Staying Safe and Staying Connected
Good Morning Saint Stephen’s Church,
We continue our life of daily prayer. The Lord be with you!
Today’s Prayer
O Lord, our God, teach us, we beg of you, to ask you in the right way for the right blessings. Steer the vessel of our life towards yourself, tranquil haven of all storm-tossed souls. Show us the course in which we should go. Renew a willing spirit within us. Let your spirit curb our wayward senses, and guide and enable us unto that which is our true good, to keep your laws, and in all our works evermore to rejoice in your glorious and gladdening presence. For yours is the glory and praise from all your saints, for ever and ever.
Basil the Great, 379
Basil was educated in Athens in the best of Greek and Christian learning, and later settled as a hermit on the banks of the river Iris. He met his university friend Gregory of Nazianzus and they went on preaching tours together. He came out of seclusion to defend orthodoxy against the doctrine of Arianism which considered Jesus as divine but distinct from God Almighty and therefore subordinate to God. Basil spent the last nine years of his life as Bishop of Cappadocian Caesarea. He created a form of monasticism in which a religious community lived around a local church, and engaged in the care of their neighbors in addition to maintaining a life of prayer. He believed it dangerous to seek perfection on one’s own. The monastic buildings in Caesarea included hospitals for the sick and hostels for the poor. Basil was revered for his holiness.
From Our Prayers of the People
Today, let us 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: 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: Wim, Mia, Doug, Debbie, Cindi, Doug and Hugh.
For those who are homebound: Stephen, Pauline, Joan, Janet and Marilyn.
Our Government Leaders: Donald Trump, President of the United States; Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York State; Gary McCarthy, Mayor of Schenectady
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
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, Mary Frances, Debbie, Joe, Matt and Lisa.
For all the blessings of this life.
For our dioceses in the Anglican Communion Newcastle (Australia), Newcastle (England)
For all who have died: especially Allison, Charles and Hiola.
For one another.
Something to share
Hope is holding a creative tension between what is and what could and should be, each day doing something to narrow the distance between the two.
Parker J. Palmer
My God, my Father, make me strong,
When tasks of life seem hard and long,
To greet them with this triumph song:
Thy will be done.Draw from my timid eyes the veil,
To show where earthly forces fail,
Thy power and love must still prevail,
Thy will be done.With confident and humble mind,
Freedom in service I would find,
Praying through every toil assigned,
Thy will be done.Things deemed impossible I dare,
Thine is the call and thine the care,
Thy wisdom shall the way prepare,
Thy will be done.All power is here and round me now,
Faithful I stand in rule and vow,
While ’tis not I, but ever thou:
Thy will be done.Heaven’s music chimes the glad days in,
Frederick Mann
Hope soars beyond death, pain and sin,
Faith shouts in triumph, Love must win.
Thy will be done.
News & Updates
Tomorrow morning, June 14th at 11:15am, join us for the celebration of Holy Eucharist live-streamed from the National Cathedral. Dennie and I will watch the service from our computers and we hope you will do so as well. This is a way in which we can worship together albeit remotely. All you have to do is click on the link below, and it should take you to the service.
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.
Prayerbook Parish Morning Prayer in Zoom – each morning. Join Dennie and me for an inter-active service of Morning Prayer at 9 am. Time to bring your prayer concerns will be provided. (contact me for the link: james.ross.mcd@gmail.com)
If you did not receive a phone call in the last few weeks 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.
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!
Irish Blessing
May the road rise up to meet you,
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.
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+