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Saint Stephen’s Daily Prayers, Thursday, September 3, 2020

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

Lord God, creator, life of all we do:
friends, neighbours, family are our gift from you.
Now, in these days when we are kept apart,
may they be sure you hold them in your heart.
Lord, for the ill, and those approaching death:
give them your solace, through each laboured breath.
For those who serve with courage, skill and care
we ask your strength. You know the loads they bear.
Lord, in this time when much is set aside
show us the truths which busyness can hide.
Where wealth misguides us: Lord of life, forgive;
give grace to shape anew the way we live.
Lord, in adversity we learn again
there is no place where your love cannot reign!
Hear now our prayer, from fear our minds release;
grant both to us and to your world your peace.
– Tony Law

This is a hymn text written in light of the coronavirus pandemic. This hymn was shared online by the Methodist Church in the U.K. One of the hymn tunes they recommend using with these words is “Eventide,” which you might know from the hymn “Abide with me.”

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: Luca, Brittney, Mary Alice, Mia, Wim, Corrie, Doris, Judy, Anne, Louise, Gertrude, Laurel, Greg and Priscilla.

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: Priscilla, Sid, Vicki, Jean, Cindi, Mary Frances, Debbie and Joe.

For all the blessings of this life.

For our dioceses in the Anglican Communion: Ogbomoso (Nigeria), Caledonia (Canada), Calgary (Canada).

For all who have died: especially Robert, Norman and William.

For one another.

Something to share

Hurry
We stop at the dry cleaners and the grocery store
and the gas station and the green market and
Hurry up honey, I say, hurry,
as she runs along two or three steps behind me
her blue jacket unzipped and her socks rolled down.
Where do I want her to hurry to? To her grave?
To mine? Where one day she might stand all grown?
Today, when all the errands are finally done, I say to her,
Honey I’m sorry I keep saying Hurry—
you walk ahead of me. You be the mother.
And, Hurry up, she says, over her shoulder, looking
back at me, laughing. Hurry up now darling, she says,
hurry, hurry, taking the house keys from my hands.
Marie Howe

News & Updates

Episcopal Relief & Development – As we act quickly to assist those impacted by #HurricaneLaura and other devastating storms, we urgently ask for your support. Make a donation to our hurricane relief fund and help us assist Episcopal dioceses in the Gulf Coast, who have extensive experience responding to disasters — not to mention powerful communications networks. Please give today: http://bit.ly/HurricaneLaura20FB.

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.

If you need a prayerbook, and are not in a position to purchase one, please contact me: james.ross.mcd@gmail.com. I will make sure you have your own Book of Common Prayer.

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)

Our church campus is closed, except for our Eucharistic Ingathering on Sundays 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+

Saint Stephen’s Daily Prayers, Wednesday, September 2, 2020

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

Grant us, O Lord Christ, to desire to have thee as our savior, not in the next world, but in this; that thou wilt change and alter all that is within us, as thou didst help the blind to see and the lame to walk; that thy tempers may be formed and begotten in our hearts, thy humility and self-denial, thy love of the Father, the desire of doing his will and seeking only his honor; that so the kingdom of God may be in us now, and our possession foe ever, world without end. Amen
William Law, 1761

William Law was a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, but refused to take the oath of allegiance to George I. He became tutor at Putney to the father of Edward Gibbon (who wrote The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire), then retired to King’s Cliffe where he organized schools and almshouses and led a life of great simplicity and devotion. Law’s A Serious Call to a Devote and Holy Life earnestly recommends a life of moral virtue and meditation; his later works have a more mystical tendency, emphasizing the love of God already within us.

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 those on the Parish Prayer Chain Sylvia, Irene, Jeanne, Chris, Theresa, Emily, Bridget, Josh, Amy, Sid, Edwina and her husband, Donald and Mark.

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

Those who are imprisoned: those particularly vulnerable at this time, especially the women in the Schenectady County Jail.

