From the Rector: A Call and An Assumption

The Church of the Good Shepherd, Granite Springs, New York, has called the Reverend Matthew Hoxsie Mead to serve as their new rector.  The Bishop of New York has approved the appointment.  Father Mead has accepted the call.  His last Sunday at Saint Mary’s as curate will be August 16.  Matt will be celebrant and preacher for the 10:00 AM and 11:00 AM Masses that day.  A reception to honor him and his wife Nicole Mead will follow the 11:00 AM Solemn Mass.  I could not be more happy for him.  I am absolutely delighted he will be serving as a rector in the Diocese of New York.  We are going to miss them and their sons a great deal, a very great deal.

Friday evening, August 14, the parish begins its celebration of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  James Kennerley will play an organ recital at 5:30 PM.  Solemn Mass will be offered at 6:00 PM.  A reception will follow in Saint Joseph’s Hall.  Many friends of the parish join us this evening.  Saint Mary’s Choir returns to sing the Mass.  It’s always a special evening – and it’s always hot and glorious.

Father Mead’s call has had me thinking for a few days about the moves I have made to be a seminarian instead of going to business school and about feeling called to go to Nashotah House instead of England for seminary (which my rector wanted me to do).   After seminary there was a first position in what was then a large “Morning-Prayer” parish in Dallas, followed by a second assistant position in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  Northern Indiana came next and from there I came to Saint Mary’s.  Each opportunity seemed right, seemed to be the right call at the right time; and each call required experienced people to see me doing a job that I could not begin to know was right for me.

There is usually a lot of grace in the decisions we make across our lives and the decisions that are made for us by others.  I say “usually” because things are never entirely that simple.  Our world is not without its challenges, its sins and its evil.  How we respond to a call in any area of our life, at any time in our life, is shaped by so many factors.  For Christians, at the heart of it all is Christ’s death and resurrection.  Out of the Easter mystery comes hope, faith and eternal life.  Out of the Easter mystery come the graces that carry us through this world into the world to come.

For some reason the Church does not read John’s account of Jesus walking on the sea (John 6:16-21) at Sunday Mass, but it does read the other two accounts, Matthew 14:22-33 and Mark 6:45-52.  (And for reasons I don’t begin to understand, when we move to the Revised Common Lectionary we will read Matthew and John but not Mark.)  I especially like John’s account.  Unlike the passages in Matthew and Mark, John takes no notice of the wind once Jesus arrives.  (In Matthew and Mark it ceases.)  It is enough for John’s Jesus to be present.  He says to his disciples, “It is I; do not be afraid” (John 6:20).  When we respond to a call in our lives, I think our faith can give us strength even when the winds around us are not calm or calmed by new choices, new directions.

It’s also helpful to remember that fear does not always accompany a new call in life.  Excitement and joy are genuine graces as well.  In Matthew, Joseph is told in a dream not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife (Matthew 1:20).  In Luke, Mary goes from being “troubled” (Luke 1:29) to surrendering to God’s will (Luke 1:38) and on to exultation as she proclaims, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46).

I invite you to join me in congratulating Father Mead on his call.  Again, I’m so very glad he will continue to be a member of the clergy of our own diocese.  I invite you also to be at Saint Mary’s for the celebration of the Assumption.  I invite you to join me in prayer about how we may respond to the new call for us as a parish community as we begin to live with two priests and not three!  Stephen Gerth

 

SUNDAY PRAYER LIST . . . Your prayers are asked for Frances and Doris are hospitalized; for Aaron, Cindy, Carol, Rosemary, Margaret, Eva, Allan, Dorothy, Harold, Marcia, Stephen, Madeleine, William, Gert, Mary, Daisy, Rick, Allan, Roy, priest, and Edgar, priest; for the members of our Armed Forces on active duty, especially Marc, Omar, Benjamin, Steven, Andrew, and Patrick; and for the repose of the soul of Tom . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . August 9: 1883 Catherine Van Cott; 1887 Howard James; 1896 Edward Farner; 1923 Arthur Searles; 1993.

 

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . On Assumption Eve, Friday, August 14, there will be an organ recital at 5:30 PM, Solemn Mass at 6:00 PM and a reception following Mass in Saint Joseph’s Hall . . . Father Mead will hear confessions on Saturday, August 8; Father Gerth will hear confessions on Saturday, August 15.

 

AROUND THE PARISH . . . We are very grateful to all those who have given of their time to work around the church and in the parish office during the summer months.  Their hard work and expertise have proven to be extremely helpful as we finish a number of projects and prepare for the beginning of a new academic year . . . Flowers are needed for Sunday, September 13, and Sunday, October 11.  Please contact Father Smith or our business manager, Aaron Koch, if you would like to make a donation . . . Sunday, August 9, Used Book Sale in Saint Joseph’s Hall.  All proceeds are allocated to Father Smith’s discretionary fund and used to benefit those in need.  (Thank you to all those who have donated books to support this project.) . . . Food Pantry: On Sundays, both friends and members of the parish continue to donate non-perishable food items, as well as gently-used clothing for children and adults, for use by the Food Pantry of Saint Clement’s Church.  The Food Pantry is looking for food items such as rice, pasta, coffee, canned tuna fish, canned soups, breakfast cereal, oatmeal, and canned vegetables . . . Attendance: Last Sunday 195.

