I am a kind, thoughtful and generous person that always seeks to find the goodness found in all humans.  I judge others sparingly and only after careful consideration of the "beam in my own eye."  I am a hopeful person who seeks to inspires others. I care about the suffering that occurs on this planet and I often bravely attempt to do my part in abolishing the world of injustices.  Lastly I am patient person seeking to learn even more about the spiritual value of waiting.

My Family History: 

Where Introverts and Extroverts Meet

The Hain and Romberger families are, however, different in many respects.  The Hains are an extroverted bunch of folks.  They focus on doing in all aspects of their lives.  They build new churches and schools, they passionately fight injustices and they tend to become teachers, preachers and educators.  The Rombergers are introverted people and they focus more on being and thinking than on acting and doing.  Rombergers spend a lot of time in nature and appreciate the beauty and joys of working the land; they tend to stay out of the "doing" of wars and societal battles but are participators in such efforts as philosophers, analyzers, thinkers and organizers. 

Together they make up their own understanding of the Body of Christ.  The Rombergers are the head and the Hains are the body.  I am a result - a proud result - of these two unique peoples.

The Hain Family

Click here to learn more about the Hain family that I belong to and to see the Hain Family Tree.

The Romberger Family

Click here to learn more about the Romberger family that I belong to and to see the Romberger Family Tree.

Declaring My Patron Saint

I noticed something miraculous in my genealogical studies.  It was a name, a name that kept popping up.  John!  John was not only used as a given name for many Romberger and many Hain children (a common practice among German-Americans), but ironically John is also the name which describes the two historical churches that are connected to each of these families:  the St. John's (Hain's) Church in Wernersville, PA and St. John's Lutheran Church (Hill's Church) in Berrysburg, PA.  I have decided, therefore, that my familial patron saint should be St. John. 

St. John was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and many Christian traditions identify him as the author of several New Testament works: the Gospel of John, the Epistles of John and the Book of Revelation.  The Gospel of John is the only gospel that contains references to the "disciple whom Jesus loved". Traditionally this is taken as a self-reference by the author, and therefore a reference to John the Apostle.
 

Saint John the Apostle was the son of Zebedee he was originally a fishermen, a man who appreciated the workings of God's Creation.  He was first a disciple of John the Baptist and later he became one of the twelve apostles of Jesus.

Saint John had a prominent position in the Apostolic body. Saint Peter, St James and St John were the only witnesses of the raising of Jairus' daughter (Mark 5:37), of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1) and of the Agony in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:37). Only he and Peter were sent into the city to make the preparation for the final Passover meal (the Last Supper) (Luke 22:8).[3] At the meal itself, his place was next to Jesus on whose chest he leaned (John 13:23-25). According to the general interpretation, John was also that "other disciple" who - with Peter - followed Jesus after the arrest into the palace of the high-priest (John 18:15). John alone remained near Jesus at the foot of the cross on Calvary with Jesus’ mother, Mary, and the pious women and it is John who takes Mary into his care as the last legacy of Jesus (John 19:25-27).

After the Resurrection, John and Peter were the first of the disciples to run towards the tomb and John was the first to think/believe that Jesus had truly risen (John 20:2-10).

After Jesus’ Ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, John, together with Peter, took a prominent part in the founding and guidance of the church. He is with Peter at the healing of the lame man in the Temple (Acts 3:1, et. seq.). With Peter he is also thrown into prison (Acts 4:3). He is also with Peter visiting the newly converted in Samaria (Acts 8:14).  It is also generally believed that John spent his years ministering in Asia Minor.

Prayers

 
Prayer to Saint John the Evangelist
O Glorious Saint John, you were so loved by Jesus

that you merited to rest your head upon his breast,

and to be left in his place as a son to Mary.

Obtain for us an ardent love for Jesus and Mary.

Let me be united with them now on earth

and forever after in heaven.

Prayer for the Enlightenment of Saint John
Merciful Lord, we beseech Thee to cast your bright

beams of light upon Thy Church, that it being enlightened

by the doctrine of Thy blessed Apostle and Evangelist Saint John

may so walk in the light of Thy truth, that it may at length attain to

the light of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

The are two primary symbols associated with St. John:  an eagle and a chalice (sometimes containing a serpent - also called the poisoned chalice).  Early Christian art usually represents St. John with an eagle, symbolizing the heights to which he rises in the first chapter of his Gospel. An early legend also held that the eagle would periodically renew its youth by flying near the sun and then plunging into a lake or fountain. On this basis the eagle became a symbol for the Resurrection (not unlike the butterfly symbol which I display abundantly on these website pages). Since the eagle soars upward, it also became a symbol for Christ's Ascension.  Eagles also represent Christians who have been baptised into Christ, who have died and risen with Him.

The chalice as symbolic of St. John, which, according to some authorities, was not adopted until the thirteenth century, is sometimes interpreted with reference to the Last Supper.  The poisoned chalice is connected with a legend that states St. John was handed a cup of poisoned wine by the high priest of the Temple of Diana at Ephesus. The high priest said to him: "If you want me to believe in your god, I will give you some poison to drink and, if it does not harm you, it means that your god is the true God."  Saint John blesses the chalice and wine which neutralized the poison and made it escape from the chalice in the form of a small two-headed dragon (aka serpent).  John was then able to drink the wine. The story was popularized through the Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine and it was inspired by the words of the Gospels.  In St. Matthew, Jesus says to St. John and his brother: "You shall indeed share my cup." And in St. Mark's Gospel, the risen Christ sends his apostles out into the world promising them, among other things, protection against poison: "Faith will bring with it these miracles . . . if believers drink any deadly poison, they will come to no harm."

The name John means "God is gracious."

Amazing Grace has indeed been a part of my my life...

and the lives of the families I come from!