For those in need of healing: Priscilla, Sid, Vicki, Jean, Cindi, Mary Frances, Debbie and Joe.

For all the blessings of this life.

For our dioceses in the Anglican Communion: Ontario (Canada), Calcutta (North India).

For all who have died: especially Robert, Norman and William.

For one another.

Something to share

The Happiest Heart
Who drives the horses of the sun
Shall lord it but a day,
Better the lowly deed were done,
And kept the humble way.
The rust will find the sword of fame,
The dust will hide the crown;
Ay, none shall nail so high his name
Time will not tear it down.
The Happiest heart that ever beat
Was in some quiet breast
That found the common daylight sweet,
And left to Heaven the rest.
John Vance Cheney

Reminders

If you need a prayerbook, and are not in a position to purchase one, please contact me: james.ross.mcd@gmail.com. I will make sure you have your own Book of Common Prayer.

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

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,

Saint Stephen’s Daily Prayers, Tuesday, September 1, 2020

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

Great is, O King, our happiness
in your kingdom, you, our King.
We dance before you, our King,
By the strength of your kingdom.
May our feet be made strong;
Let us dance before you, eternal.
Give praise, all angels,
To him above who is worthy of praise.
A prayer in a sacred dance of the Zulu Nazareth (Nazarite) Church

Isaiah Shembe founded the Zulu Nazareth Church following the Bambatha Rebellion of 1906. This Zulu uprising was the largest ever by a Black group in South Africa and is considered one of the greatest moments in Zulu nationalism. It came twenty years after the defeat of the Zulu by the British in the Anglo-Zulu War during a time of political struggle between the British and Boers for political control.

This new branch of Christianity, which Shembe founded, was a reflection of the times in 1910. The church adopted Christian teachings but placed them within a Zulu context. Members wore traditional skins to worship services, listened to sermons in isiZulu, and worshiped their ancestors. Zulus were attracted to the church because as an organization it did not demonize their culture.

Today the church is comprised primarily of Zulus, but not entirely. It also includes Swazi, Xhosa, Basotho, Tswana, Pedi, Stonga, and Venda. Those who are not Zulu are encouraged to show their ethnic heritage by the laws of the church. The church states that any person may celebrate their own culture in the church as long as it does not break the laws of the church. People of the church see themselves as Nazarites before anything else and their fellow followers provide them with a large, strong community in which to participate.

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 those on the Parish Prayer Chain the Crates’ parents, Charles, Joe, Doug, Debbie, Cindi, Doug, Hugh, Debby, Joan and Hank.

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

Those who are imprisoned: those particularly vulnerable at this time, especially the women in the Schenectady County Jail.

For those in need of healing: Priscilla, Sid, Vicki, Jean, Cindi, Mary Frances, Debbie and Joe.

For James – today is his baptismal anniversary!

For all the blessings of this life.

For our dioceses in the Anglican Communion: Ondo (Nigeria). Calabar (Nigeria), Kinshasa (Congo).

For all who have died: especially Marian, Robert, Lucie, Margaret and Ruth.

For one another.

Something to share

Africa Has A Soul
From the mouth of asmara
To the ears of praia
I see a soul
From the desert of tunis
To the flats earth of cape town
I see a soul clinging to the skin of africa
From the tombs of cairo
To the ports of abuja
I feel a soul
From the grains of rabat
To the giant isle of antanarivo
I feel a soul clutched to the skin of africa
From the stem of kilmanjaro
To the gentle rains of victoria falls
I hear a soul
From the shores of tripoli
To the jungles of congo
I hear a soul whaling in skin of africa
From the dusk of bamako
To the sweats of bujumbura
I smell a soul
From the huts of khartoum
To the hives of mogadishu
I smell a soul yelling in the skins of africa
From the ocean waves of freetown
To the birds chimes of nairobi
I touch a soul
From the thunder grumbling of monrovia
To the bloody smiles of kigali
I touch a soul rooting from the skins of africa
Africa has a soul
Africa my country, has a soul
bloody, smiling, crying soul
kemurl fofanah

Reminders

If you need a prayerbook, and are not in a position to purchase one, please contact me: james.ross.mcd@gmail.com. I will make sure you have your own Book of Common Prayer.

