From Father Beddingfield: Motivation

I’ve been thinking about motivation recently.  What motivates me to do certain things like go to work, exercise, or eat right?  What motivates me to agree to help a friend or give money to a cause or attend a particular event?

Rabbi Edwin Friedman, in a book he was writing before his death in 1996, suggests that whether one is talking about an individual, a family or a whole society, we sometimes become “stuck” when we are motivated too much by concerns for safety rather than being motivated by a sense of adventure.

As I look at life at Saint Mary’s this fall, I wonder how a number of things might be affected depending on whether we respond by “playing it safe” or whether we go forward with a sense of adventure, wonder and daring.

An Adventure of Money.  The stirrings of our fall stewardship campaign have begun.  It is the season for us to consider our commitment to Saint Mary’s and the various ways in which we are stewards of our time, our talents, and our money.  Giving money can be a fantastic adventure.  When you give to this parish it really is an investment with tangible, visible results.  Last year, someone donated money for the church to purchase a power point projector.  That projector eventually made it possible for us to offer Movie Night at Saint Mary’s every month.  Someone else gave money for the gift shop, which has allowed for the beautiful painting and renovation of that space.  Money translates into programs that involve more people, promote lay leadership and help us to build community around our liturgy.  As we pray about our pledge of money to Saint Mary’s for 2006, can we make that prayer in the spirit of adventure?  Can we be open to God’s calling us to new opportunities that surprise and create new opportunities for others to know our Lord Jesus Christ?

An Adventure of Mission.  This January, a mission team from Saint Mary’s and the Diocese of New York will again be working with the Church of San Juan Evangelista in Villanueva, Honduras.  We believe that an adventurous faith includes mission to our neighbors in New York City, mission to others who suffer in our country (such as victims of hurricanes and natural disasters) and also mission with those who live in other parts of the world.  In fact, those of us who have been to Honduras find that we are awakened to new and smarter possibilities for mission in our own neighborhood.  Somehow the possibilities there allow for hope and creative thinking here.  Is God calling you to be adventurous in mission?  Is God calling you to join us in Honduras this year?

An Adventure of Legacy.  As I write this article a team of volunteers in the next room are stuffing envelopes for our All Souls’ mailing.  As in the past, this letter invites your names of the faithful departed, to be included in the prayers of the All Souls’ Requiem Masses.  Also included is a new brochure that invites you to consider including Saint Mary’s in your will.  If you don’t have a will, please consider making one.  And as you make a will or update the one you have, consider the adventure of including Saint Mary’s.  In 1892, Miss Sara Cooke left Saint Mary’s a sizable amount which allowed for the construction of our current building.  I wonder if she could have possibly imagined the adventures her gift would create for us?  Imagine what your gift might accomplish.  Imagine the adventures that your gift might open up for others. 

It is always a temptation to play it safe.  It was a temptation for Jesus, and this side of heaven it will remain a temptation for each of us.  My prayer is that we might be taken up in the spirit of daring that founded Saint Mary’s, that we might prove ourselves worthy heirs and continue to call others to join the adventure.  John Beddingfield

 

PRAYER LIST . . . Your prayers are asked for Emil who is hospitalized, for Will, Michael, Ray, Betty Ann, Mikhail, Matthew, Donna, Lloyd, Deborah, Charlton, Virginia, William, Mary, Tony, Ibo, Gilbert, Robert, Gloria, Marion, Mamie, Rick, Henry, Thomas, priest and Charles, priest, for the members of our Armed Forces on active duty, especially Patrick, Bruce, Brenden, Jonathan, Marc, Joseph, Timothy, Christopher, David, Timothy, Nestor, Freddie, Derrick and Christina, and for the repose of the soul of Penn . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . October 23: 1985 Adolphe Barreaux; October 26: 1987 Dorothea Moran..

 

AROUND THE PARISH  . . . Brother Emil Denworth remains at Saint Luke’s Hospital.  Please keep him in your prayers . . . Saint Mary’s Fall Home Gatherings continue.  Invitations are sent directly from our hosts, so please RSVP when you can to allow for appropriate planning and insure generous hospitality . . . Brochures for the fall retreat at Mount Saviour Monastery are in the back of the church . . . The Rector is away through Wednesday, October 26 . . . Attendance Last Sunday 398.

