Chronicles of Canterbury
the
Chronicles of Canterbury january 2020
From the Rector
Don’t Go Back To Herod This Epiphany
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nly two of the four gospels — Matthew and Luke — talk about the events surrounding the birth of Jesus.Luke talks about angels and shepherds and all of what happened regarding an inn and a manger, etc. Matthew skips all of that and talks about the arrival of the three wise men from the east — following a star — and bearing gifts. Contrary to legend, we don’t know where the wise men came from, what their names were, or how many of them there were. Only tradition tells us these things. And tradition varies. In the West, their names are Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. In the Ethiopian Church they call them Hor, Karsudan, and Basanater. In Armenia, its Kagbha, Badadakharida and Badadilma. Syrian Christians call them Larvandad, Gushnasaph and Hormisdas.
Chinese Christians believe that one of the wise men was from China – perhaps his name was Liu Shang, chief astrologer in the Han dynasty, from the time Jesus was born. Liu Shang discovered a new star the Chinese call the “King Star.” Notably, Liu Shang disappeared from the emperor’s court for two years after he discovered the King Star. Chinese Christians argue that he took the Silk Road west to Bethlehem. Marco Polo claims to have seen the tomb of the magi in the Persian city of Saba in 1270. Who knows? But the Epiphany Gospel story is not so much about the Magi as it is about all seekers after God from everywhere on Earth. We don’t know who the Magi really were, but we know who they represent is you and me. We are seekers after God, too, right? And I believe that like them, you and I have been made to know by Grace where the King of Love is – and he’s in our See RECTOR on page 12
what’s inside 2 The Beloved Community 3 Children’s Ministry Update 4 Annual Fund
St. Michael’s Provides Respite from the Real World
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hat brought you to St. Michael’s? What brought you here the first time you came?
9 OWLS
This morning, what brought you here? It’s cold, almost certainly you or someone in your household considered staying home. Or, if your house is like mine, someone misplaced their shoes, or had outgrown them in a week, making it hard to get out the door.
10 Briefly
What brought you here, anyway?
5 Deborah from the Bible 7 From the Jr. Warden 8 Belize Mission 2020
11 Lifelong Disciple
It has been one of the great privileges of my life to serve as your senior warden. I am here to update you on the state of the church in 2019. To do that, I’d like to start by telling you what brings me to St. Michael’s week after week. You don’t need me to tell you that the world is broken.
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You see it every day and you feel it, too. But I’m a journalist, and it’s sort of an occupational hazard, so I’m going to tell you. The world is broken. I mean, I feel like it’s a full-time job just to keep up with the news, and I get paid to keep up with the news. I work for The Wall Street Journal as a national reporter. I cover the South, or, as I tell everyone in New York, “the real world.” I cover economics and politics, and a lot of breaking news. Which means I end up covering a lot of disasters, natural and man-made. The natural ones are easier. At least they make sense. See SENIOR WARDEN 6 on page