Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Jan.18-25)

     Today begins the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Jan18-25).  There is a service to celebrate this event at St. Luke's O'Leary on Sunday Jan 22 at 3 pm and another at Gordon Memorial United Church Alberton on Sunday Jan 29 at 3 pm.  
     If you didn't get a copy of the Biblical reflections and prayers for the eight days of the Week of Prayer here are the readings, prayers and questions for reflection. I hope you will have time to enjoy reflecting on the readings and questions or if time is short just pray the prayer for each day. (Daily commentaries not included due to length).  - cf. an email from Janet

cf. Google Images

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity:

     DAY 1 Theme: Changed by the servant Christ.  Readings: Zechariah 9: 9-10 A king righteous and victorious-and humble. Psalm 131 My heart is not proud. Romans 12: 3-8 We have different gifts with which to serve. Mark 10: 42-45 The Son of Man came to serve. Prayer: Almighty and eternal God, by travelling the road of service your Son leads us from the arrogance of our disobedience to humility of heart. Unite us to one another by your Holy Spirit so that through service to our sisres and brothers, Your true countenance may be revealed; You, who live and reign forever and ever. Amen.     
     Questions for reflection: 1. What opportunities for service are most threatened by pride and arrogance? 2. What should be done to ensure that all Christian ministries are better experienced as service? 3. In our community, what can Christians of different traditions do better together than in isolation to reveal the Servant Christ?

It's Annual Meeting Season

     We've been having a variety of church and committee Annual Meetings this past week, getting all our reports and accounting all in order for our upcoming Parish Annual Meeting to be held following 10:30am morning service at St. Luke's O'Leary on Sunday, January29th. 



    I was reading through Rev. Dyer's Journals (1859-1886) the other day and read about his first Parish Council Meeting - 150 years ago they called it Vestry Meeting and it was held on Easter Monday.  Here's the excerpt.

April 1, 1861

            Easter Monday.  According to the law of P.E.I., this is the day appointed for the Church of England to form vestries and appoint Church Wardens.  Accordingly I set off with Mr. Buckerfield to the Kildare Capes to attend a meeting of the people, for the purpose of choosing a vestry and appoint Church Wardens.  Present were Messrs. Ruggles, Caie, Billins, Travers, Bearisto and Gillian, whom, with 2 others were all duly and legally selected to form a vestry, out of whom Messrs.  Ruggles and Caie were chosen to be the Church Wardens for the church at Kildare for the ensuing year.  After auditing the accounts, the meeting separated and we returned home the same evening.

Here's a photo of Rev. Dyer in his winter attire.

Rev. Robert Wm. Dyer, pioneer missionary, came to our Parish in August 1859 and served the people of the people of western Prince Edward Island for 26 years. 

The Baptism of the Lord

Collect of the Day:  The Baptism of the Lord

     Eternal God, who at the baptism of Jesus revealed him to be your Son, anointing him with the Holy Spirit, keep your children born of water and the Spirit, faithful to their calling; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Google Images

( cf. Parish Bulletin January 8, 2012 )

What Happens When You Pray - CBC Radio DNTO

I went for a walk this afternoon and listened to CBC Radio's DNTO, it's 90 minutes long and today's topic was very interesting: "What Happens When You Pray"...There are many different ways to pray... and many different reasons to. So what is "the power of prayer" to you?  That's what we're finding out this week....
The host, Sook-Yin Lee, had many different people talking about their thoughts on prayer. 

 Photo by Kalandrakas

To link to the site go to:

http://www.cbc.ca/dnto/news-promo/2011/12/29/what-happens-when-you-pray-jan-717/

and to listen to the show go to: http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Radio/DNTO/Full_Episodes/1934303548/ID=2184268638

The Naming of Jesus 1 January

According to Saint Luke Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth, as the Law of Moses required.  Christian tradition observes the Gospel's emphasis that the Virgin Mary would bear a son and his name would be Jesus which means "Yahweh saves".  The meaning of this name has great significance for the Church and so instead of commemorating the circumcision of Christ, it celebrates the eighth day after Christmas as the Naming of Christ.  (c.f. Parish Bulletin - Jan. 1st, 2012)



Naming of Jesus ( http://www.dst-corp.com/james/PaintingsOfJesus/ )

Christmas Message from Rev. Andrew & Janet

Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see - I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people."  Luke 2: 9-10

Above: Google Images

     Christmas is supposed to be a joyful and happy time of year.  But to some it can be a difficult and sad time.  To the shepherds, before that first Christmas Eve, the night was just like any other.  They had to tend the sheep and keep watch for wild animals and thieves.  This is what they did the previous night and it is what they expected would take place once more.  But their routine was shattered.

     Most of us prefer routine.  We might have a number of routines to cover different situations - work/school day and rest day; but that is how we live our lives.  Then something happens and our routine is shattered.  John Lennon said, "Life is what happens while you're making your plans."
     For the shepherds, it was the arrival of the Messiah.  Imagine the roller coaster ride of emotions as fear gave way to excitement to hear that the Messiah had come.  But after the excitement dies down, life happens.
     We prepare ourselves for Christmas and get together with family and friends.  Gifts and Blessings are exchanged.  Through it all, life happens. Sometimes it brings us joy, and sometimes it brings us tears.  We are meant to share it all; with each other, and most importantly, with Jesus Christ our Messiah, who understands us and loves us.  On this day that we celebrate the birth of Jesus, let us set aside a moment of our day for Him.
     Our Lord Jesus Christ be with you to defend you, within you to keep you, before you to lead you, beside you to guard you, and above you to bless you.

Merry Christmas to all

Janet and Andrew

Christmas Eve

Our Parish holds two services on Christmas Eve and each year alternate between early and late service between St. Luke's O'Leary (below) and St. Peter's Alberton. This year the early service was at St. Luke's at 7pm.

The second Christmas Eve service was at St. Peter's at 9pm and was an extra special this year as we had a baptism.

Above:  The Holy Baptism of one-month old "Leo Leonard Williams" son of Derek and Kelly (O'Meara) Williams of Alberton.  Joyfully we welcome you into our congregation and the Family of God.  May God's blessings be always with them.

Interior of St. Peter's festively decorated for Christmas.  The Choir sang beautifully.

Above: Rev. Andrew addresses the congregation.

Below:  The photo below was taken of St. Peter's Alberton on Christmas morning following our 9:30am service.

The other two churches in our Parish are open seasonally and closed in winter.  Below is Holy Trinity Alma and Christ Church Kildare Capes.

Christ Church Kildare Capes above - photo submitted.