Sunday, November 29, 2020
First Sunday of Advent
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
St. Mary's ~ Cathedral Road
Online Worship on Sundays at 10am
630 East Cathedral Road Philadelphia, PA 19428
215-482-6300
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Saturday, November 28, 2020
Advent begins tomorrow
Advent begins tomorrow
It is the last day of the Christian Year today, and the beginning of the Christian Year
begins tomorrow with Advent I, when we begin the season of expectation,
of waiting for Christmas - for the coming of Jesus. The readings of the next
four weeks will bring us into the heart of the prophetic vision from the
Hebrew Scriptures of awaiting the Messiah and also the stories that preceded
Jesus' Birth.
For us, this season of Advent is all too easily eclipsed by the rush to Christmas
in the culture all around us. As a child, we would usually buy our Christmas tree
just before Christmas, and we spent time in Advent lighting the four candles of the
Advent Wreath. As a child, the waiting was, of course, for the gifts and magic of
Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, but the waiting did move us into a
mindset of expectation of the "not yet" of waiting for Jesus' coming.
This mindset of expectation is one that we can cultivate as we move into the
season of Advent. Considering the figures of Mary, as she lived in the tangible
expectation of a child to be born, and the figure of John the Baptist who lived in
tangible expectation for the Messiah who would baptize with fire, not with water.
I wish you a "Happy New Years Eve" tonight and a blessed Advent,
may you take the time to consider, ponder, and sit deeply in the mindset of
expectation.
Below you can find links to our Online worship tomorrow, as well as a link to
my Daily Advent Reflections blog, and also ways to worship with the
Diocese in this Advent and Christmas Season.
Advent Blessings to you!
Sunday
29 November 2020 ~ 10am ~ Online
Service of Morning Prayer for Advent 1 at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church
On our Church’s YouTube channel, click HERE
The Collect for the First Sunday of Advent
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the
armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ
came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again
in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the
life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Music for Thanksgiving
Our organist, Jonathan Stark, is working to find ways to share music online
from our nave, using our beautiful organ. He was able to record some outstanding
music for Thanksgiving, which I recommend to you all! Click on the link below
to enjoy his artistry! We will be posting Advent and Christmas music in upcoming
weeks.
Daily Advent Reflections by The Rev. Peter M. Carey
Click HERE to read scripture for the day, and a brief reflection on the reading
and on our season of Advent. adventstmarys.blogspot.com
Join the Diocese for Advent and Christmas, from Home
We are bringing Advent and Christmas to you, at home.
Advent: Bishop Gutiérrez returns to CBS - KYW for Advent services starting
tomorrow, 11/29. You can watch at 5:30 a.m. online or on your television;
or tune in for the rebroadcast at 9:00 a.m. on our One Love Channel, Facebook
or YouTube channels.
All services are filmed from The African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas
and include youth readers and some singers from the church as well.
The first rector of this historic parish, the Rev. Absalom Jones, was also
the first black Episcopal priest in the nation.
Christmas Lesson and Carols: On 12/19 at 10 a.m., as part of its covenant
with the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, the diocese has organized a live
Christmas Lessons and Carols service broadcast simultaneously from
Philadelphia and Bethlehem on our One Love and YouTube channels.
A joint Episcopal and Lutheran service - officiated by all five Episcopal and
Lutheran bishops in Southeast Pennsylvania and Jerusalem - this simulcast
service connects us to our sisters and brothers in the Holy Land, hearing
familiar carols and readings in both Arabic and English, and with a special
Christmas homily from the Archbishop of Jerusalem.
Christmas Day: On Christmas day, 12/25, our service heads to The
Church of the Holy Trinity on Rittenhouse Square, the birthplace of the hymn
"O Little Town of Bethlehem," on the CW-Philly at 6:00 a.m., where their youth
will also lead the readings.
This service is rebroadcast on all of our channels at 8:00 a.m.
The Diocese brings you Advent and Christmas, at home
The Diocese brings you Advent and Christmas, at home
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Thursday, November 26, 2020
Thanksgiving
The General Thanksgiving
we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks
for all your goodness and loving-kindness
to us and to all whom you have made.
We bless you for our creation, preservation,
and all the blessings of this life;
but above all for your immeasurable love
in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ;
for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.
And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies,
that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise,
not only with our lips, but in our lives,
by giving up our selves to your service,
and by walking before you
in holiness and righteousness all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving Day
Almighty and gracious Father, we give thee thanks for the
fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those
who harvest them. Make us, we beseech thee, faithful stewards
of thy great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and
the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of thy Name;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with
thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Tuesday, November 24, 2020
A liturgy for celebrating the holidays apart from loved ones
A LITURGY FOR CELEBRATING THE HOLIDAYS APART FROM LOVED ONES
From Sojourners and posted at SoJo.net
I remember the day I received my green card in the mail. It was a Monday. I went downstairs to check my mail as soon as I heard it was delivered and immediately booked a flight home for that Thursday. It had been over six years since I had had the ability to leave the United States and visit my home country. I had missed weddings, baptisms, and funerals. I had missed Christmases, New Year's Days, Mother’s Days, Father’s Days, birthdays, and all sorts of joyous and grievous occasions. I had missed my grandfather Salvador’s passing and funeral. I had welcomed nieces and nephews, born while I could not travel home. Spending important days apart from my family was incredibly hard. I think of that when I recognize how difficult this year is for so many.
