January 2021 Our Shepherd's Voice - Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church
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January 2021
Our Shepherd’s Voice
Newsletter
Naming and Claiming the New Year for Christ!
by Rev. Mark Reiff
Like most everyone I rejoice at the beginning of a New Year. Happy New Year 2021! When I was in my
middle school and high school years I remember the local newspaper, the St Paul Dispatch, annually
featuring a picture on the masthead of the front page of the January 1 issue. It was always the same or
similar: it was picture of an old man, carrying a walking staff, exiting off the page with a young baby in a
diaper crawling behind to take his place. Every year this image was accompanied by the same words:
“Out with the old, in with the new.”
This New Year is especially welcome as we look forward, with hope, for a better year than 2020. Yes,
2020 was a horrid year. It is one that most all of us are more than happy to put behind us. Again, years ago,
but as young adult, I remember Queen Elizabeth, in her annual address to the British Parliament, talking
about her previous year, that was filled with many of her adult children in marital disarray, as her annus
horribulus, her horrible year. Certainly, most all of us (unless we are masochists) look back upon 2020 as
our collective annus horriblus. There seems to be no doubt that most everyone is very glad to put 2020
behind us. It was a dismal year and fit, now, only for the history books.
As we enter this New Year it is my sincere hope that we as Christians claim it for God, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. Yet, as I write this, I also have to say that I am not on-board with the relatively recent nomen-
clature foisted on us by our cultural elites with regard to the naming of the years. That is to say that I really,
truly dislike the annual naming nonsense of BCE (Before the Common Era) and CE (The Common Era).
For 2000 years our world has acknowledged the years as B.C. (Before Christ) and as A.D. (Anno Domini -
for the Year of our Lord). This original and historic naming and claiming of these years dates back to the
birth of Christ more than two millennia ago. Frankly, I don’t see this or any year as ‘common or’ of a
‘Common Era’. There exists across our land. and around the world thousands, if not millions, of structures
that have cornerstones proclaiming the years of its completion and always accompanied by the letters A.D.
- for the Year of our Lord.
There is nothing common about this or any year: This especially is the case for the more than one and a half
billion Christians who currently live in this world. At the same time there are also other calendars. The
Chinese live with a different calendar that is about 2700 years old and people of the Jewish faith, with a
different calendar, live in the year 5781. Islam also lives with a different calendar based on the life of the
prophet Muhammed that is now more than 1300 years old. Indeed, there may be a whole array of different
(cont’d on Page 2)
(cont’d from page 1)
calendars from other times, other places and different people in our world. While we understand that our
earth is millions of years old, calendars came into being so that we could keep track of time and memory.
Our western, and Christian calendar came into being two thousand years ago with the adoption of the
Julian Calendar of Roman Emperor Julius Caesar. The Julian calendar, however, was flawed and kept
losing time. It never accurately estimated the time it took for the earth to circle the sun. Due to this miscal-
culation it lost six hours of time each year. Pope Gregory sought to rectify this problem and employed
scholars to create a new Calendar, the Gregorian Calendar, with a regular ‘leap year’ every four years to
account for the flaws and correct the Julian calendar. This revised, and accurate, calendar was
implemented in 1582. In that year (1582) the day after October 4, magically eliminated eleven days and
was followed by October 15. At last, time was correct.
When the Catholic Church implemented the new Gregorian calendar, it also changed the day of the New
Year. The New Year had always been in March but The Church changed it to January 1. If you understand
the naming of our autumnal months it is easy to see what was done. Sept in Latin is 7 in our English
language for the Latin seventh month, September. Oct, for October, means 8. Novem, 9 in Latin, names
November. Finally, Decem -10, gives us the name for the month of December. January and February were
months 11 and 12 on the old Latin calendar. So, quite naturally, the New Year was in March.
By contrast the newly minted Christian New Year coincided with the Feast Day of the Circumcision of
Our Lord, and his naming, eight days after Christmas. With this substantial change The Church claimed all
of the years for our Lord Jesus Christ.
Catholic nations adopted this new calendar immediately. But its adoption by Protestant Europe was often
much slower. Lutheran nations rapidly adopted the new Gregorian Calendar as, indeed, Lutherans have
always adopted Catholic revisions and changes when we, as Lutherans, saw them as welcome resolutions
to systemic problems. This is precisely why Lutherans accepted some of the changes implemented by the
16th Century Council of Trent during the Catholic Counter-Reformation.
