St. Thomas of Canterbury Anglican Catholic Church

Canterbury Tales

MARCH – APRIL 2016 Volume 20, Issue 2

From the Rector

“It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also rise with him: If we suffer, we also shall reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:” 2 Timothy 2:11, 12.

We have all heard the adage “No pain, No gain.” It is usually used in conjunction with exercise.

Lent is a time when we remember the pain our Lord Jesus Christ endured upon the Cross for our salvation. How He, as the Lamb of God, took our sins upon Himself and by His passion and death took them away. In Easter we celebrate the gain. We celebrate the Crown our Father in heaven rewarded our Lord Jesus with for His faithful obedience in enduring what He did for our salvation.

Pain and gain. Cross and Crown. These are what we remember in Lent and celebrate in Easter.

In St. Matthew 10:38-9, Jesus says, “And he that taketh not up his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me.” Does Jesus mean what he says here? Of course He does! And he is speaking to us.

What he says and means is we cannot expect to have a share in His gain, glory or crown unless we are willing to have a share in his pain, gall and cross.

In St. Matthew 10: 24-5, Jesus says “The disciple is not above His master nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master and the servant as his lord.”

As disciples and servants of Jesus, we should be striving to be like Him. We should be striving to be who we are called to be in Him. This means being willing to partake in all He partook in for us.

He suffered and died for us. We now must be willing to “die” too; to ourselves, our ego and the things of the world. We die for our Master and Lord by living for Him and His glory, even if it means pain and a cross for us.

If we will do this. If we will give our lives for the glory of our Lord Jesus no matter what it may cost us, then we are assured by Him that we will also have a share in His gain, His glory and His Crown. If we are unwilling to give our lives in that manner, then what right can we claim to what He has gained? None at all.

Particularly in Lent we need to give serious thought to whether we truly believe the gain is worth the pain and if the crown is worth the cross?

If we cannot faithfully say, “Yes, it is,” then we need to spend time in prayer, asking the Father for an increased measure of grace, humility and understanding so that we can faithfully answer in the affirmative. The salvation of our very souls depends on it.

If we cannot faithfully answer this question in the affirmative, then we are in jeopardy of falling out of the state of grace and justification for it means we are putting something in our lives before God.

But if we can answer this question in the affirmative, then let us thank God for the grace he has given us to be able to do so. Moreover, let us live in that grace in order to be able to live the answer to that question in the affirmative each day of our lives for the rest of our lives.

No pain, no gain. No cross, no crown. These are the steps every faithful disciple of our Lord Jesus should expect to trod. If we desire to share in His gain and crown, we cannot shy away from sharing in his pain and cross. We cannot expect the former if we are not willing to undergo the latter.

May your Lent be holy and meditative, and may your Easter be joyous, peaceful and glorious!

Our Lord Jesus suffered, died and rose again to make it so.

-Fr. Paul

“To Tickle Your Funny Bone”

Submitted by Sue Williams

Show me a piano falling down a mineshaft and I’ll show you A-flat miner.

You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.

A boiled egg is hard to beat.

When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.

Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.

Did you hear about the fellow whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.

If you take a laptop computer for a run, you could jog your memory.

A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.

In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it’s your Count that votes.

When a clock is hungry it goes back for seconds

The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.

He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.

Acupuncture – a jab well done.

Joy, a Fruit of the Spirit

Submitted by Robert Gill, PhD

Yet another passage worth pondering from (Archbishop) William Temple’s “Readings in St. John’s Gospel,” one I find useful in the “dark seasons” of my life and one worth remembering in the midst of Lent, lest we fall into the trap of making our discipline an end in and of itself:

Our first intercourse with Christ. . .brings about a change like that from water to wine. Christ is not a grim task-master in obedience to whom life becomes gloomy. He compared himself to children playing at weddings in contrast with John the Baptist whom He compared to children playing at funerals (St. Luke vii, 31-35; St. Matthew xi, 16-19). Joy is one of the fruits of His spirit. We wholly fail to represent Him to men if we fail to make men see this in our lives.

