December

Volume 25                                   December 2013                                           No. 12

               

CALAMITY AS AN AID TO PREPARATION

The stories of the hellish situation in the Philippines are still coming in, as people struggle to cope with the devastation left in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan.  There are stories of the sight and stench of dead bodies, of untold thousands of people awaiting shipments of food and water, of airlifts to locations of refuge.  Our LCMS response team is on the ground bringing relief as well, gathered from congregations large and small around our country. 

And just as the news was settling in, mammoth tornados swept across the Midwest on Sunday the 17^th of November.  Closest to us among those affected are the communities of Washington and Pekin, to which I’ll be continuing to offer support and supplies directly from our congregation—a coordinating center has been set up at St. Peter’s in East Peoria. Although the disaster in our backyard is nothing like the unspeakable losses in the Philippines, nevertheless for those who have lost their homes in Washington, the thought that it could have been worse is hardly consoling.

            These kinds of events are sobering to all of us; but according to the faith, they are meant to serve that very purpose.  The psalmist declares, “Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now have I kept Thy word . . . It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes (Psalm 119:67,71).

Why do these things happen?  In short, to show us in no uncertain terms that we live in a fallen world that is sorely in need of its Redeemer.  This world is not what it is supposed to be, and we await its restoration to perfection on the day of Christ’s return.

This brings me to the matter of Advent, which fills nearly all the month of December.  Advent means “coming,” and is both a time of awaiting Christmas and, perhaps more so, a time of preparation for Jesus’ return in glory.  The calamities that we see in the world and in our own lives can actually serve to help us await and prepare, if they are mixed together with the word of God.

Thanksgiving will have more meaning for people who know these things; so will Christmas, I expect.  For even the gatherings of families and friends, and the love shared there, as important as those things are to us, cannot be compared with the surpassing love of God in Jesus our Lord.  It is love that moves him to show us in sometimes very painful ways what we need to remember, although it breaks His heart more than it does ours to see the devastation and loss people must suffer.  But there is no other way. 

Therefore, beloved, (as the Apostle says), do not despise the chastening of the Lord, which is meant for your good.  As our fathers used to chasten us for our good, so our heavenly Father has not deserted us, but would have all come to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ; and calamity, as troublesome as it can be, has a way of helping toward that end.

+ Pastor Eckardt

Epiphany Vespers on Sunday Night, January 5^th; Epiphany Mass and Retreat the Next Day

Our annual winter Vespers is scheduled for Sunday night, January 5^th, 2013, at 7 pm. This is the Eve of Epiphany.

It will be followed by our traditional wine-and-cheese reception, another annual tradition.  Then on Monday January 6^th, we’ll have a Day of Theological Reflection, beginning with Epiphany Mass at 9:00 a.m.  This will be our fifteenth retreat in the Theological Reflection series, and is entitled,

st. luke’s subtle confessions of Jesus’ divinity

This retreat will focus on several passages in the Gospel according to St. Luke that subtly show the divinity of Jesus.  While the overt references to Jesus in this Gospel are hard to miss, the subtle ones provide further insight into this evangelist’s keen awareness of who Jesus is.

           

Thanksgiving Observed Wednesday Evening Before

As is our custom, we will celebrate Thanksgiving at Wednesday mass the night before (November 27^th) at 7 pm

First Tuesday Meetings Dec. 3

On Tuesday, December 3^rd, Altar Guild meets as usual at 6 pm, and Elders at 7:30 pm.  Between them we will hold vespers at 6:45 pm.  All members are invited to attend. 

Special Masses Wednesdays

St. Nicholas’ Day will be observed Wednesday, December 4^th  (transf., Dec. 6) at our 7 p.m. mass. 

St. Lucia’s Day will be observed Wednesday, December 11^th  (transf., Dec. 13) at our 7 p.m. mass. 

St. Thomas’ Day will be observed Wednesday, December 18^th  (transf., Dec. 21) at our 7 p.m. mass. 

December Birthdays

12/10 Isaiah Madsen

12/11 Chris Harden

12/13 Michael Eckardt

12/13 Lynn Woller

12/20 Peter Eckardt

12/20 Rachel Rowe

12/25 Robert Melchin

December Anniversaries None

 

December Ushers

Allan Kraklow,            Steve Kraklow, Tom Wells.

                       

Shut ins

Mary Hamilton at home; Anna Baker at home; Mirilda Greiert at Kewanee Care; Emmy Wear at Williamsfield Home in Williamsfield.

Choir Rehearsals in December

No choir rehearsal on December 4^th (JOTS combo is playing after mass at the Boss center); Choir rehearses on the 11^th; on the 18^th is caroling (see below).

Carolling December 18th

Let’s go caroling on Wednesday, December 18^th, after mass.  We’ll plan to go to some members’ homes, and/or nursing homes, as time permits.  This will replace choir rehearsal that night (Choir members, we’ll practice while caroling, but others, join us!)

In Our Prayers

In addition to our shut-ins, our current list of prayer intentions at mass includes the names on the lists here following.  Anyone wishing to update the lest by addition or subtraction, please inform the pastor.

Sick or infirm:

in our parish:

Ann Baker, Sara Bidni, Emilie Ricknell, Linda Rowe, Sharon Hartz, John Sovanski, Jean Russell

And all of our shut-ins.

