We had hoped . . .  [Luke 24.21[
Every year at this time we read the story of Jesus’ encounter with two disciples as they walk to Emmaus on the evening of the resurrection. The two men do not recognize Jesus when he comes near because they are preoccupied with the death of Jesus and the “astounding” story told by the women who had visited the empty tomb.  We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel, they say [Luke 24.21].  They can no longer see the future they had imagined.  They cannot fit together the different pieces of the stories they have heard until they later recognize Jesus when they share supper.  They thought they had lost everything, but Jesus showed them that they were wrong: They still had the open minds and burning hearts that led them to Jesus in the first place, and they were still able to offer hospitality to a stranger—even to one who seemed suspiciously ignorant about the week’s events.  
 
I have a feeling that this phrase we had hoped will resonate more deeply for all of us this year. My heart goes out in particular to those who anticipated being on the threshold of a life they had dreamed of-–especially our high school and college graduates. They may feel  that their future has been stolen from them; they may not be able to make sense of advice that is now outdated, of the goals that may now seem irrelevant, or of the sacrifices they have made to achieve dreams that may now be elusive.  
 
And yet, perhaps this year we will be able to hear Jesus’ assurance more clearly.  Jesus reminds us—with these two disciples-- that we have the resources to reimagine our lives, that everything—both what we have expected and what has blindsided us—makes sense in the long history of God’s saving grace and the larger vision of God’s ongoing creation. This story reminds us that it is in the small, ordinary acts—walking together, telling stories and sharing meals—that we discover the truth of who we are and we see a new path open before us.  We will gradually glimpse unforeseen possibilities, for these are gifts of God’s grace, as rare and as ordinary as freshly baked bread.
                       
Holy and Loving God, through the resurrection of your Son, help us to face the future with courage and assurance, knowing that nothing in death or life can ever part us from your love. Jesus, we believe you.  You break the bread; we recognize you. You are the fire that burns within us; use us to light the world. Amen.
 
Responding to the coronavirus pandemic at Trinity
The Other Side of the Virus: An Opportunity to Awaken.
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise, you can hear the birds again. . 
All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting.
All over the world people are looking at their neighbors in a new way.
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
      To how big we really are.
      To how little control we really have.  
      To what really matters.
      To Love.
So we pray and we remember that yes there is fear.  But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.  But there does not have to be loneliness. . . .
Yes there is sickness.  But there does not have to be disease of the soul.
Yes there is even death.  But there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now. . . .
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic-
      The birds are singing again
      The sky is clearing,
      Spring has arrived.
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul.
                                                                  - Written by Fr. Richard Hendrick, OFM, March 13th 20
 
Magee has returned to be in the office one or two days each week to do essential work.  Mother Judith is working remotely and is available by email and by phone, and she is checking phone messages regularly.   All parish meetings will be held remotely.         Public worship is suspended until further notice
 
Videos of Mother Judith’s reflections are posted on Wednesdays and Saturdays. We will continue to videotape a simple service of Holy Communion that will be available on our website by 9 am on Sundays.
For a copy of the Service Leaflet for Sunday click here.
For a copy of the readings for Sunday, click here.
For the weekly announcements, click here.

Sunday School: Rachel Carpenter will lead Digital Sunday School on Sunday at 10 am.  This Sunday, we will be focusing on Earth Day and how we can take care of God’s creation.  We will be doing a hands on project and I will be dropping off supplies to everyone on Saturday.   Please email Rachel  at rcarp76@gmail.com if you will be attending zoom Church school this Sunday!   
Click here for a simple nature scavenger hunt to take with you on a walk this week!.
Sunday school activities are available on our website by Monday morning.  www.trinitychurchmilford.org

Holy Communion at Home
You are welcome to set aside bread or crackers to eat while participating the Holy Communion service on Sundays.  We will be sharing what is called “spiritual communion,” and the bread will be a sign of the Christ-centered bond we share as a community of faith.  For suggestions on setting up a home altar for Holy Communion click here.
 
