THE BETHLEHEM

Hebrew for House of Bread

OCTOBER 2013
E-Mail: bsacrament@sbcglobal.net Web site: http://www.bsacramentchurch.org/

NEXT BETHLEHEM DEADLINE Sunday, October 20, 2013

It is the bounden duty and service of the people of this parish, being part of the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church, to worship God as he has revealed himself in Jesus Christ, to become saints, and to make disciples of all people.

Christmas Day Mass, 10 a.m.

HIS HOUSE KIDS

Well, its Back-To-School time for kids across the country (often accompanied by joyful sounds from parents). What memories does this event bring back for you? Shopping for clothes? Buying school supplies? Assuring younger ones that school is going to be a great experience? What if there was no money for school supplies or the right clothes? What if there was no money for birthday presents or Christmas presents? No child should have to feel the emptiness of a birthday or holiday without a present, or the shame of not having the items needed to begin school Thanks to the generosity of many of you, and a number of organizations, the children at HIS house will have supplies and backpacks to begin the school year. Through a program at Placentia Presbyterian Church each student receives a backpack filled with supplies. In addition to the back to school supplies, the children at HIS House receive a number of additional items throughout the year. Each month a birthday party is held for ALL residents with cake and ice cream. The children having a birthday that month also receive a gift At Christmas each child receives presents from donations from supporters like you, and from some businesses as well. Each child also receives a special hand-made quilt from members of the Placentia Presbyterian congregation when their family moves into the shelter. While not an actual present to the child, HIS House provides child care for young children while their parent(s) are at work. Child care is a big item in our budget as we strive to help families become self sufficient.

New Childcare Program on Sunday

Sitters Unlimited is a professional, bonded sitter service that will provide reliable childcare every Sunday from 10am to noon, funded by parishioner gift. Hours can be expanded for special events.

Special Parish Events Calendar

Sunday October 6: Founders Sunday, Commemoration of founding of our parish. Sunday October 20: Adult Education at 9am and noon, Saint Augustine, by Garry Wills (Book and Kindle available on Amazon.com.). Wednesday, October 30: Blessed Sacrament marketing display table at Biola University. Sunday, November 3: All Saints Sunday Requiem masses, Blessing of Pledge Cards for 2014. Thanksgiving Day Mass, 10am. Sunday December 8th, Lessons and Carols, 6pm. Sunday December 15th, Childrens Christmas Pageant at 10:15am Christmas Eve: 4pm Childrens Christ Mass, 9pm Solemn High Mass of Christmas.
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One of the most important things HIS House provides is a home-like environment for these children who have been homeless and living in a whole spectrum of less than ideal situations. HIS House is also the only shelter in Orange County that provides a reunification program for single fathers who are trying to regain custody of their children. I wrote about this a number of months ago after one of our residents spoke in a worship service about the joy in being reunited with his children.

It is only through the continued generosity of you that we are able to continue the programs that affect not only the adults seeking a place to live, but especially the children who are blameless but still burdened by homelessness. Thank you for your continued support of the HIS House shelter and programs. We continue to covet your prayers and donations for continued success in helping the little ones in our midst. Blessings, Allen Sypherd, HIS House Board

Sermon September 8, 2013 presented by the Rev. Brad Karelius

Counting the Blessings.

Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous; teach me to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost. Ignatius of Loyola. As Jesus speaks about counting the cost before taking action, our hearts and minds are with our President and the US Congress, and the people of Syria, as our leaders contemplate important decisions. Sometime ago I saw a program on the Catholic TV Channel about Jean Vanier, founder of the LArche religious community that cares for the severely disabled. In the room where he was speaking there was a huge crowd and standing room only, as people flocked to listen to this giant of a man share his saintly wisdom. All were enthralled
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with the way he spoke about the Gospel and how he and his community tried to live it out. Anticipating an enthusiastic response, at the end of his remarks, Vanier looked very seriously at the crowd and advise any who were thinking they would like to take up the kind of ministry he had founded to be very sure that they could sustain a commitment for the long haul. He described in sober terms the difficulties and the sacrifices necessary to create inclusive, peaceful communities, where persons with and without physical and mental disabilities could live together in loving union. A similar scene confronts us in todays Gospel. Great crowds who were being healed and fed by Jesus were following him as he traveled. He addresses them in very sober terms about what it takes to stay with him for the whole way. He speaks about calculating the cost, not to dissuade any potential disciples, but rather to be sure that they are aware of what commitment to him demands, lest they be caught unaware. He names three of the greatest stumbling blocks: attachment to family, to possessions and to life itself. None of these in themselves is wrong, but for the disciples attachments cannot take priority over attachment to Jesus. The saying about hating ones own family members is jolting to your ears, as it was to Jesus first followers. In Jesus time, people did not conceive of themselves as individuals but derived their identity and their social standing from their family, clan, village and religious group. It would be unimaginable to cut oneself off from family: this would be tantamount to losing life itself. Looking at other passages in the Gospel of Luke, we see that Jesus himself does not renounce his family. Unlike Mark, Luke leaves open the possibility that Jesus blood kin can also be disciples. In fact, Luke portrays Jesus mother Mary as one who faithfully hears the word of God and obeys: she was the first disciple, you could say; and in the story of Pentecost, Luke notes that Jesus mother and sibling are among the disciples in the upper room. What Jesus asks, however, is that a disciple be willing to embrace as kin others who are not related by blood. Disciples must act as brother and sister toward those who are different, whether by physical ability or other status marker. For some

disciples, this new family will cause tension and even rupture in ones biological family. A disciple needs to be forewarned of this difficulty and be prepared to confront it. We see a concrete example in the second reading, in which Paul implores Philemon, the slave owner, to accept the slave Onesimus as a brother and an equal. There is a curious twist in the Gospel, as the parables Jesus tells would seem to advise building up ones resources in order to accomplish ones end. The final verse takes us in exactly the opposite directioncalculating the cost of discipleship leads one to total divestment. These nine months of ministry that we have shared together have been exhilarating for me, with new friendships, and challenges in this dynamic time of transition, following a pastor of 35 years and looking with faith toward the future. Some parishioners have left us in this inbetween time, but you need to know that visitors and new members have joined us. They see the treasure that is here in liturgy, value for tradition and caring relationships. The Vestry and I will be working with you over the next few weeks as each of us counts the blessings of belonging to this faith community. We have come to a place where we must each reflect with gratitude on Gods blessings and count the cost of being a faithful disciple of Jesus in this church community: This year has been an extraordinary one with Gods abundant blessings everywhere! In this time of transition and preparation to call a new Rector, thank you for your dedication to our ministries and generous spirit Over the next few weeks, we will have an opportunity to deepen our faith and commitment to the mission and ministries at Blessed Sacrament Parish. October 6 through All Saints Sunday, a bulletin insert will include a reflection on the weekly Gospel lesson and the theme Flourish in Faith. I invite you to join me in reading these reflections, spending time considering the questions and examining what it truly means to Flourish in Faith. This is a time for reflection on all of life as a gift from God: relationships, family, vocation, environment and material wealth. By returning to
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God a portion of this abundance, we become more like the generous God in whose image we have been created. How we earn, save, spend and give makes a significant difference in the life of others. Perhaps even more importantly, these activities impact our own spiritual well-being and our ability to flourish in faith. This year the vestry has set a goal of receiving blessings commitments from 100% of our membership. These commitments will enable Blessed Sacrament to grow in mission and ministry and to fund a full-time parish rector. Recently we have practiced the faith budget wherein parishioners are asked to give on a regular basis and to respond to needs as they arise. What will be different this year is this: you will receive a pledge card and you will be asked to consider making a weekly/monthly/quarterly pledge to support our parish budget. Most Christian congregations in America have offered the discipline of a pledge card commitment for responsible, careful budgeting. On All Saints Sunday, November 3, you are invited to offer up your 2014 pledge card to be blessed during the mass. In the process of prayerfully considering what commitment you will make in 2014, it is important to look at where you are right now: how does your current giving express a percentage of your gross annual income? The Biblical tithe of 10% of gross income has been the Christian norm for 2,000 years. My wife Janice and I slowly progressed to that goal over a ten-year period. Please take an honest look at where you are in your current giving in relationship to this Biblical standard. If you are currently contributing 2% or 3% of your gross income to Blessed Sacrament, consider increasing your commitment to 4% or 5%. With a significant and faithful commitment to Gods work through Blessed Sacrament Parish, we will be able to fund a full-time rector in 2014, to provide us with the leadership to guide us to grow and nurture our congregation. I know this may be a new practice for you, but how we use our money, that tangible entity of blessing, is a direct opportunity to express gratitude to God for his boundless generosity.

