew have worked hard, fishing all night long, and did not catch one fish. It the middle of the daytime, Jesus tells them to go out and they immediately catch two boatloads of fish. 16 How different things can be in life when Jesus is on the boat! How dramatic the results can be when Jesus is with you on your journey! It would be useful to recount to you all the times I have seen God answer our prayers for spiritual and physical needs. I have been with people written off by doctors, given only days to live. I have seen doctors shake their heads, unable to explain why a recovery took place. I have seen lives change from discouragement, disappointment, and futility to purposeful, energized lives with Jesus. Peter believed trying again was a waste of time. Why should this time be different than the last two thousand times they had let down the nets? It was different because Peter was turning loose of his own expectations and obeying Jesus. “All things are possible with God.” We, like Peter, may have felt equally discouraged and disheartened as COVID raged on and consumed our lives. And just when we thought it was about to end, it came roaring back with ferocity! Who would have thought that after almost two years and with so much to be discouraged about, we would have had a miraculous 2021? Here are just a few of the miracles that happened: - Jesse Heath was able to step in as a new staff member to oversee our Youth and Family ministries. - For the first time ever we participated in the 155th Anniversary of Juneteenth with Temple B’nai Israel. - The Bella Voce Chamber Choir became our Artist-in Residence, giving us the opportunity to broaden our reach into the arts community in Oklahoma City. - We were able to continue and even expand our outreach initiatives to our wider OKC community with numerous service projects and significant financial contributions. - I made 279 contacts with current members through face-to-face visits. - We provided financial assistance to two local Episcopal parishes (St. Maria de Virgen & St. James.) - A significant donation from a member allowed us to have the badly-crumbling church parking lot repaved. - We had the best stewardship drive in the 40+ year history of St. Augustine’s. And these are just a few of the amazing ways God has filled up our nets in 2021. If you haven’t already done so, please read our annual report to get more details. We have got a lot going on! Do you feel ready to reflect God’s love into the community in new and exciting ways in 2022? Maybe I’m like Peter, but I sure did not expect all this as we entered 2021! As usual, God had bigger and better plans than I thought we could tackle. We as the community of St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church were ready for that challenge! Thank you all. We started off the year with online worship, finished with our new hybrid version and as masks and social distancing has been needed at varying degrees, you all have stuck with us, and I thank you for that! I find comfort in knowing that this community of faith walks together in this, even when things are not exactly how we might like for ourselves. People are always thinking of others and caring for all. Thank you all. 17 Know that God is with us, know that the Holy Spirit is alive and well in this place, and know that that same Spirit of God is calling us to new and exciting places! I am honored to walk this journey with you as your priest! As I close, I want to especially thank our courageous Clergy, stellar Staff, vivacious Vestry, mighty Ministry Leaders, vibrant Volunteers, and magnanimous Members that have kept things together in these crazy times. My heartfelt thanks goes to Mike Hall—vestry member and Todd Branson--Jr. Warden, who both served their roles with admirable dedication. They will be missed and I encourage you all to let them know how much we appreciate their service. I wish to extend my thanks and appreciation to Renee Bauer and Sherry Dale who have agreed to serve another year on vestry. They each have valuable business experience and insight that has proven time and time again to be of great help in our decision-making process. Thanks to both of you. Finally, I especially want to thank our tireless and loving Sr. Warden, Marian Moon, for her devoted ministry, seemingly unlimited time, benevolent support to this church and the wider Diocese of Oklahoma, sage advice and thoughtful counsel, unwavering faith. It’s been said that “7” is a biblically perfect number or the number of “completion.” Our beloved Marian has served for 7+ years as Sr. Warden and has become not only an iconic institution all to herself but, has been a true blessing not only to the church, but to me as your priest. I could not have asked for a better Sr. Warden to serve with in these trying times. Thank you, Marian! Jesus encourages you to try again. Like Peter, you may ask and wonder, “what is the point?” Try again, but this time with Jesus on board. Try again, this time trusting Jesus. Try again, this time obeying Christ’s words. Try again, this time letting Christ lead your life. Quit trying to do things by yourself. Put an end to the feeling of futility, frustration, and emptiness by letting Jesus lead your life.

