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, open my eyes
Alan Paton, 1988
that I may see the need of others,
open my ears that I may hear their cries,
open my heart so that they need not be without succor.
Let me not be afraid to defend the weak
because of the anger of the strong,
nor afraid to defend the poor
because of the anger of the rich.
Show me where love and hope and faith are needed,
and use me to bring them to these places.
Open my eyes and ears that I may, this coming day,
be able to do some work of peace for thee.
Alan Paton was a South African writer. When he was principal of a reformatory school, he became acutely aware of the social problems of blacks in South Africa. His first and best-known novel, Cry, the Beloved Country, was about some of these problems. A passionate story of racial injustice, it brought international attention to the problem of apartheid in South Africa. Paton was torn between being an author and a politician. In the early 1950s he became involved in South African politics. He helped found the Liberal Party of South Africa to offer a nonracial alternative to apartheid; Paton was its national president until its forced dissolution in 1968.
Although he wished to live a quiet life as an author, Paton felt a social and Christian commitment to become actively involved in the opposition to apartheid.
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, Hugh and Vicki.
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: Sid, Vicki, Jean, Cindi, Mary Frances, Debbie, Joe, Matt and Lisa.
For Josephine – today is her baptismal anniversary!
For all the blessings of this life.
For our dioceses in the Anglican Communion: North Eastern Caribbean & Aruba (West Indies), Attooch (South Sudan).
For all who have died: especially Roger, Elsie, Louise, Ada, Dorothy, Agnes and George.
For one another.
Something to share
Universal Prayer for Peace
Lead us from death to life,
The Iona Community
From falsehood to truth.
Lead us from despair to hope,
From fear to trust.
Lead us from hate to love,
From war to peace.
Let peace fill our lives,
Our world, our universe.
Peace, Peace, Peace.
Lost
Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
David Wagoner
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.
News & Updates
Graduations and Commencements! – Have you or someone you know graduated this season? We would like to recognize all who have graduated in the last academic year, from Pre-school to Post-Doctorate. Please send us the names of graduates. If you or someone you know is going off to pursue further studies, please let us know that too. Please let me know: james.ross.mcd@gmail.com.
Dave and Suzanne : Our grandchildren graduated from Niskayuna High School last week. Michael (Misha) will attend Adirondack Community College and Anna will attend the Collage of St. Rose.
Dave: Andrei completed the Adult Transition program at Shen this past school year.
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+