I hope the Flourish in Faith stewardship series will be a blessing to you and your family. We encourage you to take time to pray and listen to God during this pledge season. The Apostle Paul challenged believers to use the spiritual resources available to themlove, the power of the Spirit, and the intellect God gave us. Remember the Holy Spirit is at work quietly among us. Trust God to enable you to Flourish in Faith. One new parishioner family, contemplating a very significant pledge to our ministry, visited me this week in my office and asked: Will this church still be here a couple of years from now? Are we continuing under Bishop Jon as an Episcopal Church? I assured her that this parish has had times of low tide and high tide, but you have persevered. Last month Bishop Jon met with our vestry and once again communicated his firm commitment to support this congregation completely and faithfully as we move to a new future. This new parishioner presented a check for $5,000 as thanksgiving for blessings the family has received from God and this parish and a pledge to support our ministries in 2014. Our future requires each of us to count the blessings: what does this place mean to you? What do these people mean to you? What do these children and youth mean to you? What does the ministry of the Childrens Learning Center mean to you? From that place of gratitude, God can move your heart to make a sacrificial financial pledge for 2014.

Sermon for September 15, 2013 presented by the Rev. Brad Karelius.
We give thanksgiving today for the caring ministries of father Richard and Marge Avery for 17 wonderful years. One of the marks of a Christian heart is the desire for inclusivity, the desire to ultimately be in communion with as many people as possible, to have everyone in heaven with you without demanding that they become just exactly like you to get there. The sad reality is we tend to have the opposite attitude, hard to admit.
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We all like to think of ourselves as having warm, big hearts, having compassion and loving like Jesus did, but too much within both our attitudes and actions belies this. Our own love, truth, and worship are often unconsciously based on making ourselves right by making others wrong. Too often, we have an unconscious mantra which says: I can only be good, if someone else is bad. I can only be right, if someone else is wrong. My dogma can only be true, if someone elses is false. My religion can only be right, if someone elses is wrong. My Eucharist can only be valid, if someone elses is invalid. And I can only be in heaven, if someone else is in hell. We justify this attitude of separation and moral-religious superiority by appealing to various things: correct dogma, the need for justice, proper morality, right ecclesiology, and correct liturgical practice, among other things. And there is some truth in this. To have your heaven include everyone else does not mean that truth, morality, and church practice all become relative, that it is of no ultimate consequence what one believes or how one acts and worships. Our Christian scriptures and our traditions warn clearly that there are certain rights and wrongs and that certain attitudes and actions can exclude us from the Kingdom of God and heaven. However, those same scriptures make it equally clear that Gods salvific will is universal and that Gods deep, constant, passionate longing is that everyone, absolutely everyone, regardless of attitude and actions, be somehow brought into the house. God, it seems, does not want to rest until everyone is home and eating at the same table. Jesus clearly teaches the same thing. For example, in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15, he weaves together three stories to make this point: the shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep in order to search for the one stray; the woman who has ten coins, loses one, and cannot rest until she has found her lost coin; and the father who loses two sons, one to weakness and one to anger, and will not rest until he has both back in the house. I really like the middle story, the one about the woman with the lost coins, because it is the most clear about making this point: a woman has ten coins (each worth about a dime), she loses one, frantically searches for it, puts on extra lights and