​~Rev. Joseph C. Alsay, Rector, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

This is Our Story


The fame of St. Valentine may have begun by early Christians’ efforts to dodge the draft.  Married Roman soldiers were considered inferior because their battle fervor might be diminished if they remembered their lover at home.  Emperor Claudius II therefore forbade young men to marry.  This edict prompted a Christian priest, Valentine of Terni, to perform secret marriages.  Once discovered, Valentine was arrested and beheaded on February 14, 278 AD, in Rome.  This bloody punishment is in stark contradistinction to those gay depictions on modern valentine cards.  Valentine’s bones were given to Spain’s King Carlos IV in 1700, and they were deposited in Madrid’s St. Anton’s Church.  Catholics venerated St. Valentine on February 14th until his feast was removed from their calendar in 1969 because of his obscurity.  Anglicans and Lutherans still celebrate this feast, but Valentine has never been on the Episcopal calendar.   Modern traditions associated with “Valentine’s Day” may have sprung from Geoffrey Chaucer’s poem, The Parliament of Fowls.  In this poem, Mother Nature encourages her avian audience to choose mates on Valentine’s Day.  So although Chaucer was not the first CEO of Hallmark Cards, he did instigate the association of Valentine’s Day with romance.
~Dr. Gil Haas, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
If you have a liturgical question or an inquiry about anything that transpires during or around our worship service, please forward the question you would like researched to: gghaas@aol.com, or drop the question in the offering basin. Please note whether we can credit you as the source of the question.   

​February 03, 2013 ( C )
Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
Luke 4:21-32
Fr. Tony Moon, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
 
This Gospel lesson is like reading a gradient from a high point to a low one. It starts out very high, with people wonderfully admiring Jesus there in his hometown, speaking well of him, amazed at his gracious words. It gets a little lower when the listeners ask, Is this not Joseph’s son? In other words, “we know your dad. We knew you as a kid. Who do you think you are?” It gets to an even lower point as Jesus speaks truth to those assembled. This gradient gets so low, so dismal, they drive Jesus out of town to a nearby cliff to silence him. Placed in the Church calendar in Epiphany, the coming of Jesus into the world, and just before Lent, where we observe Jesus’ passion and death, this gradient seems to reflect both, the light of Epiphany and absorb the darkness of Lent.
 
In Luke’s writing, he repeatedly makes clear that Jesus is not a rebel; Jesus lives and works within his tradition. He regularly attends the Synagogue and participates as all male members were permitted, by reading Scripture and commenting.
 
Today’s lesson is a continuation of last week’s reading, in which Jesus went to the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth. He was handed a scroll, and stood to read. “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 let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Jesus then rolled up the scroll and sat down to comment. Everybody was fixed on Jesus when he said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” The last sentence of last week’s Gospel, and the first sentence of this week’s lesson tells everyone that he understands himself as having received God’s Spirit. Jesus is fulfilling prophecy. Jesus is acknowledging that God is there—that Jesus is there—for all people, not just a select few.
 
And here is where it begins to get dicey. The high regard and kindness shown for his gracious words now turn to cynical questioning, ‘Wasn’t that the kid that lived in our neighborhood? Didn’t he work in his dad’s carpentry shop?’ Some had been hearing about miracles he performed in Capernaum. “Well, let’s see some miracles now, Jesus! If you performed miracles for Jews and for the gentiles in Capernaum, you will surely perform for us now, won’t you?” If Jesus was not a rebel, neither was he a puppet-on-a-string! Jesus doesn’t provide the implied proof of his divinity by performing the requested miracles, but he does point to two Old Testament/Hebrew Bible stories—both which defend his ministry to outsiders. In both stories (taken from the Book of Kings), prophets in Israel took God’s favor to non-Jewish people. This is NOT what these listeners wanted to hear. To be indicted by their own Scripture was too much—a step too far! Their selfish understanding was that Jesus was only there for themselves. In anger the Nazarenes expel and want to kill Jesus.[1] This crowd, now acting like a mob, force Jesus out of town, pressing him to a cliff where they will throw him off. This will be the end of this problem messenger. But, somehow, through God’s Grace, Jesus “passes through the midst of them and went on his way.”
 
Working through his tradition, he reaches out to everyone, gentile or Jew, the sick, the weak, the poor, the marginalized, women, criminals, the broken, the blind and lame, even the dead, and gave them full life! And because he didn’t play by the established rules of restricting his generosity to the select, they sought to kill him. But, he “passed through the midst of them and went on his way.”
 
In this Gospel story, we have an encapsulated version of the story of Jesus’ ministry. Ultimately, Jesus will be lifted up on a donkey to ride a palm strewn path. Those around him hail him, proclaiming “Hosanna!” Similar to how today’s story quickly fades from high point to low point, Jesus ultimately is arrested, tortured and nailed to a cross. And yet, ultimately, dead on a cross, dead three days in a tomb, again, by God’s Grace, Jesus still passes through the midst of us by his resurrection. Jesus continues on his way to affect us, to save us, and to transform our lives—even 2000 years later. In miniature, the story of Jesus is told here: the nature of his ministry of love and inclusion, rejection by his own people, the threat of death—which, in the ultimate story is his death, and then Jesus’ transition from death to glory, and beyond.
 
