Yes, I want to be a faithful and eager follower of our Lord. And I want to serve and worship him. But there are other things I like doing as well. There is, of course, the usual and very human and so sad Litany of things that I am embarrassed about and ashamed of and confess as sins. And hope to be forgive for. But I also mean all those other things, good and pleasant, that I also enjoy, things that are fine and innocent. And surely available to a faithful follower of the Lord - I like to have dinner with friends, I like to go to the opera, I like to go to the museum, I like to read and go to movies, I like to watch TV. And Jesus and his friends did things like that as well. He and the disciples went to dinners, visited with friends, especially Mary and Martha, went fishing, went to wedding receptions. Walked and sat and rested and chatted. I want to do that too, knowing I am in good company, divine company. And yes, I do, I really do, want to be a faithful follower of our Lord. We all do, that is why we are here, we want to answer when he calls. Sort of like Peter and Andrew did, not as well as they did, but yes, sort of like that. We want to be Christians. I wonder what all that entails, I wonder what a really is involved, I wonder how demanding that is? Does it leave time for friends and food, and movies and museums? Just what is involved, what all needs to go into being a faithful follower of the Lord? Well, if the Collect's right, and I bet it is, here's what we are to be about. We are "to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works." Wow! Yikes! Not a very liturgical response know, but a very real one. And genuinely mine. Yikes. "Answer readily the call, proclaim to all people the Good News", and do all of that in a way such that "the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works." And a third time I say, Yikes! And I should have said, not in a smart-alecky, but really a very reverent way -- Sooo, what else is new? I know, you know, always have, that that is we all should do, always. We know that is what this Christina calling of ours is all about, whether were are lay or ordained, in parish-leadership positions or in some assisting role in Choir or Guild or Group or volunteer opportunity, or on Vestry or Staff or being a chairman, in parish or diocese or, even National Church as some here really do. We know what this is, what we seek to do together as a people and a parish and as individual Christians - each of us a faithful follower of our Lord... uhhh .... more or less. And you know it really is more. We are too hard on ourselves, so much harder than God would be, when we beat ourselves up for not doing more, not being better, more single-minded, more effective, more this or that. He knows, he knows first, before any of us, the necessity of what we may have thought was just a sweet beginning, a pious opening formula in that first sentence of the Collect of the Day: "Give us Grace" that we may do that. He knows we need grace. And we say it out load and admit it up-front that we need it - more and more and believe it more deeply and accept it more joyfully. As Jesus said to his followers about being saved in general -- with men and women all this is impossible. But not with God. With God, all things are possible. Today is not a day for a long sermon (doubtless no day really is!). For that is not what we are about, not as a preacher and congregation, but as people - one and all, and all together, and each with our gifts and drawbacks - that is what we are about - but later, at our Annual Meeting here, when we consider together, after the grace of the Mass and after a innocent and fun time together at our reception, when we gather again here before the Altar, to consider, with that grace and happiness, with joy and vagueness, with single-minded sense of vocation and our distracted realization that we are doing many other things as well, we will gather together, each of us, in the presence of our Lord, and as his faithful followers - sort of - to consider what we will do over these next twelve months, individually and together "to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works." So then, let us proceed toward that -- but first ... the grace of the Mass. To give us a chance.