Monday, February 10, 2025
Sunday, February 9, 2025
Service today is LIVE at YouTube LIve!
Dear Friends,
If illness, or the icy conditions are keeping you away from joining us in person, please consider "joining" us on YouTube LIVE.
You'll need to go to our YouTube channel here ===>
And then look for the LIVE video, which I will be starting very soon
Here is a link to our Service Bulletin:
Peace to you, and Be Well,
~Peter+
The Very Reverend Peter Carey
Rector, St. Mary's Episcopal Church
Saturday, February 8, 2025
Monday, February 3, 2025
7 February 2025 ~ St. Mary's Newsletter
St. Mary’s Newsletter, 7 February, 2025
From the Rector’s desk
“We cannot always do great acts,
but we can always do small acts with great love.”
Saint Mother Teresa
The problems and challenges of the world are plentiful at all times, including our
own. If you are anything like me, I have to balance between staying aware of the
current events of the world and feeling overwhelmed. While the challenges are
many, we can always embark on actions which do make a difference. Here at
St. Mary’s, we have a decades-long tradition of giving generously to organizations
that help people in need, both near and far. In addition, the members of our parish
are extremely kind and live out their faith in loving actions of charity.
As Saint Mother Teresa once said, “we can always do small acts with great love.”
Our giving is best, and is generative, when our giving is tied to our deepest love.
Our actions may include a regular practice to call our friends and relations on the
telephone to connect and share time with them. Sending a note to shut-ins, or
sending a card to those whose birthday is upcoming are great ways to connect with
one another and share our love and concern.
Perhaps our actions include keeping a Prayer List of those who are in need, which
may include our own family, but also perhaps our parish’s prayer list, as well as
praying for those in need around the neighborhood, the nation, and the world.
I have heard that there are those who make it a yearly practice to plant trees, which
have nearly no negative consequences. I remember as a child our small town would
give out seedlings to kids in the schools and encourage us to plant them on Arbor
Day. If you can’t plant a tree, perhaps you can give funds to a group who does.
There are a plethora of organizations where we each might give a portion of our own
gifts, our own money. As a church, we have long partnered with organizations such
as North Light Community Center (see the feature on this great organization below)
as well as other organizations locally and globally which do amazing work to help a
world in need.
I encourage you all to take on a new practice of “doing small acts with great love,”
and I would love to hear what ideas you have for sharing our goodness with the
world. I would love to hear what you are doing. Taking on a new practice need not
be difficult nor complex. Some ideas may be praying over our church’s Prayer List
each week, bringing food items to the church to donate on Sunday, encouraging our
friends and family in difficult times, giving directly to an organization whose
mission tugs at our heart strings.
The Very Reverend Peter Carey, Rector
☩ Parish Prayer List ☩
Adele, Alan, C’ia, Cindy, Dan, Donald, Frank, Frank, Jerrie, Izzy, Kay,
Marietta, Mark, Mary, Mary Lou, Matt, Pat, Sharon, Susan, Virginia, Xander
☩ Parish Birthday and Anniversary List - February ☩
6 Lily Carey 8 Grace Snyder
16 Lucinda Ann York 19 Elizabeth Lowther
23 Zach Carey
☩ Outreach Focus ~ North Light Community Center ☩
Our Mission is to empower people of all ages and abilities in our communities, especially those most in need, to reach their fullest potential as productive and responsible citizens through initiatives that support and enrich children, teens, and families.
Our Vision is to support and strengthen our diverse neighborhoods by meeting the evolving needs of individuals and families. We work to develop the whole person from educating to providing sustenance, and thus, cultivate a vibrant community.
Founded as North Light Boys’ Club by Principal Anne Wright and Police Captain Franklin P. Luckman in 1936 as a drop-in center to divert community youth from delinquency and petty crime, North Light Community Center has organically evolved in response to changing community needs. North Light has only had four executive directors, all of whom have promoted a continued culture of holistic community support that has not wavered, even during trying times. John Willard and Irene Madrak developed a holistic continuum of care through their leadership from the 1950s through the end of 2019. Today, North Light is a place where children learn and play in a safe and nurturing environment, teens learn skills to prepare them for college and career opportunities as well as realize their full potential, and families and individuals in need receive critical assistance.
