FROM THE RECTOR: CERTAINTY

Until the present Prayer Book was adopted, the last anthem prayed at the beginning of the Burial of the Dead was, "We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (BCP [1928], 324). The first of these combined sentences is from Job 1:21, the second 1 Timothy 6:7. This anthem was replaced in the traditional language rite of the Prayer Book with these words,

FROM DEACON REBECCA WEINER TOMPKINS: ABIDE IN LOVE

In the passage from John's gospel, read at the Eucharist last Wednesday, February 21, the day commemorating John Henry Newman, the nineteenth-century priest and theologian, we hear that "God is love, and those who abide in God abide in love, and God abides in them" (1 John 4:16). It is easy for us believers to hold that in our hearts.

FROM THE RECTOR: LENT 2018

Many members and friends of the parish may remember that on Sunday, December 31, 2017, and on New Year's Day, we worshiped in Saint Joseph's Hall. The valve that controls the heat to the church, but not the rest of the complex, was broken. Relatively mild weather on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meant the church could be used. Bitter cold arrived later in the week. We moved to the hall. The problem was not fixed until Friday, January 5. That said, there were many graces in our worship there.

FROM THE RECTOR: THANK YOU

I write on the morning of February 1. Yesterday I completed nineteen years of service as rector of this congregation. This morning I find myself thinking about all those who have gone before me in this work, especially my predecessor, the Reverend Canon Edgar F. Wells, our rector emeritus.

FROM THE RECTOR: PRESENTING OURSELVES

This week we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple. The celebration begins on the eve of the feast, Thursday, February 1, with Solemn Evensong at 6:00 PM. On Friday, February 2, the daily 12:10 service will be Blessing of Candles & Sung Mass. The organ recital at 5:30 PM will be played by Dr. Claudia Dumschat, director of music, Church of the Transfiguration, New York City. Our principal service will be Blessing of Candles, Procession & Solemn Mass at 6:00 PM. Of course, a reception will follow in Saint Joseph's Hall.

FROM THE RECTOR: TO GROW UNDERSTANDING

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has its origins in the diocese of New York. Paul James Francis Wattson, S.A., born Lewis Wattson, was still an Episcopal monk and priest in 1908 when he suggested that the week between the January feasts of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (now known by Anglicans as the Confession of Saint Peter on January 18 and the Conversion of Saint Paul on January 25) be observed as a "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity." But by this time Wattson was on his way to Rome. In 1909 his Episcopal religious community, the Society of the Atonement, was received into the Roman Catholic Church. He continued his ecumenical work throughout his life. He died in 1940.

 FROM THE RECTOR: BACK TO GENESIS

Every year on Monday after the First Sunday after the Epiphany (this year, Monday January 8), the church begins reading Genesis at either Daily Morning Prayer or Daily Evening Prayer (this year in the morning). For some years now, Genesis has ranked in my heart and mind as my very favorite book in the Old Testament. (For the New Testament, John's gospel still has a slight lead over Mark-but it's close.) We're reading more of Genesis than required by the lectionary-it's always permitted to read more, but not less, than the appointed lessons. We don't read everything, but I've been surprised by how much good stuff we've been able to add.

FROM THE RECTOR: EPIPHANY SEASON

On the day after the Epiphany, January 6, most years there will be one or more pictures of Orthodox Christian men and boys diving into often frigid waters to retrieve a cross that has been tossed into the waters. In the Christian East, the Epiphany is not about the visit of the wise men-probably astrologers, but about the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan. The history of this feast is complicated, but after Easter and Pentecost, it is the third most ancient festival.

This year there is one Sunday after Christmas Day before the Epiphany, January 6-some years there are two. Last year, when Christmas Day fell on a Sunday, the next Sunday was January 1, 2017, the Feast of the Holy Name of Our Lord-so no First Sunday after Christmas Day. With the Epiphany falling on Friday, January 6, 2017, the next Sunday after January 1, 2017, was the first Sunday after the Epiphany.

FROM THE RECTOR: CHRISTMAS WITH CHRIST

I am writing this on the morning of December 21, 2017, the Feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle, the first day of winter. A number of people have been at work all week to prepare flowers and greens for Christmas-and I know that many hours were spent planning what needed to be ordered. Yesterday afternoon, Father Jay Smith, Dr. David Hurd, and I reviewed the bulletins and service details. Saturday I will be meeting with sacristy team leaders to prepare for rehearsals. New York is alive with the signs and sounds of the season. But in the church-and in the rectory-it's still Advent, as it will be on Sunday morning, December 24. Do come on Sunday morning for the last celebration of the Advent season. Late Sunday afternoon we begin to celebrate Christmas with Christ as the Body of Christ.

