St. Mark's News January 2017

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January 2017

St. Mark’s News Volume 21/Issue 1

From the Rector Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth: through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen (The Collect for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, BCP p. 215) This Collect, which we will pray on January 15, reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world, and that those of us who are his followers are meant to shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory. On January 1 we will hear The Prologue to the Gospel of John: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. From the feast of the Epiphany (January 6) until Ash Wednesday (March 1) we will be in this season of Epiphany, this season of light. 2015 had seemed like a dark year, In this Issue because of terrorist attacks abroad and domestically. But 2016 seemed to be even darker: the Presidential campaigning and election were From the Rector ......................... 1 toxic; there were more terrorist attacks (Istanbul Airport, Bastille Day Vestry Highlights ........................ 2 Adult Formation & Jan. Events ... 3 attack in Nice, Brussels, and Jakarta); there were devastating photos of New Vestry Members ................. 4 the siege of Aleppo; there were police killings of unarmed men, and Parish Life .................................. 5 killings of police officers; Dylann Roof killed nine African Americans Caffeine Ministry ........................ 7 gathered for Bible Study in a South Carolina church; 49 people were Christian Formation .................... 9 killed and 53 wounded in the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando; the Celebrations ............................. 11 Zika virus was linked to microcephaly in newborns; and there were ROTA ....................................... 12 numerous deaths of admired and gifted people (Muhammad Ali, Prince, Patty Duke, Gene Wilder, David Bowie, Elie Weisel, Arnold Palmer, Harper Lee, John Glenn, Leonard Cohen, Nancy Reagan, Gwen Ifill….to name only a handful). So yes, at the beginning of this New Year and during this season of Epiphany we need to be reminded again that Jesus is the light of the world and that he is the light that shines in the darkness and that darkness has not, and will not, overcome that light. At the beginning of this New Year and during this season of Epiphany we need to be reminded again that as God’s people we are meant to shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory: both individually and as a community of faith. My own resolution for this new year is the same one I made (not entirely successfully I am sorry to admit) last year, and that is to ask again how I can best live as a “child of the light.” I am again asking how can I live in such a way that speaks of light and hope? One way is certainly to remember what St. Paul wrote to the Philippians: Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing,

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