And also:

David Dakin [re Harris]

Anna Rutowicz [re Harris]

Julie Ross [Svetlana Meaker’s daughter, cancer]

Caleb Cleaver [Ricknell]

Christian Johnson [re Kemerlings]

Madison Lindsay [re Andersons]

Tom Fornoff [Jean Russell’s brother-in-law]

Rev. Don Chambers [Manito]

Rev. Brian Feicho [E. St. Louis]

Stacie Liese [wife of Rev. Michael Liese]

Michelle Steuber [re Fischer]

Marilyn Johnson [relative of the Kemerlings]

Jill Matchett [re Shreck]

Michele Dador [friend of Kemerlings]

Rick Nelson [Ricknells’ son-in-law]

Tammy Johnson [Kemerlings’ daughter]

Christopher Krueger, undergoing tests,

Anthony Strand, friend of Murphys, who has cancer

In the military:

John Eckardt

Donny Appleman [re Ricknell]

Thomas Kim [re Shreck]

Jaclyn Harden Alvarez

Michael Creech

and Richard Heiden [re Eckardt]

in trouble:

any unborn children in danger of abortion

Those suffering persecution in Egypt, Nigeria, Eritrea, Guinea, Khazakstan, Pakistan, Iran, Syria, China, the Philippines, Laos, Vietnam, North Korea, and elsewhere.

Here are some details:

North Korea. Christians were among a group of 80 North Koreans who were executed by firing squad on Sunday, Nov. 3, according to a report in the South Korean daily, JoongAng Ilbo. Those put to death also included North Koreans accused of watching South Korean DVDs that had been smuggled into the North, or of distributing pornography. The ruling Kim family regime controls every aspect of citizens' lives, including what information reaches them from the world outside North Korea's borders. Bibles, foreign DVDs, the Internet, cellphones that can make international calls—all are banned.

The executions were public and took place in seven cities across the country, according to the JoongAng Ilbo. In the port city of Wonsan, "eight people were tied to a stake at a local stadium, had their heads covered with white sacks and were shot with a machine gun." Ten thousand spectators, including children, were forced to witness the executions.

The families of the victims were dispatched to political prison camps, the paper also reported—a move in keeping with the regime's long-standing policy of punishing three generations of a family for one member's transgression. Most inmates do not survive long in North Korea's prison camps.

- Melanie Kirkpatrick, The Wall Street Journal

 

Altar Guild Notes

Advent begins the first Sunday in December. The four Advent Sundays’ color is violet.  If roses are obtained, they may be placed on the Third Sunday in Advent, December 15^th.

St. Nicholas’ Day will be observed Wednesday evening, November 4^th, at 7.  Color remains violet (Third Class Feast).

St. Lucy’s Day will be observed on Wednesday, December 11^th, at 7.  Color is violet. (Third Class Feast)

St. Thomas’ Day will be observed on Wednesday, December 18^th, at 7.  Color is red.

The three Christ Masses will be held as usual, 7 pm Christmas Eve, 12 midnight, and 10 am Christmas Day.  Color is white.

The Circumcision and Name of Jesus will be observed on New Year’s Eve, the 31^st, at 7 pm. Color is White. 

Decorating During Advent

As is our custom, we decorate the church little by little during Advent, until finally all is complete for Christmas.  The day on which volunteers are needed help put up the tree is Saturday, December 7^th, beginning at 9 am.  Please help!

Advent for the church is a time of penitential preparation for the coming of Christ (that’s why the color is violet).  It’s helpful to remember this as we also prepare our households for Christmas.  Unlike the commercial and secular world, the Church’s celebration of Christmas begins with Christmas, and runs the twelve days of Christmas, until Epiphany (note, for instance, that our Christmas Vespers is after Christmas).  The finest way to prepare for the coming of Christ is by contrition and confession.

 

The Lighter Side

A woman called her husband to ask if he could stop by the grocery store on his way home from work: “Honey, please pick up a gallon of milk and, if they have eggs, get six.”  So the man brought home six gallons of milk.  His wife said, “Why all the milk?” He replied, “They have eggs.”

Hat tip – Jennifer Madsen

The New Testament in His Blood

This series contains brief liturgical explanations which appear in Pastor Eckardt’s book The New Testament in His Blood (Gottesdienst, 2010).

Our Father and Words of Institution

At this point in the Mass—from the Our Father and Words of Institution until the time of distribution—it is fitting, if possible, for the entire congregation to kneel, in humble  acknowledgment that here Christ is condescending to come to us in pity and mercy. During the Our Father, the celebrant holds his hands out or up high, and chants what, together with the Verba, forms the essence of our canon. Jesus instructed His disciples to pray using these words. He did not offer that command in a vacuum, but, we may rightly assume, meant for it to be used especially in connection with His Supper.

At the consecration the celebrant takes the Host into his hands, just as Jesus Christ, at the Last Supper, took the bread and wine into His hands. The noted Roman Catholic French cleric Charles Arminjon (1824-1885), writing in The End of the Present World and The Mysteries of the Future Life, declared that here the priest’s words cease, his personality disappears, and the voice of Jesus Christ replaces that of His minister. Arminjon was right: here the minister is doing his ministering in a most fundamental and Biblical sense.

