Rector's Articles
"Giving is Receiving"
The Rev. Bernie Schroeder
"For it is in the giving that we receive." This line from A Prayer attributed to St. Francis (BCP 833) says it all. When we give, we receive. The more we give, the more we receive. And so it is with stewardship.
This is the time of year when your clergy, Vestry and church leaders ask for your support to maintain and improve the programs and property of the church. My plea to you this year is that you make your pledge a very personal and prayerful decision with an eye to making that pledge a reflection of your relationship with God.
When I officiate on Sundays, I use the Offertory Sentence, "Offer unto God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and make good your vows to the Most High" (Psalm 50:14). This places your offering directly in response to your devotion to God and your desire to see his Kingdom grow. St. Patrick's is in the forefront of expanding God's Kingdom here in the Northern Virginia and your financial support makes it so. I hope that you will take some quiet time to pray and meditate about your pledge: Is it truly reflective of my relationship with God? Is it enough? How will I feel after I make this pledge? Closer to God or more removed from God? It does not matter what the person in the pew next to you gives or the fact that the parish may have a (restricted) endowment. It is not about what you observe outside of yourself; it's about what you observe inside of yourself, in your heart.
While some say that you should give to your church until it hurts, I believe that you should give to your church until it feels good. Please pray the Prayer attributed to St. Francis several times over several weeks before you make your pledge decision. I pray that this will be a powerful and fruitful exercise for you.
The Rev. Bernie Schroeder
"For it is in the giving that we receive." This line from A Prayer attributed to St. Francis (BCP 833) says it all. When we give, we receive. The more we give, the more we receive. And so it is with stewardship.
This is the time of year when your clergy, Vestry and church leaders ask for your support to maintain and improve the programs and property of the church. My plea to you this year is that you make your pledge a very personal and prayerful decision with an eye to making that pledge a reflection of your relationship with God.
When I officiate on Sundays, I use the Offertory Sentence, "Offer unto God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and make good your vows to the Most High" (Psalm 50:14). This places your offering directly in response to your devotion to God and your desire to see his Kingdom grow. St. Patrick's is in the forefront of expanding God's Kingdom here in the Northern Virginia and your financial support makes it so. I hope that you will take some quiet time to pray and meditate about your pledge: Is it truly reflective of my relationship with God? Is it enough? How will I feel after I make this pledge? Closer to God or more removed from God? It does not matter what the person in the pew next to you gives or the fact that the parish may have a (restricted) endowment. It is not about what you observe outside of yourself; it's about what you observe inside of yourself, in your heart.
While some say that you should give to your church until it hurts, I believe that you should give to your church until it feels good. Please pray the Prayer attributed to St. Francis several times over several weeks before you make your pledge decision. I pray that this will be a powerful and fruitful exercise for you.
A Prayer attributed to St. Francis
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is despair, hope; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in the giving that we receive; it is in the pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
"The Bread of Life"
The Rev. Bernie Schroeder
Over several Sundays in August, the Gospel of John spoke of the Bread of Life. We know that Jesus instituted the concept of the bread being his body and the wine being his blood during the Passover Meal that is known as The Last Supper. This is a little surprising from John because he does not reference the Last Supper in his Gospel, just a he doesn't reference the Virgin Birth. Still, he quotes Jesus directly about the bread and wine as His Body and Blood.
Jesus himself refers to the Exodus passage wherein the Israelites received "manna" (bread) from heaven. Remember that God only gave enough manna for one day at a time so that he could test the faith of the Israelites ("Give us this day, our daily bread.") There is also the famous story in Matthew about the feeding of the 5,000 with just two fish and five loaves of bread. In ancient times, bread was a staple and necessary for the sustenance of life. Jesus used that analogy to teach us how to "feed" our spirit with the bread of life that is his body.
So while we eat bread and other food on a daily basis to sustain our physical bodies, we also eat the bread of life (His Body) at the Holy Eucharist to feed our souls, along with wine, His Blood. For Episcopalians, the Eucharist is core act of our faith. Without it, our souls would "starve" and we would be nothing but fodder for the Devil. We must be as diligent in feeding our souls as we are about feeding our bodies.
Some believe, erroneously, that the bread and wine of the Eucharist actually becomes flesh and blood (transubstantiation). Article XXVIII of the Articles of Faith (in the back of the Book of Common Prayer) clearly states: "Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of the Bread and Wine) in the Supper of the Lord cannot be proved by Holy Writ; but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions. The Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the Body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper [Holy Eucharist], is faith."
The Bread and Wine of the Eucharist does not change is physical manner but becomes the Body and Blood of Christ because Jesus said it was his body and blood - their consumption as his Body and Blood is an act of faith.
The Rev. Bernie Schroeder
Over several Sundays in August, the Gospel of John spoke of the Bread of Life. We know that Jesus instituted the concept of the bread being his body and the wine being his blood during the Passover Meal that is known as The Last Supper. This is a little surprising from John because he does not reference the Last Supper in his Gospel, just a he doesn't reference the Virgin Birth. Still, he quotes Jesus directly about the bread and wine as His Body and Blood.
Jesus himself refers to the Exodus passage wherein the Israelites received "manna" (bread) from heaven. Remember that God only gave enough manna for one day at a time so that he could test the faith of the Israelites ("Give us this day, our daily bread.") There is also the famous story in Matthew about the feeding of the 5,000 with just two fish and five loaves of bread. In ancient times, bread was a staple and necessary for the sustenance of life. Jesus used that analogy to teach us how to "feed" our spirit with the bread of life that is his body.
So while we eat bread and other food on a daily basis to sustain our physical bodies, we also eat the bread of life (His Body) at the Holy Eucharist to feed our souls, along with wine, His Blood. For Episcopalians, the Eucharist is core act of our faith. Without it, our souls would "starve" and we would be nothing but fodder for the Devil. We must be as diligent in feeding our souls as we are about feeding our bodies.
Some believe, erroneously, that the bread and wine of the Eucharist actually becomes flesh and blood (transubstantiation). Article XXVIII of the Articles of Faith (in the back of the Book of Common Prayer) clearly states: "Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of the Bread and Wine) in the Supper of the Lord cannot be proved by Holy Writ; but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions. The Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the Body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper [Holy Eucharist], is faith."
The Bread and Wine of the Eucharist does not change is physical manner but becomes the Body and Blood of Christ because Jesus said it was his body and blood - their consumption as his Body and Blood is an act of faith.