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

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+

Saint Stephen’s Daily Prayers, Saturday, August 31, 2020

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 God, where hearts are fearful and constricted, grant courage and hope. Where anxiety is infectious and widening, grant peace and reassurance. Where impossibilities close every door and window, grant imagination and resistance. Where distrust twists our thinking, grant healing and illumination. Where spirits are daunted and weakened, grant soaring wings and strengthened dreams. All these things we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. AMEN.
Evangelical Lutheran Worship guidebook

Evangelical Lutheran Worship, originally published in 2006, is the primary text for worship in both the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. While widely used in Lutheran churches, any particular Lutheran congregation is not required to make use of it. Instead, it is recommended by the denomination for churches’ use.

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 those on the Parish Prayer Chain Mary Frances, Jim, Eunice, Jane, Bruce, Pauline, John, Bill, Stephanie, Hank and Nancy.

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

Those who are imprisoned: those particularly vulnerable at this time, especially the women in the Schenectady County Jail.

For those in need of healing: Priscilla, Sid, Vicki, Jean, Cindi, Mary Frances, Debbie and Joe.

For all the blessings of this life.

For our dioceses in the Anglican Communion: Kimberley & Kuruman (Southern Africa), Kindu (Congo), Kinkiizi (Uganda).

For all who have died: especially Marian, Robert, Lucie, Margaret and Ruth.

For one another.

Something to share

A Mark of Resistance
Stone by stone I pile
this cairn of my intention
with the noon’s weight on my back,
exposed and vulnerable
across the slanting fields
which I love but cannot save
from floods that are to come;
can only fasten down
with this work of my hands,
these painfully assembled
stones, in the shape of nothing
that has ever existed before.
A pile of stones: an assertion
that this piece of country matters
for large and simple reasons.
A mark of resistance, a sign.
Adrienne Rich

Reminders

If you need a prayerbook, and are not in a position to purchase one, please contact me: james.ross.mcd@gmail.com. I will make sure you have your own Book of Common Prayer.

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

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+

Saint Stephen’s Daily Prayers, Sunday, August 30, 2020

Staying Safe and Staying Connected

Good Morning Saint Stephen’s Church,

We continue our life of daily prayer. The Lord be with you!

Today is the twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Collect for the Day

Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

The Gospel

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew: Matthew 16:21-28

Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

The Gospel of the Lord

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 those on the Parish Prayer Chain Luca, Brittney, Mary Alice, Mia, Wim, Corrie, Doris, Judy, Anne, Louise, Gertrude and Laurel.

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

Those who are imprisoned: those particularly vulnerable at this time, especially the women in the Schenectady County Jail.

For those in need of healing: Priscilla, Sid, Vicki, Jean, Cindi, Mary Frances, Debbie and Joe.

For Mary Anne– today is her baptismal anniversary!

For all the blessings of this life.

For our dioceses in the Anglican Communion: Pray for the united Church of South India.

For all who have died: especially Robert, Norman and William.

For one another.

Something to share

Do People moulder equally
Do People moulder equally,
They bury, in the Grave?
I do believe a Species
As positively live
As I, who testify it
Dent that I – am dead –
And fill my Lungs, for Witness –
From Tanks – above my Head –
I say to you, said Jesus –
That there be standing here –
A sort, that shall not taste of Death –
I need no further Argue –
That statement of the Lord
Is not a controvertible –
He told me, Death was dead –
Emily Dickinson

News & Updates

Worship for Sunday, August 30th 2020

Click on this post to view the instructions on returning to church, National Cathedral live stream and recorded Homily.

Reminders

If you need a prayerbook, and are not in a position to purchase one, please contact me: james.ross.mcd@gmail.com. I will make sure you have your own Book of Common Prayer.