Hence the celebrant has his back to the people during the Sanctus, the Our Father, the Verba, and his own self-communion, as if to hide the face of Christ, who died and thus was hidden from His people; but when the celebrant turns to them again for the Pax, saying, “The peace of the Lord be with you alway,” he is essentially repeating the words of Jesus who thus spoke to His disciples in the upper room on the day of His resurrection. There is an old rubric that provides simply that the words be “Pax vobiscum” (“peace be with you”), dropping “of the Lord” when spoken by a bishop, which provides a verbatim repetition of the words of the risen Lord, and some early councils (for instance, that of Braga in 563) allowed both bishops and priests to use the same form of salutation.

Similarly we may note the anecdotal account from Bishop Vsevolod Lytkin of the Siberian Lutheran Church of an elderly woman in a remote village in Siberia who, upon gaining form him her first opportunity to receive the Sacrament, whispered to him after the service, “almost literally repeating the words of Saint Simeon (St. Luke 2:29-30): ‘Through all my life I dreamed to meet a Lutheran pastor. Now I can depart in peace because my eyes have seen the Pastor” (Siberian Lutheran Mission Society, Vol. 7.3, December 2008, 6).

It is particularly here, when the Holy Elements are consecrated, that the pastor may be seen as a living icon of Jesus.

The Formula of Concord insists that “the words of institution are to be publicly spoken or sung before the congregation distinctly and clearly, and should in no way be omitted” (SD, VII, 79).

This is said in opposition to the practice which arose in the sixth or seventh century, of the celebrant’s saying the canon of the Mass (which includes the Our Father and the Words of Institution) virtually silently. The people knew the words were being said, but they could not hear them.

This was likely an outgrowth of a venerable third century practice called the disciplina arcani in which the catechumenate were not allowed even to remain present for the liturgy of the faithful, when the Our Father and the Verba were said. There was a very close scrutiny kept

regarding those who could even hear those words in the liturgy. And even when they were preached or written about, it was done only obliquely, using intentionally vague expressions. The idea behind this practice was a worthy one, namely to uphold the sanctity and holiness of the Sacrament, in much the same way as the name of God was not to be spoken aloud during Old Testament times. There was even a practice among women of donning their veils at this time, and the doors of the church are watched so that no one but the communicants may be present. The overall idea at work was that a great mystery is here, at which we bend the knee and worship with sighs too deep for words. This understanding is actually considered by many to have been a key contributing factor in the appeal of the church in its early centuries. Although we no longer have the disciplina arcani, we can learn from its use. There is no need, for example, to take school children into the sacristy and have them taste unconsecrated bread before their first communion, as if to remove the mystery. The mystery ought to be preserved; after all, that’s why we call it a sacrament.

Yet as we consider this history we also find an instance of a noble idea taken too far, particularly in the rise of the “secret” utterance of the canon. For by the seventh century, nobody at all was able to hear the clearest expression of the Holy Gospel. Virtually every instance of the arising of a faulty or poor practice in the history of the Church can be traced to some pious or decent idea or purpose now come to be abused, and this is no exception. The removal from the hearing of the people of the Words of Institution—which Luther regarded as the purest expression of the Gospel—should not be taken otherwise than as a diabolical robbery of the words of our Lord from His people. One of the salient features of the Reformation was to provide that the Gospel was heard. Often this is misunderstood to mean merely that Bibles were put in to the hands of the people. Although the printing press was certainly a tremendous invention which aided the success of the Reformation, the primary place for the hearing of the Gospel was at Mass. The Gospel was to be preached, and, most prominently, to be clearly and distinctly heard most especially in the Words of Institution.

There is on the other hand no warrant for providing that all the people say the Our Father aloud at this point. Although certainly the Our Father is and ought to be chief among the daily prayers of Christian people, and therefore is properly said by all during the prayer offices (Matins, Vespers, etc.), yet at Mass it takes on an additional, consecratory purpose, and therefore ought to be said by the celebrant alone. Although the custom of congregational recitation of the Our Father with the celebrant at Mass is common in the twenty-first century, is a Roman Catholic innovation from De Musica Sacra, issued on 3 Sept.1958 by the Sacred Congregation of Rites. This ruling authorized the faithful to say the Our Father with the celebrant (in Latin, of course: the Pater Noster), but only at a Low, i.e., spoken Mass. Since Vatican II, in the 1960s, even that restriction was lifted. But it was not so prior. From antiquity the Church has sung aloud only its response to the Our Father, saying “For Thine is the kingdom,” etc.

By this rubric a reminder of the connection between the Our Father and the Words of Institution made: the Our Father always belongs with the Words of Institution, and, together with them, effects the very consecration of the elements. Moreover, in this we also have a hint of respect toward the old discipline arcanum. That is to say, while it is important that these words be heard clearly and distinctly; yet their removal from the lips of the people at this point is a subtle reminder of their profound sacredness. All of these words are therefore most fittingly uttered by the celebrant alone, and thus the holiness of the moment is accentuated.

