$20 Homeless Backpack Care Kit

Cheri and I recently visited several wonderful Outreach Committee volunteers and homeless guests who came to St. Simon's Episcopal Church here in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Our church provides a "Cold Night" shelter to men, woman and children who are homeless in our area. I was especially struck by the wide range of ages and special needs of those who came to us for food, shelter and hospitality. As always, I tend to leave this ministry with so many thoughts and concerns as to how I/we can respond even more throughout the year.

Yesterday, I came across this video (above) which seems to be a simple and effective low cost way to respond to individuals who may find themselves homeless and hungry.

I pray this will be of some help as you seek to discern how God may be leading you to help someone in need.
Epiphany blessings,
Mark+

Christmas Eve 2013

Here is a printed copy of my 2013 Christmas Eve sermon. Also, you may listen to this sermon by clicking on the following link: Christmas Eve 2013 sermon from The Rev'd Mark L. Fitzhugh

Ben was really big

for a first grader.

He was solid. All boy.

Everybody loved Ben.

He was the gentlest of souls,

and was certainly No bully.

Ben was a friend even to the smallest of kids

at church and school.

At our last church in Connecticut,

his mom and dad were close friends of ours.

Ben was excited about our upcoming Christmas play.

He wanted to be one of the shepherds…

of course, all little boys love to dress up

and be shepherds.

But the trouble is on this particular year,

the lady directing the play

had a larger role in mind for Ben.

He was cast as the innkeeper.

He practiced and practiced,

but became more and more nervous about his lines.

The morning of the play,

everything was going beautifully.

Then came the part where Mary and Joseph

knocked on the door of the inn.

Ben answered the door right on cue

and gave his line.

“What do you want?”

‘We seek lodging. “

“Seek it somewhere else, this inn is filled,” Ben replied,

with just the right touch of gruffness.

“But sir, we have tried everywhere,

we have come a long way, and we are very tired.

Don’t you have a corner

where we can get out of the cold?”

“No. Go away!,” Ben properly commanded.

And this is where it happened…

Ben broke his icy stare and looked at Mary.

And you could tell something happened to him.

There was a long silence.

The audience became nervous and uneasy.

We thought Ben had forgotten his lines.

So, the prompter whispered., “No, be gone.”

And Ben halfheartedly repeated.

Then Joseph sadly placed his arm around Mary

and they began to move off the stage.

Ben couldn’t stand it any longer,

he could never be this cruel.

So, with big tears welling up in his eyes

he gave a performance..

I have never forgotten:

“Wait, Joseph, don’t go!” Ben literally cried out.

“Bring Mary back.

You can have my room, and I’ll sleep in the cold.”

Right after the service,

one grumpy lady came up to me

and said Ben had ruined the whole pageant.

I looked at her and said –

“You’ve got to be kidding me…

you just sang one of the greatest 18th century

English carols ever written by Isaac Watts,

“Joy to the World”….and YOU sang,

“Let every heart prepare him room.”

Isn’t that exactly what Ben learned from this story…

He made room in his heart for Jesus.

How can we, prepare more room in our hearts for God.

This Christmas,

God is preparing our hearts.

God challenges us, and our values

and our dreams.

Just as Joseph was challenged

to welcome the child into his home and heart

despite the difficult circumstances.

God challenges us to welcome Christ into our lives

and allow this child to transform our hearts

and homes with his peace and justice.

And so, tonight,

some two thousand years later,

the baby Jesus waits to enter our hearts, once again

just as he did for Mary and Joseph.

Jesus waits patiently to be invited into our life.

So that He can walk along side us, through it all…

the glorious, joyful days,

and those gut wrenching, unimaginable ones, too.

The Word has became flesh and lives

in NewTown, CT…Denver, Colorado,

with our men & women serving tonight in Afghanistan,

on an aircraft carrier in Southeast Asia,

in the Emergency Room in Ft Walton Beach.

Tonight we all gather to listen

and remember once again, the greatest story ever told…

“The Birth of the Savior of the World.”

And so as we journey to Bethlehem

let us now return our thanks

and simply say…

“We love you Lord Jesus.

WE LOVE YOU with our whole heart –

just as you have always loved us.

And now, “Look down from that bright sky in heaven

and stay by our side

until morning is Nigh.”