Zoom-Chats: Wednesdays @8 pm 
& Mondays @ 7 am 
Twice a week we gather and share what is working well and not so well as we shelter at home.  Anyone over 18 is welcome to join when you can.    You are welcome to participate once or often. Our evening chat is scheduled to be after dinner and chores and before we begin our evening routines, while our morning chat is scheduled before we begin our workday. Sarah Prevelige will host, with Laurel Pirelli and Cindi Scrimgeour joining her to facilitate our conversation.  In their professional lives they work with families and individuals of all ages and they are themselves parents of teens and pre-teens. 
Go to zoom.us and in the upper right corner click “Join a Meeting”
Wednesdays:  meeting ID: 474316522   Password: 744170
Mondays: meeting ID: 413315567    Password: 715478
Sarah Prevelige will host the meeting via zoom. Please contact her for information on how to join the meeting drprevelige@gmail.com. 
Please send any questions you’d like to discuss to Cindi Scrimgeour at cscrimgeour@gmail.com 

ZOOM BINGO  SUNDAYS AT 3 PM
FUN FOR ALL AGES
Join friends from Trinity for  a weekly BINGO game on Sunday afternoons at 3 - 4 pm. We will be doing a classic 5 x 5 card array with a Free space in the center. (Numbers are 1-75) The game is open to all ages.  Members of each household  are welcome to play as a team or as individuals. We'll see how it goes, and perhaps add a second hour, or organize a tournament.What to do:
Make your own bingo cards, or go one of the following websites to print them:  (These are free.)
 https://myfreebingocards.com/bingo-card-generator
https://print-bingo.com/
https://bingobaker.com/view/1228516 
http://www.dltk-cards.com/bingo/bingo7.asp
Sarah Prevelige will host. Please contact her for help in making cards or entering the game. Here is the Sunday Zoom Meeting Information:
Go to zoom.us, and in the upper right corner click "Join a meeting'
Meeting ID: 946 0462 5193    Password: 450074
ZOOM Game Night:  Watch for more information.

Prayer List
Please send Magee the names of people you would like to be on the Prayer List. Our policy has been to remove names after 4 weeks, but we want to be sure we follow the wishes of families and friends.  

Pledges
Thank you to all of you who have been sending in your pledges.  Our deposits are being made on a different schedule these days, so there may be a delay in seeing the record of your payment.  Some of you are facing financial stress: if so, please give what you can; if not, please give a bit extra to support those who cannot.

Face Masks
Now that we are required to wear face masks in public, Trinity wants to help provide them. Several people have inquired about how to make masks, and others have inquired about how to get them.  Ginny Starkis is coordinating our efforts to locate materials and to distribute masks.  Please contact Ginny if you would like to participate in this project.. vstarkis@verizon.net 

How to keep up with Trinity news:  All notices, videos, and links can be found at www.trinitychurchmilford.org
Our diocesan website offers links to online worship in our diocese.  
https://www.diocesewma.org/
Worship from the National Cathedral is available online every Sunday at 11:15 am. https://cathedral.org/

Community Dinners
Because we cannot plan to serve dinners in April or May, Trinity and our partners are planning to fund takeout dinners from local restaurants for our first responders at the hospital, fire hall, police station, post office and grocery store. This week, we are coordinating with Christiano's. Gene's Variety Store, and Chipotle to have meals delivered to the hospital and to Stop n Shop.  We are also donating $200 to the Food Pantry, which continues to be open to receive donations on Monday evenings. To contribute to this project, please send your check payable to Trinity Church with Community Dinners on the memo line. 

Trinity GFS Scholarships are Available:  Deadline extended to May 15th
Each year, Trinity gives monetary awards to qualified members who are entering an institution of higher education. These awards recognize attendance and service to Trinity Parish during the applicant's high school years. The application is available to download on the Trinity Church website at www.trinitychurchmilford.org Applications must be received by May 15th  and the recipients will be notified shortly thereafter.  Please direct all questions to GFS Scholarship Committee a gfs@trinitychurchmilford.org
 
Habits of Grace: An invitation for you, from Presiding Bishop Curry
 A new video meditation will be posted on Mondays through May.