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church

   109 S. Elm Street

   Kewanee, IL 61443

November 2013

St. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church

109 S. Elm, Kewanee, Illinois 61443

Newsletter

Volume 24                                   November 2013                                       No. 11

               

WHY MARRIAGE IS A BIG DEAL

The historian in me thinks it’s odd that I should even have to address this question, since no one ever questioned the sanctity of marriage as the joining of a man to a woman, since the beginning of the world.  To put that in perspective, we’re talking about thousands of years of human history.  Although there have been some changes in what has been culturally acceptable—most especially the move away from polygamy—there has never been a hint that marriage ought to be something allowed between two people of the same sex.   Never.

            In Old Testament times, we can see evidence that men sometimes had more than one wife, even in Israel.  Even Jacob had two wives, Leah and Rachel; King David too, and King Solomon.  In Solomon’s case, the fact that he married some foreign wives got him into some serious trouble, from the perspective of faith.  Polygamy was never expressly permitted, though; it’s just that God never expressly condemned it either.  It’s in the New Testament that we see the clearer pattern of one man and one woman emerge, much as all of the fullness of God’s revelation emerges there, with the coming of Christ.  Now we see not only that the ideal is marriage of one man and one woman, because it is a picture of Christ and His Church.  According to St. Paul, wives are to submit to their husbands “as to the Lord,” ands husbands are to love their wives, are “as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her”; we are “members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Ephesians 5:22-32).  This passage shows that the Apostle is drawing his awareness of what marriage is both from the words of Jesus—particularly his references to the “Bridegroom” in parables—and from the Genesis account, in which Adam exults in the creation of Eve: “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man: (Genesis 2:23).  And so we see that the meaning of the creation of man and woman reaches its pinnacle in the joining of Christ to his Church.

            Now we face a culture, however, which for the first time in recorded history wants to destroy the very fabric of our created flesh as male and female, and the foundational substance upon which our redemption through the Incarnate Lord rests.

            Particularly in Illinois the state government will possibly have acted on the matter by the time you read this; they are in session as of this writing.  A number of states have already enacted same-sex marriage laws.  The Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage law enacted in California, opening the door for more homosexual activism.

            How the Church responds to this perversion of nature is of critical importance, and will likely be a very difficult matter to handle.  For starters, we must all have some clarity of understanding about what marriage is and what it is not, and why this is so very important for Christians to understand.

            It’s all about reality, creation, and Jesus.

+ Pastor Eckardt

November Anniversaries

11/5 Steve and Berniece Harris

11/10 Gayle and Phil Beauprez

November Birthdays

11/13 Shannon Peart

11/16 Jennifer Madsen

11/19 Steve Kraklow

11/20 Jewneel Walker

11/30 Charlene Sovanski

(Note: Richard Madsen’s birthday Oct. 16 was missed. Oops!)

Pastor on Vacation

In consultation with the elders, I have decided to take some vacation time during November, starting Sunday afternoon November 3^rd (after Mass and Bible Class) until Saturday the 9^th.  Much of this week will include a road trip with Carol visit son Johnny and his wife Alissa at Whiteman AFB in Missouri.  I plan to return in time for the following Sunday (November 10^th), so no pulpit supply will be necessary; however, there will be no midweek activities on that week’s Wednesday, nor any catechesis on Saturday.  Saturday evening mass is also cancelled for November 9^th. Since this involves the first Tuesday of the month, all first Tuesday meetings are moved to the second Tuesday.

Shut ins

Mary Hamilton at home; Anna Baker at home; Mirilda Greiert at Kewanee Care; Emmy Wear at Williamsfield Home in Williamsfield.

November Ushers Otis Anderson             John Ricknell, Bill Thompson, David Ricknell

October funerals We bid farewell  to our dear faithful member Mark Baker and Ruth Snider who went to their heavenly rest during October. 

R. I. P.

In Our Prayers

In addition to our shut-ins, our current list of prayer intentions at mass includes the names on the lists here following.  Anyone wishing to update the lest by addition or subtraction, please inform the pastor.

Ann Baker

Sara Bidni

Emilie Ricknell

Linda Rowe

Sharon Hartz

John Sovanski

Jean Russell

And all of our shut-ins.

And also:

David Dakin [re Harris]

Anna Rutowicz [re Harris]

Julie Ross [Svetlana Meaker’s daughter, cancer]

Caleb Cleaver [Ricknell]

Christian Johnson [re Kemerlings]

Madison Lindsay [re Andersons]

Tom Fornoff [Jean Russell’s brother-in-law]

Rev. Don Chambers [Manito]

Rev. Brian Feicho [E. St. Louis]

Stacie Liese [wife of Rev. Michael Liese]

Michelle Steuber [re Fischer]

Marilyn Johnson [relative of the Kemerlings]

Jill Matchett [re Shreck]

Michele Dador [d’-door] [friend of Kemerlings]

Janice Hart [Judy Thompson’s sister]

Rick Nelson [Ricknells’ son-in-law]

Tammy Johnson [Kemerlings’ daughter]

in the military:

John Eckardt

Brent Matthews [re Fishers]

Michael and Melinda Fisa [re Kemerlings]

Michelle Steuber [re Fishers]

Donny Appleman [re Ricknells]

Thomas Kim [re Shrecks]

Jaclyn Harden Alvarez

Michael Creech [re Murphys]

in trouble:

any unborn children in danger of abortion

Those suffering persecution in Egypt, Nigeria, Eritrea, Guinea, Khazakstan, Pakistan, Iran, Syria, China, the Philippines, Laos, Vietnam, and elsewhere.

