Staying Safe and Staying Connected
Good Morning Saint Stephen’s Church,
Today is Palm Sunday. The Lord be with you!
Today’s Prayer/Hymn
The Way of the Cross Leads Home
Baptist Hymnal 2008 #606
I must needs go home by the way of the cross,
There’s no other way but this;
I shall ne’er get sight of the gates of light,
If the way of the cross I miss.
Chorus:
The way of the cross leads home, (leads home,)
The way of the cross leads home; (leads home;)
It is sweet to know as I onward go,
The way of cross leads home.
I must needs go on in the blood sprinkled way,
The path that the Savior trod,
If I ever climb to the heights sublime,
Where the soul is at home with God. [Chorus]
Then I bid farewell to the way of the world,
To walk in it nevermore,
For the Lord says, “Come,” and I seek my home
Where He waits at the open door. [Chorus]
Jessie Brown Pounds was born in Hiram, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland on 31 August 1861. She was not in good health when she was a child so she was taught at home. She began to write verses for the Cleveland newspapers and religious weeklies when she was fifteen. After an editor of a collection of her verses noted that some of them would be well suited for church or Sunday School hymns, J. H. Fillmore wrote to her asking her to write some hymns for a book he was publishing. She then regularly wrote hymns for Fillmore Brothers. She worked as an editor with Standard Publishing Company in Cincinnati from 1885 to 1896, when she married Rev. John E. Pounds, who at that time was a pastor of the Central Christian Church in Indianapolis.
A memorable phrase would come to her, she would write it down in her notebook. Maybe a couple months later she would write out the entire hymn. She is the author of nine books, about fifty librettos for cantatas and operettas and of nearly four hundred hymns. Her hymn “Beautiful Isle of Somewhere” was sung at President McKinley’s funeral.
From Our Prayers of the People
Today, let’s pray:
For the peace and unity of the Church of God; for all who proclaim the Gospel, and all who seek the truth.
For all affected by the coronavirus around the world. For comfort and healing for all who are affected by the Coronavirus, and for physicians, nurses, and all others who minister to the sick and the suffering, may God grant them wisdom and skill, sympathy and patience, and may God keep them healthy and safe.
For our Church Leaders: Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop, William Love, and Daniel Herzog our bishops; James and Dennie our priests; Pat our deacon and Allison our Lay Reader.
For those on the Parish Prayer Chain: Stephen, Pauline, Janet, Marilyn, Joan.
For those who are homebound: Stephen, Pauline, Joan, Janet and Marilyn.
Those who are imprisoned: those particularly vulnerable at this time, especially the women in the Schenectady County Jail.
For those in need of healing: the Guiles family, Cindi, Peter, Mary Frances, Debbie, Budd and Joe.
For all the blessings of this life.
For Mary Frances – today is her birthday!
For Gillian and Sidney W – today is their wedding anniversary!
For our dioceses in the Anglican Communion: the Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean
The Most Revd James Richard Wong Yin Song – Archbishop, Province of Indian Ocean & Bishop of the Seychelles
For all who have died: especially Sara, William, Emma, Dorothy, Glenn and Clark.
For one another.
Something to share
Palm Sunday
Giambattista Marino, 1625
Where thy victorious feet, Great God, should tread,
In honor this green tapestry is spread,
And as all future things are past to thee,
The triumph here precedes the victory.
A Prayer in this time of our Eucharistic Fast
My Jesus, I believe that you are truly present in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. I love you above all things, and long for you in my soul. Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. As though you have already come, I embrace you and unite myself entirely to you; never permit me to be separated from you. Amen.
St. Alphonsus de Liguori, 1696-1787
News and Updates
Holy Eucharist from the National Cathedral
Live-streaming:
Palm Sunday, this morning at 11:15am
Free Online Concert from The Washington Cathedral – Mozart’s Requiem – Sunday, April 5, 4 pm – Join us for an encore online presentation of last year’s Palm Sunday performance of Mozart’s Requiem, as we enter the drama and emotion of Holy Week. Featuring the Cathedral Choir and Baroque Orchestra.
Watch Here
Reminders
If you did not receive a phone call in the next few days from a member of the Vestry and you would like to be added to the communication list, please let me know (james.ross.mcd@gmail.com) and share with me the best telephone number(s) where we can reach you. We will add you to the list right away.
If you have an update/news, a prayer or poem or something inspirational you would like us to share with the congregation, please send it to us. Please also send us any prayer requests. We will incorporate these into the Morning Prayers as best we can.
Our church campus is closed. All parish meetings and gatherings are canceled and postponed until further notice.
Be careful what you read online. There are reports of false information circulating in an attempt to create fear and confusion. And, God forbid, always remember – any online or texted-based solicitation from me for money is A SCAM. Do not reply to such messages. Delete them.
Our goal is for all of us to stay in touch and connected in this time of isolation.
Share this news, and spread some love, not the virus!
Be of good courage. We are in this together, and we will be together again soon. God bless you and may God be with us in the days ahead.
Peace,
James+