A Meditation for Easter 
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!  The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
 Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.
                                                                                                      [Matthew 28:5]
 We are an Easter People.
Year after year, we return to the empty tomb.
Year after year, we wonder how we will move the stone that blocks our way.
Year after year, we are surprised by grace.
Year after year, we are at a loss for words.
Year after year, we hear these words--
            Do not be afraid.
And this year, let us do more than hear-
            Let us listen
            Let us trust God to do what God does—in the dusk and in the dawn--
            Let us commit ourselves to being an Easter People
                        Overcome with awe, trembling with hope.
                        Trusting in the new life that dawns this day.
                        Seeking the risen Christ.                                  In the words of John Donohue

Darkness and lostness are the worst parts of suffering.  The wonder of the Resurrection is that this darkness was opened out and at the heart of the darkness a secret light was discovered. . . So on this Easter morning, let us look again at the lives we have been so generously given and let us let fall away the useless baggage that we carry—old pains, old habits, old ways of seeing and feeling—and let us have the courage to begin again. . . . We don’t realize the good that we can do . . . We were send here to search for the light of Easter in our hearts, and when we find it we are meant to give it away generously.
                                             Walking in Wonder, ed. John Quinn   pp. 103, 104
           
Responding to the coronavirus pandemic at Trinity

A Prayer in the Time of the Coronavirus
God of compassion,
           be close to those who are ill, afraid or in isolation.In their loneliness, be their consolation;
in their anxiety, be their hope;
in their darkness, be their light;
through him who suffered alone on the cross,
but reigns with you in glory, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
The Parish Office is closed except for essential work. Per the governor’s order, public worship is suspended through May 3rd.  Magee will be on self-quarantine for the next two weeks after being exposed to someone diagnosed with the Covid-19 on Friday.  We keep Magee in our prayers, and her 94-year-old aunt, Jean Conway, who was diagnosed.  Magee has not been in the office or near anyone except her immediate family since being exposed.
 
Mother Judith is available by phone and email.   Videos of Mother Judith’s reflections are posted on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  Videos of services for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday are available on YouTube, Facebook, and our website. www.trinitychurchmilford.org    Many thanks to Ann Marie Lockwood for being our videographer extraordinaire, to Wayne Stochaj for recording the music, and to Peach Warren and Mary-Ellen Yaroshefski for participating in the Maundy Thursday service and for preparing the altar for Easter Sunday.  
For service leaflet for Maundy Thursday, click here.
Good Friday click here
and Easter Day click here.

Holy Communion at Home
For this holiest week of the church year, you are welcome to set aside bread or crackers to eat during the Holy Communion service on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Easter Sunday.  We will be sharing what is called “spiritual communion,” and the bread will be a sign of the Christ-centered bond we share as a community of faith.
 For suggestions on setting up a home altar for Holy Communion click here

Virtual Easter Egg Hunt
Rachel Carpenter has designed a virtual Easter Egg Hunt for our website.  Invite your friends for some fun! www.trinitychurchmilford.org

Zoom-Chats: Wednesday @8-8:30 pm [beginning April 8th]
& Mondays @ 7-7:30 am [beginning April 13th ]
As the days of “sheltering in place” stretch on, most of us have developed new ways of living and relating with each other, with varying degrees of success.  With a few weeks behind us and an uncertain number of weeks ahead of us, it is a good time to share questions and strategies for coping.  Three members of Trinity who are mental health professionals have offered to host “zoom chats” for adults (anyone over the age of 18).  Sarah Prevelige is a psychologist, Laurel Pirelli is a school psychologist, and Cindi Scrimgeour is a Counselor; they work with families and individuals of all ages and they are themselves parents of teens and pre-teens.
 
These chats are designed to be a time for sharing stories about how we have adapted to a “new normal,” what has worked well and what has not. Specific topics for discussion will evolve depend on the interests of the group.  You are welcome to participate once or often.

The next Wednesday meeting will be held on April 15th, and the first Monday meeting will be on April 13th.  Sarah Prevelige will host the meeting via zoom.  Please send any questions you’d like to discuss to Cindi Scrimgeour at cscrimgeour@gmail.com 
go to zoom.us.  In the upper right corner click on "Join a meeting."
Wednesday meeting: ID 474-316-522   PASSWORD 744170
Monday meeting:  ID 413315567   PASSWORD 75478
For advice on guiding children through living with COVID-19 click here.
 
Pledges – Our expenses continue even with our suspension of normal activity, but we are facing a significant shortfall in our income.  During this period, please mail your pledge to the parish office to the attention of the Treasurer.  It is most helpful if you are able to arrange with your bank for direct deposit. Trinity also has an account with tithe.ly; to learn how to use this app contact treasurer@trinitychurch.org. Some of you are facing financial stress: if so, please give what you can; if not, please give a bit extra to support those who cannot.

How to keep up with Trinity news: 
 All notices, videos, and links can be found at www.trinitychurchmilford.org
 
For the weekly announcements, click here 
 
The Worcester corridor churches are offering a virtual Easter Vigil on YouTube. Time: Apr 11, 2020 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
https://zoom.us/j/972935449?pwd=UTM5QnZuMllCTUp6cUFDMDdHQWxHQT09
Meeting ID: 972 935 449
Password: 024379
Dial by your location
        +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
Our diocesan website offers links to online worship in our diocese.   
https://www.diocesewma.org/
 Worship from the National Cathedral is available online every Sunday at 11:15 am. https://cathedral.org/
 
Our diocesan website offers links to online worship in our diocese.  https://www.diocesewma.org/
 
Worship from the National Cathedral is available online every Sunday at 11 am. https://cathedral.org/

Rachel Carpenter will lead Digital Sunday School via ZOOM each Sunday at 10am.
Please contact Rachel for the link: rcarp76@gmail.com

As we set up our website and re-activate our Instagram account, we would like to post photos of all our members but we need your permission to do so.  Please click here for our Photo Permission Form, complete it, and return it.  An email to
office.trinitychurchmilford@gmail.org will meet this requirement as well.
 
For some suggestions on how to live during the Coronavirus pandemic click here.

Trinity GFS Scholarships are Available The deadline is just 2 weeks away!
Attention high school seniors and their families.   It’s time for the annual search for deserving recipients of the GFS Scholarships. Each year, Trinity gives monetary awards to qualified members who are entering an institution of higher education. These awards recognize attendance and service to Trinity Parish during the applicant's high school years. The application is available to download on the Trinity Church website at www.trinitychurchmilford.org .  Applications must be received by April 19th and the recipients will be notified shortly thereafter.  Please direct all questions to GFS Scholarship
Committee at gfs@trinitychurchmilford.org
 
Habits of Grace: An invitation for you, from Presiding Bishop Curry
As we learn how to adjust our lives given the reality of the coronavirus and the request to do our part to slow its spread by practicing physical distancing, I invite you to join me each week to take a moment to cultivate a ‘habit of grace.’ A new video meditation will be posted on Mondays through May.
 
For Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Word to the Church: On Our Theology of Worship, click here.

A Meditation for Palm Sunday
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. [Philippians 2:5]
Palm Sunday is a complicated day, as is reflected in its two names.  It is called “Palm Sunday” to commemorate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem—celebrated in our Liturgy of the  Palms-- and it is also called “The Sunday of the Passion” to commemorate Jesus’ suffering and death—recounted in our solemn Gospel of the Passion, in which we acknowledge our own involvement in Jesus’ suffering. 
 
When Jesus told his followers they must lose their lives to follow him, he was not asking them to choose death or to submit passively to the tyrannical will of an unfeeling God. He was asking them to let go of what made their lives seem like dead-end roads-- their pride, their fear, their resentments—in order to—and this is crucial—in order to join him in responding to the suffering of others. He asked them to see, not to judge; to trust, not to condemn.  That is why we journey toward Jerusalem, and beyond Jerusalem to Gethsemane and Calvary and ultimately to the empty tomb.  It is not because we choose to suffer, but because we allow the Christ-in-us to reveal God in the suffering that would otherwise be meaningless. 
 
And so, as we begin Holy Week, let us have the courage to look carefully at the cross that is at the center of our lives. Let us walk with Jesus, not only for our own sakes, but so that no one--no one-- is alone.

A Prayer in the Time of the Coronavirus
Almighty and All–loving God, we pray to you through Christ the Healer for those who suffer from COVID–19 across the world. We pray for those who mourn and for those who face death alone. We pray for those who are facing financial hardship and the loss of the work that gave meaning to their lives. Give wisdom to policymakers, skill to healthcare professionals and researchers, comfort to everyone in distress and the grace to trust in you during these days of uncertainty. This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who showed compassion to the outcast, acceptance to the rejected, and love to those to whom no love was shown. Amen.   
-From a prayer by Archbishop Michael Jackson, Dublin & Glendalough
 
Responding to the coronavirus pandemic at Trinity
The Parish Office is closed except for essential work. Per the governor’s order, public worship is suspended through May 3rd. Mother Judith is available by phone and email.  Videos of Mother Judith’s reflections are posted on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  Videos of services for Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday will be available on YouTube, Facebook, and our website.  Although we had planned to livestream these services, we discovered that it would be best to tape.  Many thanks to Ann Marie Lockwood, Jeff Lukas, Randy Bloom, Wayne Stochaj, and Peach Warren for making this possible. www.trinitychurchmilford.org

Our Palm Sunday service will include the Blessing of the Palms; the palms will then be covered and refrigerated until we can distribute them when we next gather for worship.

