Architecture of the Imagination

Thursdays (see dates below), 7 p.m.

Architecture of the Imagination is a five-part film series that treats five elements of constructed space: the door, the staircase, the window, the bridge, and the tower. It explores the imaginative and archetypal dimensions of each element as they appear in film, psychology, religion and dreams. The films will be preceded by a look at how each element figures in the scriptural imagination.

The series was created by award winning filmmaker and artist Mark Kidel and originally aired on the BBC. (Read a review from 1993.) It was most recently featured in the Lunch Matters film series at the Rubin Museum as part of their exhibit and exploration of Carl Jung's Red Book. Permission to use the films in this format has been generously granted by the artist. Facilitated by the Rev. John Merz in the Parish Hall at 7 p.m. All are welcome. Each film runs 35 minutes, with discussion to follow for those interested.

The Door Thursday, February 11
The Staircase Thursday, February 18
The Window Thursday, February 28
The Bridge Thursday, March 4
The Tower Thursday, March 25

Labels: activities, film

River and Tides: Working with Time

Tuesday, January 26, 7 p.m., in the Parish Hall, 12 W. 11th Street

Between the celebration of Christmas, when many go all out with parties, revelry and the giving of gifts, and Lent, when we take our hair-shirts to the dry-cleaner, place tacks in our shoes and earnestly repent our sins, sits the odd season of Epiphany.

This is the season of "revealing" or "manifestation" when Jesus’ identity — his life’s work and purpose — becomes clearer to the disciples (and to us). Epiphanic moments usually happen all at once. These are "Aha!" moments where the quotidian is revealed to have extraordinary depth and beauty. To assist us in our epiphanic musings, we will watch a film documenting the creative process of the renowned contemporary artist Andy Goldsworthy. Mr. Goldsworthy utilizes natural elements: ice, clay, cast off branches, to craft works that draw the mind to the extraordinary processes of nature and the ephemeral beauty of our world.

Popcorn and drinks provided. Discussion will follow if people want to talk about it.

Labels: activities, film

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL): What is it, and why do we now use it?
Wednesday, January 13th from 7:00-8:00 p.m. in the ground floor of the Rectory
The RCL is the sequence of lessons that we use at Ascension in our Sunday worship, and in Advent, 2010 will be the only Lectionary permissible in worship in the Diocese of New York and throughout the Episcopal Church USA. The RCL is a work of The Consultation on Common Texts, an ecumenical consultation of liturgical scholars and denominational representatives from the United States and Canada who produce liturgical texts for use in common by North American Christian Churches. Find out more about how the RCL enriches our worship.

The Social Concerns and Action Committee meeting originally scheduled for the third Sunday of the month has been postponed until Sunday, January 24th at 12:45 p.m.

The Annual Meeting of the Parish will take place Sunday, January 31, following the 11 a.m. service. This is the time when we hear more about the status of the parish, where we have been in the past year and where we would like to go in 2010. We will also elect four new members to the vestry. Mark your calendars now, and plan to join us.

Ascension's Recovery Eucharist focuses specifically on the brokenness that comes from addiction, both for the afflicted and the affected and the significance of God's gift of love, grace and understanding in the midst of it. Join us for music, prayers and communion.
Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 4 p.m.
Our preacher is Father Mark Collins from Christ and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church.

Preparing yourself for a Holy Lent
"The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting" (The Book of Common Prayer, 1979, pp. 264-265). Lent is sometimes referred to as a pilgrimage or a journey. Very few people set out on any kind of journey without packing a bag. What are the things that we need to include in our Lenten luggage? Both the Eastern and Western Churches have long traditions of a pre-Lenten season that is designed to set the stage for keeping a productive and holy Lent. Wednesday, February 10th from 7:00-8:00 p.m. in the ground floor of the Rectory.


In honor of the recognition of Absalom Jones, the first African-American ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church in February 1804, the Social Concerns and Action Committee offers a Reparations Workshop on February 14th at 12:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall The New York Diocesan Reparations Committee was created by Diocesan Convention in response to three 2006 General Convention resolutions calling on dioceses to respond to the Transatlantic Slave Trade and its aftermath of segregation and discrimination. The Reparations Committee of the Diocese of New York will be conducting this workshop that will include the showing of a DVD and discussion. A light lunch will be served.

The parish's Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper — a tradition for many Anglican churches on the day before Ash Wednesday, also known as Mardi Gras — will be in the Parish Hall on February 16 at 7 p.m. Bring your appetite — we have to use up all that rich food in the pantry before our Lenten fasts begin the next day!

Voices of Ascension — the professional choral ensemble in residence at the Church of the Ascension — has received a Grammy nomination for Song of the Stars, a recording featuring Catalan composers Pablo Casals, Enrique Granados, Enric Morera, Manuel Oltra, and Manuel Blancafort.

