We are a small Episcopal Church on the banks of the Rappahannock in Port Royal, Virginia. We acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Port Royal, the Nandtaughtacund, and we respect and honor with gratitude the land itself, the legacy of the ancestors, and the life of the Rappahannock Tribe. Our mission statement is to do God’s Will in all that we do.

2023 Sun March 26

Remembering the Rev. Oscar Romero, March 24

On March 24, we remember Oscar Romero (August 15, 1917 – March 24, 1980), a priest of the Roman Catholic Church in El Salvador. He later became prelate archbishop of San Salvador. He was assassinated on March 24, 1980 by a Salvadoran death squad with ties to the government while he was celebrating communion.

He was awakened to the situation in El Salvador by the deaths of those closest to him just three years earlier. While driving on March 12, 1977, Romero’s close friend and fellow priest, the Rev. Rutilio Grande, was murdered. The elderly man and teenage boy accompanying Grande were also killed. These deaths shook Romero to his core. Grande’s death laid clear for Romero the ugly truth of El Salvador’s political, economic, social and ecclesiastical realities.

The trauma of his friend’s death was a catalyst for change and transformation in Romero. He was a shy, bookish and conservative bishop who had been largely uncritical of the ruling oligarchs in El Salvador. He did not publicly protest against political and military repression but did often levy harsh criticism against progressive forces within the church.

The death of his friend awakened Romero to the truth. He became a fearless and vocal advocate for the poor and vulnerable. Romero became a protector of the poor in a country where the wealthy and powerful held the advantages and spoke out for social justice against torture and repression.

The day before he was murdered, Romero addressed the members of the Salvadoran military in his Sunday homily: “In the name of God, and in the name of this suffering. people who have suffered so much and whose laments cry out to heaven with greater intensity each day, I implore you, I beg you, I order you in the name of God: Stop the repression!” These words, borne out of solidarity with the suffering Salvadoran people, were greeted with thunderous applause in the cathedral. YouTube has several movies about him.

Catherine has preached about him at least twice.

Read more

From the Diocese of Atlanta – Jesus is the difference between Life and Death

From Bishop Wright “In all my years of officiating at funerals and memorial services, I have never seen the deceased walk out of the cemetery or columbarium, but I have seen my share of resurrections! I have seen people bury their spouses and live in a tomb designed by grief until new companionship brings new love, life, and joy. I have watched parents bury their infant child and speak of feeling forsaken by God, just like Mary and Martha, and, in one calendar year announce a new pregnancy, new faith and new hope. I have seen the sudden death of a beloved friend, make people rethink their own existence. I’ve seen a funeral of one, give new faith and life to many. From those experiences and so many more, I think I understand when Jesus says, “Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” The image here is of Jesus walking towards us in grief and loss–Jesus walking towards death to make resurrection. This was different and more than Mary and Martha imagined. Sure, they believed in the distant cosmic resurrection when the Messiah comes and all death is defeated, but this was resurrection up close, in their family, in their community. If anything really dies in this story it is four things: the fantasy that faith in Jesus means we are exempt from mortality; that in sickness and death we are abandoned by God; that death and resurrection are in a perennial competition as equals; and that death means there is an absence of resources for God to work with. The transferrable vitality of this story to us, is the truth that God does God’s best work with sick, despairing and dying things!”

The Animated Ezekiel

This week in Lent 5 we have the “dry bones” story of Ezekiel. Here is an overview video on the second part of the book of Ezekiel, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. Among the exiles in Babylon, Ezekiel shows that Israel deserved this judgment, and also that God’s justice creates hope for the future.

The Importance of Lazarus, Lent 5, March 26, 2023

In this last Sunday in Lent, Lent 5, March 26, 2023 we have the Gospel story of Lazarus. The story of Lazarus takes place in the town of Bethany, not far from Jerusalem. Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha, were close friends of Jesus. After Lazarus falls ill, the sisters send word to Jesus, asking for his help.

