FROM THE RECTOR: WONDER IF

I grew up with the King James Version of the Bible (KJV). I got my own first KJV from my maternal grandmother for Christmas 1961. She died on January 4, 1962. I turned eight in February. Her oldest child, the Reverend Dr. Lawrence Matthews, is a retired minister. I am oldest too. Sometimes I think that it was really she, and not the suffragan bishops of Chicago (diaconate) and Dallas (priesthood), who ordained me. I still have that bible.

The first thing one sees after the title page in a KJV is a dedication that takes up more than a page. It begins, “To the Most High and mighty Prince James, by the Grace of God king of Great Britain, France, and Ireland” and goes on from there. Growing up Southern Baptist, I didn’t know that a complete KJV included the Apocrypha, the books of the Greek Old Testament that are not in the Hebrew Bible. The controversy over their inclusion in the Bible dates back to the fourth century. That said, American Prayer Books have all appointed some readings for the Daily Office from the Apocrypha and the present Prayer Book also appoints some readings from the Apocrypha for Sundays and a few holy days.

As my second year in seminary began, the parish where I had been assigned to do field work, Trinity Church, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, had a new rector, the Reverend Larry P. Smith, himself also a graduate of Nashotah House. I don’t remember our first meeting, but I do remember my first task as his seminarian. His predecessor had been a very strong advocate for retaining 1928 Prayer Book—and Sunday materials for children all reflected that. But there was a new book. Father Smith had me help him clean out the Sunday School rooms. For the first I came across a KJV Bible with the Apocrypha and, something else I had never seen, a KJV with, after the dedication, a long preface called, “The Translators to the Reader.” As I became familiar with it, I have wondered that, if it had been included in all printings of the KJV, its words may have tempered the fundamentalism of many.

The following words are from a section called The Purpose of the Translators: “Truly (good Christian Reader) we never thought from the beginning, that we should need to make a new Translation, nor yet to make of a bad one a good one . . . but to make a good one better, or out of many good ones, one principal good one, not justly to be excepted against; that hath been our endeavor, that our mark.”

Theological issues of the day came their way. For example, one issue they address is their decision not to translate the ordinary Greek word for “washing” as simply “washing” but as “baptism” or not to use the word “congregation” in place of “church.” Since reading the Reverend Dr. Andrew B. McGowan’s Ancient Christian Worship (2014), I have wondered how our Protestant tradition may have evolved differently if the Greek word translated as “worship” in the New Testament were rendered more as “prostrate.” McGowan writes, “So when, for instance, the apostles are depicted “worshiping” the risen Christ, they are not singing, reciting prayer, or (only) experiencing a feeling or attitude; they are flat on their faces (Matt. 27.17)” (page 6). His main point, “ ‘Worship’ is about the body and about service . . .there is the biblical language or concept of ‘worship,’ which suggests the reverent orientation of the whole person and of communities toward God—and sometimes just being flat on your face to make that real” (Ibid.). —Stephen Gerth

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR Michael, Leroy, Ethelyn, Margaret, Shalim, Nam, John, Marilouise, Ken, May, Willard, Alexandra, Takeem, and Abraham; for Ryan, Gene, Gaylord, Louis, and Edgar, priests; and Charles, bishop; for the members of the armed forces on active duty, especially Isabelle; for all health-care workers and all those who work for the common good; for all the members, benefactors and friends of this parish; and for the repose of the souls of Clarence Smith and Emma Washington.

GRANT THEM PEACE: May 17: 1892 William Hiram Gillies Kelly; 1906 Lewis W. Parker; 1923 Alberta Osbal Krattinger; 1931 Clara A. Prindle; 1965 Shirley C. Carswell.

