Hori Tapu, division and being a parish



This Sunday we celebrate Hori Tapu – Saint George, our patron saint: patron saint of Palestinians, Georgia, Portugal and some other places like England. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition he is named among the great martyrs for his courage and death standing against the orders of Emperor Diocletian to sacrifice to the emperor, and to execute all those who refused to do so.
George’s story and todays gospel reading (Luke 12:49-56) reminds us that to follow Jesus is not always easy. When our values are shaped by the gospel, there will be times they will lead us to take stands others will struggle to understand. It reminds us that the gospel trumps everything else. When we forget that we end up in the strange place the American church finds itself in – America first, God second.
We mark this day on the anniversary of our becoming a parish, when our ministry in this community took on a different shape in 1962. We give thanks for God’s ongoing mission through us as a parish, and we look ahead in hope to God’s continuing work through us.

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