Feb. 26, 2017 (full size gallery)
The pictures show blooms that are at least 3 weeks ahead of schedule. February is usually the third coldest month of the year, falling behind December and January. One theory is that the arctic’s polar vortex — a low-pressure system that spins frigid air counterclockwise around the North Pole — has not ventured beyond its northerly home into the United States, lowering temperatures. Thus we are decidedly warmer. The pictures show the tulip poplar blooming this year it bloomed around Feb 23. Last year it bloomed for Sunday, March 20.
Wonderful weather in the 50’s under abundant sunshine. The daffodils were out as well as the purple flowers on fields around Port Royal. The tulip poplar was about half out.
We had two services – only 5 in attendance for 9am Holy Eucharist Rite 1 but 35 for 11am Morning Prayer. We had a new visitor Felicia who grew up at St. Peter’s with a new baby. Catherine provided an umbrella from General Convention to our outgoing and incoming ECW leaders. Birthdays were celebrated for Edgar and Barbara.
This week Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on March 1. Our service is at 7pm. The homepage this week has some articles but most of our Lent related material is at Lent at St. Peter’s 2017. This portion of the website will change during Lent so come back. Our Lenten calendar provides daily scriptures, meditations ane information about the saints on a particular day
Today’s scriptures celebrate the revelation of God’s glory. In Exodus, Moses encounters God on Mount Sinai. Peter testifies to the amazing events of Jesus’ glorious transfiguration.
In today’s gospel, three of Jesus’ disciples witness Jesus’ radiance and hear the voice of God. Matthew’s account, marked by allusions to Moses’ own mountain top encounter with God, links the transfiguration to the final coming of the Messiah as prefigured in the Church. The words from God also echo the words from the Baptism of Jesus in the first Sunday after the Epiphany. The difference is the addition "Listen to Him." It may also mean to continue to follow. Just as Moses was sent back to a recalcitrant people, so the disciples trudged down the mountain. There they would confront the fractious crowd and a demon-possessed boy whom the other disciples could not cure because of their lack of faith.
As Matthew tells it, Jesus’ transfiguration is primarily a manifestation of who Jesus really is. The promise of his return receives the beginning of its fulfillment in the event of Jesus’ death, resurrection and appearance to the disciples.
Peter, overwhelmed by the presence of those most intimately acquainted with God’s ways—Moses and Elijah—wishes to enshrine the three and thus capture the revelation. But the voice from heaven redirects their attention to a living, breathing, active person—Jesus. Relationship with God cannot be a static experience of localized worship, but must be as dynamic as attending to the voice of One they love. Moses and Elijah vanish, for the law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah) have been fulfilled in what Jesus has done, and Jesus alone remains with them always.
The sermon provided "five reasons why this story is helpful to us, the present day disciples."
"First of all, Peter, James and John had to be willing to go with Jesus up the high mountain alone, leaving their companions, the other disciples, behind. The disciples who waited at the foot of the mountain also had trust and faith in Jesus, because they simply waited for him to return.So we can learn from this beginning of the story that we too can trust and have faith, not only to follow Jesus into unusual places, but also simply to wait on Jesus to return
"Second, this story is a reminder that living in the present moment is one of the best ways we can be open to God at work in our lives. We get tempted to hold certain moments or times of our lives and enshrine them.
"Third—God said, “This is my Son, the beloved! With him I am well pleased! Listen to him!” This statement of God’s is a pretty clear cut helpful part of the story. Listen to Jesus, God tells us! Jesus does not say that the path of discipleship will ever be easy, that we will be spared pain, and in fact the path of discipleship can bring pain! ? The transfiguration story reminds us that in this death dealing quicksand of information, the lifegiving teachings of Jesus will guide us in the paths that God wants us to go.
"Fourth, the disciples were overwhelmed with fear and awe because of what they had just experienced. Peter is a great example of someone who did just that—impetuously living and sinning, even as he tried to live a life of discipleship. Fear of what people will think or say about us might keep us from doing some life giving thing God is calling us to do. Fear might hold us back from taking the risk of loving our enemies, or seeking justice for the oppressed. Fear is bondage. Fear is not being able to act
"Here’s one last lesson for us as disciples—Jesus told Peter, James and John to tell no one about the vision until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead. We must remember that all of these stories about Jesus as the Son of God are not complete unless we hear them in the context of the resurrection. And our lives are not complete either, until we put our own stories into the context of the resurrection—God desires new life and resurrection for all of us—but God will never force us to receive new