However, many of the Reformed Protestant Christian nations moved much slower in their acceptance of
the New Calendar. Great Britain and her colonies were the last to accept these Calendric changes and did
so in 1752. Due to this late adoption of the Gregorian calendar, many colonial American documents will
be signed on one day but implemented (at least by the new calendar) nearly two weeks later. Virtually all
colonial American records will contain this ‘mystery’ of lost time
Ultimately, what needs to be said is that each New Year on our calendar is a profound declaration of
Christian Faith that was created by and for the Church due to the simple fact that Jesus Christ is our Lord
and Savior. So the cultural secularist’s can babble on about this, that, the other, and about BCE and CE,
but the calendar and the New Year are not their property nor their creation. Both this New Year, and the
Calendar as well, are a ‘new’ Creation which belongs to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. So honor the
true owner of all things by dating each and every document through out this New Year with an A.D. and
give witness to power and reality of your true faith.
Pax Christi,
Mark Reiff+
2
It’s Not the Jewish Christmas:
What Hanukkah Can Teach Us Today
In 1938, during the dark days of the Holocaust, Pope Pius XI
declared to Catholics—and all Christians that “Spiritually, we
are Semites.” Christians and Jews are all Children of Abraham
and must stand in solidarity against evil in the world. It is also
true that studying Jewish history and religion reveals the roots
of the Christianity, and can guide us in responding to the
challenges that people of faith face in modern times.
Consider the festival of Hanukkah that begins at sunset on Thursday, December 10. That feast
celebrates events recorded in the books of First and Second Maccabees. Although Hanukkah is one
of the more popular Jewish holidays, especially in America, the Maccabees books are not found in
the Hebrew Bible (or in most Protestant bibles). However, they are found in Catholic and Orthodox
bibles and in the Septuagint, an early Greek language version of the Hebrew Scriptures. There are
interesting reasons for those strange twists, but that is another story.
Christians often think of Hanukkah as the “Jewish Christmas”—a lovely festival that involves
lighting candles on the menorah, singing traditional songs, and exchanging gifts. In fact,
Hanukkah commemorates an epic struggle between an outmatched Jewish resistance and
internal and external forces that were determined to destroy Judaism. It is a story that is
especially relevant for Christians and Jews today, with growing hostility to people of faith
and declining religious observance around the world.
In the fourth century B.C., Israel was subjected to Greek rule when Alexander the Great defeated
the Persians. Two centuries later, Alexander’s successors had grown contemptuous of Judaism,
and acted mercilessly to impose their “superior” Hellenist culture on backward Israel
and its restrictive beliefs and rules.
Antiochus IV, who called himself Epiphanes, the “visible god,” forbade the practice of Judaism under
penalty of death. He murdered the incumbent High Priest and 40,000 Jews and sold another 40,000
into slavery. He desecrated the Temple by dedicating it to Zeus, plundering its sacred objects,
and sacrificing pigs on its altar. Mothers who circumcised their children were humiliated by
being paraded around Jerusalem with their babies and then murdered, along with the rest
of their families and those who had performed the circumcisions.
Whether succumbing to pressure from the pagan emperor, or cooperating for personal gain,
or simply being allured by the prospect of social progress, many Jews renounced the religion of their
forefathers and adopted Hellenism. They assumed Greek names and some even underwent surgery
to reverse their circumcisions. Much of the religious hierarchy also sided with the Hellenists against
their fellow Jews. However, an elderly priest named Mattathias resisted those abominations. He fled
to the hill country of Judea with his five sons and other co-religionists. From there, they waged an
inspired guerrilla war against the Hellenists. The rebels suffered many hardships, but they persisted,
and as the victories mounted, their strength grew.
After Mattathias died, his son, Judah, became leader of the guerillas. Because of his prowess
in commanding the resistance, he became known as “Maccabee,” which means “hammer.”
Likewise, his fighters were called Maccabees.
(cont’d on Page 4 )
3Antiochus resolved to eliminate the Maccabees once and for all, and sent an army of 65,000
soldiers against Judah’s force of 10,000. Before the engagement, Judah and his army prayed
fervently to God for Israel’s deliverance. Their prayers were answered and the Maccabees roundly
defeated the superior Hellenist forces. Although some fighting continued, that battle freed Israel,
which would remain independent until occupied by the Romans a century later.
