Brothers receive God & Country Award

Adam and Kevin de Szendeffy (shown with the Bishop in a Palm Sunday, 2008, picture) received the God and Country Award during the Passion Sunday Mass at Saint Luke's Church on March 29, 2009.

After having worked on the project for almost a year, the two received their certificates of completion and a blessing from Bishop McMannes, who had been their counselor during the work.  

The certificate describes their experience and calling, declaring in part that they "are to be congratulated for taking steps toward understanding God's call to live a life of love and service..."

Well done, Kevin and Adam!  You make your parents - Carol Lynn and Rod - exceptionally happy and proud, to say the least!  

Isaiah's proclamation is yours... Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine!"

First Rose of the Year Blossoms Magnificently!

Well, the first rose of the year blossomed today - on the Saturday before Passion Sunday.  It's of the "Stapleton" bush, and one of the original 50 bushes planted at the church some 15 or so years ago.  Interestingly, it's a hardy bush with deep roots, given by someone who was part of the parish but a short time, and who left before "personally blossoming." 

The rose reminds us in a vivid way of the closeness not only of Spring, but also of Easter, and we thank God for being so "nature-ally" loving to all His creatures!

Wonder of wonders, which will be the second bush to bloom?  Time will tell.

Passiontide arrives Sunday

Passiontide is the name given to the last two weeks of Lent - from Passion Sunday to Holy Saturday - and derives its name from the fact that the Passion of Our Lord is naturally predominant during this time in the Church's thought and focus.

Crucifixes and crosses in the church are veiled in purple throughout Passiontide. The only exceptions to this are the crosses on the Stations of the Cross, the votive candle stand, and when the veil is removed from the Altar Crucifix on Good Friday.

Veiling/covering is a sign of mourning, and the spirit of the Passiontide veiling hopefully encourages us to draw off our attention from everything but Christ and His suffering.  In short, the Church calls us  to "consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners."  (Hebrews 12:3)

The veiling is also a very powerful symbol of the hiding of our Lord's glory throughout His earthly life, and especially during His bitter passion.

Parishioners are encouraged to set aside this time for Christ, and to ensure the clearing of their calendars for the Maundy Thursday evening Mass with the Stripping of the Altar, the subsequent all-night Vigil at the Altar of Repose, and Good Friday's Mass of the Pre-Sanctified and Quiet Day.

More information on Holy Week activities will be posted the saturday before Palm Sunday.

Is abortion ever necessary to save the life of the mother?

Each week (more or less) the blog will have a video posted which addresses an issue of concern to all Churchmen.

This week's video responds to the hypothesis regarding abortion that many people seemingly accept, "no questions asked"  - that abortion is sometimes necessary in order to save the life or prevent the death of the mother.

Two good websites for further information:

Anglicans for Life

American Life League

$upporting your parish through escripting

There's a very easy and efficient way in which to regularly contribute to the support of Saint Luke's.  

Do you shop at Safeway?  If so, sign up for escripting via your Safeway Club Card, and Saint Luke's will be given a percentage of what you spend purchasing food.

Here's how to do it.    First, ensure that you have your Safeway Club Card, and/or know your club card number. (If you don't know your number,  call Safeway at 1-877-723-3929 and ask them what it is!)

Next, go to escript.com and sign up with them, following the six steps in the supporter registration.  

Saint Luke's "escript" number is 9609412. Just put that number in your registration, and that's all there is to it... you'll be contributing to the parish each time you purchase items at Safeway.

Other merchants are also "escripters," so check the list of merchants when you visit escript.com.  New Frontiers, Nordstroms, ebay, Office Max, Barnes & Noble, and amazon.com are but a few examples.  

And there's even a list of "online" merchants who participate in this program, also... click HERE to see the list!

So, please do sign up today, and begin contributing to a strong mission and ministry at Saint Luke's Church!

Thank You!  

"To do good, and to distribute, forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased."  - Hebrews 13:16

4th Sunday in Lent: Rose, Refreshment, Mothering or Laetare Sunday?

Next Sunday we celebrate what has become known as "Refreshment,"  "Rose," "Mothering" or "Laetare" Sunday.

The day will be marked by a special sermon, unique vestments and a flowered Altar.

Calling the day "Refreshment Sunday" refers to Jesus' miraculous feeding of the 5,000, as noted in the day's gospel reading from John.

The title "Rose Sunday" emphasizes the one Sunday return of Altar flowers - specifically roses - and also the special vestments that are worn for the day - a light rose-coloured fiddleback chasuble, used only two times during the Church year - on this Sunday and the 3rd Sunday of Advent.  

"Mothering Sunday" is a term used oftentimes in the Church of England, and refers to the epistle reading for the day.

