446 N Seguin Ave, New Braunfels, Texas 78130
Catholic in Tradition, Biblical in Faith, Sacramental in Worship
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On Sundays Morning Prayer is read at 9.00 AM, the Holy Eucharist offered at 9.30, and Evening Prayer is at 1.00 PM.
On Wednesdays, Thursday, and Fridays, Morning Prayer is read at 11.45 AM, the Holy Eucharist is offered at noon, and Evening Prayer is at 7.00 PM
Our Sunday morning Liturgy (Morning Prayer followed by the Holly Eucharist) is live streamed on our parish Facebook page beginning at 9.00 AM each Sunday morning. www.facebook.com/stjosephsnewbraunfels
Our Sunday Schedule is:
9.00 AM Morning Prayer
9.30 AM Holy Eucharist (sung with sermon)
10.45 AM Fun, Food and Fellowship
As much fun, food and fellowship as Anglicans allow themselves to have
11.15 AM Class (first, second, fourth and fifth Sundays; the parish Vestry meets on the third Sunday)
1.00 PM - Evening Prayer during the summer
4.00 PM - Evening Prayer rest of the year
4.00 PM - Evensong on the Second Sunday of each month
Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays
11:45 AM - Morning Prayer
12:00 noon - Mass
7.00 PM - Evening Prayer
Holy Days as above
For each weeks schedule of Saint's Days and Holy Days, see the schedule on our "About Us" page
The Epistoller’s Schedule for November & December
November 28 – First Sunday in Advent (“Doom Sunday”)
Romans 13.8-14 Jan Baertl
December 5 – Second Sunday in Advent
(Comm St Sabas, Apostle)
Romans 15.4-13 Sharon McAllister
December 12 – Third Sunday in Advent
I Corinthians 4.1-5 Lindsey Schaub
December 19 – Fourth Sunday in Advent
Philippians 4.4-7 Jan Bates
December 25 – Christmas (Midnight)
Titus 2.11-15 Jan Bates
December 25 – Christmas (Day)
Hebrews 1.1-12 Tanya Wilcox
December 26 – St Stephen, Deacon & Protomartyr (Comm First Sunday after Christmas)
Galatians 4.1-7 Jan Baertl
Thanksgiving Day at St Joseph’s
Thanksgiving Day we’ll read Morning Prayer at 10.15 and celebrate the Holy Eucharist at 10.30. At noon we’ll serve a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner, with turkey, dressing and all the other traditional fixin’s (and assorted customary pies) for our parishioners, friends and friends of friends. Don’t spend the day alone! There’ll be plenty of food, plenty of talk and a lot of fun, so stop by even if only for a few minutes and see who’s here and what’s up.
Thanks for Your Help with The Nazarene Fund
In the rush to evacuate Afghanistan, the Nazarene Fund (“Nazarenes” are what Arabs call Christians), with the help of donations like ours, rescued more than 5,000 Christians from Afghanistan. The Taliban announced that after they assume full control of Afghanistan, all Christians will be exterminated. Over the past few weeks, TNF raised money to airlift as many of these Christians as possible to safe havens in the Middle East.
Two Sundays back I asked you to help raise $500 for this effort. You gave almost $1,000. Last week we collected more both from our parishioners in New Braunfels as well as contributions from some of our parish’s “friends-at-a-distance.” This Sunday Jan, our treasurer, will tote it all up and send off a check to TNF. I wish I could report to you all is well and the danger is past, but as many of our fellow countrymen are stranded in Afghanistan, many Christians remain, too. We’ll continue to monitor their situation and offer help as we can. At all times and in all places, we can pray for them; we’ll be doing so at Mass, please do so at home, too.
Thank you again for all the help you’ve given and your prayers on their behalf. And I owe a special debt to Joe Gardner for pushing me where I wasn’t especially interested in going.
Charity Navigator, which rates the integrity of charitable organizations, gives an Accountability & Transparency rating to The Nazarene Fund of a positive 96%.