After the victory, the Maccabees rushed to Jerusalem to purify the desecrated Temple and
rededicate it to God. (“Hanukkah” means “dedication” in Hebrew.) According to tradition, they
found only one day’s supply of consecrated oil to light the menorah, but it miraculously remained
burning for eight days until the oil could be replenished. Thus, the celebration of Hanukkah lasts
eight days and menorahs used for the feast have eight main candles, one for each day.
What are the lessons that people of faith today can learn from the Maccabean resistance? In 167
B.C., the religious Jews faced threats of extinction from their pagan emperor and from many of
their fellow Israelites. The High Priests, other religious and civic leaders, friends and neighbors
were in league with the emperor. The religious institutions of Israel were crumbling and the Jews
who remained faithful faced persecution and death. But the Maccabees never gave up hope in the
providence of God and persevered in the defense of their beloved faith. Free of fear and despair,
they defeated the evil that meant to destroy their faith and heritage against all odds.
The Polish people faced a similar challenge in the 20th Century. Like the Hellenist rulers of Israel,
the Communists who ruled Poland used terror and fear to maintain control and destroy the deep
Catholic faith of the people. However, in 1979, in the first return to his homeland as pope,
John Paul II inspired the Polish people to call out the evil of Communism.
He challenged the people with these words:
I plead with you—never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire,
and never become discouraged. Be not afraid.
The Poles took the pope’s words to heart, and the Communist dictatorship was doomed.
Less than two years later, the tables were turned and the dictators were on the defensive
offering reforms that they hoped the people would accept. Within 10 years,
Communism in Poland had been all but destroyed.
Christians and Jews today face perils similar to those of Hellenist Israel and Communist Poland—
persecution of God’s faithful and intolerance of their beliefs. Government, academia and the
culture are increasingly hostile to the Judeo-Christian culture on which America is based.
Sadly, in the name of tolerance and remaining relevant in the modern world,
the clergy are too often indifferent or worse, supportive, of the dismantling of the
country’s core Judeo-Christian principles.
America cannot survive if it abandons its guiding moral principles,
as President John Adams explained in 1798:
We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by
morality and religion . . . Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.
It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
(cont’d on Page 6)
4Peter Navarro vs. the Slavery of Lies
By now, the majority of Americans have likely tuned out of the voter fraud saga.
It is so extensive, so complex, but mostly, so futile. The steal is indeed proving to be too big
to fail, and no one wants to touch it. Embittered and exhausted, disenfranchised Americans
are done hoping and are mentally preparing for the worst.
Meanwhile, many Republican officeholders are positively eager to let the whole matter drop.
Senator John Cornyn of Texas dismissed his own state’s claims of disenfranchisement.
“Why would a state, even such a great state as Texas, have a say so on how other states
administer their elections?” Never minding the fact that, in a national election,
one state’s false election cancels out another state’s legitimate election.
Mr. Cornyn’s colleague Mitch McConnell likewise concluded, “the Electoral College has spoken.”
Having recently won reelection, Mr. McConnell no longer bothers to take his own constituents’
objections seriously.
With all that said, there is some positive news that will bring some much-needed peace of mind
to demoralized Americans. President Trump’s trade advisor Peter Navarro recently published a
report summarizing the many instances of voter fraud in all six swing states.
Mr. Navarro released his report, not as a Trump Administration official, but as a private citizen.
Nevertheless, in many ways, it is the culmination of so many investigations, reports, affidavits,
statistical analyses, and other documentation alleging voter fraud. Mr. Navarro therefore
declares that “ballots in question because of the identified election irregularities are more
than sufficient to swing the outcome in favor of President Trump should even a
relatively small portion of these ballots be ruled illegal.”
Some many might ask what difference this makes now if so many methods of legal recourse
have proven fruitless. Most of those who are convinced of fraud need no further proof;
those who are not convinced will never have enough. On both fronts, however,
the Navarro Report does make a significant difference, if not a decisive one.
