LIGHT OF THE VALLEY LUTHERAN CHURCH
Troubling Times
Tuesday, May 24, 2022, should have been an ordinary day.
In Uvalde, this day and date will never be forgotten. On this Tuesday in the month of May, 19 innocent children and their two teachers were brutally murdered. The world changed for the families of these victims of violence, the community changed, and America changed.
Will these school children and their teachers be remembered? Did their deaths mean nothing?
The pain, the tears, and the grief will live forever for so many people. Hundreds have been personally affected and millions more learned of it through the media. We are all suffering.
What can be done?
Right now, we need to grieve and to cry, but tomorrow change must occur. It is our obligation as Americans to do something constructive to ensure that this violence will not be repeated. How many innocent people must die before we, as Americans, do something to stop it?
At this point in time, the Bible can offer some solace or comfort.
For the Lord says “Fear not. I am with you. Be not dismayed. I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.” Isaiah 41: 10
There are no answers and no solutions directly stated in the above verse. We need to remember that through sincere prayer our fears will be lessened and we should not be afraid or overwhelmed. We need to affirm and believe that God will not desert us. He will help us. He will give us hope during these troubling times. God is at our side, and He will help us find the right solutions.
To the 19 children and 2 teachers, we promise not to forget you. You will be remembered.
Light of the Valley Lutheran Church is here in Valley Center and its members believe in the power of prayer. Come and pray with us. Our Sunday service is at 9 a.m. and on Thursdays at 3:30 p.m. we gather for prayer.
* * *
ST. STEPHEN CATHOLIC CHURCH
The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ 6-19-22
This Sunday we will celebrate the feast of “Corpus Christi” in order to honor the sacred body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ given to us in the Eucharist. This feast is intended to help us comprehend the incarnation of Jesus and its many dimensions. Not only is the incarnation apparent in the Annunciation and Nativity; but it also occurs at Consecration during every Mass. Christ is made real to us at the altar in His body and blood through the Eucharistic celebration; by our reception of His body and blood we are transformed into that same reality. We become Christ for the world. However, do we embrace this truth in actually offering ourselves as Christ, doing his work?
What evidence do we have in the world to show us on how Christians have been doing this with regards to the work of Christ? Well, we have such examples of hospitals which were started by the church, the preservation of knowledge by the monasteries during the dark ages, the removal of slavery in western societies, and the great charitable efforts of religious communities such as the Sisters of Charity. However, in modern times a worrisome trend has occurred. An internal erosion of basic Christian values has taken place. As Christians, we have allowed worldly values to grab a hold of our hearts, minds, and actions in relation to the principles of “Life”, “Marriage”, and “Conscience”. If this evil trend continues, we will implode destroying society, this nation, and ourselves.
However, hope has not been lost. God is on our side and our faith in Christ will lead us out of the slavery of Egypt, through the difficult discipline of the desert, and to the joyful promised land of freedom.
Each of us, as individuals, need to reevaluate our principles and identity:
Do we stand for the civil rights of all people living in this nation? Or, do some lives have less value because they are too young, too old, or not productive enough?
Do we stand for marriage as a sacred discipline building, protecting, and transmitting human society for the common good? Or, is marriage simply a human imagined institution and definition rendering it changeable depending on the cultural fad?
Do we stand for the right of individual Conscience? Or, should the national government determine and dictate to the individual what is moral and ethical in our lives?
The feast of Corpus Christi challenges us to take seriously the issues of our nation today. Christ instituted the Eucharist for the Church during the last supper with those most memorable words: “Take this, all of you, and drink from it. This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me.” Jesus showed us the Christian approach for facing the problems of this world; we are to sacrifice ourselves for the lives of others according to God’s moral standards even with our personal struggles and difficulties. Jesus spilled His blood for our eternal salvation, which we receive at Mass. We too need to commit our effort and spill our blood for God, His standards, and all people.
Fr Luke Jauregui
* * *
ST. FRANCIS EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Join us for the Holy Communion at either 8 or 10 a.m. this Sunday. Music is at both services, but the choir finishes for the year this Sunday. Come and enjoy their last anthem before they take a needed summer break. This Sunday after Pentecost, is Trinity Sunday. We praise the one God who has shown us three persons. As we call the first person, Father, we should know that this is not some man with a white beard sitting on the clouds. This is the Creator God, from whom all things come, both in heaven and on earth. Of course, we Christians know most of what we know about God as he was shown to us through the Son, Jesus. Jesus is both fully man and fully divine. A miracle of the incarnation, God lived and dwelled among us. Jesus is a man know by history. We have the benefit of following the path of Jesus that leads to truth and life. We hear his words in the gospels. We know of his miracles, his healings, and his mission to the broken in the world. Jesus is known as the Redeemer part of the trinity; he was sent by God, conceived by the actions of the Holy Spirit, he came to show us the way, he came to become the redeemer of the world. He would save all of mankind by submitting himself to rejection, pain and death. He died on the cross so that we all would be saved. The Holy Spirit is the final part of the Godhead. It was the Holy Spirit that hovered over the earth at its creation, a partner in the formation of the world. It is the Holy Spirit that continues to make God known to an ever-doubting public. It is the Spirit that leads us towards our redemption. The Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier of the faithful. The Spirit calls us to actions of love and peace. Only in the presence of the Spirit can anyone find true love and happiness. All are gifts of a loving and present God.
We celebrate God in three persons this Sunday, the three persons who have promised that they would always live in the through us. When you feel alone remember that there are at least Three persons of God living in our hearts, as Jesus had promised. They dwell in us, that community of God that would never leave us alone. In our first lesson from Proverbs, Wisdom, another part of the Holy Spirit, tell of how she was an architect of the world, helping form the foundations of the land and the sea. “…when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.” God makes himself known in three persons. A community of the divine, united by purpose and love. A divine dance; a community of creators, redeemers, and sustainers, A dance that was here when the planet was formed, a dance that is leaping from our own hearts.
Faithfully yours in Christ,
The Rev. Michael Carr
Priest-in-charge
St. Francis Episcopal Church, Pauma Valley
Leave a Reply