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This Sunday’s Feast: the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple
The Feast of the Presentation celebrates the lifelong dedication of the Blessed Virgin to God, exemplified through prayer and chastity. While St Luke introduces St Mary with the story of the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel foretells the birth of her Son, the feast of the Presentation tells the story of her youth, when she was taken to the Temple in Jerusalem and dedicated to the service of God by her parents, Joachim and Anne. St Mary’s presentation in the temple parallels that of the prophet Samuel, whose mother Hannah, who like Anne was also thought to be barren, and offered her child as a gift to God at Shiloh. St Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica, explained the Virgin’s pre-eminence in a sermon preached for this feast, “God chose Mary long beforehand for her part in the salvation and reclaiming of our race. She was chosen, not merely as one from the crowd, but He chose her from the ranks of the chosen of all the ages, singular in piety and purity.”
The Feast of the Presentation is an ancient one on the Church’s calendar, referred to by St Gregory of Nyssa late in the fourth century, originating in the Church in Palestine and Syria. In the Eastern Churches it is known as the Eisodos, the “Entry” of the Theotokos into the Temple. November 21 was formally chosen as the date for the feast in 543, when the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I dedicated a Church for the feast to St Mary built near the site of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem destroyed by the Romans in AD 70.
The three ancient feasts celebrating the of St Mary the Virgin, her Conception (December 7), Birth (September 8) and Presentation in the Temple correspond with the first three feasts we celebrate of Christ’s life, His Conception (April 25), Birth (December 25) and Presentation at the Temple (February 2). The feasts parallel those of St John Baptist, with his conception (September 23), his birth (June 24) and (in place of his presentation in the Temple) the Visitation of St Mary to St Elizabeth, the Baptist’s mother, (July 2), which brings together Christ, the Blessed Virgin and St John the Baptist (the latter two while still in the womb!).
These parallels aren’t mere happenstances. It was the belief of early generations of Christians that St Mary the Virgin and St John the Baptist, throughout their lives, never sinned. The parallel feats of the early lives of Christ, His Mother and His cousin the Baptist were intended to show that the profound piety that marked the lives of he Virgin and the Baptist flowed from their close ties to their Lord Who was their Savior: both were intimately associated with fulfilling His mission.
In his Christmas sermon preached about 380, St Gregory of Nyssa parallels the roles Christ and St Mary played in the unfolding of salvation, contrasting them to Adam and Eve: “Through man [Adam] came death, and through man [Christ] salvation. The first man fell into sin, but the second raised up him who was fallen. A woman [Mary] came to the undo the deeds of a woman [Eve]: the former afforded an entrance to sin; the latter ministered to the entrance of righteousness. The former accepted the counsel of the serpent; the latter brought forth the Destroyer of the serpent and gave birth to the Author of light.”
“Work…to the Glory of God”
“Christians must revive a centuries-old view of humankind as made in the image of God, the Creator, and of work as a source of fulfillment and blessing not as a necessary drudgery to be undergone for the purpose of making money, but as a way of life in which the nature of man should find its proper exercise and delight and so fulfill itself to the glory of God. That it should, in fact, be thought of as a creative activity undertaken for the love of the work itself; and that man, made in God’s image, should make things, as God makes them, for the sake of doing well a thing that is well worth doing.” - Dorothy Sayers, Why Work?
Our Thanksgiving Food Bank Collection
Thanks to everyone for your generous donations to our Thanksgiving Food Collection for the SOS New Braunfels Food Bank. The basket in the back of the church filled over several times and the food had to be moved repeatedly to allow people to get past it! A special thanks to Deacon Lee for taking charge of the project this year and making sure our donations were all boxed up and delivered in plenty of time to be distributed for the holiday.
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The Bell of St Joseph's and Other Fun & Fascinating Facts
Parish Food Closet
We collect non-perishable food items throughout the year and every two months we caravan the donations to the New Braunfels SOS Food Bank. Our current food collection is continuing till Sunday, September 5, so please remember to bring something for one of our collection baskets by then. We have one collection basket by the front entrance of David Hall, just ot the right of the door. The other basket is in the back of the church on the Gospel side. Thanks to your ongoing generosity, st Joseph's is one of the major contributors to our local food bank.
