St. Peter’s by-the-Sea, Gulfport, MS    

Keeping close while keeping our distance.  
A weekly guide for this journey.
Our destination: Big Love BACK By the Sea.

February 1, 2021

Groundhog day or Candlemas ?

Tomorrow, February 2nd, we celebrate the Feast day of the Presentation of our Lord at the Temple. 40 days after Christmas, or after the birth of her first born, Mary brought Jesus to the Temple to be dedicated to the Lord. This is also the time of her ritual purification according to Leviticus.

[from wikipedia] Upon bringing Jesus into the temple, they encountered Simeon. The Gospel records that Simeon had been promised that "he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ" (Luke 2:26).
Simeon then uttered the prayer that would become known as the Nunc Dimittis, or Canticle of Simeon, which prophesied the redemption of the world by Jesus:
"Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel". (Luke 2:29–32).

What’s this have to do with Groundhog Day ?
Candlemas was the day when some cultures predicted weather patterns. An old English song goes: 
"If Candlemas be fair and bright,
 Come winter, have another flight;
 If Candlemas bring clouds and rain,
 Go winter, and come not again."
 Thus if the sun cast a shadow on Candlemas day, more winter was on the way; if there was no shadow, winter was thought to be ending soon. Of course, this practice led to the folklore behind “Groundhog Day,” which falls on February 2.
[from Building Faith website. Read more]

The Lessons Appointed for Use on
the Feast of
The Presentation of Our Lord
Malachi 3:1-4
Hebrews 2:14-18
Luke 2:22-40
Psalm 84
or Psalm 24:7-10

The Collect
Almighty and everliving God, we humbly pray that, as your only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple, so we may be presented to you with pure and clean hearts by Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

• Isaiah 40:21-31
• 1 Corinthians 9:16-23
• Mark 1:29-39
• Psalm 147:1-12, 21c

The Collect
Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

From the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi

For the Kids

FROM TRUWAY KIDS

Being Episcopalian

The Mississippi Episcopal Diocese

The Episcopal Church

National Cathedral

Episcopal Cafe

Bible Study

 Epiphany 4 (B) – January 31, 2021

RCL: Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 111; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 1:21-28

Deuteronomy 18:15-20

Epiphanytide is a meditation on God’s announcing and disclosing of himself in the varying activities of Jesus’ life. The Mysteries the Church explores on these Sundays following the feast (the visit of the Magi, Jesus’ Baptism, the Transfiguration, the Wedding at Cana, etc.) are concerned with Jesus showing just who he is and how he fulfills the promises God has made throughout salvation history. This includes the Lord’s promise to raise up a prophet like Moses in our reading from Deuteronomy.

But what is it that makes Moses a prophet and Jesus the fulfillment of this prophecy? Moses’ privilege was not solely that he was the custodian of God’s power of deliverance from bondage in Egypt and in the delivering of the Law to the People. Moses’ identity instead stems from that the Lord would “speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” But even this had its limits. On Sinai, Moses had to be protected like every other mortal from seeing the Lord’s glory, or he would die. Not so with Jesus. As St. John tells us, “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.”

Throughout the Gospels, we will find further parallels between the lives of Moses and Jesus. This is intentional on the part of the Evangelists. Recall the Massacre of the Innocents, the Sermon on the Mount, and the Transfiguration on Tabor. But more importantly, recall the repeated references to Jesus going away to pray and converse with God “face to face” like Moses in the Tabernacle.

• What does this passage teach us about a theology of Scripture? Of Jesus’s identity as a “new” Moses?

read more…

Check out our neighboring
Coast Churches

St. Mark’s Gulfport

Trinity Pass Christian

Christ Church Bay St. Louis

St. Patrick’s Long Beach

St. Thomas Diamondhead

Church of the Redeemer Biloxi

St. John’s Ocean Springs

First United Methodist Church

Epiphany 5 (B) – February 7, 2021

RCL: Isaiah 40:21-31; Psalm 147:1-12, 21c; 1 Corinthians 9:16-23; Mark 1:29-39

Isaiah 40:21-31

I have spent many days and nights in the wilderness of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Northern Minnesota and the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming and Colorado. The modes of travel are either paddling or walking, often leading to weariness and faint feelings. However, when you truly live for some days in the wilderness, you cannot help but be overcome by the majesty, the beauty, and the wonder of nature and of God. Isaiah, in this poem, describes God in that same way, in majesty and wonder, a presence that has always been. Isaiah ends this passage with the great hope of resting into a God who will not tire and who will renew our strength, even when we are weary of paddling and walking any of the wildernesses we travel through.

• How do you see God’s majestic presence in your life?
• Do you allow yourself to hope in God, a presence that is always there, to renew your strength? If so, how do you do this?

read more…