The Collect. 
O ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who didst give to thine Apostle Bartholomew grace truly to believe and to preach thy Word; Grant, we beseech thee, unto thy Church, to love that Word which he believed, and both to preach and receive the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 The Epistle. Acts v. 12 - 16

The Gospel. St. Luke xxii. 24.- 30

Father Roddy began his sermon on Jesus' Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) last Sunday by telling us that while many people might assume that the clergy would grow tired of preaching on the same appointed scripture readings year after year, his experience has been that each year's return of the readings seems to reveal different aspects of the truth that had not seemed apparent before. I have often noted the same thing. What God is trying to get me to see in those lessons may be different from what He was trying to get me to see in the past, not because the truths of the Gospel have changed but because I and my circumstances have changed.

As I was driving home from Church and thinking about that sermon, I realized that the parable included a parallelism that I had not really thought about before. Verse 13 reads “And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.” He left his father's household and his family and took himself far away from both. When he returned, humbled and penitent, verse 20 tells us, “And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.” His father welcomed him back into the family and called for a great impromptu family celebration of his return.

The elder son, upon returning from the field, learned that his prodigal brother had returned home and that his father had called for great rejoicing at his return. Verse 28 gives us his reaction to that news: “And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.”

Here's the parallelism. The elder son refuses to enter his father's house just as the younger had left his father's house. Both do not want to be under their father's roof. And in both cases, the father goes out to meet his sons. With the younger, “ … when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.” As for the elder, fuming outside the house, “...  came his father out, and intreated him.” Further, the elder son no less than the younger wishes to distance himself from the family, What the younger did by physically removing himself, the elder did by his words and attitude. Note that when his father addresses him as “son,” and speaks of the repentant and returned prodigal as “thy brother,” he refers to the prodigal not as “my brother” but as “this thy son.”

Now let us assume for the sake of discussion that Jesus wishes us to believe that the elder son is completely accurate when he claims that he has always worked for and never disobeyed his father, that he has been an absolutely perfect model of filial devotion. Frankly, as the father of three sons I rather doubt that such a creature has ever existed but, as Father Roddy reminded us, this is after all a parable, an imaginary story with imaginary characters, so okay, let's say he really had been the perfectly dutiful and obedient son. In fact, the parable works better if he had been.

Part of what this parable is saying is that both sons have erred badly, the one through sheer selfishness and self-indulgence, the other through his self-righteousness and lack of compassion. The younger has placed his own ideas about what constitutes a good life above that of their father while the elder has valued his own sense of what is just and what should and should not be forgiven above that of his father. Each has impaired his relationship with his father and the father has offered each of them forgiveness and the restoration of that relationship because he wants both of them under his roof rejoicing.

If this were a conventional story we would be left feeling that it was incomplete, because it ends with the father's words to the elder son. “And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.  It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.” What was the elder son's response? Did he accept his father's judgment and enter his father's house to celebrate his brother's return or did he remain intransigently opposed to what he saw as his father's injustice to him? Jesus doesn't tell us, because this is not a story but a parable. The purpose of it is not merely to entertain or even to instruct, the purpose is to stimulate us to examine our own souls' relationships to our divine Father and to His other children.   

-- Father Bragg+


To do good, and to distribute, forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased

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Services & Events
 
Sunday Services, 7:45 AM, 9:00 AM, & 11:15 AM (for online participation for the services go to: https://www.facebook.com/saintsofscotland)  
Sunday School is on recess and will start again in September

Nursery 9:00 & 11:15 Services

Graveside Service for Bob Boyd, Wednesday, August 27, at 11:00 a.m. at Arlington National Cemetery, Section 55, Grave 4704 (Please arrive 15 minutes early and enter via the Memorial Avenue entrance to security checkpoint) – For those wishing to attend, a current ID (Real ID, passport or military ID) is required. You must arrive in a privately-owned vehicle (no Uber, Lyft or taxis are allowed to enter). Also, please review the DOD requirements for attendees at https://www/arlingtoncemetery.mil/Visit/Parking  Please note: The service will be live streamed at https://my.anc.media/4m7EtTg. Please contact Fr. Roddy or Millie Starek if you have any questions. (No Wednesday noon service at church)


September 12-13, DMAS Men's Retreat at Camp Hanover, 3163 Parsleys Mill Road, Mechanicsville, VA.  The cost of the retreat is $85 and covers accommodations and three meals (dinner, breakfast and lunch). For more info copy this link into your browser: https://dmas-acc.org/upcoming 

Sunday September 21, Church Picnic at Fort Hunt Park after combined 10 AM service, (no 9 AM & 11:15 AM services) invite friends and neighbors too:  Great BBQ, hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages and so much more (additional details forthcoming)


NEWLY UPDATED NEEDS FOR MaRiH CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER

 MaRiH Center has made some changes and additions in its critically needed items. The Center provides help to mothers-to-be and mothers in need.  Please provide some of the items that are needed..They are very greatly appreciated. (You can leave the donations where the food for the food bank is collected on the pew in the undercorft.)

Especially Needed
In Bold and with an asterisk are a critical need. Please note changes in diaper needs and additional items.

*Diapers ( newborn, 1, 2, *3, *4, *5, & *6)
*Lovies, Rattles, Teethers
*Baby wipes
Diaper rash ointment
Baby shampoo
*Baby blankets
Baby bottles
Bibs: infant, *toddler
*Formula: *Simulac Advance Formula
Formula: other but not recalled
Diaper rash ointment
Wash clothes
Hooded Towels
Spring/summer clothing: 0-3 mo, 3-6 mo, 9-12mo, 18-24 mo, 2T
Fall/winter clothing: 6-9 mo, 9-12 mo, 12-18 mo, 18-24 mo
Winter coats: all sizes up to including 2T
*Grocery gift cards
Baby Food (make sure not expired)
Shoes: toddler

Food Bank Needs

The food bank appreciates the generosity of our parish.Please help this month with a food donation if you are able. Those we help feed are very thankful for the food we provide to them each month. Please also buy low sugar cereals (and not the kid's types that have lots of sugar). 

Current needs include the following:
canned meats (chicken, corned beef, spam)
peanut butter
jelly
tuna
canned vegetables (corn, green beans - (regular and low sodium)
individual fruit cups (low sugar)
canned fruit (low sugar)
canola or vegetable oil (48 oz)
boxed cereal (low sugar) and instant or old fashioned oatmeal (18 oz or 42 oz)
pasta (regular and gluten-free):
instant potatoes
single serving fruit juice
macaroni & cheese
soups: Chunky or Progresso,noodle soup; chicken broth, cream of mushroom
coffee, cooking oil, flour, sugar
 
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St. Andrew & St. Margaret of Scotland
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Alexandria, VA 22301-1625