Prettiest Rose This Week

One of the many blessings of our parish is the Rose Garden. With more than 50 bushes within the garden, there are always more than a few that keep the "beauty" flowing through the season - when some are losing their flowers, others blossom beautifully. Kind of like the Body of Christ, with it's times of full blossom and other times of rejuvination, when the beauty may not be as readily seen, but is there, nonetheless.

The rose that "wins" this week is truly salve for the sight! God be glorified in all the beauty He's created for us to enjoy!

Nuptial Mass Today

Today Crystal Kernan and Kyle Price are joined together as husband and wife. The Bride and Groom reside in Surprise, Arizona, and are familiar faces here at our parish, as they have attended the Sunday Masses on innumerable occasions. Their marriage and nuptial mass takes place this afternoon.

Please keep them in your prayers this day. Pray also for those who travel to Sedona for this holy event.

And to the two of you - Crystal and Kyle - congratulations, and may God constantly bless and strengthen the marriage vows you make this day in His most Holy Church!

O GOD, who hast so consecrated the state of Matrimony that in it is represented the spiritual marriage and unity betwixt Christ and his Church; Look mercifully upon these thy servants, Crystal and Kyle, that they may love, honour, and cherish each other, and so live together in faithfulness and patience, in wisdom and true godliness, that their home may be a haven of blessing and of peace; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

Those whom God hath joined together

let no man put asunder.

Sunday's Mass Propers (Trinity 5)

Sunday is the Fifth Sunday after Trinity, and we'll pray for a peaceably ordered world and for the Church to serve God in both joy and godly quietness. Sounds like our parish, doesn't it?

The epistle is taken from 1 Peter 3, and is the last of the series of the General Epistles that we've been reading since Easter. It speaks of patient and peacable endurance in the face of persecution.

The gospel reading is from Matthew 5, and begins with Jesus teaching the people by the lake of Gennesaret, telling them of the higher calling - don't be just good; rather, be gloriously godly - and then the reading finishes with the miraculous catch of fish on the lake with Peter's response to the miracle.

Within both the epistle and gospel, there's a common enemy that's identified. Can you identify it?

The propers (readings) are found HERE.

Sunday was a great day

Yesterday we had our Independence Day cookout after the 10am Mass. It was a grand and glorious gathering - first to worship and adore our Lord, and then to celebrate as His family the freedoms we enjoy in the United States.

Serving both parishioners AND visitors, Master Chef (and Senior Warden) David Dubois ably kept us in bratwurst and steakburgers, while the rest of the Vestry (Mary Schwartz, Pat Campbell and Shirley DuBois) supplied the rest of the day's fare.

It is good to resurrect our fellowship gatherings, and to spend time with the faithful of God's Church. Thanks to all who contributed, and especially to the Vestry!

Mark your Kalendar now - the next Parish Cookout will be on Labor Day Weekend: September 6!

And for those who really plan ahead, next Summer we'll have these gatherings on Memorial, Independence and Labor Day weekends!

George Washington's Prayer for the U.S.A.

ALMIGHTY God, we make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in thy holy protection, that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government, and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United States at large. And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplications, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.

[Written at Newburg, June 8, 1783, and sent to the Governors of all the States. Published in the Army Navy Hymnal, 1942]

"Mere Christianity" Series on "hold"

After beginning the series of an audio reading of C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, we've come to the conclusion that the way the video/audio presentation was put together is not conducive to the educative approach we wanted to present.

The videos used were "cut" at around 10 minutes, as that's the limits that YouTube restricts uploaded Videos. What that did for the readings, however, was "stop" them in mid-stream, and did not allow us to have "one day" with - let's say - each chapter of the work.

So, we are going to suspend the series for now, and attempt to figure out a better presentation than using the posted YouTube videos. We'll spend the next few weeks working on this, and will report back on the blog as to what we have determined for the series - and that will be done by Thursday, July 23.

Hopefully we will be able to create a "re-vitalized" presentation, so please bear with us, as we struggle to bring C.S. Lewis' work back to our blog.

Laura & Jim

Our friends Laura Didier and Jim Martinez are giggin' and groovin' and sound absolutely great, as the TV interview below shows us. It's good to hear them, and we're hoping to have them back with us "early on" next year, to kick off our 2010 Sedona Jazz at the Church concert series for 2010. Here they are...

And if you like that, here's MORE.