Birthdays

March

1Beth Rutherfoord

11 Bob Gill

15 Fr. Marvin Gardner

16 Dr. Tom Eldridge

20 Ann Horvath

25 Linda Riffel

26 Chris Poff

30 Laura Wilbon

April

1Katie Eldridge

12 Charles Manning

24 Diane Poff

26 Mary Reed

27 Patty Handy Gray

Sue Williams

OUT TO EAT JUST FOR FUN GROUP

A group made up, largely, but not all together, of St. Thomas parishioners has been going out for either supper or lunch 3 or 4 times a year. Most of us are retired, but a few are still working full time. While the group is mostly made up of couples, there are several singles. The group has grown slowly for the past couple of years, and we want to make our activity known and open to all who may like be with friends for a good meal every several months. We are not an official St. Thomas Church group and we operate without officers, dues, or by-laws.

If you are interested, please give David Urquhart a current email address and telephone number.

NEHEMIAH 1:5-11: An exampleFOR LENT

In Nehemiah 1:5-11, we read a portion of scripture that is a prayer by Nehemiah. Upon hearing the news of the devastation and desolation of the City of Jerusalem and of the people who escaped the exile, Nehemiah was distraught, and began to wept and mourn and fast for several days (1:4).

After that he began to pray to God; Nehemiah began his prayer with what? a confession. He that he had to be cleansed and purified before he could approach God, so the first part is He confession of all that the Hebrew people had done against God’s law and commandments, “confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses” (1:6-7 KJV).

In his fasting, Nehemiah knew that he had to go to God in prayer for direction and guidance, and for courage and strength in preparation to go to Jerusalem to do God’s work, to restore the wall, the city and the region to the holiness and greatness it once held. Jerusalem had been the city where God dwelt, now it was unclean and not worthy to be the place where God had chosen to be for His people.

By rebuilding the broken walls and gates, the city could now begin to heal itself and regain the greatness and prestige it had before the exile.

We have a good example, in Nehemiah 1:5-11, of how we might interact with God during this Lenten season, and even beyond. Before we can approach Christ, we must be cleansed and purified. This happens by our fasting, our study of God’s Word, and by constant and consistent prayer of confession and thanksgiving. So in this Lenten season let us remember that God is a God of love and mercy and then pray for that love and mercy so we may be prepared to ask Him to use us in His work and purpose here on earth. My God bless each of us to His will and purpose. Amen

Fr. Don

Fr. Don’s Bible Quiz

This Issue’s Bible Quiz(March – April 2016)

From the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) what are the propers appointed for Morning Prayer for the Wednesday after Fourth Sunday in Advent?

Who was S. Paul writing about in the Book of Philemon?

From the Book of Nehemiah, what relationship is Hanani to Nehemiah? To ezra?

Last Issue’s Bible Quiz Answers(January – February 2016)

From Genesis, how long did the flood waters prevail upon the earth? 150 days (Gen. 7:24 KJV)
What is the difference between the Lord’s Prayer found in S. Matthew 6:9-13 and S. Luke 11:2-4 and why the difference? In S. Matthew, a benediction has been added to the ending. This benediction was an old Jewish custom that . . .
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning ofWisdom.” (Proverbs 9:10 KJV)

Upcoming Events

The Bishop Ordinary, Bishop Donald Lerow will make his annual visit to St. Thomas on March 10.
On March 12, the Annual Diocesan Lenten Retreat will be held at St. Thomas from 8am until 3:00pm. The retreat will begin with Matins and Mass, followed by breakfast in the Parish Hall. Classes will follow. The retreat will end with Evensong. The cost is $20 per person. Contact Fr. Paul if you have questions.
On Easter Sunday, there will be an 8:30am service in addition to the Solemn Eucharist at 10:30am.