Options for Life
Throughout Lent we've been raising money for an annual gift to the New Braunfels "Options for Life" Program, supporting young, single mothers struggling to raise their children. The garishly-colored plastic baby bottles lined up on the narthex table are for you to take home and fill up as part of our common parish Lenten Alms program. We also have an OfL Collection Jar in our parish hall for through-the-year donations. We'll being collecting bottles on Easter Day and on Whitsunday present our check to the office of OfL.
Veterans' Charities
On Memorial Day and Veterans' Day we take up special collections for the "Wreaths Across America" program. At Christmastime, we participate in this by laying wreaths at the graves of veterans in New Braunfels and Comal County. For more information, contact Tanya Wilcox. In 2021, wreaths will be laid on Tuesday, December 21.
Most-Needed Items at Food Bank
The brochure for our local Food Bank lists the following items as their greatest needs: Canned meats, tuna, chicken or salmon; Meals in a can (soup, stew, chili); Low-sodium canned vegetables; Canned fruit in its own juice or water; Peanut butter; Olive or canola oil; Spices (cinnamon, chili powder, cumin, salt-free spice blends); Canned foods with pop-top lids; Low-sugar whole grain cereals; Healthy snacks (granola bars, nuts, dried fruit).
Their brochure goes on to say: “Please avoid items packed in glass. No candy or sugar-sweetened drinks. We request that you do not donate bulk quantities of rice, flour, or sugar. Although we appreciate and can utilize every donation we receive, the Food Bank does not have the repackaging facilities needed to properly distribute such items.”
How does a well-informed Anglican greet a bishop?
So, we now officially have a “Bishop-in-Residence” here at St Joseph’s now that Bishop Ng’ang’a is formally a member of the parish and on the staff. We’re accustomed to his presence here and he’s much-loved at this parish. But now and then somebody will take me aside and ask, “What’s the proper way to address a bishop?”
Without getting too complex, Bishop Ng’ang’a isn’t our diocesan bishop: that’s Bishop Millsaps in far-off Tennessee. Bishop Ng’ang’a is what is called a “suffragan bishop,” a bishop who assists a diocesan (that’s why Bishop Millsaps appointed him: the Vestry and I requested the appointment, but only Bishop Millsaps could approve it). Before I actually answer the question posed above, I need to explain that though we are Anglicans, we’re not (most of us, anyway) British. A bishop in the Church of England is a member of the House of Lords. As such, English bishops are properly addressed as “Your Grace.” Anglican bishops elsewhere are not. Nor do we Americans say, “My Lord,” when addressing a bishop. We fought a couple of wars in order NOT to have “Lords” and “Graces” amongst us. Another similar term is “your Excellency.” This, again, isn’t an ecclesiastical title but a political one. Many Roman Catholics habitually address their bishops as “Excellency,” but in the official protocols of the Roman Church, the only “excellencies” are Roman clergy who happen to be ambassadors of the Vatican to other countries.
So, what do we say? We call our bishops “Bishop.” A bishop is a successor to the Apostles. I don’t think there can be a better title than that. If you write the bishop a letter or print something about him, Anglicans in such a case write “the Right Reverend Joe Schmo,’ or, if he is an archbishop, “the Most Reverend Joe Schmo.” The Prayer Book formally refers to the bishop, when he is addressed during the Liturgy, as “Right Reverend Father in God.” You all knew Bishop Ng’ang’a before his consecration as “Father Ng’ang’a.” To refer to a bishop as “Father” is no insult. Though he’s a bishop, he never ceases to be a priest.
The Bell of St Joseph's and Other Fun & Fascinating Facts
This Sunday at St Joseph's - November 21, the Sunday Next before Advent
The Bell of St Joseph's and Other Fun & Fascinating Facts
When you come by the church, take a look at our "new" old bell, a bronze 100 -year-old beauty with a rich tone that carries all the way down to the river when it rings! The stained glass windows in the church are less than 20 years old, but are closely-patterned after stained glass seen throughout the South from about 1870-1920 (St Joseph's boasts the only Men's Room in central Texas with its own stained-glass window). St Joseph’s chalice and paten were originally given as a gift to the first Episcopal Bishop of Quincy, Illinois, the Rt Rev Thomas Burgess, in 1878. As the hallmark under the base of the chalice shows, it was made by the Gorham Manufacturing Company, the leading silversmiths of 19th century America. How St Joseph’s came into the possession of a chalice & paten owned by a former Yankee chaplain in the War Between the States is a tale worth hearing (but at another time and in another place).