sweeps her house, and finally she finds it, is overjoyed, calls in her neighbors, and has a celebration that clearly costs more than what the coin was worth. Why her frantic pursuit of one small coin? And why her great joy in finding it? What really is at issue is not the value of the coin but the loss of wholeness. For a Hebrew at the time, ten was a number of wholeness, nine was not. Therefore, we might retell the story this way: a woman is the mother of ten children. Nine come to visit her regularly and share their lives with her, but one is alienated and refuses to come home or even to talk to her. The woman cannot rest and tries everything imaginable to try to reconcile with her daughter and eventually her daughter comes around. They reconcile. She is overjoyed, phones her friends, and throws a party. Her family is whole again. The same dynamic holds true for the shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep to search for the lost sheep. For a Hebrew at that time, the number 99 did not mean wholeness, but the number 100 did. The shepherd is like the mother with the alienated daughter, he cannot rest until his family is once again made whole. We see the same longing, passion and sadness in the Father with the prodigal son and older brother. He cannot rest, nor be at peace, until both his sons are back in the house. He is overjoyed when his wayward son returns but the story ends with him still outside the house, trying to coax the other son, outside because of his anger, to also come inside. His heaven includes both sons. Our heaven must also be a wide one. Like the woman who lost a coin, like the shepherd who has lost a sheep, and like the father of the prodigal son and older brother, we too should not rest easy when others are separated from us. The family is only happy when everyone is home. What ultimately characterizes a genuine faith and a big heart is not how pure our churches, doctrines, and morals might be, but how wide is the embrace of our hearts. Today we celebrate the ministry and presence among us of Father Richard and Marge Avery. In the greater Episcopal Church in conflict and turmoil, in a parish that has included traditional Episcopalians and traditional Anglicans, Father Richard and Marge have big hearts that have
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embraced all of us, in our diversities of belief and tradition. Father Richard and I have bumped into each other at clergy conferences and diocesan conventions for 40+ years, but I am especially grateful for Gods surprising grace that brought me here, to Father Richards mentoring and guidance. That has been a highlight of my brief time with this parish family. For many years, you have had the treasure of Father Richards faithful ministry at daily mass. He has allowed me to share his meditations and brief sermons on various saints that we have celebrated. A patient, deep, prayerful, thoughtful, joyful, often humorous, insightful look into the souls of these great spiritual guides. You have been blessed for many years by this treasure of Father Richards ministry of word and sacrament. Many of you are here today because of Father Richards and Marges personal welcome. They were the first to welcome you and guide you into deeper life in our parish family. You will never forget this grace of inclusion. Marge has had her own ministry of prayer and spiritual guidance among many of you. At our reception, some of us will share testimonies of thanksgivings for the ministry of Father Richard and Marge and I hope we will hear some final words of blessing and encouragement from them, before they head out to a new chapter of life in the great state of Texas. Father Richard and Marge, thank you for teaching us about Gods huge, inclusive love, and how the church family needs to be big enough to include Anglicans liberal and conservative, Evangelical and Anglo Catholic. The legacy of your Evangelical witness, spiritual friendship, devoted teaching and preaching are foundational graces that will sustain our parish family for many years. Amen.
FR. BRAD KARELIUS, INTERIM PRIEST JEFF GREEN, SENIOR WARDEN BRIAN NICK, JUNIOR WARDEN MARCY RATCLIFF, OFFICE MANAGER MARION & THEO HETHERINGTON, REPORTERS JAY DUFFIELD, EDITOR jayd@roadrunner.com

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT 1314 North Angelina Drive Placentia, California 92870-3442

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THE BETHLEHEM
Phone: (714) 528-2995 Fax: (714) 528-2997 E-Mail: bsacrament@sbcglobal.net Web site: http://www.bsacramentchurch.org/