Described by the Wall Street Journal as "real cause for celebration," Song of the Stars was released in June 2009 and features Cant de les estrelles, a never-recorded work for chorus, piano and organ by Catalan composer Enric (Enrique) Granados. Song of the Stars hit the Billboard classical charts and was described by the Wall Street Journal's Stuart Isacoff as "gorgeous in every way — from the engineering quality to the impeccable performances of both singers and instrumentalists."

Selections from Song of the Stars including Casals's Recordare, Virgo Mater, Nigra Sum and Enric Morera's Ave Maria will be featured in the Voices of Ascension "Christmas Candlelight Concert," Tuesday, December 15, 8:00 pm at the Church of the Ascension.

Conductor Dennis Keene, Voices of Ascension and organist Mark Kruczek collaborated with pianist and Granados scholar Douglas Riva and Naxos to produce the North American premiere performance and recording of Granados's Cant de les estrelles, Salve Regina, and Escena Religiosa. Cant de les estrelles received its premiere in 1911 at Barcelona's Palau de la Música Catalana with Granados at the keyboard. The manuscript was never published, and was only recovered in 2004 through the efforts of Mr. Riva and Granados biographer Walter Clark among others. Works by Catalan composers Pablo Casals, Enrique Morera, Manuel Oltra, and Manuel Blancafort complete the recording.

Artistic Director Dennis Keene describes the work as "hauntingly beautiful. We are thrilled to add Song of the Stars to our repertoire and discography." Voices of Ascension has made 12 recordings with Delos including Beyond Chant which was on the Billboard Classical Chart for almost one year. Dennis Keene and Voices of Ascension's recording of the Duruflé Requiem was described by organist Marie-Madeleine Duruflé as the "perfect interpretation of my husband's music."

All Voices of Ascension recordings are available at their concerts, on the Web site www.voicesofascension.org and on Amazon.com.

Labels: music, voices of ascension

Ascension's Social Concerns and Action Committee is collecting donations of blankets (new) and coats (clean) in adult sizes ranging from small to large for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) homeless youth served by the Streetworks drop-in centers on the Lower East Side and Harlem. Streetwork clients (children, teens and young adults up to age 24) are often victims of violence and abuse. At Streetworks they can feel safe, empowered, cared for and encouraged as they move from crisis to confidence. Please drop off blankets and coats at the basket in the Nave on Sundays, or at the Parish House during regular office hours.

Join us for a presentation and discussion in the Parish Hall (12 W. 11th St.) on Thursday, October 22nd from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with Helen Grace Wangusa, the Anglican Communion Observer at the U.N.

According to the Web site for the office of the U.N. Anglican Observer:

A lay woman from Uganda, Hellen Grace Wangusa holds a BA (Hons), Diploma Ed (Hons) and an MA in Modern Letters. Her undergraduate studies were taken at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, where she worked as a teaching assistant and later as a lecturer for the Literature Department. After leaving this post, Wangusa worked as the National Women's coordinator for the Anglican Church of Uganda and was responsible for developing national programs, fundraising and managing a staff of 27 women. She was also the national link person for the global Mothers' Union movement and the Anglican Communion.

From 1997-2004, Wangusa worked as coordinator of African Women's Economic Policy Network (AWEPON), a faith based women's organization in Africa that also co-ordinates the UN's Millennium Campaign for Eastern Africa. In this role, she advocated for policies that meet the needs of women, children and those from marginalized groups, and ensured that those most affected were central in influencing economic decision making.

Wangusa is one of the founding members of AWEPON, as well as Gender and Economic Research in Africa (GERA), and the Council for Economic Empowerment of Women in Africa (CEEWA). She successfully reactivated two organizations that had been closed: The Joint Mothers' Union and Women's office in the Province of the Church of Uganda and AWEPON.

With her experience as a representative to the United Nations for the World Council of Churches (WCC), Wangusa said she will be able to deepen her contribution to the Anglican Communion as a key player in promoting International Relations at the UN through Peace, Dialogue and Diplomacy.

openhousenewyork hosts year-round educational programs celebrating New York City’s built environment, culminating in America’s largest architecture and design event, the Annual openhousenewyork Weekend. And this year, October 10-11, the Church of the Ascension, as one of New York's pre-eminent sites of sacred architecture, will be hosting OHNY tours each afternoon, from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. OHNY volunteers — as well as volunteers from the parish — will be on hand to point out some of Ascension's architectural treasures. For more information about openhousenewyork, visit their Web site. For more information about Ascension's architectural and artistic history, you've come to the right place.

Labels: architecture, art, New York, tours

The 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church convenes today, Tuesday, July 7, in Anaheim, California. (Ascension parishioners Michael Macdonald and Sarah Johnson will be attending the General Convention.) Both the Episcopal News Service and the Church Pension Fund Web sites will provide more authoritative information about the various deliberations and decisions made during the Convention. Visit these sites for more information about this triennial gathering of Episcopalians: bishops in the House of Bishops, and clergy and laypeople in the House of Deputies.