Receiving Holy Communion at St Joseph’s
At St Joseph’s, any baptized person is welcome to receive Holy Communion. We have a kneeler in front of the table we are using for an Altar. At communion-time, form a line and approach after the person in front of you has received the Sacrament. If you cannot kneel (or get up easily), please remain standing and receive. The priest will place the Sacrament in your hands (it is customary to support your right hand with the left): simply lift the Sacrament to your mouth. It is the sacramental Body of Christ. Please do not handle the consecrated Bread with your fingers. If you prefer to have him place the Host directly on your tongue, simply open your mouth as you approach and he will place it there. If you would like to have the Host dipped in the chalice rather than drink from it, continue to hold it in your open hand and the priest will take it, dip it into the chalice and then place it directly in your mouth. Please do not dip the host into the chalice yourself.
If you wish to drink from the chalice, the Chalice-bearer will be standing beside you at the kneeler and will help you drink from it directly.
If you do not wish to receive Holy Communion (or are not eligible to because you are not baptized), but would like a blessing, stand in line until your time comes, approach the kneeler and either kneel or stand and the priest will bless you. To let him know you wish to be blessed, cross your arms over your breast when you approach. He will make the sign of the Cross on your forehead as he blesses you.
Any baptized person is welcome to receive Holy Communion, but not everyone always should. If you are in a state of serious sin, it would be best not to present yourself for Holy Communion, here or elsewhere, until you have confessed your sins, resolved “to live a new life,” and received absolution. Anyone, baptized or not, can always come forward to receive a blessing.
– Fr Gregory Wilcox
This Sunday at St Joseph's - November 21, the Sunday Next before Advent
This Sunday at St Joseph's - November 21, the Sunday Next before Advent
This Sunday at St Joseph's - November 21, the Sunday Next before Advent
Sunday, November 21 - the Sunday Next before Advent and the commemoration of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple
9.00 AM - Morning Prayer
9.30 AM - the Holy Eucharist
10.45 AM - Treats and Tea in David Hall
11.15 AM - Vestry Meeting
1.00 PM - Evening Prayer
This Sunday...
… those of y’all reared as good ‘Piscopals (used to crowding into the back pews) may have to reconsider your life-long church seating habits: thanks to the generosity of Bishop Pease and his wife Linda, the logistical work of Deacon Lee, and the muscles of Pete Matamoros’ work crew (and the intense praying of Sharon Pope) we have a new organ installed at St Joseph’s, with two external speakers and a noticeably bigger voice! Until Sharon gets used to the ins ‘n outs of the volume controls, the front pews may be at a premium!...this Sunday is the last Sunday of the Church year and just in time, Church calendars for 2022 have arrived: see the notice below for information on getting one of your very own…our Parish Vestry meets this Sunday at 11.15, so after an abbreviated Time of Tea and Treats for everyone, they’ll call their meeting to order, SO there will be NO class on the Apostles’ Creed this Sunday: it will resume the next week…in this Sunday’s bulletin, a few things to note: the next installment of Fr Trueman Dicken’s Living with God (chapter 3, part 4) is printed on pp 15-16 and inserted into the bulletin is a report on the persecution of Christians in India well-worth reading…
Upcoming …
…the last Sunday in November is the First Sunday of Advent and the means Doom Sunday, which among other things, means the Day of the Doom Cake, so on Saturday the 27th, some of us (you can be one if you come) will be gathering at 11.00 AM to prepare and decorate the Doom Cake (“Doom” is a medieval English word meaning not deathbut judgment; “Doom Sunday” is the old English name for the First Sunday of Advent). The Doom depicts all souls at the Day of Judgment: some taken up to Heaven by angels and some pulled down by devils to the Gates of Hell – usually pictured as a giant sea-monster with sharp, pointy teeth. The skilled chefs of St Joseph’s will prepare and decorate the Doom Cake, but Fr Wilcox reserves to himself the production of the Gates of Hell. The Doom Cake will be served up after Mass on Doom Sunday…the final Sunday of the month is also the day of our Big Breakfast, so there is a good reason to fast extra before church that day…looking into early December, on Saturday the 4 th, the Women of St Joseph’s will meet for their monthly luncheon at 12.15 (Fr Wilcox will provide the soup and salad, the rest is up to the Women)…and on December 11th at 10.30, the Men of the Parish will meet for lunch (also provided by the priest – well, by his wife, really) where our Unending Discussion will take up where it left off last time…between all this, as soon as they show up, we’re committed to buying the first Christmas trees that show up on the first lot selling ‘em in Comal County to avoid a repeat of last years “littlest Xmas tree” fiasco…
See this week's Liturgical Schedule on our "About Us" page
November, 2021 at St Joseph's
This Sunday at St Joseph's - November 21, the Sunday Next before Advent
This Sunday at St Joseph's - November 21, the Sunday Next before Advent
Upcoming Dates to Note in November and early December:
Parish Women’s (Healthy!) Luncheon:
Saturday, December 9, 12.15 in David Hall
November Vestry Meeting: Our next regular meeting will be on November 21, 2021. All are welcome. There will be NO Vestry Meeting in December.