On a practical level, there actually is one more recourse to reversing the election due to fraud,
which involves federal lawmakers raising official objections and debating whether to accept
the electoral results of the states in question, also known as “dueling electors.” This process
has happened twice in American history (once in 1960 and again in 1877), both much smaller
in scale than what would happen in this election. The Navarro Report would help make
the case of a rigged election and push lawmakers to reject the results.
On a moral level, the Navarro Report does the important work of simplifying what has proven
hopelessly complex. Whatever might be claimed, most people trying to grapple with the extensive
fraud happening in so many states suffer more from too much evidence than too little.
Even experts struggle to keep up with all of it.
Fortunately, Mr. Navarro’s charts condense all of this and clearly shows what happened
in each state. More than the newest video of a ballot-counter smuggling in a box of fake ballots
or the newest series of graphs exposing yet another statistical anomaly, this report explains
clearly that cheating happened, and it was serious enough to overturn the election.
(cont’d on page 4)
5(Cont’d from page 3)
True, the report may not sway many Americans. But perhaps a few more voters may finally
at least question their certainty that this election was fair, and a few others might realize
just how grave the extent of the fraud really was.
Admittedly, this is a tough pill to swallow. But what has been the alternative?
Civic trust has been broken. Accountability for elected leaders is vanishing.
America is devolving into an oligarchic system that rewards those who conform to elite opinion
and punishes those who would follow the demands of their own conscience.
Christ said, “The truth will set you free.” This can also be understood as, “Lies will enslave you.”
There can be no freedom in a world where narratives overtake reality.
We inevitably become dependent on those who create the narrative and outsource
all of our thinking to them.
Already, this is the case for nearly half of the country, who have made their peace with the
lie and passively accept the falsehoods on their screens and the corruption of their leaders.
It thus falls on those who desire freedom and truth to take on this problem. This is no pleasant
task, but it is the first step to reform, and the only way true freedom becomes possible.
By Auguste Meyrat
Auguste Meyrat is an English teacher and department chair in north Texas.
He has a BA in Arts and Humanities from University of Texas at Dallas
and an MA in Humanities from the University of Dallas.
(cont’d from Page 4)
To this Catholic, the emancipating message of Hanukkah was demonstrated by the Maccabees
and by John Paul II—never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become
discouraged. Be not afraid! We hear those simple, powerful words proclaimed repeatedly
throughout the Scriptures, by Moses, David, Solomon, Ezekiel and Isaiah, and Matthew, Mark,
Luke, John and Paul. That message is profoundly liberating, for the Maccabees,
and the Poles, and for us.
We may face a long grey twilight of ever-increasing intolerance and persecution of the faithful
and their Judeo-Christian principles, but we know how it will end. It is up to us to act boldly in
the face of injustice, live our faith openly and fearlessly, and oppose evil wherever it is found.
As Catholics, let us embrace the rich patrimony we share with our Jewish brothers and sisters,
starting with the lessons of Hanukkah. To all Children of Abraham, Happy Hanukkah!
Be a Maccabee—persevere, trust in God … and be not afraid.
By Michael Heekin
Mike Heekin was the founding Chief Operating Officer of WebMD and has led several other health information and healthcare services
companies. His current project is an initiative that will provide telemental healthcare to at-risk populations. Mike served as a captain in
the US Army in Fulda, Germany, and Washington, DC. He serves on the board of the Atlanta VA’s research foundation
and is active in veterans work in the Atlanta community.
