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May 2021 Mustardseed

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May 2021 Mustardseed - A GRAIN OF MUSTARDSEED - Dear Friends in Christ: May 2021 Notwithstanding the continued strictures of the COVID-19 pandemic (vaccinations numbers are up, but so are reported infections in our County and region), May brings a season of religious feasting and celebration: We call to remembrance many of the saving acts of our Lord and Savior; we commemorate the lives and sacrifices of saints and saintly brethren, we pray, as is particularly timely this year, for God’s renewal of His creation. St. Philip and St. James’ Feast is kept with Holy Communion on Saturday, the 1st. Rogation Sunday is on the 9th and we observe the day by singing the Litany in Procession around the precincts of our property (current protocols allow to ‘belt it out’ when outside and wearing masks…so let’s do our best!). In so doing we pray God’s blessing upon his creation in this place wherein He has called us to proclaim Christ’s renewing grace. The three Rogation Days (from the Latin “rogare:” “to ask/pray”) follow, bringing us to the close of Eastertide on Ascension Day on Thursday the 13th (Communion services at 10:00 am and 7:00 pm). Ten days of Ascensiontide carry us to Whitsunday (Pentecost) on the 23rd and the octave of that feast gives us Whit Monday, Whit Tuesday and then three Ember Days on the 26th, 28th and 29th. The Feast of the Holy and Undivided Trinity is kept on Sunday the 30th. We round out the month by praying for the repose of the souls of those who have given their lives in the service of our Nation with a requiem on Memorial Day, May 31st at 8:00 am (not our usual 10:00 time as Fr. Rix, as Narberth Fire Department Chaplain, leads the Borough Memorial Service at 9:00 am that day). Each of these celebrations and seasons are meant to recall us to Christ’s saving work and the meaning of that work for our lives in the faith. Rogationtide calls us to a prayerful preparation for the celebration of our Lord’s Ascension wherein our glorified human nature, body and soul, enters into the very life of God the Holy Trinity. Likewise Ascensiontide, as it was for the original Disciples, is a time for us to be “in the temple, praising and blessing God…continu(ing) with one accord in prayer and supplication.” (St. Luke 24:53, Acts 1:14) It is a time for us to contemplate the mystery of our afore-mentioned fellowship with God, recalling that as Christ took our nature into the Godhead, so the Godhead will (and does) dwell with us through the coming of the Comforter, the object of our Whitsuntide celebrations on Pentecost (the 23rd), Whit Monday and Whit Tuesday (Communion services at 10:00 am each of those days), the Whitsun Ember Days (praying for the Spirit to call and inspire men to the vocation of ordained ministry) and the remainder of the Octave. It’s certainly appropriate to life’s current circumstances that we pray the Holy Spirit’s reviving power to renew all of us, body and soul, who have been called by Christ into the fellowship of God the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost. Trinity Sunday (the 30th) reinforces that truth: The life of the Trinity has become our life as we seek to do the will of the Father, taught us by the Son in the power of the Holy Ghost. The month is really one, great lesson of the justifying and sanctifying grace of God for our lives of faith: Philip and James at the beginning remind us of how that divine life ought to manifest itself in our lives and Memorial Day at the end does the same, teaching us “greater love hath no man than this; that a man lay down his life for his friends”. May our prayer and sacrificial witness on all these holy occasions and at all times be tangible proofs of our desire to be named in God’s naming of Himself; to die to sin and rise to the new life of God the Holy Trinity. Yours in Christ, Edward L. Rix NEW AUDIO-VIDEO SYSTEM Thanks to the generosity of your fellow parishioners, we have installed a new system of video cameras in the main church and in the chapel. The church system is integrated into our existing audio and the chapel camera carries its own microphone. When the system goes on-line shortly (if not before you’ve received this newsletter), you will note that the church system in particular has a number of preset angles that will focus on the altar, lectern, pulpit, choir, litany desk, etc. as required. This will require some training on the part of ushers (who will control the camera) but we hope it will be a vast improvement in terms of video and sound quality for those who must watch services from home. LATEST COVID-19 PROTOCOLS There really aren’t many changes to report from the Diocese in terms of current health and safety protocols. We remain at 50% capacity, allowing us over 100 people at a service which is far more than our current needs require. We are still required to practice social distancing and mask wearing during services (look for those cordoned-off pews to remain for the immediate future). We still need to keep a discreet list of attendees which is destroyed every few weeks (so keep letting Fr. Rix know ahead of time of your intention to attend services). With increases in completed vaccinations there is the possibility of resuming some in-person educational ministries (Adult study groups in particular) and the return to facility usage by some of our Community partners, but at all of these sharing of food is still not permitted (so the Ascension Day Dessert Party and the Parish BBQ will again not be held this year). “The kingdom of God…is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.” St. Luke 13:18-19 .
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