FROM THE RECTOR: NEW UNDERSTANDING

The title page of my copy of Prayer Book Studies 29: Introducing the Draft Proposed Book: A Study of the Significance of the Draft Proposed Book of Common Prayer for the Doctrine, Discipline and Worship of the Episcopal Church (1976) has my signature and a date: 1977. It's by Charles P. Price (1920 --- 1999), a priest of the church, chairman of the Standing Liturgical Commission's Theological Committee, and professor of theology at the Virginia Theological Seminary.

FROM BROTHER DAMIEN SSF: CHAPTER IN ARIZONA

Last week, Brother Thomas and I joined the other brothers of the Society of Saint Francis in the Province of the Americas for our annual Chapter in Scottsdale, Arizona. "Chapter" is the decision-making body of the community, or it is a meeting of that body.

FROM THE RECTOR: ENVIRONMENT

Before Stephen Curry started playing for the Golden State Warriors, if you heard someone say, "Steph," one assumed someone was asking for "Stephanie." Steph Curry changed all that. Though I fall asleep before most basketball games are over, I've been using an elliptical cross trainer three mornings a week at my gym. I listen to music and watch closed-captioned ESPN. The Warriors are now up two games in the current playoffs. Curry is a player who makes one believe that no shot is impossible.

FROM THE RECTOR: WAITING

On Thursday morning, May 9, we had the first of what will, for a time, be a weekly meeting of the building restoration leadership team, the members of which are our contractor, Milan Restoration LLC; our architects, Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, Inc. (JHP); and representatives of the parish. Not long before the meeting was supposed to start, we suddenly learned that our contractor was out of town. I immediately informed board members MaryJane Boland and Clark Mitchell so they wouldn’t have to waste a trip to midtown. As things turned out, however, Marko Golubovic and another representative from Milan, were able to attend. . Our office manager, Chris Howatt, was in the building. Two members of the team from JHP hurried up and arrived. We ended up having a very good meeting.

FROM THE RECTOR: TWO ENDINGS

The twentieth chapter of John's gospel recounts three appearances of the Risen Lord. Two were on the day of resurrection, one in the morning at the tomb to Mary Magdalene and one in the evening to the disciples except for Thomas. The following Sunday Jesus returned. He said to all of the disciples, "Peace be with you" (20:26) and to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing" (20:27). Count me among those who think that Thomas believed when he saw and heard the Risen Christ. Then Jesus says to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe" (20:29).

FROM THE RECTOR: EASTER JOY

Palm Sunday was a very happy day at Saint Mary’s. The morning dawned cloudy and gray, but the sun came out before the 11:00 AM service. Brendon Hunter and I walked through the square about twenty minutes before that service to finalize the route for our procession. Sunshine seemed to have had a happy effect on everyone. Again, it was a happy day.

FROM THE RECTOR: EASTER SEASON

On Monday morning, April 15, Joe Chappel, a member of our choir and a longtime friend of longtime parishioner, Rick Austill, shared with us the news that Rick had died unexpectedly on Palm Sunday night. Rick was a very talented musician and artist, one of the anchors of our Flower Guild. It was his turn to be in charge of the decorations for Holy Week and Easter Day. I saw Rick a lot last week. He was here for many hours, preparing for the week to come and creating the arrangements for Palm Sunday.

FROM THE RECTOR: HOLY WEEK

The Prayer Book makes no reference to “forty days of Lent,” although many of our hymns do. The late Marion Hatchett (1927–2009) in his Commentary on the American Prayer Book (1980) referred to “forty days of Lent” at least once: “The Sundays in Lent are not included in the forty days of Lent, for all Sundays are feasts which commemorate the creation, the resurrection, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit” (page 46). But, if you look at the calendar more closely, you have to ask, how did Prof. Hatchett get to forty—and how do we?

FROM THE RECTOR: THE SHEPHERD

I’ve written before that, whenever possible, I avoid reading at the Daily Office or Eucharist certain passages of Scripture. The two narratives that are most challenging for me are the Healing of the Man Born Blind (John 9:1–41) and the Raising of Lazarus (John 11:1–44). Two years ago, as gospeller on the Fifth Sunday in Lent, I made it almost to the end of the Raising of Lazarus (John 11:1–44). If memory serves, I had to pause after these words, “Jesus said to [Martha], ‘Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?’ ” (John 11:40), before I could continue, singing, “So they took away the stone” (11:41a).

FROM THE RECTOR: LENT IV

Patrick Regan (1938–2017) in his book Advent to Pentecost (2013) called the Fourth Sunday in Lent the “turning point” of the season (page 86). Current research has shown that in Rome, before the fourth century, there was originally only a three-week season of preparation of those seeking to be baptized at Easter…

FROM THE RECTOR: SUNDAYS MATTER

The first draft of our service bulletins for the Feast of the Annunciation, this year celebrated on Monday, March 25, included a note from last year’s bulletin, when March 25 was the Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday. When the Annunciation falls during Holy Week, as it did last year, the church calendar moves Annunciation to Monday of the Second Week of Easter. Last year that Monday was April 9. We caught the error: you will find a different note about the celebration of the feast day in this year’s bulletins.

