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 gracious and holy Father
Benedict, c. 550
Give us wisdom to perceive thee,
intelligence to understand thee,
diligence to seek thee,
patience to wait for thee,
eyes to behold thee,
a heart to meditate upon thee,
and a life to proclaim thee;
through the power of the spirit
Of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Benedict of Nursia sought to become a hermit in a cave at Subiaco, but found himself surrounded by other Christians wanting to learn from him. So he organized them into a community, bound together by the threefold vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and structured their daily life according to his Rule. The Rule of St. Benedict balanced physical labor and intellectual study, with corporate prayer at regular hours of the day. In his Rule he taught that the purpose of this ‘Daily Office’ is the praise of the Creator. This became the pattern for Western monasticism, and also for the daily prayer of many Christians who are not members of religious communities. The Benedictine approach forms the basis of Anglican spirituality.
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: Anne, 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 Kati – today is her birthday!
For all the blessings of this life.
For our dioceses in the Anglican Communion: Northern Luzon (Philippines), Banks & Torres (Melanesia), Kagera (Tanzania)
For all who have died: especially Peg, Roger, Elsie, Louise, Ada, Dorothy, Agnes and George.
For one another.
Something to share
Almighty God, give me wisdom to
St. Benedict of Nursia
perceive You,
intelligence to understand You,
diligence to seek You,
patience to wait for You, eyes to
behold You,
a heart to meditate upon You and
life to proclaim You,
through the power of the Spirit of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
The Rule
Saint Benedict’s ‘Rule’, those twelve steps to humility,
is like a ladder that we each should seek to climb in our daily life, to ascend.
For in applying them to our life we might achieve holiness, and sanctity,[JM1]
and reach bliss and tranquillity now, and to the end.The first step is to really know God, to ‘see’ Him all in all.
Tadhg Jonathan Gardner
and the second step is to joyfully discern and follow His Divine will.
The third step is to obey God in things in life, both great and small, and the fourth step is to be patient and kind, to endure, and endeavor to be tranquil.
The fifth step is to be honest about our shortcomings, and accept blame,
and the sixth step is to be content with what we have, even with a little in life.
The seventh step, tough though it is, is to keep one’s ego humble and tame,
and the eighth step is not to seek out differences with others, but live without strife.
The ninth step is that in our speech we should show restraint,
and the tenth step is that (when appropriate) desire to be of a serious mind.
The eleventh step is to encourage others with words of love, and without complaint,
and the twelfth step is to combine in equal measure, both intent and action, to be loving and kind.
News & Updates
If you are planning to come to the Eucharist at Saint Stephen’s on Sunday and do not own a prayerbook, here is a free PDF version you can download:
Tomorrow morning, July 12th at 11:15am, join us for the celebration of Holy Eucharist live-streamed from the National Cathedral. Especially if you are not able to come to Saint Stephen’s Eucharist at 9am (and even if you are) invite you to watch the service from your computer or television. This is a way in which we ALL can worship together albeit remotely. All you have to do is click on the link below, and it should take you to the service.
We are having trouble with our Google account. Suddenly, Google is seeing the Morning Prayers as SPAM! If you receive an email asking to be on a GoogleGroup list, but using an email address you don’t use often, just refuse to be included. If you are not receiving Morning Prayers on your preferred email address, let me know: james.ross.mcd@gmail.com. Together we will solve this problem. Thanks.
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 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. Our first Eucharistic Ingathering will be on July 12th at 9:00 am. Please see our website for further information: https://st-stephens.church. All other 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+