Surprises at St. Jude's

Today was my first Sunday visit to St. Jude’s the parish. I have visited St. Jude’s Ranch many times and have celebrated the Eucharist with gatherings of our deacons there in the Zabriske Chapel. St. Jude’s graciously hosts our deacon conferences at no charge. But this was my first Sunday visit, marking the actual return of St. Jude’s to the Episcopal fold. Bishop Katharine visited and Kay Rohde celebrated there, but the priest who served St. Jude’s was of a schismatic persuasion and was not willing to attend those services. So much of the congregation was not there either. Today, St. Jude’s is in some sense our oldest, in another sense our newest, Latino parish.<br /><br />The first surprise of the day was the turnout. Attendance at St. Jude’s is often around 15 to 20. On a big Sunday it breaks 40. Today we had 80 people, which packed the Chapel. They were engaged, singing the Spanish hymns a capella, fully participating in the liturgy using a Spanish translation of the Book of Common Prayer. Some of the attendance was no doubt due to the three baptisms – one early elementary schoolboy and two teenage girls. When I baptize older children and teenagers of Latino families, I always know there is a story there. I don’t know what it is, but there is a story. We are doing something important.<br /><br />After the service I did a little demographic research about where the congregants reside. Many of them are, in fact, from Boulder City. When we began work on restoring our ties to St. Jude’s, I was assured that there is only one Latino family living in Boulder City and they attend St. Christopher’s. It turns out there is an invisible Latino population in BC. I am not being ironic. It really is true. By patronizing different businesses, etc. it is quite possible for ethnic groups to inhabit the same space with minimal awareness of each other’s existence. But, as I expected, many of them lived in Henderson. Neither of our churches in Henderson has a Missa Espanol so the 20 minute drive to St. Jude’s works for them just for convenience. But a significant minority drive to St. Jude’s from Las Vegas. There are no more community churches. We are all destination churches. People drive to where they choose to worship.<br /><br />The next surprise came when I asked the teenagers, Cheyenne and Mia, in Spanish “Do you desire to be baptized?” They looked at me blankly. I thought it was my pronunciation; but Fr. Leslie explained that they did not speak Spanish. Oh my! Flashback to the ordeal a few years ago when I agonized over preparing and delivering a French sermon in Haiti only to learn afterward that the congregation did not speak French. They spoke Creole. So I found myself fumblingly trying to translate the questions I was reading out of a Spanish Prayer Book back into English. There goes another stereotype. <br /><br />After the congregation finished receiving the sacrament, they brought the children up for blessings. I have never done more blessings of children, not even at our largest Latino congregation in Las Vegas. There was a hunger for blessings. <br /><br />After the service, Christina Vela, the Regional Program Director for St. Jude’s (that means she runs the Nevada campus – there are two campuses in Texas) came by to meet me. That is a very positive gesture. If I am correct that Nevada Episcopalians share a sense of call to help at-risk children, then restoring our historic commitment to supporting St. Jude’s is a top mission priority.<br /> <br />Relations have been being maintained by folks like Sherm Fredericks who serves on the St. Jude’s Board. Connection with the parish restarted in earnest through the work of Fr. Bernardo Iniesta-Avila and his wife Lolita. It has been carried on by Fr. Leslie Holdridge. I am enormously grateful to them for their work at times when it was not at all clear that anything would come of it. They walked by faith and not by light; but the light is dawning. No worship space in Nevada has a holier feel than St. Jude’s. I feel blessed to have been there today and am eager to return.

Surprises at St. Jude's

Today was my first Sunday visit to St. Jude’s the parish. I have visited St. Jude’s Ranch many times and have celebrated the Eucharist with ...