WE NEED YOUR HELP . . . If you have made a pledge for 2020, please continue to make payments on your pledge, if possible. If you have not yet made a pledge for 2020, we urge you to do so. If you are able to make an additional donation to support the parish at this time, we would happily receive it. Donations may be made online via the Giving section of the parish website. You may also make arrangements for other forms of payment by contacting our parish administrator, Christopher Howatt, who would be happy to assist you. We are grateful to all those who continue to support Saint Mary’s so generously. —Stewardship Committee

AROUND THE PARISH . . . Parishioner Michael Merenda was discharged this week from Lenox Hill Hospital. He is now at the Village Care Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. Unfortunately, Village Care is closed to visitors. Please keep Mike and Leroy in your prayers . . . Brother Damien Joseph spent a couple of hours one morning this week sweeping and washing the sidewalk on the Forty-sixth side of the church. This is messy work, but it makes a big difference. Clean steps and a sidewalk remind us and, we hope, our neighbors that we have not gone away . . . The members of the staff meet virtually each week on Wednesday afternoon on a conference platform to catch up and to discuss the day-to-day business and administration of the parish . . . The parish’s Board of Trustees continues to meet virtually early on Thursday mornings . . . Also on Thursday mornings, Father Gerth, MaryJane Boland, and Clark Mitchell meet—again, virtually—with our architects, Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, Inc., and our contractors, Milan Restoration, Inc. . . . We hope that sextons Harka Gurung and Jorge Trujillo will be able to return soon, while the church complex is still closed, to attend to a number of issues around the church and in the Parish House and Mission House. We have missed them. It will be good to see them again. We give thanks to God that Jorge has had a good recovery from COVID-19.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . The resident clergy and the friars celebrate the Eucharist every day at 10:00 AM in the Lady Chapel. On Saturdays and Sundays, they gather for Evening Prayer at 5:00 PM, and on weekdays at 6:00 PM. The daily 10:00 AM Mass and Sunday Evening Prayer & Sung Benediction at 5:00 PM are live-streamed on the parish’s Facebook page. The videos are then posted for later viewing . . . Sunday, May 17, Sixth Sunday of Easter, Sung Mass 10:00 AM in the Lady Chapel and Evening Prayer and Eucharistic Benediction 5:00 PM. You can download the service booklets for the Sunday Mass here and for Sunday Evening Prayer & Benediction here. The readings for Mass on Sunday are here and for Sunday Evening Prayer & Benediction are here. Father Gerth presides and preaches at the 10:00 AM Mass this Sunday. Evening Prayer and Eucharistic Benediction at 5:00 PM . . . Thursday, May 21, Ascension Day, Sung Mass 10:00 AM in the Lady Chapel. The gospel for the feast day is Luke 24:44–53. Father Jay Smith is the celebrant and preacher at the Sung Mass on Ascension Day.

FROM THE FRIARY . . . Brother Damien Joseph SSF and Brother Thomas SSF were to be in Scottsdale, Arizona, this week, attending the annual Chapter of the Society of Saint Francis. The pandemic changed all that. However, a modified and abbreviated chapter meeting took place on Tuesday afternoon, May 12. A few business matters were dealt with, and those attending were able to update each other about their lives and ministries. One of the Society’s novices, James Nathaniel SSF, was told at chapter that his application to make his first vows had been granted. Brother James Nathaniel worshipped with us last September, when he was in New York for the Franciscans’ centenary celebrations. You can read more about his life and ministry on the Society’s website and on this blog. Please keep Brother James Nathaniel and all the members of the Society of Saint Francis in your prayers.