We have much to lament: the rise of COVID-19 cases and deaths; the ongoing killings of Black and brown people in the U.S. at the hands of the state; the negligence in dealing with the great disparities that make this health crisis particularly acute in Black, Indigenous, and communities of color; the extended election season that was filled with harmful discourse and abusive behavior; careless gathering practices; and the continuous stress of living through a pandemic. We long for a special time of comfort and joy with our loved ones this holiday season — and our nation’s top health officials say that, too, is dangerous. That anticipated separation will have an impact on our souls. Our traditions will need to be mourned and reimagined.
Some have long been familiar with the concept. Many Native American people have been lifting their lament on Thanksgiving Day through a National Day of Mourning, which honors native ancestors and condemns the genocide inflicted upon them, the theft of Native American lands, and the constant erasure and attack on Native American cultures. Their lament begs us to reconsider the history we celebrate, to examine the origin of our traditions, and to reimagine a new way of being together with one another. Some are separated from their families due to immigrant detention. Behind bars and alongside other detained people, many immigrants in detention facilities often lean on prayer and songs and on each other to make it through the holidays. A visit from a family member may be completely out of the question, as they sometimes live in a different country or have not been granted a privileged immigration status and therefore cannot approach a detention facility. In the absence of family, letters and memories shared with others at detention centers sustain the spirit.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend celebrating the holidays only with the people you live with. In this recommendation, I hear a resigned invitation to make it work with what we have. Let us draw lessons from those who have long had to make it work. And in that, I offer a prayer.
A liturgy as we mourn and reimagine this holiday season
Leader: God who sees and accompanies, be near to us. The pain of this year is too much, the losses too many to bear. Look upon our broken bodies and our broken world. As we journey through this season more alone than we imagined, help us experience your presence.
People: God who sees and accompanies, be near to us.
Leader: God who sees and holds, see the eyes that cry, the arms that long to embrace. See the empty chairs beside us and the table all set. Hear the empty rooms and the quiet place. Fill this empty space with glimpses of you.
People: God who sees and holds, embrace us.
Leader: God who sees and cares, see the eyes that fail to see and the hands that steal. See the ways we have created places with no tables and no chairs. See our siblings in immigrant detention who will spend the holidays alone. Free them from this peril. Free us from the greed that motivates our detention system.
People: God who sees and cares, have mercy on us.
Leader: God who sees those who resist and values their lives as sacred, show us the ways we have contributed to the stealing of lands, the genocide of Native American people, and the attacks on Native American cultures.
People: Help us see as you see.
Leader: God who sees those who resist and values their lives as sacred, show us the ways we have failed to value and protect the lives of our Black, Indigenous, and siblings of color in the systems that administer public safety, health care, education, and the economy. Help us create new bonds of solidarity that will lead to instituting new ways to care for one another that honor the image of God in all and particularly in those in whom it has been denied.
People: Help us see as you see.
Leader: God who sees and dreams, give us your vision for beloved community where no one lacks, no one fears, and where all creation is satisfied. Give us courage to remain alive and aware to you, to people around us far and near, and to the world in this season, holding the grief of all we see along with the hope for which we wait.
People: Help us be as you are.
Leader: God who sees. Watch over this world.
All: God who sees and accompanies, be near to us.
Sunday, November 22, 2020
Canticle: A Song to the Lamb
Canticle: A Song to the Lamb
Revelation 4:11, 5:9-10, 13
Splendor and honor and kingly power *
are yours by right, O Lord our God,
For you created everything that is, *
and by your will they were created and have their being;
And yours by right, O Lamb that was slain, *
for with your blood you have redeemed for God,
From every family, language, people, and nation, *
a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
And so, to him who sits upon the throne, *
and to Christ the Lamb,
Be worship and praise, dominion and splendor, *
for ever and for evermore.
A POEM FOR THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING
A POEM FOR THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING
See how this infant boy
lifted himself down
into his humble crèche
and laid his tender glove of skin
against splintered wood—
found refuge in a rack
of straw—home
that chilly dawn,
in sweetest silage,
those shriven stalks.
This outcast king lifted
himself high upon his savage cross,
extended the regal banner
of his bones, draping himself
upon his throne—his battered feet,
his wounded hands not fastened
there by nails but sewn
by the strictest thorn of love.
Pamela Cranston
Saturday, November 21, 2020
Online Worship Links for November 22, 26, and 29
☩ Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church - Cathedral Road ☩
Online Worship Links for November 22, 26, and 29
Sunday
22 November 2020 ~ 10am ~ Online
Service of Morning Prayer for Christ the King Sunday at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church
Click HERE or https://youtu.be/ZojnugYvaCo
Prayers, Sermon by The Rev. Peter M. Carey and music from Jonathan Stark
Thursday
26 November 2020 ~ 10am ~ Online
Service of Thanksgiving at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church
Click HERE or https://youtu.be/gAV2ueIFXzk
Sunday
29 November 2020 ~ 10am ~ Online
Service of Morning Prayer for Advent 1 at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church
On our Church’s YouTube channel, click HERE
The Collect for Christ the King Sunday
Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Collect for Thanksgiving Day
Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Collect for the First Sunday of Advent
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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22 November 2020 Service for the Feast of Christ the King
from St. Paul’s Cathedral, London
Click HERE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzPkxYVPurc
22 November 2020 Service of Holy Eucharist
in the Diocese of Pennsylvania with Bishop Gutierrez
Click HERE https://episcopalpa.online.church/ or
Click HERE on the Diocese’s YouTube Channel
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Carols from King’s College Cambridge
HERE or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVguSWYwSsA
Handel Messiah
Full Concert performed in Sydney Town Hall, Australia
HERE or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsu4lOshwcE