It is a halting, sobering lesson to think about: Jesus paid a price for loving—not for hating, but for loving. In our Epistle lesson, love is clearly defined when we are told that “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in truth.” … If we do not have love, we are only making noise when we speak. And, even if we have all kinds of powers, but do not have love, we are nothing. These verses from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians was destined to be read at wedding celebrations for more than 2,000 years now. Love between two people is (hopefully!) the focus of that occasion. And yet, these verses are so much more. They are the guiding light of our faith. They are words that we can dwell on daily to form ourselves in the image of Jesus. These are words that, as a 17-year-old boy, I copied down, folded the paper and carried it in my first billfold for more than a few years. These verses call us to give our lives over to loving. These verses do not suggest that we offer “some love,” such as “Love God some of the time or with some of your heart.” Nor does it say love some of your neighbors, or only the parts of your neighbors who look like you or remind you of yourself.” Jesus commands us—not invites or asks, but commands us to, “Love God; love our neighbors, and as our beloved Presiding Bishop Michael Curry says, “…and while you’re at it, you might as well go ahead and love yourselves!”
 
At the core of our faith is Love. If we are to call ourselves “Christ followers,” we have to listen to this command and take it seriously! If I’ve lulled you nearly to sleep, now is the time to wake up and hear this: we must grow in love! The world is in desperate need of love and of people who can show love to others. In our cowboy culture of rugged individualism, we may be under the mistaken idea that to show love is a weakness. It is not. Showing love is a strength. What better example of a strong person do we have than Jesus, and his mission was to show love at every turn. The love he showed in today’s Gospel lesson got him run out of town to a nearby cliff. Jesus was not naïve! He surely knew what was coming when he preached inclusion and identified God as loving everyone! Jesus was strong enough in his love that he could stand alone, stand against the popular culture—not so much to oppose them as to do what God asked him to do.
 
So, it’s worth asking ourselves, “How am I doing with this effort of loving God, of loving others, of loving myself?” If I am making Jesus a primary life focus—of presenting Christ to the world—how am I doing with this Christ Project? Through our love, are we contributing to the growth and health of the Body of Christ, or are we diminishing Christ’s continued presence on earth through my passivities or sinful actions?
 
There is a choice to be made…and there is not much grey area involved. Either we are embracing and living what Jesus tells us, or we are rejecting Jesus in favor of something else. We must be a people who uphold the love, forgiveness, care and compassion for others that Jesus teaches, or else we must recognize ourselves as in the company of those who are driving Jesus out of the town of our lives and destroying the truth of Jesus. Jesus offers us a very different kind of life than the struggle we all are familiar with. I ask that you will pray with me every day in this upcoming week that we, this community of faith, will surrender to God’s love for us, pray to recognize this love in our day-to-day interactions, and in turn, take action to offer this love to others.
 
Amen.


[1] Harper’s Bible Commentary

This is Our Story


February 4 is the Feast Day of Cornelius the Centurion.  Cornelius represents the very epicenter of the Epiphany season, since he was the first Gentile to be baptized.  The Book of Acts (10:1 - 11:18) describes Cornelius as a God-fearing man who prayed frequently, performed good works, and gave alms to the poor.  Cornelius receives a vision in which God’s angel informs him that his prayers have been answered, and he is instructed to send men to Joppa where they will find the apostle Peter residing with a tanner named Simon.  About this time, Peter is told in a trance that, “What God has made clean, you must not profane.”  Peter interprets this vision that God wishes him also to preach to the Gentiles.  Cornelius’ men find Peter, and Peter accompanies them back to Caesarea.  Peter and Cornelius share their visions, and Peter instructs Cornelius in Jesus’ ministry.  Subsequently, the Holy Spirit descends on the gathering, and Cornelius and his household speak in tongues.  Peter then commands that Cornelius and his household be baptized.  The reception of Cornelius sparked a conversation among Christian leaders that culminated in Gentiles being allowed to become Christians without being circumcised.

~Dr. Gil Haas, Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

If you have a liturgical question or an inquiry about anything that transpires during or around our worship service, please forward the question you would like researched to: gghaas@aol.com, or drop the question in the offering basin. Please note whether we can credit you as the source of the question.