St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

At St. Paul’s Parish today, the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost, October 12, 2008:

• Holy Communion at 8:00 a.m.;
• Nursery Opens at at 8:45 a.m.;
• Sunday School for All Ages at 9:00 a.m.;
• Choral Eucharist with Holy Baptism at 10:00 a.m.;
• Luncheon Reception Hosted by the Ivey Family at 11:30 a.m.;
• Bulb Planting with the Gardening Group at 12:30 p.m.;
• Children’s Chapel at 10:00 a.m.;
• Celtic Eucharist at 5:30 p.m..

The October issue of St. Paul’s Sword of the Spirit, our monthly newsletter, is available on line, as is the calendar of parish events for October 2008.

Today’s news in the Episcopal Church - Episcopal Life Online.

On the calendar tomorrow, October 13, 2008:

• Vestry meeting at 7:00 p.m. (in the Parish Hall).

Today is the Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost. The lessons for the day according to the Revised Common Lectionary (Proper 23) include the story of the Golden Calf in the 32nd Chapter of Exodus, which begins:

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the LORD.” They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.

In an essay at BeliefNet, Alyssa Quin writes that the moral of the story is the fragility of religious idols:

The “moral” of the golden calf episode seems also to recommend against the corrupting effects of idolizing something gold, fetishizing the beautiful. The Children of Israel contribute their jewelry to its making and the result seems to take their vanity to a new low of decadence.

The story’s juxtaposition alongside the description of the priestly office–and especially the ornamental vessels and fine garments they are commanded to wear–suggests a critique of the power and decadence of the priesthood. For it is none other than Aaron, the head priest, who fashions the golden calf. Even more inscrutable: Aaron returns unpunished to Moses’ side, and even takes part in meting out punishment to the Israelites. What are we to make of this adulation of the priestly class alongside its obvious corruption?

Finally, if God insists on wrapping Himself in physicality, isn’t the golden calf an understandable mistake?

Implicitly, the Torah offers the explanation that all objects - whether deemed sacred or prohibited by Divine law - share identical properties. The quick succession in which Moses shatters the Two Tablets and melts down the Golden Calf suggests a parallel between the two objects: both prove equally fragile.(Read the entire essay here.)

The following is the collect today from The Book of Common Stock - 1979:

Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.