 

FROM THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT . . . The prelude at Solemn Mass this Sunday is Lied from Vingt-quatre pièces en style libre, Op. 31, No. 17, by Louis Vierne (1870-1937).  At the ministration of Communion, Mr. Kennerley and Mr. Alan Champion sing the motet Ave, Regina caelorum, (“Hail, O Queen of Heaven”) by Giovanni Legrenzi (1626-1690).  Legrenzi was one of the most prominent composers in late seventeenth-century Venice.  Although his output encompassed operas, oratorio, and vocal and instrumental music, he produced predominantly liturgical music with a distinctly dramatic character.  This is particularly evident in his setting of the word “gaude” that appears in today’s motet: rapid, florid motifs are exchanged between the two solo voices to great effect.  Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) composed an organ fugue in C minor on a theme by Legrenzi, probably as an offering of respect and admiration . . . Looking ahead, Max Kenworthy will play a recital in the church, free and open to the public, on Friday, August 21, 1:10 PM to 2:00 PM:  James Kennerley

 

THE GIFT SHOP . . . There are copies of two books that have just arrived and are on the shelves in the Parish Gift Shop.  First, there is Bishop Frank Griswold’s Praying Our Days: A Guide and Companion (Morehouse Publishing, 2009).  The book, written by the XXV Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, is described by its publisher as “the first new devotional resource of its kind for Episcopalians in more than two generations.”  Second, there is the Reverend Hank Dunn’s very informative and useful booklet on end-of-life issues and decisions, Hard Choices for Loving People: CPR, Artificial Feeding, Comfort Care, and the Patient with a Life Threatening Illness (5th edition) (A&A Publishers, 2009).  Please stop by the Gift Shop and take a look.

 

A GENTLE REMINDER . . . If you plan to be away from the parish for all or part of the summer, it would be very helpful if you could stay current on your pledge payments.  We often run into cash-flow problems during the summer months and that is, of course, a special concern this year.  Thank you very much for your consideration – and thank you to all who give so generously to support the work and mission of this parish.

 

ASSUMPTION OFFERING . . . If the parish has your mailing address, you will be receiving a request for an offering at Assumption.  This is an annual asking and most years the proceeds are used for a specific project.  This year we are asking for help to pay for the rebuilding of the front doors of the church and for the doors behind the altar.  The costs are mostly due to replicating the mechanisms used in 1895 when the church was built.  This turns out to be the most cost-effective way to complete these repairs.  Twelve thousand dollars is needed.  If you only read the Angelus on the web or if the parish only has your email address, you can send a check or donate online at the parish website.  Just under the photograph of Mary holding Jesus, you can make a secure donation through “Network for Good.”  Thank you so much for helping to keep the doors of Saint Mary’s open and properly closed!  S.G.

 

FROM THE SEPTEMBER 1898 ISSUE OF “THE ARROW” . . . “It is cheering to find the Pro-Cathedral Record of the Diocese of New York, in its August number, urging people who find it difficult during the summer months to attend more than one service on Sunday, to make that one service the early celebration of the Holy Communion.  Everywhere Mass is slowly supplanting Matins as the service of obligation.”  (“The Arrow” was the first newsletter published here at the Saint Mary’s.  It appeared each month from October 1891 through and including March 1899.  You can read “The Arrow” in the archives section of our website at www.stmvirgin.org/archives.  (A very few issues are not yet archived; however, we hope to acquire them when St. Mark’s Library re-opens at General Theological Seminary.)

 

The Calendar of the Week

Sunday        The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

Monday         Laurence, Deacon and Martyr at Rome, 258

Tuesday         Clare, Abbess at Assisi, 1254

Wednesday   Weekday

Thursday       Jeremy Taylor, Bishop of Down, Connor, and Dromore, 1667

Friday            Jonathan Myrick Daniels, Seminarian, 1965                            Abstinence

                        Eve of the Assumption

Saturday    The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary                   

                        Eve of the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

 

Sunday: 8:30 AM Morning Prayer, 9:00 AM Said Mass, 10:00 AM Said Mass, 11:00 AM Solemn Mass,

5:00 PM Evening Prayer.  Childcare is available from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM all Sundays of the year.

Monday–Friday: 8:30 AM Morning Prayer, 12:00 PM Noonday Office, 12:10 PM Mass, 6:00 PM Evening Prayer.  The Wednesday Mass is sung. The Thursday Mass includes anointing of the sick.  Holy Days as announced.

Saturday: 12:00 PM Noonday Office, 12:10 PM Mass, 5:00 PM Evening Prayer, 5:20 PM Sunday Vigil Mass.

Confessions are heard on Saturdays 11:30-11:50 AM & 4:00-4:50 PM.