Vespers on Sunday night, January 5^th, then Epiphany Day of Reflection on Monday

Tentatively, our annual winter Vespers is scheduled for Sunday night, January 5^th, 2013, at 7 pm. This is the night of Epiphany Day.  The size of our choir is rather depleted, so we do not know how much of a contribution it can make.

Nevertheless we hope to have it followed by our traditional wine-and-cheese reception, another annual tradition.  Then on Monday January 6^th, we’ll have an Epiphany Day of Theological Reflection, beginning with Holy Mass at 9:00 and going until 3:00 in the afternoon.

The next day’s fifteenth retreat in the Theological Reflection series is entitled,

“st. luke’s subtle confessions of Jesus’ divinity”

This retreat (January 6^th) will focus on several passages in the Gospel according to St. Luke that subtly show the divinity of Jesus.  While the overt references to Jesus in this Gospel are hard to miss, the subtle ones provide further insight into this evangelist’s keen awareness of who Jesus is.

            If there is inclement weather, a snow date for Vespers is scheduled for Wednesday night (January 8^th) at 7 pm.

First Tuesday

Novembers First Tuesday events are moved to second Tuesday due to Pastor’s vacation.  Altar Guild and Elders meetings will be held on November 12^th. Altar Guild at 6 p.m. Vespers is at 6:45, and Elders meet at 7:15.

Daily Prayer

For daily prayer in the homes of members, the following helps are offered:

As a minimum, when you rise in the morning and go to bed at night, follow the catechism.  That is, repeat the invocation (In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen), say the Apostles’ Creed, and Say the Our Father.  If you wish, you may add Luther’s morning or evening prayer.

You are encouraged to use your hymnal for a richer daily prayer.  The oder of matins (morning) or vespers (evening) is easily adoptable for personal use.

The hymnal is also a good resource for a schedule of daily readings.  See page 161.  These readings correspond with the material in Every Day Will I Bless Thee: Meditations for the Daily Office, my book of meditations for daily use, available at the church office for $16.00.

The Lighter Side

The pastor went bear hunting, but when a big black bear was in his sights, he suddenly fell off a cliff and broke both his legs.  Meanwhile the bear began to lumber down the hill towards him.  So he prayed, “Lord, let this be a religious bear!”  When the bear arrived, he said grace.   Hat tip – Carol Kegebein

Altar Guild News

Notes for November:

All the Sundays in November are green.  Last Sunday of the church year is the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

            Thanksgiving is observed Wednesday night, November 27^th.  Color is White. 

            Our November meeting will be the second Tuesday of the month (November 12^th), because Pastor will be on vacation the first Monday.

The New Testament in His Blood

This series contains brief liturgical explanations which appear in Pastor Eckardt’s book The New Testament in His Blood (Gottesdienst, 2010).

Preface and Sanctus

The Preface opens with a Salutation, in which the celebrant says “The Lord be with you” and the people respond, “And with thy spirit.” This is the final preparation for the greatest event of the day, and indeed the greatest thing in all of life, the giving and receiving of the Blessed Sacrament. By this prayer, the celebrant petitions the Lord to be in the hearts and minds of the people who are about to receive this great Gift, that is, that He may grant them abundant faith. Their response, “And with thy spirit,” here as well as in other places, is a petition that the spirit of the celebrant and the Holy Spirit would be the same, that is, that the celebrant would be entirely faithful and true, by the Holy Spirit’s power (which incidentally is why the more recent “and also with you” is unfortunate, to say the least).

Next, a verse is said responsively, the celebrant intoning, “Lift up your hearts,” and the people replying, “We lift them up unto the Lord,” calling to mind a penitential section from the book of Lamentations: “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens. We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned” (Lamentations 3:40-42). That is, we lift up our hearts for cleansing here, begging for mercy, in a brief word reminiscent of the Kyrie we had uttered earlier.

And then, as if in immediate response, our faith rises in remembrance of the Lord’s mercy, and gives thanks. In fact, the thanks we give for His mercy is not merely in the next words, the celebrant’s invitation, “Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God,” and the reply, “it is meet and right so to do,” but more robustly in the great Sanctus, which is itself the actual giving of thanks prescribed in the Preface.

Returning to the idea introduced above (page 48), that the Preface and Sanctus are said in response to Jesus’ own command and rubric, it is worthy of emphasis that the Sanctus is also said in response to the holy words of our Lord. His institution of His Supper contains the command, This do. What does He mean by “do”? He did not merely command, “This say,” which in fact would have left us without a Sacrament. Dutiful obedience to “This say” would have resulted in the mere repetition of the words and nothing necessarily more. “This do,” by contrast, pertains to the continuation of the Sacrament and its

distribution into perpetuity.

“This do,” taken simply, is a command to participate in what Jesus was doing here. What was He doing? Certainly He spoke His words over the elements and distributed them, but first He gave thanks, a detail we should not overlook.