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Europe's Islamic future

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><b>IF CURRENT DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS PERSIST, EUROPE TO BE MUSLIM BY CENTURY'S END</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-top: 6pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #646464;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; width: 408px;"><tbody><tr> <td style="padding: 0in; width: 229.5pt;" width="306"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable"><tbody><tr> <td style="padding: 0in;"><br /></td> <td style="padding: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></td> </tr></tbody></table></td> <td style="padding: 0in; width: 76.5pt;" width="102"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></td> </tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Islam is on its way to become the most practiced religion in Europe. In a new book published by the University of Leuven, “The Iris and the Crescent,” sociologist Felice Dassetto says that Muslims will comprise the majority of the population of Brussels by 2030. The title of the book refers to the yellow flower symbol of Brussels’ region and to the Islamic emblem: While the first is decaying, the second is growing. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Muslims now make up one-quarter of the population of the capital of the enlightened Europe and they are asking to use the empty churches for Islamic prayers. Since 2008, the top seven baby boys’ names in Brussels were Mohammed, Adam, Rayan, Ayoub, Mehdi, Amine and Hamza. Mohammed is also the most popular name for baby boys in Belgium’s second-largest city, Antwerp, where an estimated 40% of elementary school children are Muslim. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Antwerp is also home to Belgium’s first Islamic Sharia law court, which began operating in September. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yet Belgium is not an isolate case in fact there are warning signs looming on the horizon that Europe risks being “overrun” by Islam. According to a recent report of the US Pew Center, Islam is already “the fastest-growing religion in Europe,” where the number of Muslims has tripled over the past 30 years. One third of all European children will be born to Muslim families by 2025. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Islam is the most practiced religion in the United Kingdom. In London, more Muslims attend mosques on Friday than do Christians churches on Sunday. The Oude Kerk, the oldest church in the city of Amsterdam, where the kings of Holland were crowned, is now a museum. The only “church” in the largest Dutch city that is crowded is the church of Scientology, a six-story building in the thick of the city center. Only 7% of Dutch Catholics now go to Sunday Mass and 16% of children are baptized. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In Austria, which was 90% Catholic in the 20th Century, Islam will be the majority religion among Austrians aged under 15 by 2050. The French case also shows that the often exaggerated “Eurabia” threat is more a quality phenomenon of religious attendance than of demographic takeover. In France, there are now more Islamic mosques being build - and more frequently so - than Catholic churches, and there are more practicing Muslims than practicing Catholics in the country. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; text-align: left; width: 300px;"><tbody><tr> <td style="padding: 0in;"><br /></td> </tr></tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Overall, the total number of mosques in France has already doubled to more than 2,000 in the last 10 years. The best known French Islamic leader, Dalil Boubakeur, Rector of the Great Mosque of Paris, recently suggested that the total number of mosques should double yet again, to 4,000, to meet the growing demand. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Meanwhile, the Catholic Church in France had only 20 new churches built in the last 10 years, and formally closed more than 60 churches, many of which became mosques, according to research conducted by the French Catholic daily La Croix. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Princeton University’s Bernard Lewis once told the German daily Die Welt that “Europe will be Islamic by the end of the century.” At the time, Brussels’ political and cultural elites expressed outrage at the alarmist prediction. Yet if the current trends persist, Mr. Lewis may yet be proven right. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Article by Giulio Meotti </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #646464;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>

Europe's Islamic future

IF CURRENT DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS PERSIST, EUROPE TO BE MUSLIM BY CENTURY'S END Islam is on its way to become the m...

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'TIS THE SEASON...

