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Do Not Be Afraid


This week's Gospel lesson is a powerful one. Simon (Peter) had been out fishing with his friends all night and they had not caught anything. Sometime early in the morning, Jesus showed up at Simon's boat and asked him to push out into the water to get a little distance between himself and the crowd. Jesus sat down on Simon's boat and taught the people gathered on the shore - probably for hours - while Simon, doubtlessly tired and frustrated from the previous night's failure, listened.


When I was younger, first as a boy and well into my teen years, my dad and I would go fishing late at night, often with family or a group of friends from our church. I remember nights when we caught a bunch of fish and I remember nights when we barely caught anything. Regardless of the catch, one thing didn't change: by the time we left the water in the small hours of the morning, I was exhausted.


Having been in that state of total exhaustion, I cannot imagine how Simon and the other guys felt when Jesus told them to give it one more try. They had probably been ready for a warm meal and a nap when Jesus arrived on the scene, but now it's been a few hours after that. Their nets were clean and they were ready to go. But despite all the odds, when Jesus tells them to give it one more try, Simon is game. The result is truly a miracle - after catching nothing all night, their midday catch is so large that their nets start to break and their boats cannot contain it.


Simon sees what has happened and starts to put it together. He runs to Jesus and falls to his knees. "Oh Lord, please leave me - I'm too much of a sinner to be around you" (NLT)is all he can say. But Jesus doesn't respond to Simon's objection; Jesus knows it is not really Simon's sinfulness that keeps him from opening his heart. It is fear. I imagine Jesus helping Simon back to his feet and putting an arm on his shoulder while he reassures him, "Don't be afraid."


The call to follow can, at times, seem like more than we are able to handle. Sometimes, the courage needed to follow seems like more than we can muster at the moment. Other times, we feel like Simon Peter, dwelling on our failures or shortcomings. We are afraid that we don't have the strength or the perseverance to see it through and we waver at the enormity of the hope God has placed in our hearts.


Jesus' words to Simon could be relayed just as easily to us today: Do not be afraid. I'm here with you. I'm here for you. Do not be afraid.


The Rev. Dr. Perry M. Pauley

Associate Rector, Christ Church of the Ascension

Merry Christmas!

By The Rev. Fr. Rod Hurst+ • January 4, 2024
Merry Christmas! Today, this Eleventh Day of Christmas (for us who begin counting on December 25th), I’d like to share some wisdom from the pen of Michael Ramsey, the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury. As Bishop of Durham, he was part of the episcopal entourage and inner circle of bishops surrounding Queen Elizabeth II at her Westminster Abbey Coronation in 1953 and, later, Archbishop of York before his elevation to Canterbury in 1961. In the 1980’s, after his retirement from Canterbury, Ramsey was a regular presence at my seminary in Wisconsin where I first learned about him years later. The following is an excerpt from one of Bishop Ramsey’s annual letters to his diocesan clergy on New Year’s Day. This is also good advice for all the people of God and us at Christ Church of the Ascension as we go into 2024 expectant of what lies ahead and grateful for all our many blessings, past, present and future. Here are The Baron Arthur Michael Ramsey’s five tips for the new year. 1. Thank God. Often and always. Thank him carefully and wonderingly for your continuing privileges and for every experience of his goodness. Thankfulness is a soil in which pride does not easily grow. 2. Take care about confession of your sins. As time passes the habit of being critical about people and things grows more than each of us realize. [He then gently commends the practice of sacramental confession.] 3. Be ready to accept humiliations. They can hurt terribly but they can help to keep you humble. [Whether trivial or big, accept them he says.] All these can be so many chances to be a little nearer to our Lord. There is nothing to fear, if you are near to the Lord and in his hands. 4. Do not worry about status. There is only one status that Our Lord bids us be concerned with, and that is our proximity to Him. “If a man serve me, let him follow me, and where I am there also shall my servant be” (John 12:26). That is our status; to be near our Lord wherever He may ask us to go with him. 5. Use your sense of humor. Laugh at things, laugh at the absurdities of life, laugh at yourself. Through the year people will thank God for you. And let the reason for their thankfulness be not just that you were a person whom they liked or loved but because you made God real to them. *** Amen! and Happy New Year !!  Grace & peace, Fr. Rod+

Rector's Note for 12/21/23

By The Rev. Fr. Rod Hurst • December 21, 2023
Rector's Note for 12/21/23 As we enter this season of giving in celebration of the Incarnation of our Lord, I want to thank you for your generosity to Christ Church of the Ascension during 2023 in your gifts of time, talent and treasure. I want to say a special thank you also to those who have pledged for 2024! As our 2024 Stewardship Campaign continues, if you haven’t yet completed your pledge card or pledged online, I encourage you to do so as an act of spiritual worship and tangible prayer for the future of the Church in thanksgiving for all of God’s many blessings these past 60 years. Please join me in giving from the heart for the building up of this community of faith to inspire hope and love through worship and service in the Church and in the world. Make Christ Church of the Ascension part of your daily spiritual practice as you prayerfully discern what God is calling you to give in 2024 starting now. PLEDGE HERE Grace and peace, Father Rod+

A Note for Thanksgiving

By The Rev. Fr. Rod Hurst • November 16, 2023
A Note for Thanksgiving My series on the Collects of Thomas Cranmer will continue at a later date; but today I’d like to share with you one of my favorite stories by pastoral care pioneer Howard Clinebell. It speaks to us about the fact that the Church, our church, is not only a house of worship and prayer but a hospital for the broken, where Christ welcomes each person, where they are and for who they are. As Christ's hands and voice we then bring the healing arts of spiritual friendship and Christ-like love to all Christ brings our way. If we were all Christ-like all the time we would have no need for Christ and his Church; but everyday experiences tell us all that we have need of Christ each and every day of our lives—the healed and the healers alike. This charming and cautionary tale tells us what we are meant to be, and what we could become if we lose sight of our mission; but it is a reminder of our potential when we retain and, as necessary, reclaim our Christ-centered focus. Thus we give thanks! Please touch or click the link below to read the story. Lifesaving Station Grace and peace, Fr. Rod+
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