In the first place, the fact that Jesus would give thanks, who is Himself Maker of all things, is a marvel. This should not be construed as a denial of His divinity, but rather, as an affirmation of His humanity. He gives thanks as man, and actually in the stead of all men. Not merely to set an example does He give thanks here; rather, He gives perfect thanks, as He is perfect man. But what is it to give perfect thanks? It is not merely saying thanks, but submitting oneself, offering oneself, in thankfulness to the giver. Here Jesus does just that. He offers Himself. For this, as the very Words of Institution tell us first of all, took place “on the night when He was betrayed.” His giving of thanks is His humble and free offering of Himself to the Father, in order that the Father may do with Him what He will. And as the Father wills that the Son suffer crucifixion for the sin of the world, so the Son suffers. The self-sacrifice of the Son of God is the very means whereby the world is restored to God. Earth’s curse is lifted from the ground and placed, in thorns, on the bloody head of Christ. All this is encompassed in Jesus’ giving of perfect thanks, His perfect presenting of Himself to the Father here, in the stead of all humanity, and because of it all humanity is reconciled to God.

Historically the Church has not overlooked this detail, for in fact it is the foundational rationale for our saying of the Sanctus. In short, since Jesus said, “This do,” it is right for us as well, in the administration of the Holy Sacrament, to give thanks. Thus the proper preface contains the words, “It is truly meet, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto Thee, O Lord,” etc. This is said first of all in response to Jesus’ command.

The less informed might wonder why we say “all times” and “all places,” when at the Sacrament we are especially concerned with this time and this place. But here we recognize that all times and all places have been renewed and restored, as far as God is concerned, to the status once known to Eden. Thus the Supper has sometimes been called Eucharist (literally, “Thanksgiving”), which is certainly fitting, provided we understand that it is Jesus’ thanksgiving and not ours that makes this Sacrament what it is. With this awareness, however, we are given great cause “at all times and in all places” to give thanks, even for the continued existence of all times and all places. By Christ’s atonement the cloud of God’s wrath has passed over and left the world intact. Most importantly therefore ought we to sing the great Sanctus here, at the Supper, for here are the very elements by which this atonement was wrought, and they are given us to eat and drink.  Every table prayer is but a dim reflection of the Sanctus, which is the Great Thanksgiving of faith, sung simultaneously on earth and in heaven, or, in the words of the Proper Preface, “with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven.” Thus we sing “Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord God of Sabaoth!” For not only were these words first chanted by the seraphim in Isaiah’s vision, and not only does “Sabaoth” (literally, “hosts”) refer to the heavenly hosts, the armies of God’s angels, but most importantly, all redeemed and restored creation in heaven and on earth sing this together in gratitude to the Christ who has wrought so wondrous a salvation for us. All creation bends, as it were, toward the altar on which Christ sits, to acknowledge its restoration in Him.

         It is worth noting as well that the way in which this thanksgiving is said does not even give reference to the ones saying it. For while the words “we give thanks” are certainly an acceptable and even Biblical way to express gratitude to God, any time the giving of thanks removes altogether the first person (“I” or “we”) from the utterance, there is less opportunity for the speaker to take any credit for the fact that he is the one giving thanks, and consequently more glory implicitly expressed to God who is being thanked. This is the intentional basis for the common expression Deo gracias (Thanks be to God), or, again, in the words soli Deo gloria (to God alone be the glory). The speaker does not even appear in the expression, so fully is all glory directed to the One being thanked. So also throughout the Sanctus: “Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord God of Sabaoth! Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory! Hosanna in the Highest! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord!” These words, which combine Isaiah’s vision with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, provide us with two captivating images which, taken together, declare Jesus as Lord of Hosts coming to bring salvation to His people.

After the Preface, when the celebrant turns toward the altar for the Sanctus, the Mass re-presents the Passion of our Lord and His resurrection. The celebrant does not turn again  to the faithful until after the Verba are said. He now enters, as it were, into the secret of the sanctuary, there to treat alone with God, much as Moses did on the mountain, or as the high priest would do in the temple, or ultimately, as those instances foretell, as Jesus did in His Passion. The celebrant now says the Secret, a private prayer, so-called because he says it in a low voice, in imitation of Jesus in the Garden of Olives, when He moved a stone’s throw away from His disciples, in order to enter into the silence of recollection and prayer.

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church

   109 S. Elm Street

   Kewanee, IL 61443

October 2013

Ja! Oktoberfest!

  

Your Presence Is Respectfully Requested!  

Sunday, October 13th, Choral Vespers is at 5 pm, followed by our bratwurst banquet. Rev. Todd Wilken, host of Issues, Etc. and manager of the popular blog, “The Bare Bulb,” will be speaking on

“What’s So Special about Being Lutheran?”

TAKE NOTE: Members of St. Paul’s go free! 

FREE! 

We always take donations, and need them, but DON’T LET LACK OF FUNDS KEEP YOU FROM COMING! JUST COME! This is your big event for your church, so be a part of it! If you bring a friend, it’s just $15.00 for your friend.

On Monday October 14th, the day begins with mass at 9:00 a.m. Following mass and a continental breakfast, Pastor Wilken will hold forth for the rest of the day, in two sessions running until about followed by vespers.

