St. John the Baptist - Bulletin 1/7/01

Connections&
January 7, 2001--Epiphany of the Lord

"We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage." Matthew 2:1-12
John answered, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming& He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

Sand and stars

In December 1954, Carlo Carretto left his life as a successful teacher and renowned writer and activist in Italy and set out for the Algerian Sahara to become a Little Brother of Jesus. He wrote about his ten-year pilgrimage in the African desert in his book Letters from the Desert.
"The first nights I spent here made me send off for books on astronomy and maps of the sky; and for months afterwards I spent my free time learning a little of what was passing over my head up there in the universe&
"Kneeling on the sand, I sank my eyes for hours and hours at those wonders, writing down my discoveries in an exercise book like a child&
"Finding one's way in the desert is much easier by night than by day& In the years which I spent in the open desert I never once got lost, thanks to the stars. [Many time] I lost my way because the sun was too high in the sky. But I waited for night and found the road again, guided by the stars.
"How dear they were to me, those stars: how close to them the desert had brought me. Through spending my nights in the open, I had come to know them by their names, then to study them, and to get to know them one by one. Now I could distinguish their color, their size, their position, their beauty. I knew my way around them, and from them I could calculate the time without a watch."
CONNECTION: Like Carlo Carretto and his brothers, like the astrologers of the Epiphany story, we are all star watchers and star gazers. What and who we read and watch and listen to in search of wealth, fame and power are the stars we follow--but Brother Carlo and the magi set their sights on a different set of stars that leads them to God. Their sightings set them off on journeys of faith, journeys of discovery at the wonder of this gift of life and its Giver. The Epiphany - from the Greek word for appearance or manifestation--challenges us to set our sights on the "star" of God that leads us to the joy and lasting treasures of the Christ in our midst.v

ISAIAH MLK CONVOCATION TO BE HELD AT ST. JOHN'S!

Isaiah is a metro-wide coalition of over 70 churches which work together on issues of common concern based on their collective moral values. Each year around the date of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday they sponsor a metropolitan wide convocation to celebrate success around social concern and to highlight some areas on which they are currently focusing. This year they are meeting at St. John the Baptist on Sunday, January 21 from 2:30--4:30 p.m. The program will include a featured speaker, Rev. Dr. C.T. Vivian. He was an organizer with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and has continued as a leader in the ongoing struggle for human and civil rights. There will also be a combined choir including members from several Isaiah churches. All are invited to come. It will be a joyful celebration as well as provide thought-provoking insights on some significant issues facing the metro area at this time.

PLEASE NOTE:

The St. John the Baptist School Christmas Program will be aired on Channel 15 on Saturday, January 13 at 6:00 p.m. and on Friday, January 19 at 3:00 p.m.

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