Episcopal Life Online Daybook -- Today is Monday, November 19, 2007. The Church calendar remembers Elizabeth, princess of Hungary (1207-1231).
* Today in Scripture: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/82457_ENG_HTM.htm * Today in Prayer: Anglican Cycle of Prayer: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm * Today in History: On this day in 1900, Samuel J. Stone, Anglican priest and hymnist, died in Charterhouse, Somerset, England.
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MISSION
United Thank Offering's 2009 vision to focus on women and children
By Daphne Mack
[ENS] The United Thank Offering's (http://www.episcopalchurch.org/uto) (UTO) 2009 grant criteria and awards will reflect its new vision focusing on projects that implement significant change toward alleviating profound human suffering that directly impacts the lives of women and children.
Elizabeth Beach-Hacking, newly appointed UTO coordinator, expressed excitement about the new vision. "The idea of significantly impacting the lives of women and children is so important because when you touch a woman's life, you touch the whole family, the whole community and ultimately a whole nation," she said.
The grants are intended to support the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), established by the 75th General Convention as a mission priority for the Episcopal Church.
Beach-Hacking explained that UTO is committed to continuing its historic objective to address compelling human need and expand the mission and ministry of the Church. For the 2009 grant cycle, the UTO committee wants to focus on "helping people get out of the vicious cycle of poverty" and "really make a significant difference in their lives."
"It's that vicious cycle that I believe we are all called to work towards eradicating," she said. "Although Jesus did say 'the poor will always be among us,' it's how we treat our brothers and sisters in Christ every single day that's really important. It's how we can give thanks for the blessings in our own lives by giving blessings to others through our giving to others."
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_91954_ENG_HTM.htm
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Catalyst: "God With Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas" from Paraclete Press, by Scott Cairns, Emilie Griffin, Richard John Neuhaus, Kathleen Norris, Eugene Peterson, and Luci Shaw, edited by Greg Pennoyer and Gregory Wolfe, 185 pages, hardcover, c. 2007, $26.95
[Source: Paraclete Press] God with us. This is the meaning of the Incarnation. This is the meaning of Christmas. When we cut through all of the sentiment and marketing to the spiritual richness and vitality of Christmas, we not only discover who God is, but who we are as human beings.
When we become adults, and the wide-eyed wonder of childhood has passed, we need to replace what was once magical with something much more meaningful.
Now is the time to put first things first, and seek silence, if only for a few precious minutes a day. Now, ever more intently, we are to watch and listen for God.
God With Us is a companion for those who want to experience Christmas as the early Christians once did, set in the larger context of Advent and Epiphany. Through daily meditations, scripture, prayer, illuminating history and fine art, we experience what saints have glimpsed through the ages - the wonder of God made flesh.
To order: Episcopal Books and Resources, online at http://www.episcopalbookstore.org or call 800-903-5544 -- or visit your local Episcopal bookseller, http://www.episcopalbooksellers.org