October 2013
St. Mark’s News Volume 16/Issue 9
From the Assistant Rector As we approach Fall’s arrival and (hopefully) cooler weather, St. Mark’s will be absolutely full of celebrations: weddings and baptisms, Mission & Ministry meals, and the big Halloween Party. There is another celebration, worthy of mention: on November 1, All Saints’ Day, there will be a service on the Meditation Trail at 6:30 p.m. The Feast of All Saints is a celebration of our brothers and sisters who have died and now find themselves in the pure presence of the Trinity in Heaven. We remember and honor their lives which are bound with Christ’s forever, saints both past and present feasting at His heavenly banquet. The Gospel readings on Sunday mornings have been preparing us for such a feast. Among some rather stark passages in Luke, we are privy to lessons about such a heavenly feast which many of our loved ones now enjoy. One of Luke’s most beloved accounts of celebration is found in Chapter 15, the Parable of the Prodigal Son, a story I find apropos as we approach All Saints’ Day. The parable begins somewhat starkly: “Jesus said, ‘There was a man with two sons….’” However, the man immediately loses the youngest son who is tired of home and longing for new life, set on sowing his wilds oats. Unfortunately, and in short order, the money runs out and the younger son has what one might call a crisis of faith. He finds himself with no money, starving, and willing to do anything for food. So destitute, he hires himself out, the text says, caring for pigs (hinting of how far away from his father’s home he really is). I picture hollow eyes and a growling stomach as he stares at the pigs’ slop. Through fast living and an untimely famine he has no inheritance left; his life is gone.
In this Issue From the Assistant Rector .. 1 Vestry Highlights................. 2 Outreach ............................. 3 Parish Life........................... 3 Musical Notes ..................... 6 Christian Formation ............ 7 Celebrations ....................... 9 Caffeine Ministry ............... 10 ROTA................................ 12
And then “he comes to himself” (Luke 15:17). He decides that he is, at the very least, worthy to grovel at his father’s feet—even if he is to serve as his father’s slave, at least he would be home, the place for which his heart yearns. So off he goes. Almost defying human vision, being still far off in the distance, the text makes a dramatic unveiling, “His father saw him and was filled with compassion.” The big reveal…his father was looking for him! And then runs to him! The old man runs to greet his delinquent son (given the circumstances it should have been the son running to his father) and throws his arms around his son. If you remember the surrounding passages and how harshly Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God, you would be expecting a different ending. Maybe the audience would expect the father to accept the son’s
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