Men’s Breakfast: Saturday, December23, 10 AM David Hall
Annual Buy Your Own Indulgence Sunday: Your chance to own your very own copy of an Indulgence (printed on parchment!) printed in England during the time of King Henry VIII . It comes with a edible indulgence, too!
Parish Breakfast: in November, our Big Parish Breakfast will follow the 9.30 Eucharist on November 28
Bishop Peter Ng'ang'a will be with us as our preacher on December 5 and will be the celebrant for the Eucharist on December 19, before he flies to Kenya for Christmas. He'll be returning the end of January.
With the exception of Sunday, October 17 (because of our Vestry Meeting), Fr Wilcox will be teaching a class every Sunday in October on the Apostles' Creed. These will be live-streamed on our Facebook page.
Our 2022 Anglican Church Calendars are here!
Get your very own copy of this year’s Church Calendar: be the only one in your neighborhood to know the exact number of Sundays after Trinity next year and never worry about endangering your soul by missing a day of fasting or abstinence again! All this and more for only $10 from the church office, where Tanya or Deacon Lee will be happy to help you!
New in the Tract Rack
New on the narthex table are copies of Fr Moss's classic booklet "A Summary of the Faith," Fr Dearmer's "Life of St Aidan," and "St Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria and Doctor of the Church," a brief biography of the saint.
Autumnal Diversions
Now that fall is officially here (and there is a hint of a change in the weather, believe it or not!), it’s time to get back into things after the long, hot summer. The Comal County Fair opened Friday and before too long, the signs of Wurstfest will be here, too. In the spirit of autumnal diversion, let me share a few delightful prospects: first, I’ve managed to buy (after more than a year’s waiting) a pristine copy of a long-unavailable recording of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy and performed by the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. This is hands-down the best recording ever made of “The 1812”, featuring a superb Russian choir, the actual bells from the Cathedral in St Petersburg and the cannon-fire from the old Peter and Paul Fortress in the city. If you’d like to BORROW the CD, just ask. As splendid as the whole piece is, the final two-an-a-half minutes of the recording will leave your hair standing on end. One more fall pleasure: I’m still reading (but will be through within a week) a very well-written, marvelously researched and thoughtful book, The Light Ages. The title is a deliberate contrast to the “Dark Ages” which usually refer to the Middle Ages. It details the life and thought of a medieval monk who is devoted to the pursuit of scientific knowledge. It may sound deadly dull, but reads almost like a mystery novel. It also is a healthy antidote to our modern hubris that we’ve scaled the heights of knowledge. That’s what I’ve been reading and listening to for sheer pleasure at the turning of the season. How about you? Let me know what you’re reading and listening to!
Fight the good fight with us!
Your prayers, support and contributions will help us keep a faithful Anglican presence and traditional Anglican worship alive and kickin' here in the Texas Hill Country. We have a lot to do to bring our parish mission to this part of God's world: to be "Catholic in Tradition, Biblical in Faith and Sacramental in Worship." Your generous (and tax-deductable!) donations will help fund that mission and keep us movin'!
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