When Jesus arrives in Bethany, he learns that Lazarus is dead and has been in his tomb for four days. (The King James version is graphic – “Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.” Jesus enters the tomb and performs a miracle, raising Lazarus from the dead. It was witnessed by Lazarus’s sister Martha.

The central message in the story is contained in Jesus’s words to Lazarus’s sister Mary when He says:“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25)

This story is both the culmination of Lent and a transition to Holy Week. Jesus separated himself from the devil in Lent 1 and then engages with Nicodemus, the Women at the Well, the man born blind and now the community around Lazarus. These texts from John are about revelation–the revelation of who Jesus is, the one sent by God, the begotten God, whose offer of life is in his presence and not necessarily delayed until his death. It deals with social issues – Jesus working with the pharisee Nicodemus and the “foreign” woman (the Samaritan) with the Woman at the Well, counteracting the prejudice at the time against Samaritans. Jesus counters false belief that the man born blind was sinful because of his condition. Along the way, it deals with man’s constant temptations and limits vs. Jesus as the source of light and eternal life.

The story of Lazarus goes a step further in leading us forward. The story of the raising of Lazarus is important, as it clearly demonstrates that Jesus was no ordinary prophet. Jesus has power over life and death. It convinced many people that Jesus was the genuine Lord and Savior. The resurrection of Lazarus also foreshadows the death and resurrection of Christ. He has returned to Bethany to restore Lazarus to life, in full knowledge that he will pay with his own life. It set in motion the plot to kill Jesus by the Pharisees and chief priests who were envious of His charisma and supernatural talents.
Thus it offers a transition to Holy Week.

In the collage from left to right we have Van Gogh, Guercino, Rembrandt, Caravagio and Giotto from the 1300’s to the 1800’s

Here are depictions of this story through art

Village Harvest, Quarterly Data ending March 31, 2023

Date People Food Pounds Per Person
3/31/2021 295 4342 14.7
6/30/2021 240 3322 13.8
9/30/2021 188 3312 17.6
12/31/2021 276 3327 12.1
3/31/2022 296 4196 14.2
6/30/2022 247 3394 13.7
9/30/2022 251 3258 13.0
12/31/2022 257 4454 17.3
3/31/2023 218 2913 13.4

As of March, 2023 there was a decline in clients from the previous quarter (Dec. 2022) of (39) and first decline since the quarter ending June 2022. The previous quarter saw an increase in clients by 6 people in contast. We began 2023 coming off a 5% increase in 2022 and increase in clients by 52. This quarter was represented a (6.5%) decline in clients.

Food also declined in pounds by (1,541) pounds compared to an increase of 1,196 in the previous quarter. The decline was (30%).

So why the shift in numbers ? Some possibilities. Some people didn’t need assistance or found other support. Possibly the Wednesday wasn’t convenient.

The accounting firm Deloitte writes close to the idea that fewer people required assistance. “Currently, however, the US economy is surprisingly healthy, given that it is coming off of a global pandemic, severe supply chain issues, and a war affecting a key global energy supplier. Labor market conditions alone provide a lot of support for the idea that the economy can achieve the desired soft landing (and, despite claims to the contrary, soft landings are not that unusual).2 Inflation remains a concern, but much less of one than it was a year ago. “

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s (SNAP) emergency allotments (EAs) — temporary benefit increases that Congress enacted to address rising food insecurity and provide economic stimulus during the COVID-19 pandemic were still going on this quarter. However, these benefits will be ending with the quarter’s end. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities writes. ” This will result in a benefit cut for every SNAP household in the jurisdictions that still are paying EAs ― 32 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.[1] Every household in those states will receive at least $95 a month less; some households, who under regular SNAP rules receive low benefits because they have somewhat higher, but still modest incomes, will see reductions of $250 a month or more. The average person will receive about $90 a month less in SNAP benefits.” It will be interesting to see how this affects trends with the Village Harvest in the second quarter.