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

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+

Worship for August 30, 2020

This morning August 30^th at 9:00am, join us for the celebration of Holy Eucharist at Saint Stephen’s Church. To help you understand what to expect please click on this link:

This morning, August 30^th at 11:15am, join us for the celebration of Holy Eucharist live-streamed from the National Cathedral. This is another 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.

Rector’s Homily:

Saint Stephen’s Daily Prayers, Saturday, August 29, 2020

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

I believe, O God of all gods,
That Thou art the eternal Father of all creation;
I believe, O God of all gods,
That Thou art the eternal Father of the world.
I believe, O Lord and God of the peoples,
That Thou art the creator of the high heavens,
That Thou art the creator of the skies above,
That Thou art the creator of the oceans below.
I believe, O Lord and God of the peoples,
That Thou art He Who created my soul and set its warp,
Who created my body from dust and from ashes,
Who gave to my body breath, and to my soul its possession.
Father, bless to me my body,
Father, bless to me my soul,
Father, bless to me my life,
Father, bless to me my belief.
from Carmina Gadelica: Hymns and Incantations, a collection of prayers gathered orally in Scotland by Alexander Carmichael

Scottish writer Alexander Carmichael was born in 1832 and died in 1912. He is most known for Carmina Gadelica, six volumes of prayers, hymns, and folklore collected from the Celtic oral tradition in Scotland. The first two volumes were published while he was alive, and the final four were edited by others and published after his death using his work. The volumes have proven to be controversial, with scholars questioning Carmichael’s accuracy and the extent to which he meddled with texts. Nevertheless, Carmichael’s work has been extremely influential in inspiring interest in Celtic 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 those on the Parish Prayer Chain Sylvia, Irene, Jeanne, Chris, Theresa, Emily, Bridget, Josh, Amy, Sid, Edwina and her husband, Donald.

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

Those who are imprisoned: those particularly vulnerable at this time, especially the women in the Schenectady County Jail.

For those in need of healing: Priscilla, Sid, Vicki, Jean, Cindi, Mary Frances, Debbie and Joe.

For all the blessings of this life.

For our dioceses in the Anglican Communion: On the Niger (Nigeria), Byumba (Rwanda), Kilmore, Elphin & Ardagh (Ireland)

For all who have died: especially Martha Nicholson.

For one another.

Something to share

Sounds of the Eternal
Early in the morning we seek you presence, O God,
not because you are ever absent from us
but because we are often absent from you
at the heart of each moment
where you forever dwell.
In the rising of the sun,
in the unfolding color and shape of the morning
open your eyes to the mystery of this moment
that in every moment
we may know your life- giving presence.
open our eyes to this moment
that in every moment
we may know you as the One who is always now.
In the light of the high heavens
and the infinities of dawnings in space,
in the darkness of open depths
and the sea’s ceaseless waves,
in the glistening of a creature’s eyes
and the dark life blood that ever flows,
in every emanation of a creature’s life
and the warmth that moves our bodies,
in the inner universe of our soul
and its everlasting foundations
your glory glows, O God.
in every shining of the world’s inwardness
and the warmth that moves our everliving soul
your glory glows.
With you is the source of life, O God.
You are the beginning of all that is.
From your life the fire of the rising sun
streams forth.
You are the life-flow of creation’s rivers,
the sap of blood in our veins,
earth’s fecundity,
the fruiting of trees,
creatures birthing,
the conception of a new thought,
desire’s origin.
All these are of you, O God
and we are of you.
You are the morning’s freshness.
John Philip Newell, A Celtic Psalter

News & Updates

Tomorrow morning August 30^th at 9:00am, join us for the celebration of Holy Eucharist at Saint Stephen’s Church. To help you understand what to expect please click on this link.

Tomorrow morning, August 30^th at 11:15am, join us for the celebration of Holy Eucharist live-streamed from the National Cathedral. This is another 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 need a prayerbook, and are not in a position to purchase one, please contact me: james.ross.mcd@gmail.com. I will make sure you have your own Book of Common Prayer.

