 | eCachecommentary from down jersey |
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.
One of the finest verses ever written, imnsho.
Enjoy the whole thing.
My sincere thanks to all men and women who are at work today to defend my freedom. I wish you the best.
When I first read this hunt I knew immediately where to go for this. Shoot, at the time we attended one of these churches. But Xangxa archived the hunt before I got things done. It has sat in my database To Do List for three years. I finally got around to taking the requisite photographs.
Christ Church
39.3961 -75.036367
Christ Church is an Episcopal (American Anglican, yes, it makes a difference these days). It is located at 225 Sassafras Street. One of my weddings took place here.
Alpha and Omega Mission
39.3961 -75.036367
This church is located on the same property as Christ Church. This mission rents space, but not the chapel, from Christ Church. It’s a Spanish-speaking congregation and they meet at least once weekly.
Central Baptist Church
39.396167 -75.036883
This church is next door to Christ Church and Alpha and Omega. It is a large church. I have been in the building many times, although never for services. A social group I belong to meets here regularly. The street address for the church is 128 North Second Street. It is situated at the corner of 2nd and Sassafras.
First Presbyterian Church
39.396917 -75.036867
This is another large church. They have a soup kitchen they run out of their facilities. All these churches are in the Third Ward district of Millville, which is the poor section of town. This church flanks the public parking lot behind the Culver Center (Millville Public Schools administration building) on the other side. While each church has some parking spots, on Sunday, this is where the bulk of parishioners park for these four churches.
The street address is 119 North 2nd Street. It is located on the corner of 2nd and Pine.
First United Methodist
39.397467 -75.0369
Across the street from the Presbyterian church is this church on the northeast corner of 2nd and Pine.
This makes a total of five churches within 528 feet of one another. There’s a Luthern Chuch .11 miles away from the Methodist, just out of reach. I attended a baptism there several years ago.
It looks like downtown Millville, NJ is definitely part of the Bible Belt!
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My sister sent this to me. Apparently her pastor provided this. At the end, South Africa is credited, so I am not certain of its origins, but I do think it is poignant.
Do not forget the joy of the Lord is your strength:
But remember this.We are called not to be fearful,
we are called to love:We are called not to parade our holiness,
we are called to be faithful:We are called not to be all-knowing,
we are called to believe:We are called not to claim,
we are called to give:We are called not to be victorious,
we are called to be obedient:We are called to serve and to walk humbly
with our God. [from South Africa]
I heard about the story of Adam Race this morning. I do not pretend to know all the ins-and-outs of the issue.
Adam is a 13-year-old boy with autism. His family attends a Catholic Church in Minnesota. Apparently there have been some instances where Adam has been disruptive: grabbing, urinating, calling out, etc. Depending on who speaks, there may or may not have been discussions of how to keep parishioners safe, there may or may not have been expectations placed upon the family, etc.
There does appear to be a letter the priest sent Adam’s family requesting they not bring their son to mass any longer. There is a restraining order filed with the local police department to enforce not bringing Adam to mass.
Safety, appropriateness, etc. aside, I keep wondering what Jesus would do in such a case. Restraining orders can’t be what he would resort to. Sure, he may have the ability to solve the problem better than you and I can, but asking someone not to come to mass? That seems to be missing the purpose of mass to me.
We have been talking to Beetle about Easter. We explained that Jesus died on Good Friday and rose on Easter. She asked how he died. “Mean people,” Gert explained. “Oh, no!” was my daughter’s response. “That is not good.”
But whenever we speak about Easter, she raises her hands above her head and exclaims, “He’s alive!”
It reminds me of the commercial years ago for the movie of the same name. Ominous music played as a voiceover explained:
Some people are just a little bit frightened when they have their first baby. The Davis’s are terrified. You see there’s only one thing wrong with the Davis baby. It’s Alive!
All the while a baby carriage spun around. At the end of the commercial, someone came on with a high-pitched voice to announce the rating of PG. I used to chuckle aloud whenever it came on the television.
Fortunately, Easter has a much happier ending.
Happy Easter. Christ is risen. Alleluia!