DEVOTIONS TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN IN THE MONTH OF MAY . . . Those who watched the video of last Sunday’s Mass will have the Father Jim Pace, the celebrant that day, offering prayers at the small shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in the Lady Chapel. One of our parishioners reminded us this week that the original shrine of Our Lady in Walsingham, Norfolk, England, has been in the news recently. From the Vatican website, “On March 29, 2020, Catholics and other Christians across England took part in the ‘re-dedication’ of [England] to the Virgin Mary. The re-dedication has been scheduled for years, but the current pandemic is described as ‘an example of why the Rededication is so important at this moment.’” The Anglican Shrine of Walsingham participated in the prayers for “the Entrustment of England to Our Lady” on March 29. For more information and for a history of the devotion to Our Lady of Walsingham, please visit the Anglican Shrine’s website.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Father Peter Powell recently concluded his online study of passages in the books of the so-called “twelve prophets” of the Old Testament. He has kindly agreed to continue his online bible study, focusing first on the Book of Exodus. He writes, “My Exodus papers will begin a study of the Book of Exodus. You will remember that Martin Luther King used the Exodus event to understand the Civil Rights movement. I believe that Exodus continues to have much to teach us about how God works in the world today and how God continues to care for the powerless. Among many other things Exodus shows how deeply God wants a relationship with us. We have been taught that God is omniscient, but Exodus reveals that God’s actions are influenced by Moses’s intercession with him. Frequently in Exodus Moses reminds God that God’s reputation is linked to the people he has brought out of Egypt. If God wants the world to know that YHWH is Lord of all creation then God is bound to his people and cannot destroy them despite their stiff-necked behavior and their outright apostasy (e.g., the Golden Calf). Moses provides us with a model on how to relate to God and the assurance that God desires to relate to us. We will explore the stories of Exodus to better understand the importance of worship, faith, and prayer.” The first part of Father Powell’s series on Exodus will be distributed to the parish via e-mail this weekend.

LIFE IN TIMES SQUARE . . . Encore Community Services provides care and service to the elderly of the Clinton/Times Square/Midtown communities. Although seated meals and group classes have been suspended due to the risk that COVID-19 poses to older adults, Encore remains open for take-out lunch and home delivered meal service. During this unprecedented health crisis, Encore remains dedicated to its promise of helping seniors and making sure our vulnerable homebound neighbors receive the lifesaving meals they rely on. You can donate to them using this link, or email Jennifer Asquino to volunteer to help deliver meals, Monday through Saturday . . . Margon is a popular Cuban-Dominican restaurant across from the church on Forty-sixth Street. In normal times, they are busy at lunchtime. Like most—all?—restaurants in Manhattan, Margon has been closed since mid-March. We saw signs of life at the restaurant last weekend, and, as it turned out, they re-opened for business last Tuesday. Father Jay paid them a visit on Wednesday. It was 11:00 AM. He was the only customer at the time, and there were only two people working in the front of the restaurant. Father Jay spoke to Lupe for a while. She’s one of the longtime servers at Margon. The last time he’d seen her and the restaurant’s owner was on February 26, when he’d given them ashes. Lupe explained their way of proceeding: they are happy to be open, but they are being very careful—masks, of course, and new Plexiglas barriers between the customer and the steam table. Only ten customers may be in the restaurant at one time. They expect city inspectors to be visiting soon. She asked Father Jay, “When are you going to open the church. We need the church.” Please pray for Lupe and all our neighbors here in Times Square. (Before leaving the restaurant, Father Jay bought arroz con pollo, a chuleta, and habichuelas negras. All that made him almost as happy as seeing Lupe back in the neighborhood, safe and well.) . . . News from Times Square Alliance . . . From the Alliance’s website, “Times Square Arts, along with several partners, has launched a citywide public art campaign featuring artist-designed public-service announcements and messages of love, gratitude, and solidarity with New York City’s health care and essential workers. While images of an empty Times Square have become emblematic of how swiftly public life has shifted amidst this global crisis, the streets of New York City are not in fact empty. Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers head to work each day to sustain our city, from healthcare professionals, city workers, sanitation staff, grocery store and bodega employees, delivery people, and more. Radiating out from the screens of Times Square to the digital billboards above Lincoln Tunnel and nearly 1800 LinkNYC kiosks across all five boroughs, the initiative turns our city’s digital displays into platforms of public service and appreciation through the lens of established and emerging graphic designers and visual artists from around the world.” Images from the “Messages of the City” project, accompanied by information about the artists, may be views on the Alliance website.

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