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

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+

Saint Stephen’s Daily Prayers, Friday, August 28, 2020

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

God most mighty, God most merciful,
our stories tell us that you help and save your people.
You are the fortress: may there be no more war.
You are the harvest: may there be no more hunger.
You are the light: may no one die alone or in despair.
God most majestic, God most motherly,
grant us your life, the life that flows
from your Son and his Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Gail Ramshaw

Gail Ramshaw is a retired scholar of liturgy, who taught in the religion department of La Salle University. She is the author of many books, including textbooks, one of personal essays, children’s books, and many books containing prayers or exploring liturgical topics. Her prayers have been used in worship materials for many denominations both in the United States and abroad. She is a layperson in the Lutheran tradition.

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 those on the Parish Prayer Chain: the Crates’ parents, Charles, Joe, Doug, Debbie, Cindi, Doug, Hugh, Debby, Joan, Hank and Joan.

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

Those who are imprisoned: those particularly vulnerable at this time, especially the women in the Schenectady County Jail.

For those in need of healing: Priscilla, Marti, Sid, Vicki, Jean, Cindi, Mary Frances, Debbie and Joe.

For Suzanne & David – today is their wedding anniversary!

For all the blessings of this life.

For our dioceses in the Anglican Communion: On the Lake (Nigeria), Buye (Burundi).

For all who have died: especially Martha.

For one another.

Something to share

Beloved Is Where We Begin
If you would enter
into the wilderness,
do not begin
without a blessing.
Do not leave
without hearing
who you are:
Beloved, named by the One
who has traveled this path
before you.
Do not go
without letting it echo
in your ears,
and if you find
it is hard
to let it into your heart,
do not despair.
That is what
this journey is for.
I cannot promise
this blessing will free you
from danger,
from fear,
from hunger
or thirst,
from the scorching
of sun
or the fall
of the night.
But I can tell you
that on this path
there will be help.
I can tell you
that on this way
there will be rest.
I can tell you
that you will know
the strange graces
that come to our aid
only on a road
such as this,
that fly to meet us
bearing comfort
and strength,
that come alongside us
for no other cause
than to lean themselves
toward our ear
and with their
curious insistence
whisper our name:
Beloved.
Beloved.
Beloved.
Jan Richardson

Reminders

If you need a prayerbook, and are not in a position to purchase one, please contact me: james.ross.mcd@gmail.com. I will make sure you have your own Book of Common Prayer.

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

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+

Saint Stephen’s Daily Prayers, Thursday, August 27, 2020

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, who shall sojourn in thy tent?
Who shall dwell on thy holy hill?
He who walks blamelessly, and does what is right,
and speaks truth from his heart;
who does not slander with her tongue,
and does no evil to her friend,
nor takes up a reproach against their neighbor;
in whose eyes a reprobate is despised,
but who honors those who fear the Lord;
who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
who does not put out her money at interest,
and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
They who do these things shall never be shaken.
Psalm 15 (Adapted)

This psalm may be considered a psalm of instruction, teaching the listener to become one who shall never be shaken. In Jewish ritual, the psalm is often used as a type of eulogy, expressing the ideal human qualities that assure the deceased a place in the afterlife.

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 those on the Parish Prayer Chain: Luca, Brittney, Mary Alice, Mia, Wim, Corrie, Doris, Judy, Anne, Louise, Gertrude, Laurel and Greg.

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

Those who are imprisoned: those particularly vulnerable at this time, especially the women in the Schenectady County Jail.

For those in need of healing: Priscilla, Marti, Sid, Vicki, Jean, Cindi, Mary Frances, Debbie and Joe.

For David – today is his baptismal anniversary!

For Linnea – today is her birthday!

For all the blessings of this life.

For our dioceses in the Anglican Communion: Omu-Aran (Nigeria), Butare (Rwanda), Butere (Kenya).

For all who have died: especially Martha Nicholson.

For one another.

