The Omaha guide., 1943-09-25
Honor Memory of The Late
E Father John a. Williams
SERMON PREACHED

SERMON PREACHED
! in
st. Philips Church, Omaha,
/ on the
Golden Jubilee
of the
Conservation
and the
Sixty-Fifth Anniversary
of the
Founding of the Parish
by
The Rev. FIR. S. ]. Martin,
Rector of
st. Edmund's Church, Chicago
18th Sunday After Trinity
ANNIVERSARY SERMIN"
We come this morning to cele-
brate a very solemn and pleasant
occasion Solemn because we are
mindful that we are in the pres
, ence of God and have been charg-
ed with responsibilities-pleasant
because not withstanding our short
cOmings God has been gracious
unto u.s. / have been thinking of
one of the most important incl
| dents in the life of the Blessed
Mother. 1t was a day of great
celebration, day of remembrance,
day thanksgiving. Wwhen-
ever a child was born to a Jewish
mother, it was required in the law
that she should go to the Temple
and there present her offering and
be Purified. 1t was not merely a
! time of pomp and outward show
but a day of deep signifcance.-a
time when the mother offered her
child to God. 1t was an occasion
on which the Jewish Church sought
to impress upon every mother-a
day that they should never forget.
1t Is so easy to forget but hard to
remember There are many things
we like to fOrget-we strive so
hard to forget and yet we can't
forget. / imagine Judas who be-
trayed Our Lord tried to put that
awful act out of his memory
but he could not bear ito think
have betrayed innocent blood.
The very thought of it caused him
to go out and hang himself Peter
denied Our Lord and went on his
carefree way, not realizing, not
remembering that Our Lord had
said to him, Before the cock crows,
thou sholl deny Me thrice" The
cock crew and Peter remembered
and he wept bitterly. The words
of the Psalmist are touching, IF |
| forget thee, o Jerusalem, let |
my right hand forget her cunning. |
If / do not remember thee, let |
my tongue cleave to the roof of |
my mouth, If / prefer not Jeru-
salem above my chief joy" And |
the most mystical experience of |
all is certainly to share in the !
great Service of the Altar when /
we recall-remember that it was
in little upper room with twelve
men that the Saviour of the World
took common bread-broke it. took
ordinary wine-blessed it, gave it
to them and said, LAS often as /
you remember and do not forget /
you show forth Ny Death" So
we have been asked to remember. /
| know that there are mystical and |
mpOnderable, difficulties we can't
understand. Why is it that we have
been endowed with the gift of !
memory? Is it a gift or a curse? |
st. Paul cries out, 20 wretched |
man that / am. who can deliver |
me from this death?" "Out, damn |
ed spot, out" Wash me thor
oughly from my wickedness and |
cleanse me from my sins We |
want to recall the lovely, the beau /
tiful, the pleasant, but the unpleas-
ant and the evil we want to forget. |
Anne Proctor tried to work it out: |
Seated one day at the organ.
was weary and ill at ease.
And my fingers wandered idly
Over the noisy keys.
| do not know what ! was playing.
Or what / was dreaming then:
But / struck one chord of music !
Like the sound of a great Amen. !
1t flooded the crimson twilight
Like the close of an angels
psalm,
And 1t lay on my fevered spirit
With a touch of infinite calm.
1t quieted pain and sorrow,
Like love overcoming strife.
1t seemed the harmonious echo
From our discOrdant life.
1t linked all perplexed meanings
Into one perfect peace,
And trembled away into silence.
As if it were loath to cease.
have sought, but l seek it vainly.
That one lost chord divine,
That came from the soul of the or
gan
And entered into mine.
1t may be that Deaths bright angel
Will speak in that chord again.
1t may be that only in heaven