 

NOTES ON MUSIC . . . The prelude before Mass is an improvisation on Festal Song (Hymn 551, today’s final hymn).  The postlude is Präludium und Fuge c-moll, BWV 549 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).  The setting of the Mass ordinary is Missa ‘Ave Virgo sanctissima’ by Juan Esquivel (1563-after 1613).  This setting, published in 1608, is modeled very closely on a motet of the same name by Francisco Guerrero (1528-1599), a piece our choir has sung on numerous occasions.  Little is known of Esquivel’s life; he was maestro de capilla in Oviedo and Calahorra and had a profound respect for the great master Guerrero (as evidenced by this work).  The motet at Communion is Esquivel’s Ego sum panis vivus.  Some may notice that Sunday’s music differs from the previously published schedule (music of Monteverdi was to be sung).  It is necessary, very occasionally, for changes such as this to be made.  This change occurs because I was unable to hire enough bass singers to perform Monteverdi’s Missa a sei voci ‘In illo tempore’.  Despite a good number of able professional singers in New York, there are times when it proves impossible to find the right singer for a particular date . . . The recital at 4:40 is by David J. Hughes of Pelham, New York.  Robert McCormick

 

CONCERTS AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Tickets for the concert by the Choir of Gloucester Cathedral on Friday, October 28 at 7:30 are available from www.stmvirgin.org/MusicatSaintMarys, 212.869.5830, ext. 25 or from MaryJane Boland (a member of Saint Andrew’s Guild) at Coffee Hour following the Solemn Mass.  All Saint Marians are encouraged to support our church by attending this concert.  This famed choir of men and boys was featured in the soundtrack of the BBC television movie The Choir.    

 

FOOD & FELLOWSHIP . . . Once a month we have Movie Night in Saint Joseph’s Hall.  The movie this month is The Natural, starring Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Barbara Hershey and Glenn Close.  We are showing the movie this Friday, October 21 after the evening Mass.  Please bring a few dollars to help pay for food and beverages . . . Another great opportunity is available every Sunday after the coffee hour following Solemn Mass: join members of Saint Andrew’s Guild, who wear red ribbons at coffee hour, for brunch at a nearby restaurant.

 

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION THIS WEEK . . . Sunday School for children meets in Saint Benedict’s Study from 10:00 AM to 10:45 AM . . . On Sunday October 23 and Sunday October 30, Father Mead will lead a class on the Holy Eucharist at 3:00 PM in Saint Benedict’s Study.  The first class will focus on the shape and history of the Eucharist.  The second class will focus on the theology of the Eucharist.  On October 25, the Tuesday Night Bible Study will read Saint Paul’s Letter to Philemon.  The class will be led by seminarian Thomas Heard and will meet in the Parish House third floor Conference Room from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM.

 

CHRISTMAS 2005 AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Christmas Day is a Sunday this year and the schedule for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will be different from recent years.  On Christmas Eve there will be two Christmas Masses, 5:00 PM and 11:00 PM.  The 5:00 PM Mass will be a Sung Mass lasting approximately seventy-five minutes.  Christmas music will begin at 4:40 PM.  The Rector will be celebrant and preacher.  At 11:00 PM there will be Procession & Solemn Pontifical Mass.  The Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold, presiding bishop & primate of the Episcopal Church, will be celebrant and preacher.  Christmas music will be offered at 10:30 PM.  On Christmas Day there will be one Mass only, Solemn Mass & Procession to the Crèche at 11:00 AM. 

 

 

The Calendar of the Week

Sunday               The Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost

Monday                     Saint James of Jerusalem

Tuesday                      Weekday

Wednesday                 Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons, 899

Thursday                    Weekday

                                    Eve of Saint Simon and Saint Jude 6:20 PM

Friday                          Saint Simon and Saint Jude, Apostles      No Abstinence

Saturday                     James Hannington, Bishop, and his Companions

 

Sunday: 8:30 AM Sung Matins, 9:00 AM Mass, 10:00 AM Sung Mass, 11:00 AM Solemn Mass,

 

5:00 PM Solemn Evensong & Benediction.  Childcare from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

Monday – Friday: 8:30 AM Morning Prayer, 12:00 PM Noonday Office, 12:10 PM Mass,

6:00 PM Evening Prayer, 6:20 PM Mass.  The 12:10 Mass on Wednesday is sung.

Saturday: 11:30 AM Confessions, 12:00 PM Noonday Office, 12:10 PM Mass, 4:00 PM Confessions,

5:00 PM Evening Prayer, 5:20 PM Sunday Vigil Mass