For a schedule of Holy Week services click see our home page for up-to-date information.

For Palm Sunday’s Leaflet click here.

Holy Communion at Home
For this holiest week of the church year, you are welcome to set aside bread or crackers to eat during the Holy Communion service on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Easter Sunday.  We will be sharing what is called “spiritual communion,” and the bread will be a sign of the Christ-centered bond we share as a community of faith.
 
For suggestions on setting up a home altar for Holy Communion click here.
 
Zoom-Chats: Wednesday @8-8:30 pm [beginning April 8th]
& Mondays @ 7-7:30 am [beginning April 13th ]
As the days of “sheltering in place” stretch on, most of us have developed new ways of living and relating with each other, with varying degrees of success.  With a few weeks behind us and an uncertain number of weeks ahead of us, it is a good time to share questions and strategies for coping.  Three members of Trinity who are mental health professionals have offered to host “zoom chats” for adults (anyone over the age of 18).  Sarah Prevelige is a psychologist, Laurel Pirelli is a school psychologist, and Cindi Scrimgeour is a licensed Counselor; they work with families and individuals of all ages and they are themselves parents of teens and pre-teens.
 
These chats are designed to be a time for sharing stories about how we have adapted to a “new normal,” what has worked well and what has not. Specific topics for discussion will evolve depend on the interests of the group.  You are welcome to participate once or often.

​The first Wednesday meeting will be on April 8th, and the first Monday meeting will be on April 13th.  Sarah Prevelige will host the meeting via zoom.  Please send any questions you’d like to discuss to Cindi Scrimgeour at cscrimgeour@gmail.com 

For advice on guiding children through living with COVID-19 click here.
 
Pledges – Our expenses continue even with our suspension of normal activity, but we are facing a significant shortfall in our income.  During this period, please mail your pledge to the parish office to the attention of the Treasurer.  It is most helpful if you are able to arrange with your bank for direct deposit. Trinity also has an account with tithe.ly; to learn how to use this app contact treasurer@trinitychurch.org. Some of you are facing financial stress: if so, please give what you can; if not, please give a bit extra to support those who cannot.
 
Daily Prayer at Noon:  We join Christians throughout the world by pausing to say The Lord’s Prayer at noon each day.
 
How to keep up with Trinity news:  Our website is up and running!  All notices, videos, and links can be found here.

​The Worcester corridor churches are offering a virtual Easter Vigil on YouTube. Watch for more information.
 
Our diocesan website offers links to online worship in our diocese.  https://www.diocesewma.org/
 
Worship from the National Cathedral is available online every Sunday at 11 am. https://cathedral.org/
 
For the weekly announcements, click here.
 
Rachel Carpenter will lead Digital Sunday School via ZOOM each Sunday at 10am.
Please contact Rachel for the link: rcarp76@gmail.com

As we set up our website and re-activate our Instagram account, we would like to post photos of all our members but we need your permission to do so.  Please click here for our Photo Permission Form, complete it, and return it.  An email to
office.trinitychurchmilford@gmail.org will meet this requirement as well.
 
For some suggestions on how to live during the Coronavirus pandemic click here.

Trinity GFS Scholarships are Available The deadline is just 2 weeks away!
Attention high school seniors and their families.   It’s time for the annual search for deserving recipients of the GFS Scholarships. Each year, Trinity gives monetary awards to qualified members who are entering an institution of higher education. These awards recognize attendance and service to Trinity Parish during the applicant's high school years. The application is available to download on the Trinity Church website at www.trinitychurchmilford.org .  Applications must be received by April 19th and the recipients will be notified shortly thereafter.  Please direct all questions to GFS Scholarship
Committee at gfs@trinitychurchmilford.org
 
Habits of Grace: An invitation for you, from Presiding Bishop Curry
As we learn how to adjust our lives given the reality of the coronavirus and the request to do our part to slow its spread by practicing physical distancing, I invite you to join me each week to take a moment to cultivate a ‘habit of grace.’ A new video meditation will be posted on Mondays through May.
 
For Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Word to the Church: On Our Theology of Worship, click here.