Learn more at: www.northlightcommunitycenter.org
☩ Outreach and Mission ☩
For decades St. Mary’s has given generously to local, national, and global organizations that do a plethora of wonderful outreach and mission. It has long been an emphasis here to “keep us ever mindful of the needs of others” and help alleviate suffering in our world. On the next page, you will find a list of some of the places where your gifts make a difference nearby and far away.
As a part of our outreach efforts, we are collecting non-perishable food and donations which will be taken to local organizations that have food banks, and outreach to the needy in and around the Philadelphia Area. Please make it a habit to bring a can or box of food with you to church and put them into the basket we have in the back of church. We will offer up these gifts in our liturgy of thanksgiving at the offering.
Four places where we donate these items are:
North Light Community Center, Roxborough, Philadelphia
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Germantown Food Pantry
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Norristown Food Ministry
The Clare Project, serving the needy in Kensington, Philadelphia
☩ Bishop White Lodge Tuesday Eucharists ☩
Every other Tuesday, our rector, the Very Rev. Peter Carey leads a Eucharist in the “Rose Room” of Bishop White Lodge (in Cathedral Village), which is open to anyone. The service is about 30 minutes and is a wonderful outreach to Cathedral Village. Please join us!
Upcoming Schedule
February 11th, 10am
February 18th, 10am
March 11th, 10am
March 18th, 10am
March 25th, 10am
March 26th, 11am ~ Prayers for Ash Wednesday and Distribution of Ashes
☩2025 Vestry Meetings ☩
February 16, March 16, May 4*, June 15, August 17,
September 21, October 19, November 16, December 21
Our Vestry meets after our 10am Sunday Service in our Rector’s office
☩ Pledge Cards and Envelopes ☩
Please turn in your pledge cards for the estimation of your yearly gifts to St. Mary’s. These pledges help the Vestry to budget and plan for the finances for 2025. We have pledge cards for your use, as well as a Google form which you can use to estimate your giving for the year. Please consider pledging. Thank you.
We have envelopes for you as well.
☩ Online Giving ☩
You now have the ability to set up online giving. If you go to our website stmaryscathedralroad.blogspot.com you will find a green “Give” button on each page. By clicking that button, you will be sent to the Tithe.ly account for our church. This service, Tithe.ly, is highly recommended, and carefully vetted by our Diocese. You can set up a one-time gift, weekly giving, biweekly giving or monthly giving.
☩ Outreach Giving ☩
For decades St. Mary’s has given generously to local, national, and global organizations that do a plethora of wonderful outreach and mission. It has long been an emphasis here to “keep us ever mindful of the needs of others” and help alleviate suffering in our world. Below are some of the many organizations that St. Mary’s supports financially from our operating budget.
Bethesda Project ~ Philadelphia
Cathedral Village ~ Upper Roxborough
The Clare Project ~ Philadelphia
Diocese of Pennsylvania ~ local, nationwide and global
Episcopal Community Services ~ Philadelphia and Pennsylvania
Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem ~ The Holy Land
Friends of the Wissahickon ~ Philadelphia
The Jerusalem Princess Basma Centre - Jerusalem ~ The Holy Land
al-Ahli Arab Hospital (AAH) ~ Gaza, Palestinian Territory ~ The Holy Land
Episcopal Relief and Development ~ nationwide and global
Girl Scouts of America ~ nationwide and global
Journey’s Way ~ Philadelphia
The Living Church Foundation ~ nationwide and global
North Light Community Center ~ Philadelphia
Chestnut Hill Meals on Wheels ~ Philadelphia Area
Project H.O.M.E. ~ Philadelphia Area
Seamen’s Church Institute ~ Philadelphia and nationwide
St. James Episcopal School ~ Philadelphia
Virginia Theological Seminary ~ global
The WaterBoys Foundation ~ global
☩ Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church ☩
630 East Cathedral Road, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19128
Church 215.482.6300 stmarycathrd@gmail.com
Rector 215.392.0906 revpetermcarey@gmail.com
The Very Reverend Peter Carey, Rector
Mr. Jonathan Stark, Organist
Mr. Richard Cassel, Jr, Sexton
Sunday, February 2, 2025
Salisbury Cathedral Sermon at Choral Evensong In Memory of Robert Willis 02/02/25
This sermon was preached by the Rt Revd and Rt Hon the Lord Williams at the Choral Evensong at Salisbury Cathedral (UK) for Candlemas in memory of Robert Willis, Dean Emeritus of Canterbury, which took place on 2nd February 2025.
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