FROM DEACON REBECCA WEINER TOMPKINS: ON HOME

During my most recent time at Saint Mary's when someone suggested perhaps New York City is no longer my home and Nashville is, I explained I've figured out a way to be in both cities as my complicated circumstances--health, finances, family--have made that desirable, though it's a work in progress. The idea of home itself is complicated, as is its supposed opposite, homelessness. I'm fortunate to be on one side of the line between those two modes; more people all the time aren't, as we see wherever we live.

FROM THE RECTOR: ADVENT LIVES
 
Advent is alive at Saint Mary's. With Christmas Day being a Monday, the season this year is as short as it can be. Next year, when Christmas Day is a Tuesday, Advent will be as long as it can be. I associate Advent with the snow I encountered during my first year in graduate school at the University of Chicago-and it brings the memory of walking on fresh snow there on my way to and from my first confession at the local parish. I think it was the first period when I attended the Episcopal Church regularly enough to appreciate the season.

FROM THE TREASURER: GENEROUS DONOR MATCHES NEW GIFTS

I'm writing to you today with some exciting news. There's never been a better time to renew and refresh your commitment to Saint Mary's and to the Open Doors Campaign. An anonymous donor has just issued a challenge to the community, agreeing to match $100,000 if we can raise that much in new pledges for the Open Doors Campaign before the end of 2017. For every additional dollar you pledge to the campaign, the parish will receive two dollars-thanks to this most generous member of our community.

FROM THE RECTOR: YEAR'S END

This Sunday, the Last Sunday after Pentecost, now identified as "Christ the King" in editions of the Prayer Book with the Revised Common Lectionary, is the fifty-third Sunday of the current church year-it began on November 27, 2016. This year the gospel lesson is Matthew 25:31-46, known as "The Great Judgment." Next year we will hear John 18:33-37, where Jesus is on trial before Pilate. (We also have the option in the original lectionary of hearing Mark 11:1-11, Palm Sunday-and I have preached on both over the years.) Although the 1979 lectionary and the Revised Common Lectionary omit John 18:38, "Pilate said to [Jesus], 'What is truth?' " I'm thankful that the Prayer Book gives us permission to include it, and we do.

FROM THE RECTOR: PRIMARY MINISTERS

Deacon Rebecca Weiner Tompkins will be away from Saint Mary's from this coming Monday, November 20, until Christmas Eve. Her absence is driven in large part by health issues arising from the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Given this, and given some of my recent experiences worshiping in other Episcopal congregations, I thought it might be helpful to write about who does what in Episcopal Church worship, and why, with reference to Saint Mary's.

FROM THE RECTOR: WHITE, GOLD, AND BLACK

Saint Mary's has a beautiful black frontal. I suspect it was made in the 1930s. In the fall of 2004, it was substantially conserved by Christina Carr, a conservator in the Department of Textile Conservation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. With continued care, I suspect it will be here for many, many years. What has changed very slowly over the past few years, however, is how and when we use it. The changes reflect the theological direction of the present Prayer Book: "The liturgy for the dead is an Easter liturgy. It finds all its meaning in the resurrection. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we, too, shall be raised" (The Book of Common Prayer [1979], 507).

FROM THE RECTOR: NO SEPARATION

This week I share the homily I wrote for the 12:10 Mass on All Souls' Day. It includes a reflection on the murders committed by a terrorist inspired by the so-called Islamic State in our city on Tuesday, October 31, 2017.

The mother of one of my good friends died at the end of September. I had visited with them in April. Her death was unexpected, but it was a release from the suffering from Alzheimer's disease. In that sense, it was a blessing that many of us have prayed for when someone in our own families has had this terrible disease.

FROM THE RECTOR: ALL SAINTS' AND ALL SOULS'

Everyone keeps Christmas Eve on Christmas Eve, but fewer and fewer parishes keep the other two "principal feasts" that most years fall on a weekday: The Epiphany on January 6 and All Saints' Day on November 1. We still do. So, I begin with the service schedule for All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, November 2.

FROM THE RECTOR: WOES OF ISAIAH AND JESUS

Two Sundays ago, the appointed gospel was the Parable of the Vineyard (Matthew 21:33-43). It's the day after Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He's teaching in the temple. The Old Testament lesson was the plaintive text called "The Song of the Vineyard" (Isaiah 5:1-7). It ends with these words, "For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed;