Grace
Episcopal Church
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Grace
Notes
27 September 2018
An Uncommon Prayer
Father, I abandon myself into your
hands. Do with me what you will. Whatever you may do, I thank you, I am ready
for all, I accept all. Let only your
will be done in me and in all your creatures.
I wish no more than this, O Lord.
Into your hands I commend my soul.
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart, for I love you, Lord,
and so need to give myself, to surrender myself into your hands without reserve
and with boundless confidence, for you are my Father.
—Charles
de Foucauld
I don’t know that I’ve ever heard such a
prayer before. In some ways it seems to
go against everything I’ve learned about the value of life. It seems fatalistic. Uninvolved.
Passive. There seems so little
fight in it. Yet, it calls upon a great
deal of self-discipline and self-denial, surrendering to the will of God as
Jesus did in the Garden. And, at the
same time, it beats with the life and teachings of Jesus.
His expression of love is vibrant and
passionate. His relationship with his
Father seems to be one of intimacy and energy.
And the hands of his Father are always there to catch, support, and hold
him secure. Here he is surrendering his
life, offering himself as a “living sacrifice“ as Paul urges us to do and
echoing Luke’s account of Jesus’ last words, “Father, into your hands I commit
my spirit.”
The author was an officer in the French Army
around the turn of the 20th Century.
He experienced a powerful conversion, becoming a monk and then a hermit,
living in the Algerian desert and wilderness.
In an attempted abduction by bandits, he was shot and killed.
You might notice the Prayer begins and ends
with “Father.” That three times he
mentions the phrase, “into your hands.” He speaks of being ready for all and
accepting all. He wants only to do his
Father’s will. He emphatically mentions love twice in the last sentence. Because of his love, he needs to give himself
to surrender with boundless confidence through knowing his Father.
Now we all know well the word, “Father,” but
the experiential knowledge of his love isn’t that evident. For the vast majority of us, it’s a knowledge
we know chiefly in our heads; it’s not like Jesus knew his Father. It seems
the author has gone far beyond us in this heart knowledge. So, does his experience of the Father’s love
come before his surrender of self? Of
course it does, for “we love because he first loved us”; Lord, open our eyes to
see about us the abundance of your love.
I said I’d never seen a prayer like this, but
there’s a song some of you may have sung, as I have, not paying much attention
to the words:
All to Jesus I
surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
Refrain: I surrender
all,
I surrender all;
All to Thee my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
I surrender all;
All to Thee my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
All to Jesus I
surrender,
Humbly at His feet I bow;
Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
Take me, Jesus, take me now.
Humbly at His feet I bow;
Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
Take me, Jesus, take me now.
Fr. John
Grace abounds: Please thank:
§ Bob and Anne Hanlon, and Jessica Ambelang for the Sunday
coffee hours.
§ John Davis for lawn maintenance.
§ Jack Britton for building maintenance.
Call
for Contributions: If you
have a spiritual reflection to share, or want to point your fellow worshipers
toward a resource, submit your contributions to Fr. Karl (by email) by
Wednesday in the week of publication.
Don’t
forget “Something Extra for Grace”:
Supplemental giving envelopes can be found in pews. If you want to give something extra, please
use an envelope to ensure that you are credited.
Music this Week: The
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 21B)
Dr.