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Salvation Army Red Kettle Kickoff Address

I was extremely honored to be named The Red Kettle Kickoff Chairman of this year's campaign here in Fort Walton Beach. Please see above my fellow board member Tom Rice (far right) along with Lt. Chris Welch and his wife Jessica Welch, from the Salvation Army staff. Both Chris and Jessica are new to our community and are making a huge difference as co-directors. They are certainly helping to feed hungry people during this Christmas season.

A wonderful week of celebrating the lives of 80 brave men - Jimmy Doolittle's Tokyo Raiders.  Proud of my father Bill Fitzhugh, who as a co-pilot on crew number two. 

 Also, please read the following story which appeared recently in the Fort Walton Daily News --

http://tinyurl.com/bmy954r

MSNBC Morning Joe Comments this week - click here!

Tremendously exciting week for all Christians with the election of Pope Francis I...although probably not the reformer many Americans would like to see, Francis does indeed bring new hope and excitement to the Roman Catholic and our prayers go out to him. I found this clip from Morning Joe to be very insightful - runs about 20-minutes. Lenten blessings, Mark+

Click here to listen to Fr. Mark's Sermon 

 

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT 2013

I have a suggestion…

Do not waste your time

looking up the word Lent

in your Bible Dictionary.

And I am sure, as good Episcopalians,

great scholars of the Bible that we are,

you’ve got that ready at the hand.

Unfortunately,

there was no such thing as Lent in biblical times.

There is some evidence that early Christians fasted 40 hours

between Good Friday and Easter,

but the custom of spending 40 days

in prayer and self-denial

did not come back until much later…

When the initial rush of Christian adrenaline was over

and believers had gotten very ho-hum about their faith.

They hung a wooden cross on the wall

and settled back into their more or less comfortable routines.

Little by little, Christians became devoted to their comforts…

and before long it was very hard to pick them out

from the population at large.

But something changed…

and someone suggested it was time

to call Christians back to their senses,

and the Bible offered clues about how to do that.

They remembered that Israel

spent 40 years in the wilderness

learning to trust the Lord.

And that Elijah, and much later Jesus

would spend 40 days in the desert.

So the early church announced a season of Lent.

The word actually comes from the old English,

and means "spring."

So in essence, this season becomes an invitation

to experience the springtime of our souls.

To clean out our systems and open our eyes

to what remains when all worldly comforts are gone.

We are to remember what it is like

to live by the grace of God alone

and not by how we can comfort ourselves.

I think of Lent as like an Outward Bound for the soul.

No one has to sign up for it,

but if you do

then you give up the illusion

that you are in control of your life.

So, think about a time…

when you found yourself lacking control

and stuck in the middle of nowhere…

it may have been an actual place, or

it could have been metaphorically stuck

in the middle of a bad relationship, job or depression.

When this happens,

I find that food become a pacifier –

a habit, or substance I use to comfort myself,

and block out pain or fear.

I am convinced that 99 percent of us are addicted to something,

whether it is eating, shopping, blaming or taking care of other people.

The simplest definition of an addiction is –

anything we use to fill that empty place inside of us

that belongs to God, alone.

But here is the good news…

that hollowness we feel sometimes

is not a sign of something gone wrong.

But rather,

this is ground zero in our souls…

for where the holy of holies resides within us.

Nothing on earth can fill it,

but that does not stop us from trying.

  

For the next 40 days,

try to pay attention

to how often your mind travels to that empty place.

And ask yourself why does this happen?

What is going on when you start craving a Mars bar?

If you are hungry,

what’s wrong with being hungry?

If are you lonely,

what’s so bad about being alone?

Try sitting with the feeling….staying in that place,

instead rushing to fix it

and see what you can discover.

You may hear a voice in your head

that warns you…

“Don’t give up that pacifier,

“because you can’t make it on your own…”

And if that doesn’t work,

the tempters voice will move to level two:

"If God really loves you,

you can do whatever you want.

Why waste your time on Lent?"

If you don’t recognize that voice,

I suggest re-reading today’s Gospel.

Then tell the devil to go back to that special Hot place,

and decide what you will do for Lent.

Better yet, decide WHOSE you will be this Lent.

Jesus says,

“Worship the Lord your God

and serve no one else.”

Expect great things, from God and from yourself.

Believe that everything is possible.

Why should any of us…settle for less?