Christ is Risen!
Just a few things:
1. Vespers at 5:00 p.m. this Saturday.
2. Divine Liturgy: Hearing of confessions and the reading of the hours at 9:30 a.m. Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.
3. In honor of Mother’s Day, Holy Cross will be collecting baby layette items for new mothers in need for the Thelma Wynne Project located in Winnipeg. The Thelma Wynne Project has been in existence in one way or another for over 50 years. For much of that time it has been located within St. Matthew’s church building. Dedicated women from Anglican churches in the city make or collect items and then prepare layettes for newborns. The layettes are distributed through social agencies in the city to new mothers who need them. The project has evolved somewhat over the years but originally was started by Thelma Wynne after whom it is named. The items are to be new and include: diapers, blankets, sleepers, caps, booties, baby soap, lotions, etc. Holy Cross will be collecting these items for the month of May until May 30. You can bring your donation to Holy Cross on Sundays or you can contact either Fr. Evan or Sylvia Kitzul at 256-8370 and we can arrange a pick up.
4. “As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, 7but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. 8We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. 9Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.” (1 Thessalonians 2:6-9)
This Sunday is Mother’s Day, or, as I like to refer to it, the day I thank my mom for bringing me home from the hospital instead of a puppy like my sister Tania asked for. Although, she did teach me to fetch, roll over, and play dead…except she never really wanted me to come back alive. “Roll over Evan. Play dead. Stay…stay… oooo, Flintstones are on. See you later.” I would still be there to this day if my mom had not come by and said, “Evan, you know you are not a dog, right?” Thanks mom.
The scripture passage is from St. Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians. St. Paul compares the work done by the Apostles to the the role of a mother. St. Paul is talking about how the Apostles treated and acted among the faithful and states that they were gentle like a mother caring for her little children. St. Paul talks of the joy that comes from sharing the Gospel of Christ, which is a message of sacrificial love, much like the joy a mother must feel about sharing their love with their child’s. A mother’s love for her children, for her family, is a sacrificial love.
St. Paul talks about the toil and hardship, how they worked night and day. Much like a mother who has to stay up until 3:00 in the morning typing up a social studies report on Hawaii (thank you for that mom), a mother will toil, will suffer hardships, and do so willingly and in silence for her child. The sacrifices are done out of love. The toil and the hardship, the working day and night, is a mother’s preaching of God’s gospel of love to her children.
So, to all the mom’s that read this bulletin, happy Mother’s Day. Thank you for everything you have done for us, given us, sacrificed for us. Thank you for showing us God’s love through your love teaching us that we are valued—no matter what.
God grant you all many years.
(Love you mom, thanks for bringing me home)
Answer to last week’s question:
True or false? Jesus was sold into slavery by His brothers. False. That was Joseph in the Old Testament. (And believe me, my brother would regularily quote this passage to my dad about getting rid of me.)
This week’s question:
True or false: Jesus told a story about a housewife who lost her ring.
See you in church.
In Christ,
Fr. Evan