On Tuesday October 15th, the conference will continue without Pastor Wilken, as those who remain will discuss the use and purpose of the Lord’s Prayer in the Liturgy of the Divine Service.  The Tuesday sessions, will be framed by morning low mass (spoken Divine Service) and Vespers. 

Support your congregation! Set aside Sunday and Monday, October 13^th and 14^h for Oktoberfest! And Tuesday too, if you can do it!

Volunteers sought! If you are able, we could really use your help.  We are a small congregation, and lots of folks attend.  So please step forward and offer your help: everyone pulling together makes the preparations a lot easier.  We need volunteers!

Mighty are the preparations

Many volunteers have been working overtime to get things looking good not only for Oktoberfest, but for the good of the congregation.   Here’s a sampling:

The planning of a frontal was discussed at several altar guild meetings, and finally the material was purchased and the sewing was done.  The frontal is the altar paraments that hangs all the way to the floor, giving it a look of elegance befitting a feast.  We have never had a full frontal at St. Paul’s.  The superfrontal, having the color of its season or feast, hangs over the frontal.  The dedication of the new frontal is set for Sunday, September 29^th.

Meanwhile the trustees and volunteers have been hard at work painting outside, the windowsills and doors, all around the church, and our horticulturalist continues her careful labor of gardening.

Volunteering abounds at St. Paul’s: besides our secretarial work, and the service of our subdeacon and servers, there are also special cleaning days, to name a few more areas. A lot of work goes into the care of a beautiful church like ours and the duties of this parish; let’s remember that the willingness of our many volunteers is a great blessing that Almighty God has laid on their hearts. 

October Ushers: Steve Peart, Grant Andresen, Larry Campbell

October Birthdays

10/1 Richard Melchin

10/1 Sue Murphy

10/2 Diana Shreck

10/3 Matthew Fisher

10/9 Mary Hamilton

10/20 Ed Woller

10/24 Robert Jones

10/24 Corey Peart

10/28 Carmen Sovanski

10/30 Sharon Hartz

October Anniversaries

10/4 Linda and Larry Rowe

10/23 Otis and Deanne Anderson

Shut ins

Mary Hamilton at home; Mark Baker at home; Anna Baker at home; Mirilda Greiert at Kewanee Care; Ruth Snider at Hillcrest Home in Geneseo; Emmy Wear at Williamsfield Home in Williamsfield.

Altar Guild News

We will be skipping our October altar guild meeting, because Pastor will be away.  

Here are some notes:

The first four Sundays are green, but October 27^th is Reformation Sunday and the color is red (including Saturday the 26^th).

Oktoberfest is Sunday, October 13^th.  Choral vespers is Sunday night; no communion ware should be set out until afterwards, for Monday morning mass on the 14^th.  There is also morning mass on Tuesday the 15^th. All days remain green.

Wednesday the 16^th we will observe St. Luke the Evangelist’s Day (transf., Oct 18); color is red.

Wednesday the 30^th we will observe All Saints’ Day (transf., Nov. 1); color is red.

Pastor’s Travels

On Sunday the 29^th I will be leaving in the afternoon for the annual St. Michael conference the next day at Zion in Detroit, where I will again be a speaker this year; on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 1^st and 2^nd of October, I will be in Lincoln, Illinois, at the CID Fall Pastors’ Conference.  I will return Wednesday afternoon

- Pastor

First Tuesday

First Tuesday Altar Guild and Elders meetings are cancelled for this month.

In Our Prayers

Our current list of prayer intentions at mass includes the names on the lists here following.  To update the list, please inform pastor. 

 The afflicted:

In our parish:

Mark Baker, Ann Baker, Sara Bidni, Emilie Ricknell, Ruth Snider, Linda Rowe, Sharon Hartz, John Sovanski, and all of our shut-ins.

And also:

David Dakin [request of Harrises]; Anna Rutowicz [request of Harrises]; Julie Ross [Svetlana Meaker’s daughter, cancer]

Caleb Cleaver [request of Ricknells]; Christian Johnson [request of Kemerlings]; Madison Lindsay [request of Andersons]; Tom Fornoff [Jean Russell’s brother-in-law]; Rev. Don Chambers [formerly of Manito]; Rev. Brian Feicho [E. St. Louis]; Stacie Liese [wife of Rev. Michael Liese]; Lisa Gustafson [with Thyroid cancer – request of Harlow]; Michelle Steuber [request of Fischers]; Marilyn Johnson [relative of the Kemerlings]; Richard Day [request of Chris Harden]; Jill Matchett [request of Diana Shreck]; Chad Winegard; Michele Dador [d’-door] [friend of Kemerlings]

Those who are in the military:

John Eckardt; Donny Appleman [request of Ricknells]; Thomas Kim [request of Shrecks]; Jaclyn Harden Alvarez

and Michael Creech [request of Murphys]

Those who are in trouble:

including especially any unborn children in danger of abortion, and those suffering from unrest, persecution, and imprisonment in Egypt, Nigeria, Eritrea, Guinea, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Iran, Syria, China, the Philippines, Laos, and elsewhere.  

Some persecution details are on the next page.