FROM THE RECTOR: LENT WITH LUKE

In the Christian West, the First Sunday in Lent, by long tradition, belonged to the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness in Matthew. That changed, of course, when the three-year lectionary, originated by the Roman Catholic Church, was published in 1969. We now hear all three gospel accounts of the temptation, a different one each year. We are currently in the third year of the cycle—Year C—and last Sunday we heard Luke’s version of the temptation (4:1–13). I prefer Mark’s account: Jesus was driven into the wilderness by the Spirit, tempted by Satan, with the wild beasts, angels taking care of him, no dialogue (Mark 1:12–13).

FROM THE RECTOR: GO TO THE TABLE

On Ash Wednesday, during the 6:00 PM Solemn Mass at the high altar, I was on duty in the Mercy Chapel to impose ashes for those who came for ashes and a moment or more for prayer but not for Mass—a New York City phenomenon. More people enter Saint Mary’s and other churches in this city on Ash Wednesday than on any other day of the year. Ashes, for whatever reason, are big here. We respond to that pastoral reality.

FROM THE RECTOR: WELCOME LENT

Easter Day is April 21 this year. Ash Wednesday is March 6. Largely secular Easter decorations are already for sale in stores. Our paschal candle has arrived. The Mass lessons for Ash Wednesday and the Sundays in Lent have been given a careful look and are posted on the parish website. A lot of preparation for Holy Week and Easter Day is already underway. That said, there are traditions that make Lent a relatively straightforward season for a parish like ours.

FROM THE RECTOR: BURYING FATHERS

Some years ago now, while reviewing the Daily Office readings, I realized that the lectionary omitted the account of Abraham’s death, along with his second marriage, to Keturah, after the death of Sarah. It also omits the account of the arrangements he made for the sons of his concubines (Genesis 25:1–8). The greater surprise for me was the omission of the very next verse from the lectionary: “Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, the field which Abraham had purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife” (25:9–10). The only other time Isaac and Ishmael are mentioned together is when Sarah observes her young son Isaac and Ishmael playing together. She then demands that Abraham send Ishmael and his mother Hagar away. Abraham gives Hagar only “bread and a skin of water” (21:9–14). God intervenes to save the lives of Hagar and her son in the wilderness.

FROM THE RECTOR: OPEN DOORS AND OTHER NEWS

We have selected a firm to restore the West 46th Street façade of the church. The draft contract was sent to our attorneys for review on Tuesday of this week. I hope that very soon I will be able to announce the contract has been approved and signed. We expect work to begin in the spring, as soon as the weather permits. We expect the work on the façade to be completed this year. I’m very excited.

FROM THE RECTOR: WORDS AND GESTURES

The ancient posture for prayer is to stand with hands raised. It’s called “orans,” a Latin word that means “praying.” It’s been a long time since Christian congregations prayed in this way. But orans has continued to be used in the West by those who preside at worship. It’s the way the Hebrew people prayed in Jesus’ time. Christian art shows us that early Christian communities prayed this way. I don’t think that means that everyone needs to pray that way today. But I do think it’s important to appreciate what the posture represents—and why it drives me crazy when I see bishops and priests who faithfully use this gesture when reading the prayers of the presider, but fail to do so when the people join in, for example, when both presider and people say or sing the Lord’s Prayer together. (Dare I mention that bishops and priests sometimes ask congregations to hold hands during the Lord’s Prayer?)

FROM THE RECTOR: MORE BIBLE

Father Matthew Mead, now rector of the Parish of Christ and the Redeemer, Pelham, when he served here from 2004 until 2009, shared my conviction that we should not omit any of the New Testament at the Daily Office. He gets credit for starting, and really completing, what we call the "Saint Mary's Lectionary Project." There are lessons in easily legible 22-pt. Garamond for every service we celebrate. Over the years pronunciation guides have been added to the texts. Recently, I began to footnote any text that we've lengthened, explaining the reason for the lengthening. (The Prayer Book lectionaries permit the lengthening, but not the shortening, of texts "at discretion" [BCP 888, 934]).

FROM THE RECTOR: THE LIGHT

This week we will celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple. As is our custom when “Major Feasts of Our Lord” fall on Saturdays, the principal celebration will be Friday evening, February 1. Dr. Timothy Pyper, interim director of music, Church of the Holy Apostles, New York City, will play a recital at 5:30 PM. It will be great to have Tim back with us. He is a very fine musician and a great friend of the parish. The traditional liturgy for this feast, Blessing Candles, Procession & Solemn Mass, begins at 6:00 PM. A reception will follow in Saint Joseph’s Hall. Great music, great worship, and great fellowship.

FROM THE RECTOR: JANUARY TRANSITIONS

Just as Saint Mary’s is very special place for our congregation and the parish’s many friends, it is also a special place for our associated clergy and their families. If Saint Mary’s becomes one’s spiritual home, it is hard to leave and hard to say good-bye. Deacon Rebecca Weiner Tompkins has lived in Nashville, Tennessee, for over a year now. When she first made this move, she and I hoped it would be a temporary one. Though she still hopes to return to the city, it is time to acknowledge this transition has taken place. Just as a bishop can’t be bishop of a diocese in which he or she is not resident, a rector can’t be rector of a parish where he or she doesn’t live, a deacon cannot be a deacon where he or she does not live. We’re going to miss her very much. I look forward to planning a time with her in the spring to celebrate her work here.