Fr. Jack's Blog

Fr Jack Notes on Lazarus

Published on September 26, 2010 by Fr Jack Tench

St. Lazarus:  In medieval Europe, the people with leprosy (Hansen's Disease) were cared for by monks and nuns, who took care of everybody – the sick, social rejects, escaped royals, orphans, and children left on their doorsteps. The places of care for lepers were often called the lazar.  Lazarus, from the Rich Man and Lazarus Parable, became their patron saint.  Sometimes even knights, who had leprosy themselves, would set up care centers for other lepers. If you have ever read the Brother Cadfael novels or seen the BBC version of these stories, the lazars are part of some of the stories.
            St. Michael and All Angels: This festival day is September 29, and is called Michaelmas (Mass of Michael, just like Christ-Mass, Candlemas, and so on).  In many English universities and in Anglican seminaries, the fall term (semester) is called Michaelmas Term.  Angels are numbered in the tens of thousands, and bring messages from the Lord to us, worship the Lord in heaven, and protect us from harm. The angels with names are the Archangels – Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel. “Therefore with angels and archangels and the whole company of heaven...”! Angels are real, and they are not little cute things on greeting cards or figurines. Rather, they are warriors in the full armor of spiritual warfare. In the Nativity narratives in Luke (ch. 1-2) an angel speaks to Zechariah in the Temple, Gabriel asks Mary to be the Tabernacle of God in this world (Annunciation), angels sing at the birth of Jesus (the Nativity), angels speak to Joseph in four dreams of a critical nature, angels minister to Jesus in the Wilderness Temptations, and on and on.
            Some angels rejected the presence of God, and are called fallen angels or demons, and the war in heaven is described in the Apocalypse and the Book of the Revelation – and God's Holy Angels figure mightily in this revelation of worship in heaven and the victory of Christ on the Holy Cross.
“For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.”  Ps. 91:11
 

1 comments

Notes from Fr Jack

Published on August 08, 2010 by Fr Jack Tench

This past Thursday, August 6, was the Feast of the Transfiguration.  This feast day celebrates the remarkable event, narrated in Matthew, Mark and Luke, when the divinity of Christ was shown to three of the apostles – Peter, James and John. Transfiguration is an incarnation feast, along with the Annunciation, Nativity, Holy Name, Epiphany and Presentation of Christ in the Temple.  The Lord God, Ruler of the universe, has come among us – in the flesh – incarnate.  This is a principle doctrine and experience of the faithful in Christ, with the main body of the Nicene Creed taken up with this glorious reality. We hear the Gospel narrative of the Transfiguration of Christ on the last Sunday of the Epiphany season, which season is a celebration of the Lord's manifestation to all humanity; the season of mission, the season of light.  John 1:1-14 is one of the great incarnation texts, and most priests of an earlier generation recited this text at the end of each Eucharist, out loud or sotto voce.  “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” August 11 is also St. Clare of Assisi, for whom the city of Santa Clara is named; Clare worked with St. Francis of Assisi, and founded the Poor Clares, a contemplative religious order.   d. 1253

0 comments

St James Day

Published on July 25, 2010 by Fr Jack Tench

St. James Day:  Today is the day we honor St. James the Apostle, son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of John the Apostle.  Sons of Thunder!

The window at St. Andrew's shows some symbols of St. James – the sword because he was martyred by the sword (Acts 12:1-2) and the shell, which has become part of a legend about St. James.  James was probably under 20 years of age when Jesus called him to be an apostle, and along with Peter and John was part of the leadership team within the Twelve, and witness to many extraordinary events.  His death under King Herod was about 10 years after the Resurrection of Christ, so he was probably still in his late 20's.  James was a Jew, Jaakov ben-Zebdi.  He is the patron saint of Spain, and therefore of the Spanish Empire and the shell is a common symbol for him in the old missions of California and elsewhere.  St. James was called upon during wars in which Spain was involved, and he is called Matamoros because he inspired the Spanish to kill off the Moors who occupied Spain for so long.

Santiago (St. James in Spanish) Compostela is one of the major shrines of Europe, and it is located in the far northwest of Spain in the area called Galicia.  Only Rome and Jerusalem were more important pilgrimage sites during the Middle Ages, and there has been a great revival of both religious and non-religious pilgrims on the Way to Santiago -  125,000 people walked the Way last year, and evangelical outfits like Campus Crusade have set up way stations along the Way.  James, Giacomo, Jacques all remain popular male first names, and there are many parishes named for St. James, as well as cities such as Santiago, the capital of Chile.

James was probably a relative of our Lord's.  The recent novels of Anne Rice are very good, the first one in this series being “Christ the Lord”  and she gives a wonderful picture of the Palestine of our Lord's youth and all his relatives.  Anne Rice has been well-known as a writer of fantasy novels with fanciful warlocks and such, but a few years ago she had an enthusiastic conversion to the faith of her childhood as a born-again Christian in the Catholic Church – her testimony is included in “Christ the Lord”  Her second book in this series is “The Road to Cana.”

 

0 comments

Notes from Fr. Jack

Published on July 11, 2010 by Fr Jack Tench

NOTES FROM FR. JACK

St. Benedict:  Today is St. Benedict’s Day.  Benedict was the Christian who launched western monasticism and wrote a Rule that is observed by many Christian monks and nuns throughout the world.  The closest Benedictine monastery in San Diego County is just east of Oceanside, not far from the mission in that area – Prince of Peace Abbey.  If you are in that area, stop and see their beautiful chapel.  Daily mass at 11 a.m., Vespers at 5:00 p.m.

There are Anglican Benedictines in England and there is a Priory in Three Rivers, MI, called St. Gregory's.  Benedictines are prayer warriors, scholars, and students of worship, and had a lot to do with liturgical renewal in the liturgical churches.  If you've read the Brother Cadfael novels or seen them on a TV series, you know something about the Benedictines.

Heifer International:  Some of you may be familiar with this remarkable ministry.  Their periodical “World Ark” is quite unique – regular articles on food, farming, animal husbandry, and in the current summer issue – on building bamboo bikes, artichokes, pawpaw (their nutritional value exceeds that of apples, peaches, grapes, etc) some new thoughts about bees and the serious concern about their demise and one possible solution.

There are great opportunities through Heifer International to give gifts to friends and family with real meaning – I gave Joan a goat for Christmas one year!  Of course, we didn't actually get a goat, but rather, through the offering of some modest amount of money, we provided a poor family with an animal which can provide so much for them in daily nutrition.

We have given family members lambs, chickens and so forth – providing families in poverty with great riches. Website:  heifer.org

This will give you their purpose statement, goals, projects, access to their publications and gift catalog.  If you are not an internet user, their phone # is 1-888-548-6437.  Heifer International is a Christian ministry with a long-time good reputation.

0 comments