From the Rector

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

One thing that I love about our tradition is celebrating the communion of Saints. At our Wednesday service, we usually focus on a particular holy man or woman and the witness to Jesus Christ that they gave in their life and times. These range from the early Church to the current day.

Yesterday we focused on one of the early saints, the empress Theodora. She was a strong opponent of the iconoclasts of the ninth century. Although the question was officially settled in 787, strong divisions remained, even in her own household. While Theodora was in favor of the veneration of icons, her husband, Emperor Theophilos, was not.

Despite their theological differences, the couple is said to have had an otherwise happy marriage and bore five daughters and two sons. Tragically, Theophilos died at the young age of 29. The heir was only a toddler, so Theodora became the regent until he came of age. She reigned for 13 years.

One of her first acts was to call a synod of bishops to discuss the issue of icons and iconoclasm. The result was that iconoclasm was finally abandoned, and the holy images were carried in procession back to the Hagia Sophia. Can you even imagine an Orthodox Church without icons?

Perhaps more importantly, Theodora is remembered for showing mercy. She made certain that the Church would not condemn her late husband as a heretic, and though more and more of the clergy came over to the side of venerating icons, some never did. Theodora did nothing to punish them for their strongly-held convictions.

Empress Theodora left a lasting and “iconic” imprint on the Orthodox Church, and though she was endowed with much earthly power, she chose mercy over retribution. May we follow her lead.

Blessings,
Father Rick

Sunday School

From the Outreach Chair

St. Mary’s Outreach improves the lives of people locally, regionally, nationally, and globally — from feeding, clothing, and housing to mentoring and disaster relief. Since 2001, St. Mary’s and friends have been supporting Carryou in South Africa, which feeds and supports impoverished families and children orphaned due to the HIV AIDS pandemic. I visited and worked with Carryou annually until COVID put an end to that, but the work goes on. The bedrock of Carryou’s activities is the children’s free cooked nutritious lunches provided daily to more than 400 children, which is now in jeopardy because of the elimination of USAID.

My son is a human rights activist in South Africa. Here are his words about the impacts of these cuts on a human level:

“The decision to cut foreign aid, and specifically the AIDS funding program set up 20 years ago by George Bush, is causing suffering, costing lives, and breaking down fragile health systems. In South Africa, 15,000 doctors and nurses who provide care to people with AIDS and TB were told to stop work ten days ago. Their patients, all very poor, have been left stranded. The doctors themselves have not been paid. People will die. The organizations that employed them do not know what to do. The organization I work with, the Treatment Action Campaign, was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.

Through our advocacy and monitoring we have helped millions of people to get treatment that has saved their lives. These doctors have expertise and institutional knowledge in a country where we already have a huge shortage of doctors and health workers. They are also the most experienced doctors and researchers dealing with AIDS, including developing a vaccine. But now we are probably going to have to close the organization because 70% of our funding came from the USA. We were told in an official letter on Friday to immediately tell all employees to cease work. This has been done. Foreign aid has won America many friends abroad; it has been its great soft power. Now it is losing that influence. We are one world and we depend on the US and other developed countries for solidarity with previously disadvantaged countries where true and genuine democracy is taking shape.”

While we can’t fill this void alone, we can keep fighting the good fight with the knowledge that we are indeed our brother’s keeper. Please continue to support St. Mary’s Outreach with your prayers and generous donations.

Sue Heywood, Outreach Chair