 Meditation for June 11, 2020The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. [Matthew 9:37] This year, we are perhaps more ready than in prior years to hear Jesus’ call to go out. Summer weather and blooming gardens show the renewal of life all around us. We celebrate our young people graduating from one phase of life to another. We are going further from home and visiting with more people. We are growing weary of virtual visits and we have no more closets to clean. Thousands of people of all ages, races, and ethnicities are walking together, some in silence and some in song, calling for a new way of living. We are having heart-opening conversations with people we have known for a long time, without knowing the truths of their lives. This year, we are perhaps more ready to see the hunger all around us: physical hunger caused by famine and economic collapse, spiritual and emotional hunger caused by neglect. In the light of our faith, we see more darkness and we see more hope. Our faith gives us a fearless compassion and an unshakeable resolve to use the gifts that God has given us to go out and feed the hungry, clothe the naked, free the captives, heal the broken-hearted. We are sending our young people out to a world that is perhaps different from the world we had hoped for them, but it is a world full of life and hope, a world with so many paths to explore, so many mysteries to discern, so much beauty to see with joy and wonder, so much that is unfinished. Let us heed Jesus’ call: The kingdom of heaven has come near. [Matthew 10:7] God asks, “Who will go for me? Who will extend my reach? And who, when few will listen Will prophesy and preach? And who, when few bid welcome, Will offer all they know? And who, when few dare follow, Will walk the road I show?” John L. Bell and Graham Maule, The Wild Goose of Iona Quoted in Celtic Daily Prayer, p. 487 9 AM SUNDAY - MORNING PRAYER via ZOOM A Celebration of our Graduates College Graduates: Jacqueline Masse & Elaina Chambers High School Graduates: AJ Cook, Liam & Rory Crisfield, Brandon Kee, Lorenzo Morese, Grace Prevelige, Betsey Scrimgeour Eighth Grade: Harrison Philips & Anthony Ruggiero https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82256827302?pwd=Z0E3ZlpXY0hIRFdIZHN0ZnltdXNlZz09 Meeting ID: 822-5682-7302 Password: 596896 If you cannot access through your computer, you may participate by telephone. Telephone: 929-205-6099 For the Morning Prayer leaflet, click here. We will hold Morning Prayer at 9 am every Sunday in June. June 14th: Prayers to honor our graduates June 21st: Prayers to honor our fathers June 29th: Prayers for Social Justice Next Steps: Moving Forward Almighty God, who has created us in your own image: Grant us grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom, help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy Name. Amen. The diocese has developed a checklist for preparing to re-open our buildings. The Vestry will develop a strategy based upon this checklist, including disinfecting the sanctuary and church building. When we have completed the requisite cleaning and we have protocols for meetings, gatherings, and office operations, we will submit our plan to the Dean for review. When the Dean has approved the plan, it will be sent to the Bishop for review. With the Bishop's approval, we will implement our plan. Until then, we will continue with online Sunday Morning Prayer. The service will include music and we will explore safe ways to gather outside. Thank you to everyone who completed the survey. Your Vestry has reviewed your responses and they have been very helpful in developing a strategy for going forward. The Bishops of the Dioceses of Massachusetts and Western Massachusetts issued a joint Letter with guidelines for our churches. Click here to read the guidelines. Parish Zoom Events: |
AuthorMother Judith Lee Archives
September 2020
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