6THROUGH THE WORD—DAILY LECTIONARY FOR JANUARY 2021
Friday, January 1, 2021 - Monday, January 11, 2021 Friday, January 22, 2021
Name of Jesus Psalm 69:1-5, 30-36 Psalm 62:5-12
Numbers 6:22-27 Genesis 17:1-13 Jeremiah 20:7-13
Psalm 8 Romans 4:1-12 2 Peter 3:1-7
Galatians 4:4-7
Luke 2:15-21 Tuesday, January 12, 2021 Saturday, January 23, 2021
Psalm 69:1-5, 30-36 Psalm 62:5-12
Saturday, January 2, 2021 Exodus 30:22-38 Jeremiah 20:14-18
Psalm 148 Acts 22:2-16 Luke 10:13-16
Proverbs 1:1-7
James 3:13-18 Wednesday, January 13, 2021 Sunday, January 24, 2021 -
Psalm 69:1-5, 30-36 Epiphany 3
Sunday, January 3, 2021 Isaiah 41:14-20 Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Jeremiah 31:7-14 John 1:29-34 Psalm 62:5-12
Psalm 147:12-20 1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Ephesians 1:3-14 Thursday, January 14, 2021 Mark 1:14-20
John 1:[1-9] 10-18 Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
Judges 2:6-15 Monday, January 25, 2021
Monday, January 4, 2021 2 Corinthians 10:1-11 Psalm 46
Psalm 110 Genesis 12:1-9
Proverbs 3:1-12 Friday, January 15, 2021 1 Corinthians 7:17-24
James 4:11-17 Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
Judges 2:16-23 Tuesday, January 26, 2021
Tuesday, January 5, 2021 Acts 13:16-25 Psalm 46
Psalm 110 Genesis 45:25-46:7
Proverbs 22:1-9 Saturday, January 16, 2021 Acts 5:33-42
Luke 6:27-31 Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
1 Samuel 2:21-25 Wednesday, January 27, 2021
Wednesday, January 6, 2021 - Matthew 15:1-13 Psalm 46
Epiphany of Our Lord Proverbs 8:1-21
Isaiah 60:1-6 Sunday, January 17, 2021 - Mark 3:13-19a
Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14 Epiphany 2
Ephesians 3:1-12 1 Samuel 3:1-10 [11-20] Thursday, January 28, 2021
Matthew 2:1-12 Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 Psalm 111
1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Deuteronomy 3:23-29
Thursday, January 7, 2021 John 1:43-51 Romans 9:6-18
Psalm 29
1 Samuel 3:1-21 Monday, January 18, 2021 Friday, January 29, 2021
Acts 9:10-19a Psalm 86 Psalm 111
1 Samuel 9:27-10:8 Deuteronomy 12:28-32
Friday, January 8, 2021 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 Revelation 2:12-17
Psalm 29
1 Samuel 16:1-13 Tuesday, January 19, 2021 Saturday, January 30, 2021
1 Timothy 4:11-16 Psalm 86 Psalm 111
1 Samuel 15:10-31 Deuteronomy 13:1-5
Saturday, January 9, 2021 Acts 5:1-11 Matthew 8:28-9:1
Psalm 29
1 Kings 2:1-4, 10-12 Wednesday, January 20, 2021 Sunday, January 31, 2021 -
Luke 5:1-11 Psalm 86 Epiphany 4
Genesis 16:1-14 Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Sunday, January 10, 2021 - Luke 18:15-17 Psalm 111
Baptism of Our Lord 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Genesis 1:1-5 Thursday, January 21, 2021
Psalm 29 Psalm 62:5-12
Acts 19:1-7 Jeremiah 19:1-15
Mark 1:4-11 Revelation 18:11-20
7Verses of the Month
Shepherd of the Hills
Lutheran Church 24
“‘“The Lord bless you
37015 Orange Valley Lane
Dade City, FL 33525 and keep you;
25
(352) 567-8424 the Lord make his face shine on you
www.shephillslc.org and be gracious to you;
26
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’
Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV)
January Birthdays January Anniversaries
2 - Carol Hatfield 2 - Tom & Roxy Buck
8 - Beverly Dodge (55 years!)
12 - Tom Buck 7 - Merle & Bev Dodge
27 - Donna Sheltrown (60 years!)
(91 years young!)
Saturday, January 2, 2021 Tuesday, January 19, 2021
1pm—Featherly/Albertson Wedding Noon—Council Meeting in Bertschy Hall
and
UPCOMING EVENTS
Tom and Roxy Buck’s Sunday, January 24, 2021 ???
55th Wedding Anniversary! The Blessing of the Quilts will
be done during service
Thursday, January 7, 2021
Merle and Beverly Dodge’s
60th Wedding Anniversary! QUILT MAKERS MEET IN BERTSCHY HALL
EVERY FRIDAY MORNING @9AM.
Saturday, January 16, 2021 EXTRA HANDS ARE ALWAYS NEEDED!
10am-Noon - Shepherd’s Shelf
Food Pantry CHOIR REHEARSALS
WEDNESDAY NIGHTS AT 6:30 PM
Sunday, January 17, 2021
Annual Congregational Meeting BELL CHOIR REHEARSALS
after service MONDAY NIGHTS AT 6:30 PM
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