Most high, all powerful, all good Lord! All praise is yours, all glory, all honor, and all blessing. To you, alone, Most High, do they belong. No mortal lips are worthy to pronounce your name.

Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures, especially through my lord Brother Sun, who brings the day; and you give light through him. And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor! Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.

Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars; in the heavens you have made them, precious and beautiful.

Be praised, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air, and clouds and storms, and all the weather, through which you give your creatures sustenance.

Be praised, My Lord, through Sister Water; she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure.

Be praised, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you brighten the night. He is beautiful and cheerful, and powerful and strong.

Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth, who feeds us and rules us, and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

Be praised, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of you; through those who endure sickness and trial. Happy those who endure in peace, for by you, Most High, they will be crowned.

Be praised, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whose embrace no living person can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin! Happy those she finds doing your most holy will. The second death can do no harm to them.

Praise and bless my Lord, and give thanks, and serve him with great humility.

Happy Earth Day! April 22, 2023

While Earth Day is not an official feast day in the Episcopal Church, it is an important day in our lives as Christians. As St. Francis illustrates so beautifully in the above canticle, being mindful of and grateful for the blessings and abundance of God’s creation is one of the ways we both serve and praise God. We can’t say we love God and then mistreat what God has created and called good, very, very good.

This weekend we are beginning a year long exploration of the spiritual practice of stewardship. The Stewardship Team gave you a teaser in last week’s Banner by offering a definition of stewardship and asking what stewardship means to us as Christians. The goal of this year long examination is to enrich and broaden our understanding of the spiritual practice of being good stewards of all that God has blessed us with and entrusted to our care. Too often, when stewardship is mentioned, church folk immediately think of a fall pledge campaign to raise funds for next year’s budget. What a terrible misunderstanding of this holy work.

Every couple of months we will shift our focus to another realm that calls us to be good stewards – care of our bodies and minds, care of our neighbors and community, care of our souls and spiritual journey, care of our families, care of our financial resources, and yes, care of Mother Earth, which seems the most natural place to start – after all, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)

I’m excited to be on this journey of learning and exploring this profoundly important and holy work – being good stewards of all that God has entrusted to us. We’ll be incorporating learning opportunities, service opportunities, and other ways to explore how it is we live into the holy call of being good stewards. It’s going to be an amazing year.

See you in Church.

Faithfully,

Fr. Peter