News from the Congregation May 6, 2022
‘‘ ‘Traveling in Israel’ ; ‘Reflections on Mother’s Day’ ” | May 22 Dean Daniels’ Coffee-Hour Celebration, Volunteer at CCC’s Sunday Soup Kitchen, Aid for Ukraine, Columbarium Access | Sunday Programs: 8:30am Genesis Bible Study (Zoom-Returns May 22), 10:30am Worship Service - In-Person and Online, 7:00pm Compline | Weekday Programs: M-S Morning and Evening Prayer (Zoom), Wednesday: 7:30pm Romans Bible Study (Zoom - Returns May 18)
Greetings from Israel! I took the picture below from a boat on the Sea of Galilee looking west toward Mount Arbel, which is on the left.
From the first moment at the airport, this journey has challenged me. Our guides have insisted that this trip is neither religious tourism nor a vacation, but a pilgrimage. I have been thinking about what this means in the first few days here. All of us are clergy on this trip, and so, to visit the sites of Jesus' early ministry has made us reflect deeply on our own ministry contexts. It has also helped us appreciate Scripture in a different way. Seeing the ruins of towns like Capernaum and Magdala has made the life of Jesus become more real to us.
Yet, in a way, the story also becomes more unbelievable. How did Jesus have such a world historical impact coming out of these insignificant and obscure towns along the northwest corner of this freshwater lake?
We have also been confronted with the history of modern Israel. Our pilgrimage coincides with Israeli Independence Day, so there have been fireworks and exuberant celebrations on the streets of Tiberias, where we are staying. At the same time, one of our guides is a Palestinian Christian, so we have also had to grapple with the complicated history of modern Palestine, which, in turn, stands upon an even more complex and contested prior history.
This pilgrimage is taking us back to the very beginnings of our faith, which is helping us to see the present in a new light.
A Message from the Wardens
Senior Warden Marsha Ra reflects on Mother’s Day
This Sunday is Mothers Day. It is a very secular holiday in the United States and I have always found it difficult—so much sentimentality. It presents a view of women seen through a gauzy pink filter. It conjures up scenes of breakfast in bed, chocolate and roses. This feels so wrong. There is nothing pink and fuzzy about giving birth, raising kids, and fighting for the best for one’s children. There was nothing pink and fuzzy about my own mother, or many of the women we meet in the Bible who are mothers. Think about the Syro-Phoenician woman who demanded that Jesus heal her child. Think of Deborah the Judge, or Judith who cut off the head of the enemy Holofernes. Think of Rahab, the prostitute in the Second Book of Joshua who helped the Israelite spies. She appears in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus so she must have been a mother. Many of the heroines are never identified as mothers: Esther, Mary Magdalene, Martha and Mary of Bethany. My favorite mother in the Bible is Naomi. Her relationship with her daughter-in-law was a model of love and acceptance of the “other.” When I was married, my mother-in-law and I did not speak the same language but we were crazy about each other, and I often thought of Naomi and Ruth.
The fact that I have never had children, that it wasn’t a possibility for me, as well as my conviction that I would have been a terrible mother has made Mother’s Day at times an opportunity to wallow in jealousy and resentment. I think of Hannah in the first book of Samuel, who suffered because she couldn’t have children, even though her husband loved her dearly and didn’t care. She ended up with a child, of course, but I would have liked the story better if she hadn’t. She would have been someone that I could identify with. So what is the childless woman to do with Mother’s Day?
In the mail today, I received a lovely Mother’s Day card from the Fistula Foundation, a charity I have supported for many years. The foundation began in Ethiopia and supports hospitals in the third world where doctors perform surgery on women who have acquired terrible injuries giving birth—injuries that leave them incontinent and unable to participate in any way in their societies because they stink. Their husbands often return them to their families. In some cases the families build a separate hut for them so that they don’t have to come into the house and befoul it. Learning about this from a film about 10 years ago, I was so moved that I began sending checks annually to this very highly rated charity. For every $600 donated, one woman, a mother, has her life changed. I will never meet any of these women, and they live in societies so different from ours. Yet simple human empathy moved me to help them in a modest way. How many women have I personally helped, through the simple act of picking up a pen and writing a check? They weren’t given breakfast in bed, roses or pink lingerie: they were given their lives back. It is all that I can do for these mothers on the other side of the world. And somehow that rates me a Mother’s Day card from a healed women in Zambia named Mbala! It makes me very happy.
NEWS FROM THE CATHEDRAL - Cathedral of Saint John the Divine (stjohndivine.org)
GOODBYE TO DEAN DANIELS
Sunday, May 22: Coffee Hour Celebration for the Dean
When: After the 10:30 AM service; Where: Cathedral Nave
Sunday, May 29: The Dean's final Sunday service
The Bishop of New York will preach.
Columbarium Visits - Please Schedule in Advance
Due to cleaning and ongoing construction at the Cathedral, some areas may occasionally be inaccessible. Anyone wishing to visit a loved one in the Columbarium is strongly encouraged to schedule their visit in advance via this Columbarium Visit Registration form.
HUMANITARIAN RELIEF FOR UKRAINE
Episcopal Relief & Development is supporting Action by Churches Together (ACT Alliance) as it provides critical assistance to support people affected by violence in Ukraine. Working through ACT member Hungarian Interchurch Aid (HIA) and other local organizations, ACT Alliance is providing emergency assistance such as food, shelter, water and basic supplies to refugees and people displaced within Ukraine. Donations to Episcopal Relief & Development’s Ukraine Crisis Response Fund will help the organization and its partners continue to provide assistance to people displaced by the crisis in Ukraine.
NEWS FROM THE DIOCESE Home - Episcopal Diocese of New York (dioceseny.org)
NEWS FROM THE COMMUNITY
NEWS FROM THE VESTRY
GIVE/SERVE
Questions about Realm, the Congregation’s Online Hub for Giving, Volunteering, and Reaching Out to One Another
The Admin team would love to hear from you. Whether you need help making the shift to online donations, setting up your account, or just want to know what Realm can do for you, please contact Laura and Bob at this email address: info@saintsaviour.org
CCC - Volunteer Opportunity at Sunday Soup Kitchen
Join us at CCC's Sunday Soup Kitchen (8:30 am - 11:00 am) to help prepare and distribute food.. Please CLICK HERE to sign up! Shifts are open through the second week in June. Thank you so much for volunteering!
THIS SUNDAY, May 8, 2022
In-Person Worship at the Cathedral
10:00 am - Doors to Cathedral open.
10:30 am - Eucharist Service (apprx. 1 hour)
11:30 am - All are Welcome Coffee Hour
7:00 pm - Choral Compline
The Cathedral requires those entering its buildings to show proof of vaccination and to wear a mask.
You can also watch a Livestream of the Cathedral Worship Service
On Facebook: http://facebook.com/StJohnDivineNYC
On the Cathedral website: http://www.stjohndivine.org
WEEKLY CATHEDRAL CONGREGATION PROGRAMS
Monday-Saturday | 8:30 AM Morning Prayer | 5:30 PM Evening Prayer
Wednesday 7:30 pm Bible Study | Paul’s Letter to the Romans | Congregation Zoom Link (Returns: May 18)
Sunday 8:30 am Bible Study | Genesis| Congregation Zoom Link (Returns May 22)