R. Benjamin Dobey, Music Director
Prelude Chorale
Prelude on
Jesus,
lead thou on and Let us ever walk with Jesus Paul Manz
Entrance Hymn 408 “Sing praise to God who reigns above” Mit Freuden zart
Offertory Hymn 618 “Ye
watchers and ye holy ones” Martins
Communion Hymn 609 “Where crossed the crowded ways of life” Slane
Closing Hymn 594 “God of grace and God of glory”
Cwm Rhondda
Postlude Prelude
& Fugue in G J.K.F. Fischer
Parish Notices:
§ Choir rehearsals have begun: All voices are
welcome, but we especially need tenors and basses. You don’t need to be a
trained singer, an opera star, or a Broadway sensation – you just need a desire
to share the love of Christ through music! “Sing and make music from your heart
to the Lord.” Ephesians 5:19
§ Catechumenate will begin: Catechumenate is a
nine-month course in the basics of the Faith and its practice. It is a period
of training and instruction in Christian understandings about God, human
relationships, and the meaning of life. It includes the Sacrament of Baptism,
if you are not already baptized, and culminates in Confirmation, Reception, or
Renewal of Baptismal Vows. The class will begin on Tuesday, October 2 from 6:30
p.m. until 8:30 p.m. (room location TBD) and will continue until May when
Bishop Matthew Gunter makes his annual visitation. The study is led by Mother
Michele Whitford, the Parish Catechist. If you would like to be a part of this
exciting study and fellowship or would like more information, please call the office
452-9659 or email Mother Michele at mwhitford@gracesheboygan.com.
There will be a sign-up sheet on the table in the Narthex.
§ Identity Theft-What You Need to Know: a free educational
workshop created by Thrivent Financial to help you learn how identity theft can
occur, steps you can take to prevent it and what to do if it happens to you.
Join Timothy Saegar and Matthew Becker at St. John’s USS, 1248 Lincoln Avenue,
Sheboygan, on Saturday, October 6th at 10:00am. We will be offering
FREE shredding services from 9-noon, so please bring any documents needed to be
shredded and we will take care of that for you.
To register, call Crystal Becker or Timothy Saegar at 920-453-0296.
§ Coats For Kids: Reinbold-Novak
Funeral Home, in conjunction with The Sheboygan Press, for the past 27 years,
runs from September through November 1st. Area residents are asked to donate
clean coats in good repair. Accepted are: coats of all sizes for people of all
ages, with the need being greatest for children’s coats.
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§ Walsingham Pilgrimage Music and Flowers:
The
Walsingham Pilgrimage is just around the corner and preparations are being
made. Music will once again include the Gaudete Brass. As you are able,
prayerfully consider contributing so that we can once again offer beautiful
music that has become so much a part of the pilgrimage and the flowers that add
to the beauty of holiness. Please make your check out to Grace Church with
“Walsingham music” or “flowers” or both in the memo.
Harvest Lunch will be
served at noon on Saturday, October 13; the cost is $20 per person and
reservations are required by October 10. For more information or to make
reservations, call 920-452-9659 or email office@gracesheboygan.com.
§ Our
Lady of Walsingham Pilgrimage
§ Friday,
October 12, 2018
§ Quiet
Day of Prayer and Meditation.
12:00pm Service for
Noonday and Meditation
3:00pm Service of
Prayer and Meditation
5:00pm Holy Rosary
6:00pm Solemn
Evensong and Meditation
Evensong will include
the choir of Nashotah House Theological Seminary, under the direction of The
Rev. Fr. Alexander Pryor, Director of Music at the seminary.
The Meditations will
be led by The Rev. Chris Arnold,
Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, Oshkosh.
Musical offering by the combined choirs of Nashotah House Seminary and
the parish.
§ Saturday,
October 13, 2018
§ 10:30
am Solemn Pontifical Mass with procession of Our Lady
Celebrant is The
Right Reverend Matthew A. Gunter,
Eighth Bishop of Fond
du Lac.
The preacher is The
Rev. Chris Arnold
Rector of Trinity Church, Oshkosh.
Choral and organ music will include Dr. R. Benjamin Dobey Organist and
Choirmaster
and the Gaudete Brass
Quintet of Chicago.
12:00 pm Harvest
Lunch. The cost is $20.00.
Please make
reservations by October 10.
2:00pm Anointing with
Walsingham water and Healing Prayer,
musical offering, and
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
§ Bulletin Prayer List and our Grace
Church Prayer Team:
The Episcopal Church believes in the power of prayer. Grace Church regularly
prays for the needs of our own members, as well as the needs of the country,
and our world. We would be honored to pray for your needs, and the needs
of your friends and relatives if they or you are in a state of trouble,
sorrow, pain, or are experiencing any other adversity. Please call the Parish
office at (920) 452-9659 or email office@gracesheboygan.com.