The "Laetare Sunday" designation comes from the first words (in Latin) of the Introit, as is found in the Anglican Missal and used at Saint Luke's.  (Click HERE for an inclusive definition of Laetare Sunday, as found in the Catholic Encyclopedia.)

Sunday's sermon will examine both the epistle and gospel, and continues our Lenten examination of the deadly sins and their "opposite" virtues, to which we are all drawn.

In your preparation, be sure the read the propers before coming to mass, and try to figure out how they address your life, and what you face each day.  Also ponder where the deadly sins tempt you in life, and how you are doing with replacing the sins with their corresponding virtues. Use this examination approach not only with the Sunday mass propers, but the daily readings for Morning and Evening Prayer.  

As a way of reminder, here's the list....

Sins/Virtues

Pride/Humility

Anger/Meekness

Envy/Brotherly Love

Greed/Liberality

Lust/Chastity

Gluttony/Temperance

Sloth/Diligence

Here is next Sunday's bulletin, with "hot" links to our website, daily readings, hymns, et al imbedded in the PDF.

Finally, don't forget that questions on each of the readings for morning and evening prayer are also contained in the Sunday Bulletins.

Saturday Update

Highway work...

The highway work in front of the Church is finally looking a lot better.  

Yesterday they opened our side of the new highway, and now have traffic going both ways on it.  And that's good for us, as it's finally easy and "clean" to pull into the Church parking lot now... and the access now works for "motorcycles to tour buses!!!" 

In due time we'll be able to put our sign up, and then we'll be done with it all.   Until then, just look for the "Business Access" signs with the arrow pointing into the parking lot.

Liturgy and Worship

Tomorrow is the 3rd Sunday in Lent, and we look forward to seeing you at the morning Masses.  The mass lessons continue the Lenten theme of self-examination and spiritual growth in Christ, and we've some great hymns scheduled, too.  For the hymns, click HERE to see tomorrow's bulletin, and the hymns are all "linked" in the PDF bulletin.  

Simply click on the hymn number, and you will be transported to our website and the hymn.  If you want to just listen, instead of seeing the music and listening, after the hymn page is done loading, replace the ".html" in the URL address with ".mid" and a midi file will play the hymn!

The Weekly YouTube Meditations

If you missed mass last Sunday and want to know what the sermon was about, look to the right side of this blog and you'll see a "stack" of pictures under the title "1928 BCP meditations..."   That's a link to the videos, and last Sunday's video is the one on the top.  Just click the picture and the video will play.

Very 21st Century, to say the least!

See you in His Church!

Jim Martinez & Laura Didier

Remember the great evening at Saint Luke's with Jim and Laura in February? (site page regarding their concert with us is found here.)

They recently did a concert called "A Tribute to Doris Day" and here's a composite video of it!



We're looking forward to having them back soon... It would be great to have them for an outdoor concert, eh?

Barbara Jeanne Yoakum, R.I.P.

Our dear friend Barbara Yoakum passed away last Saturday evening in Roseville, CA.  She had been living there with her son Bob Munier and near her daughter Cathy Slocum.

Barbara was a founding member of Saint Luke's, a stedfast friend through thick and thin, an adopted "Grandma" to my children,  a lovely Christian, Mother and Grandma to her family, and a faithful companion to all who were graced enough to have known her.

I will miss her, as I am sure all will who were blessed by knowing and having her as a part of their lives.

Her ashes will be put in the Memorial Garden, next to her husband Del Yoakum. When we have the particulars on the date of the Requiem Mass and burial I will pass it on.

For now, please pray for Barbara's family - Cathy her daughter, Bob her son, and her grandchildren.

Rest eternal grant unto her, O Lord.
And may light perpetual shine upon her. Amen

+ David Gregory McMannes

Kenneth Vincent Schwartz II, R.I.P.

Our dear Deacon, the Rev. Kenneth Vincent Schwartz II, died on Ash Wednesday following a lingering illness.

Kenneth and his wife Mary had fifty-nine years of marriage.  He is survived by his wife and their three children, Kenneth (and Karla) Schwartz of Cottonwood, Kathryn (and Mike) Jessop of Clarkdale, and Charles (and 1SG Linda) Schwartz of Marana AZ, and two sisters Charlotte Rodriquez of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Sandy Harris of Dayton, Iowa.

His grandchildren are Armondo Romero, Eric and Amanda Schwartz, Nicholas Joslyn, April Joslyn,  Shawn Schwartz, James Schwartz and 15 great grandchildren.

The Deacon's Requiem Mass was celebrated at Saint Luke's on Saturday, February 28, 2009, with the Rt. Rev. David McMannes as Celebrant and preacher.  

The sermon preached at the Requiem Mass is posted HERE.

Please do share your thoughts and comments below on this great man!  He was a real gift from God to us all!