Staying Safe and Staying Connected
Good Morning Saint Stephen’s Church,
We continue our life of daily prayer. The Lord be with you!
Alleluia. Christ is risen.
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.
Today’s Prayer
O Son of God, do a miracle for me, and change my heart; thy having taken
Tadg Óg Ó hÚigínn, 1448
flesh to redeem me was more difficult than to transform my wickedness.
It is thou who, to help me, didst go to be scourged . . . thou, dear child of
Mary, art the refined molten metal of our forge.
It is thou who makest the sun bright, together with the ice; it is thou who
createdst the rivers and the salmon all along the river.
That the nut-tree should be flowering, O Christ, it is a rare craft; through
thy skill too comes the kernel, thou fair ear of our wheat.
Though the children of Eve ill deserve the bird-flocks and the salmon, it
was the Immortal One on the cross who made both salmon and birds.
It is he who makes the flower of the sloes grow through the surface of the
blackthorn, and the nut-flower on other trees; beside this, what miracle is
greater?
Tadg Óg Ó hÚigínn was a member of a well-known Irish family of bards, based in Connacht. His father, Tadhg, died in 1391, while all that is known of his mother is her first name, Aine. He had an elder brother, whose early death he laments in some of his other writings.
Further personal details are few, but he did marry and have children. His descendants included an Archbishop of Tuam, and the poet Tadhg Dall Ó hÚigínn (died c.1591). The Irish annals state that he kept a guest house for scholars and pilgrims, and died at Kilconla in the barony of Dunmore, County Galway, in 1448. He was buried in the priory of Strade, County Mayo.
O hUiginn enjoyed a great professional reputation within his own lifetime, and was regarded as a master poet. His work enjoyed a wide range of appreciation, as evidenced by a long list of prominent Gaelic-Irish and Anglo-Irish lords who were subjects of his work.
Devotional poems of his formed part of the Yellow Book of Lecan, a late medieval Irish manuscript. It contains much of the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology and is held in the Library of Trinity College Dublin.
From Our Prayers of the People
Today, let’s pray:
For the just and proper use of your creation; for the victims of hunger, fear, injustice, and oppression.
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 all essential workers; for police, firefighters, EMTs, postal workers, sanitation workers, grocery personnel, delivery and transport workers, and all who must report to work because what they do is essential for our well-being, health, and safety.
For those on the Parish Prayer Chain: Ted, Mia, Wim, Mary Frances, Jim, Eunice, Jane and Bruce.
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: Cindi, Peter, Mary Frances, Debbie and Joe.
For all the blessings of this life.
For our dioceses in the Anglican Communion: Morobo (South Sudan), Worcester (England)
For all who have died: especially Jennifer, James, Lorraine, George, Ronald Jr., John and Sarah.
For one another.
Something to share
In keeping with “Earth Week”:
No one’s told the daffodils about the pause to Spring
Philippa Atkin
And no one’s told the birds to roost and asked them not to sing
No one’s asked the lazy bee to cease his bumbling round
And no one’s stopped the bright green shoots emerging through the ground.
No one’s told the sap to rest, deep within the wood
And stop the sleepy trees from waking, wreathed about in bud.
No one’s told the sky to douse its brightest shades of blue
And stop the scudding clouds from puffing headlong into view.
No one’s asked the lambs to still the springs beneath their feet,
To stop their rapid rush and quell each joyful bleat
No one’s told the stream to halt its gurgle or its flow
And warned the playful breezes, not to gust and blow.
No one’s asked the raindrops not to fall upon the earth
And fail to quench the soil in the season of rebirth
No one’s locked the sun down, or dimmed the shimmer of the moon
And even in the darkest night, the stars are still immune.
Remember what you value, remember who is dear
Close the doors to danger and keep your family nea
In the quiet all around us take the time to sit and stare
And wonder at the beauty unfurling everywhere.
Look towards the future, after the ordeal
And keep faith in God’s power and will to heal.
My journey is always just beginning,
Mary Flesson, http://www.lindisfarne-scriptorium.co.uk (Pocket Prayers for Pilgrims)
A fresh new day,
On an old, old path.
That’s the blessing,
That’s where the hope blossoms.
However much I wandered yesterday
I can start again tomorrow,
And when all my tomorrows are used up,
I’ll still have travelled.
It’s the journey that counts,
Not the arriving.
God of the present moment,
New Zealand Prayer Book
God who in Jesus stills the storm
And soothes the frantic heart;
Bring hope and courage to all
Who wait or work in uncertainty.
Bring hope that you will make them the equal
Of whatever lies ahead.
Bring them courage to endure what cannot be avoided.
For your will is health and wholeness;
You are God, and we need you.
Reminders
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.
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!
May the road rise up to meet you,
Irish Blessing
May the wind be at your back,
May the sun shine upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
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+