Something to share

Dear Old Jews,
Jesus, Jeremiah, Isaiah and the rest,
you are the ones that in my young life
I loved the best.
More than father, whom I hardly knew,
more than mother
I loved you.
I still do.
How you thundered, Jeremiah,
from the bottom of the pit!
How you raged at God,
and that was not the half of it.
Isaiah, how you sang
Comfort ye! comfort ye!
How odd
of God
to comfort us with stories:
how a man
bends down and writes
in the dust to set a woman free.
Whatever it was that he wrote,
he wrote to me.
Pat Schneider (1934 –2020)

News & Updates

On Tuesday evening, the Reverend Nicolle Harris of the Duryee Memorial AME Zion Church shared on Facebook that their church Bible study was attacked (“Zoom-bombed”) by anti-Black racists. They repeatedly tried to enter the Zoom Bible study, repeatedly typing in anti-Black and other inflammatory statements, including repeated usage of the n-word.

Schenectady Clergy Against Hate sent a letter of solidarity to Pastor Harris and her congregation. “In the world we exist in, we know that in such a time as this, it is important to particularly and specifically affirm the sanctity of Black lives…..” The full letter can be found at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RVeqc-1l2db9Mstov3MCOoQvXhJadM_o97ao2aIuvQc/edit?usp=sharing

Reminders

If you need a prayerbook, and are not in a position to purchase one, please contact me: james.ross.mcd@gmail.com. I will make sure you have your own Book of Common Prayer.

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

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+

Saint Stephen’s Daily Prayers, Wednesday, August 26, 2020

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

I am praying again Awesome One,
You hear me again as words from the depths rush toward you in wind.
I’ve been scattered in pieces in alleyways.
I sweep myself out of garbage and broken glass.
With my half-mouth I stammer you who are eternal in your symmetry.
I lift to you my half-hands in wordless beseeching that I may find again the eyes with which I once beheld you.
I am a house gutted by fire where the guilty sometimes sleep before the punishment that devours them hounds them out into the open.
I am a city by the sea, sinking into a toxic tide.
I am strange to myself as though someone unknown had poisoned my mother as she carried me.
It’s here in all the pieces of my shame that I now find myself again.
How I yearn to belong to something, to be contained in an all-embracing mind that sees me as a single thing.
And I yearn to be held in the great hands of your heart.
Oh let them take me now.
Into your hands I place these fragments, my life, and you my God spend them however you want.
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)

Rainer Maria Rilke [1875-1926] is widely recognized as one of the most lyrically intense German language poets. Several critics have described Rilke’s work as inherently ‘mystical’. The Poetry Foundation tells more about him than that he had a way with words: his was an aesthetic philosophy that strove to reconcile beauty and suffering, life and death.

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 those on the Parish Prayer Chain: Sylvia, Irene, Jeanne, Chris, Theresa, Emily, Bridget, Josh, Amy, Sid, Edwina and her husband, Donald.

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

Those who are imprisoned: those particularly vulnerable at this time, especially the women in the Schenectady County Jail.

For those in need of healing: Priscilla, Marti, Sid, Vicki, Jean, Cindi, Mary Frances, Debbie and Joe.

For Richey – today is her birthday!

For Joanne & William Frank – today is their wedding anniversary!

For all the blessings of this life.

For our dioceses in the Anglican Communion: Olympia (The Episcopal Church), Busoga (Uganda).

For all who have died: especially Martha.

For one another.

Something to share

It was in one of the 10 letters Rainer Maria Rilke once wrote to a 19-year-old officer cadet at an Austrian military academy, Franz Xaver Kappus, published posthumously in 1929 in Letters to a Young Poet, that he called for the unknown to be embraced, and not necessarily puzzled out:

“…have patience with everything unresolved in your heart, and try to love the questions themselves, as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing, live your way into the answer….”

Reminders

If you need a prayerbook, and are not in a position to purchase one, please contact me: james.ross.mcd@gmail.com. I will make sure you have your own Book of Common Prayer.

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

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+