Dealing with our Thorns

Aloha! As we celebrate Independence Day, we pray that God will guide our nation forward in peace. I hope you have a wonderful and meaningful July 4th holiday.

It was good to see so many of you in church on Sunday, and I know a good number of you also participated in worship on our Facebook page. We were blessed to baptize Angelica Jane Lasquite and renew our own baptismal vows. Please keep the Lasquite family in your prayers.

​Last Sunday we heard that life kicked David in the teeth—he was distraught over the death of King Saul and his beloved friend Jonathan. We also saw two people in our gospel story who were deeply grieving over their circumstances—until they encountered Jesus in faith. All of us at one time or another have been up all night, anxious and yearning for the coming dawn, for hope. But we wait for the Lord as the watchman waits for the dawn, and we trust that God will come. We hope in God—for hope is spiritual oxygen for our soul.

---

This coming Sunday we will hear about humility—in particular, the Apostle Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” which kept him humble and dependent upon God’s power rather than his own. Did King David have a thorn too? And what about Jesus—what thorns did he have to deal with? As we consider them, we can look at our own thorns—a weakness, physical trait, personality quirk, or troublesome person in our life—and see how God might use those thorns to help us serve God better.

As you know, this summer we’re offering a series of “Ministry Minutes” during the announcement time. So far we’ve learned about the Outreach ministry, the Welcoming Hearts Team, our Sunday School for keiki, and this past Sunday Sue Ann Wargo introduced us to the Eucharistic Ministers/Eucharistic Visitors/Lectors ministry. In coming weeks we’ll be hearing from other lay leaders about other ways people can serve here. I’m so grateful for all of you who serve, often in more than one way! St. Timothy’s does need your active involvement so that we can grow and flourish as God’s ohana in ‘Aiea, so I hope you will listen with an open mind and heart and respond to whatever new opportunities appeal to you. Mahalo!

I will see you in church on Sunday at 9 a.m., or on Facebook Live! I am praying for you, dear sisters and brothers, and I ask for your prayers for St. Timothy’s Church, for our dedicated staff and our devoted lay leaders, and for your vicar. May God bless you all. 

Aloha Ke Akua!
Fr. Pete+