August 25, 2009

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

Please watch your mail this week for the Fall edition of Saints Alive!, our quarterly newsletter, and for the booklet announcing our adult faith formation opportunities for 2009-2010. You may also access these publications on our web site: www.allsaintsbrookline.org. If you would like to receive our newsletter in the mail, please send your name and address to Barbara Bembery at office@allsaintsbrookline.org.

SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The reading from the Song of Solomon is a beautiful love poem that many couples include in their wedding ceremonies. Mystics through the centuries have seen the poem as a description of the soul's relationship to God: "The voice of my beloved! Look, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag ... My beloved speaks and says to me: 'Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.'" (Song of Solomon 2:8-13)

Psalm 45 uses imagery of the court of a king to symbolize the soul's relationship with God: "My heart is stirring with a noble song; let me recite what I have fashioned for the king; my tongue shall be the pen of a skilled writer ... Your throne, O God, endures for ever and ever, a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom; you love righteousness and hate iniquity ... Kings' daughters stand among the ladies of the court; on your right hand is the queen, adorned with the gold of Ophir."

The epistle of James teaches that faith impels us to uplift the condition of the poor: "You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God's righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act-they will be blessed in their doing. If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." (James 1:17-27)

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus teaches that actions that flow from our inner spirit express our relationship with God and determine our righteousness in God's eyes: "So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, 'Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?' ... Then he called the crowd again and said to them, 'Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.'" (Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23)

I invite you to join us for the Holy Eucharist this Saturday at 5:00 pm and Sunday at 10:30 am.

Sincerely,

David A. Killian
Rector

Worship Services for

The Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost
August 29-30, 2009
Saturday, August 29, at 5:00 pm — Preacher: Mr. Thomas Nutt-Powell
Sunday, August 30, at 10:30 am — Preacher: Mr. Thomas Nutt-Powell

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