Young Adults of St. Thomas

On January 3 2016, Fr. Don met with several young adults of St. Thomas for an organizational meeting of the young adults. There were 9 people present. This group has decided to meet on a quarterly basis until after school is completed in May. Katie Eldridge so kindly agreed to be the coordinator of the group by setting up a Facebook page and coordinating dates and activities. Mel and Pamela Williams have also agreed to work with the group as sponsors. Thank you Katie, Mel, and Pamela for making this happen.

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The official publication of St. Thomas of Canterbury Anglican Catholic Church

Got a story to tell? Remember, the Canterbury Tales is your parish newsletter and we welcome your

contributions. You may either e-mail your

contributions to Jeff Fitzgerald () or give them to Fr. Don or Jeff at Church.

Fr. Paul Beutell – Rector
Fr. Don Poff – Assistant to the Rector
Jeff Fitzgerald – Editor

Contributors:

Fr. Paul

Fr. Don

Sue Williams,

David Urquhart,

Robert Gill, PhD

St. Thomas of Canterbury ACC

4910 Hubert Road, NW, Roanoke, VA 24012

Church 540-366-9416

The Rev. Father Paul T. Beutell, Rector

A Traditional Parish for Contemporary Living

March 2016

Sunday / Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / Saturday
/ 1
7:00 ACNW / 2 / 3 S. Thomas Aquinas (Transferred)
9:30 HC
10:30 Bible Study
(WHITE/GOLD) / 4 / 5
6 Lent 4
9-10 Choir practice
9:30 Christian Ed
10:30 Choral Mass
(Rose) / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10
40 Holy Martyrs
(Red)
9:30 HC
10:30 Bible Study / 11 / 12 S. Gregory the Great (Lenten Retreat)
8:00 Matins and Eucharist
3:00 Evensong
(Coronation)
13 Passion Sunday
9-10 Choir practice
9:30 Christian Ed
10:30 Choral Mass
(Violet) / 14
5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Alpha Beta Sorority meeting / 15
5:30 Evening Prayer
6:00 Light meal
6:30 – 7:30 What happened at the tomb – Dramatic Reading / 16 / 17 S. Patrick
(White/Gold)
9:30 HC
10:30 Bible Study / 18 / 19
20 Palm Sunday
9-10 Choir practice
9:30 Christian Ed
10:30 Choral Mass
(Violet) / 21 / 22 / 23 / 24
6:30 Maundy Thursday
Veneration of Eucharist and vigil until 3:00am. / 25
9:30 Mass of Pre-sanctified
6:30 Stations of the Cross and Evensong / 26
6:30 Easter Eve
27 Easter
8:30 HC
9-10 Choir practice
9:30 Christian Ed
10:30 Solemn Mass
(Coronation) / 28 / 29 / 30 / 31 Thursday after Easter
(White/Gold)
9:30 HC
10:30 Bible Study / ACNW-Airlee Court Neighborhood Watch
HC-Holy Communion

April 2016

Sunday / Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / Saturday

/ / HC - Holy Communion
ACNW – Airlee Court Neighborhood Watch / 1 / 2
3 Easter 1
9-10 Choir practice
9:30 Christian Ed
10:30 Choral Mass
(Coronation) / 4 / 5
7:00 ACNW / 6 / 7Annunciation, BVM (Transferred)
(White/Blue)
9:30 HC
10:30 Bible Study / 8 / 9
10 Easter 2
9-10 Choir practice
9:30 Christian Ed
10:30 Choral Mass
(Coronation) / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 Justin Martyr
(Red)
9:30 HC
10:30 Bible Study / 15 / 16
17 Easter 3
9-10 Choir practice
9:30 Christian Ed
10:30 Choral Mass
(Coronation) / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 S. Anselm
(White/Gold)
9:30 HC
10:30 Bible Study / 22 / 23
24 Easter 4
9-10 Choir practice
9:30 Christian Ed
10:30 Choral Mass
(Coronation) / 25 / 26 / 27 / 28 S. Mark (trans)
(Red)
9:30 HC
10:30 Bible Study / 29 / 30