Sunday, August 8

Join us for “at church” or “virtually” for worship this Sunday, August 8, 2021, The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, at St. Alban’s, St. Thomas’, St. Patrick’s, and Iglesia Episcopal La Esperanza de Familias Unidas. Remember - Masks are again mandatory for all, and communion will be offered in one kind - bread only. We strongly urge everyone to get vaccinated. Please maintain social distance in non-family groups.

Holy Eucharist, Rite Two

St. Alban’s - 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.*

St. Thomas' - 10:00 a.m.*

St. Patrick’s – 1:30 p.m.*

* These liturgies will be Live-Streamed on Facebook for those who choose to remain at home. 

Download a pdf of the leaflet to print or to use on your phone or tablet. Holy Eucharist -  https://drive.google.com/file/d/15NNcxYuZZbrOXZFUHfJp-FjaX-NSj7fb/view?usp=sharing

La Santa Eucaristía: Rito Dos

Iglesia Episcopal La Esperanza de Familias Unidas – Domingo - 5:00 p.m.

y vía transmisión en vivo en nuestra página de Facebook.

Zoom Compline 

Sunday -  8:00 p.m.

Join Zoom Meeting

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Meeting ID: 838 6168 8528

Passcode: 800

Dial by your location +1 312 626 6799 or +1 346 248 7799

We hope to “see” you all on Sunday as you are most comfortable!

Dawnell+, Whit+, Rob+ and Deacon Rita

Art from Clip Art, Steve Erspamer, Liturgy Training Publications – ltp.org

The Transfiguration of Our Lord

The Collect:

O God, who on the holy mount revealed to chosen witnesses your well-beloved Son, wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistening: Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world, may by faith behold the King in his beauty; who with you, O Father, and you, O Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

From Our Bishop

Announcements

Mask Mandate and Physical Distancing

Dear Friends, Pursuant to the Governor’s mandate, and after receiving input from the Standing Committee electronically, I am requiring that masks be worn and physical distance maintained for all in-door gatherings at our congregations until at least September 1. Those with medical conditions preventing mask-wearing and children under five are exempt. More details can be found here. Decisions regarding whether or not singing will be allowed, reverting to communion in one kind (at present we may use intinction only), and temporarily offering only online worship should be made at the congregational level based on infection and transmission levels in the surrounding area. Sit-down meals are strongly discouraged. Outdoor worship and fellowship are clearly our safest option at present. Vaccinated persons exposed to the virus need not quarantine. If symptoms occur, get tested. A positive test requires a quarantine. An infection event at your congregation will require closing the facility for at least a full week. Maintain already-established cleaning protocols. Like many of you, I am very disappointed by this turn of events. Due to our low vaccination rates the Delta Variant has taken us into a serious, deadly surge. Our ICUs are getting perilously close to their limits. Those of us who are vaccinated are protected from the most serious symptoms. However, we are able to be infected and to spread this variant to others.  We are all in this together. We will get through it together. Stay safe and be well. In Christ’s Peace, The Rt. Rev. Jacob W. Owensby, PhD, DD Bishop of The Episcopal Church in Western Louisiana

Getting vaccinated prevents severe illness, hospitalizations, and death. Unvaccinated people should get vaccinated and continue masking until they are fully vaccinated. With the Delta variant, this is more urgent than ever. CDC has updated guidance for fully vaccinated people based on new evidence on the Delta variant.

In the Valley

Eve of the Transfiguration

Tomorrow, the Church celebrates the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is on the mountain, that a close group of Jesus’s disciples glimpse Jesus in a mysterious vision with Moses, the great lawgiver, and Elijah, the great prophet. The disciples “see” Jesus in such company, and they are changed.

It occurs to me that we are usually on one side or the other of such events. We are in the valley heading for transfiguration, or we are returning to the world from such a vision. 

Let us pray.

God help us remember, and when the time is right, share our transfiguration stories with the world. Remind us that we can’t stay on the mountain forever, and that our lives are spent  in hope of the next transfiguration or on the energy of the last one. Amen.

Nothing

For I am convinced that nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God. Romans 8:38-39 - NOTHING - not even a tiny spelling error in a meme!

Join us tonight for Evening Prayer and our Bible Project Class to learn something new about the Bible and reflect on God's never-ending love for us.

Zoom Evening Prayer & Bible Project
Wednesday, 5:30 p.m.
 
Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 867 8157 7595
Passcode: 530
Dial by your location +1 312 626 6799 or  +1 346 248 7799

Myrrh-Bearing Women

Joanna, Mary, and Salome, Myrrh-Bearing Women

A perfect remembrance as we re-enter, with fear and uncertainty, a resurgence of the COVID-19 virus and a return to mandatory masks. Our job as always is to proclaim Good News to a hurting and broken world.

The Collect:

Almighty God, who revealed the resurrection of your Son to Joanna, Mary, and Salome as they faithfully came bearing myrrh to his tomb: Grant that we too may perceive the presence of the risen Lord in the midst of pain and fear, and go forth proclaiming his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Basically all that is known of these three women is found in the Gospels, first in Mark 16:1-8:

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.’ So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Joanna is traditionally counted as one of these women who came to anoint Jesus' body, but is only mentioned in Luke 8:1b-3:

The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.*

*The Lectionary, http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/joanna_mary_salome.html, Bible text is from the NRSV.

Rain