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kingdom-biz.net/uploads/Fireplaceanimated.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://www.kingdom-biz.net/uploads/Fireplaceanimated.gif" width="400" /> </a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful...which means it's a perfect time to snuggle down into a favorite chair, remote in hand, and decide: DVR or DVD?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">With Christmas just a week away I've picked a few long-time holiday favorites to watch along with one or two that have come into my life more recently...</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span><br /><a name="more"></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCBtLp90JyyMnHCuFOv1cwj54GBSrtfiBFOH-n2iutRJkgRxw1egWViTfrVy-GbJZ9h7DHRSPQNkhYBR5piMH_1rFaYp98BVa5_6ghKevg0xW5Q3U8ZGvMjLQBIDL1iYxpsziUzwBRHI6v/s1600/remember.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCBtLp90JyyMnHCuFOv1cwj54GBSrtfiBFOH-n2iutRJkgRxw1egWViTfrVy-GbJZ9h7DHRSPQNkhYBR5piMH_1rFaYp98BVa5_6ghKevg0xW5Q3U8ZGvMjLQBIDL1iYxpsziUzwBRHI6v/s320/remember.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Remember the Night</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>Remember the Night  </i>(1940), directed by Mitchell Leisen from a Preston Sturges' screenplay, debuted on Turner Classic Movies a few seasons ago, which is where I first encountered it. A jewel! Fred MacMurray stars as an Assistant D.A. who falls for thief Barbara Stanwyck during the holidays. With Beulah Bondi, Elizabeth Patterson and Sterling Holloway, music by Frederick Hollander (known for his work with Marlene Dietrich). <i>Remember the Night</i> is a compelling tale delivered by a very sharp script and a superb cast, qualities that should establish it as an enduring holiday classic.  </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"> </span><a href="http://jimlanescinedrome.blogspot.com/2011/11/remembering-night.html" style="color: #990000;">Click here</a> for more on <i>Remember the Night</i> from <i>Jim Lane's Cinedrome</i>.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br />I've already watched <i>Meet Me in St. Louis</i> (1944) once this season. It is Vincente Minnelli's simply magical confection of 100% pure fine-spun Americana. Set in turn-of-the-century St. Louis, the film follows "a year in the life" of the Smith family. Margaret O'Brien famously portrays precocious (annoying?) tyke "Tootie" Smith to the hilt, but it is Judy Garland as Esther Smith who glows as the film's centerpiece. And there are the songs, now classics, she introduced in the film..."The Boy Next Door," "The Trolley Song" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." I'll probably watch <i>Meet Me in St. Louis </i>one time more before the holidays are over.<br /><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqMwBMNVHzPByrSFaYa39v322mdfzdnykTlSQDkv8jfwUd-4-AaPz9vLjONsBcPvINdvSj7P9EkalYqz6pOinTfUknZMtrRghxCTMN8SZswqeHWO793Je1xEXPtWVmkqWD6SYWalFT4aF/s1600/Connecticut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqMwBMNVHzPByrSFaYa39v322mdfzdnykTlSQDkv8jfwUd-4-AaPz9vLjONsBcPvINdvSj7P9EkalYqz6pOinTfUknZMtrRghxCTMN8SZswqeHWO793Je1xEXPtWVmkqWD6SYWalFT4aF/s320/Connecticut.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Christmas in Connecticut</i></td></tr></tbody></table><i>Christmas in Connecticut</i> (1945) has been on my "every year" list for a while now.  I can't resist this home front romp about a career woman (Barbara Stanwyck) with zero homemaking skills who falls for a Navy vet (Dennis Morgan) who dreams of home cooked meals and every domestic delight.  Last year I blogged about the movie and the year in which it was released, 1945. It was the year World War II ended, the year American troops were finally home for Christmas. <a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-in-connecticut-1945one.html" style="color: #990000;">Click here</a> for my 2010 reflection on <i>Christmas in Connecticut</i>.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>The Shop Around the Corner </i>(1940), is my favorite film of director Ernst Lubitsch and contains one of James Stewart's finest performances along with the best of Margaret Sullavan, Frank Morgan and Felix Bressart. I posted on <i>Shop</i>, a must-see film,<i> </i>just a week or so ago...<a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/2011/12/shop-around-corner-1940-lubitsch.html" style="color: #990000;">click here</a>, if you missed it. <i>And </i>if you've missed the film so far this year, it airs in just about an hour (Dec. 18, 10am Eastern/7am Pacific) on Turner Classic Movies.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEy0fhbeluelof4uNZlb0NELJMLDg_TNFj3as_xaLbtNTzcdqPVdpiVEMjfWgmA7wMgZvYVJNAhtTnmjDgooPqeQHSLK7misSfZxgNOyYsbN2p6gn_aAwsnXYxD8lw05jx7eHbVoMamqXT/s1600/Cary+as+Dudley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEy0fhbeluelof4uNZlb0NELJMLDg_TNFj3as_xaLbtNTzcdqPVdpiVEMjfWgmA7wMgZvYVJNAhtTnmjDgooPqeQHSLK7misSfZxgNOyYsbN2p6gn_aAwsnXYxD8lw05jx7eHbVoMamqXT/s320/Cary+as+Dudley.jpg" width="259" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The Bishop's Wife</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In<i> The Bishop's Wife</i> (1947) Cary Grant stars as an angel...typecasting at its finest, I'd say! I first saw <i>The Bishop's Wife</i> in the 1980s and, when I discovered it, was surprised I hadn't heard of it before. Now it surfaces every year, everywhere, a seasonal standard (and it will air once more on TCM  this year - late on Christmas Eve). The fine cast includes David Niven, Loretta Young, Monty Woolley, Gladys Cooper, James Gleason, Sara Haden and Elsa Lanchester. The film's yuletide sentiment is reflected throughout and nicely encapsulated in the Bishop's final sermon, "Let us ask ourselves what we would wish for most, and then let each put in his share. Loving kindness, warm hearts and the stretched out hand of tolerance. All the shining gifts that make peace on earth." </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">...Because she does it so well, here's Peggy Lee singing a holiday standard that expresses my wishes for each of you (click to listen)...</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8n1yapgYn8o" width="420"></iframe></div>

Christmas in Connecticut Meet Me in St. Louis Peggy Lee Remember the Night The Bishop's Wife The Lady Eve (author) 'TIS THE SEASON...

  The weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful...which means it's a perfect time to snuggle down into a favorite chai...

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