Persecution details (from prayer list):

PAKISTAN: Suicide Attack on Pakistani Church Kills at Least 70 People

At least 70 people attending Sunday church services in September were killed by twin suicide bombings in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar, officials said, in one of the bloodiest attacks against the country's Christian minority. More than 100 people were injured in the attack, carried out by two militants wearing explosive vests who had managed to enter the church. A group allied with the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility. "I've never seen such piles of human bodies," said Arshad Javed, chief executive of Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital. Christians, a small minority in overwhelmingly Muslim Pakistan, hadn't up until now been a focus of the campaign of violence that has been unleashed in recent years by the Pakistani Taliban and their al Qaeda-affiliated allies. That campaign has claimed thousands of lives, with government officials, soldiers, secular politicians and members of the Shiite Muslim minority among the victims.

LAOS: Christian Families Facing Expulsion and Abuse
Eleven Laotian families, about fifty people in all, face expulsion from Nongdaeng village (Borikan District, central province of Bolikhamsai) because of their conversion to Christianity. On August 30th, village authorities issued an order to family representatives, stating that they must abjure their faith and return to the local traditional religion of animism within three days to avoid expulsion. Despite the impending threat, the Laotian believers plan to continue conducting worship services, insisting that the Laos constitution protects their religious rights.

PHILIPPINES: Christian Villages Attacked

Two Christian villages in Midsayap, Cotabato, were attacked by the Muslim Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) on July 29th and July 31st, according to VOM sources. More than 70 armed men attacked the villages, using four boats to reach the villages and carry away their spoils. They ransacked the villagers' homes, taking belongings such as rice, clothing and utensils. The attackers also took all the animals from the village, including goats, pigs and more than 300 ducks.

ERITREA: Christians Arrested During Prayer Meeting

On August 24th, Eritrean authorities arrested members of the Church of the Living God in Kushet, a village near the capital city of Asmara, as they met for evening prayer. Among the 30 arrested were 12 women. Although the circumstances of their arrest are not known, sources state that these believers are now under pressure to recant their faith during detainment.

GUINEA: Methodist church burned in Nzérékoré
Judicial authorities are investigating a series of violent outbursts that left 95 people dead and 130 wounded. Since the murder of a suspected thief on July 14th in Koulé, a town located 40 kilometres from Nzérékoré (the second largest city of Guinea), angry clashes have ensued between members of Guerzé and Konianké ethnic groups. In the city of Nzérékoré, about five churches, four pastors' homes, and an undetermined number of shops and properties were burned or looted.

IRAN: Christian Female Incarceration Rate Increases

Reports are indicating that a growing number of Iranian Christian women are being incarcerated. The increase has gained momentum since Iran's most recent Persian New Year. While religious minorities are frequently harassed by Iranian police, the most severe police brutality is inflicted on female believers who are targeted for their violation of Iran's strict protocols. Being few in number, Christian activists have had trouble raising awareness about the harassment.

SYRIA: Missing Clergymen Reveal Dangers Facing Christians

The disappearance of an Italian Jesuit priest on July 29th, following the kidnapping of two other clergymen in April, reflects the dangers Christians are facing in this war-torn country. Rev. Paolo Dall'Oglio, who spent three decades in Syria before the government deported him last year for helping victims of President Bashar al-Assad's military crackdown, re-entered the country in late July. The reverend's disappearance comes three months after the kidnapping of the Greek Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox archbishops of Aleppo.

Sources: www.persecution.net, excepting the Pakistan story, which is from the Wall Street Journal.

The New Testament in His Blood

This series contains brief liturgical explanations which appear in Pastor Eckardt’s book The New Testament in His Blood (Gottesdienst, 2010).

Prayer of the Church

The Prayer of the Church has a very long history. Also called the General Prayer, it is a prayer meant to petition generally for the needs of the whole church. Hence the prayer does not, as a rule, bear any particular thematic connection to the theme of the day’s Propers or sermon. The true necessities of the people of God are perennial and unchanging: we need the mercies of God, as Jesus explained to Martha: “one thing is  needful” (St. Luke 10:42). Yet there are specific needs that are felt in the hearts of God’s people as well. St. Paul exhorted the churches to whom he wrote, saying “pray for us,” and also reminded them that he prayed for them. Hence the Prayer of the Church, while being general or all-encompassing in its scope, also provides for the opportunity of specific requests, particularly requests of mercy pertaining to specific persons. These specific requests are also called “prayer intentions.” Early church liturgies referred with regularity to the “diptychs,” which were two standing cards, or a card folded in half hence the term, derived from di-ptychos, meaning two folds). The two cards had lists on them, the first a list of the living, and the other a list of the dead. The first was for prayers for the living; the second was “prayers” or perhaps better put, ‘remembrances’ of the dead. The latter list was mentioned later in the Mass.  

It is highly significant that the Prayer of the Church comes at the juncture in the service immediately prior to the liturgy and consecration of the Sacrament of the Altar, as this juxtaposition implies the connection between the prayers of faith which we offer to God and the Body of Christ which was offered for us: our petitions are linked to our Lord’s crucified Body and shed Blood. The implication which ought to be understood by this is that it is precisely because of His sacrifice for us that these petitions are heard. This is the most distinctively Christian element of all of our prayers, that they are offered in Christ, and understood as being heard because of Christ’s Body and Blood.

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church

   109 S. Elm Street

   Kewanee, IL 61443