Labels: convention, ECUSA

Ascension Outreach Presents: The Russell Branca Quintet, a fundraiser to benefit the Ascension Outreach Food Pantry, 7 p.m. in the Parish Hall, $25 suggested donation, all donations go directly to the purchase of food.

Join us!

Upcoming Meetings: Save the dates and spread the word!

June 4 Thursday evening Special Guest Speaker, Ascension Parish Hall
Career Resilience: Planning for Success

Guest speaker Jim Borland, PhD, a distinguished career counselor, shares his perspective on what it takes to succeed today, based on his extensive experience working with individuals and corporations, not-for-profits and public service
organizations. Ascension Professional Network Group is pleased to welcome him, so mark your calendar, invite your friends and spread the word! Learn more about Jim at http://www.drborland.com. 6:30-8:30 pm, Parish Hall.

 

June 14 Sunday
Dealing with the Psychological Challenges of Career Transition

Fellow Ascension parishioner Stanley Weinberg, a highly experienced psychologist, leads the discussion. Come with your questions and bring a friend who’s thinking about career transition. 1:00pm in the ground floor of the rectory, 7 West 10th Street.

 

July 12 Sunday
Am I called to ordination?

If you think that you may have a call to the ordained life as a priest or a deacon, or simply want to find out more, then join us for an informal discussion about the process of ordination at 1:00pm in the ground floor of the rectory, 7 West 10th Street. Thanks to Fr. Mark Hummel, who will lead the discussion.

Ascension parishioner Janine Economides is blogging her reflections on the scripture lessons of the Daily Office, the daily devotional practice of Morning and/or Evening Prayer in the Episcopal Church (and other Anglican churches) for individuals and groups.

We've added a link to her blog on the navigation bar that appears everywhere else on this site (EXCEPT here on the blog; a technical limitation of the blog publishing tool) under "Links > Scripture > Daily Bible Study." Or you can bookmark it directly: http://dailyexegesis.blogspot.com/.

In the comments section, add your reflections to Janine's regarding the lesson chosen from that day's lectionary. Such online discussions can help each of us who pray the Daily Office connect with fellow pilgrims engaging in this same prayer discipline.

Labels: daily office, scripture

Sunday, March 8, April 5, May 3

A social network focused on career enhancement and career transition, through the exchange of information, ideas and contacts, among members and with occasional guest speakers. The group kicked off January 5 with guest speaker Brad Agry; the next meetings are scheduled Sundays at 12:45 p.m.: Feb 8, Mar 8, Apr 5 and May 3, in the ground floor conference room. All are welcome to attend. For more information, please contact Mary Kay Rafferty: 212-691-9018, or mkrafferty@yahoo.com

Labels: networking

Do you want to explore issues of faith, or a spiritual life, or relationship with God?

• I want to find out more about baptism.
• Although already baptized, I want to become a part of Ascension’s life.
• I have been baptized and confirmed in another tradition, but want to become an Episcopalian.
• I have always been an Episcopalian, but I want to deepen my understanding of what it means to be an Episcopalian.

The conversations about each evening's topic begin over a light supper, followed by a presentation by the clergy. Each evening ends with the prayers for the close of the day. The first four "Discovery Classes" are open to all. The final four "Initiation Classes" are intended for those seeking Baptism, Confirmation, Reception or Reaffirmation on Ascension Sunday, May 17th at the 11:00 a.m. Eucharist. Please sign up in the Parish Hall.


Classes:
March 24 - Where did the Episcopal Church come from, and how is it organized?

March 31 - How is the Bible the living word of God?

April 07 - What do Episcopalians do in Church?

April 14 - What do we have to believe in order to be a Christian?


Initiation Classes


April 21 - How did God become important in your life?

April 28 - Where does Ascension fit into the New York church scene?

May 5 - How do you make your spiritual life real?

May 12 -How do you get ready to join the Episcopal Church?

Labels: adult education

Ascension parishioner (and national Episcopal Church employee) Sarah Johnson started a blog a few months ago to generate a discussion among Episcopalians about the lessons they're going to hear the next Sunday in church. Take a look and give next Sunday's lessons a thought ahead of time. You may hear them very differently and with new-found apreciation after you've reflected on them and discussed on the Revised Common Lectionary Bible Study blog.

Please bear with us as we complete a redesign of the Ascension Web site. Some links don't yet work, others need to be added, and some pages are still in the process of being redesigned. But come back soon to see us once the dust settles!

Psalm 27 / Hebrews 4:1-16 / Romans 8:1-11

When without teares I looke on Christ, I see
only a story of some passion
Which any common eye may wonder on
butt if I look through tears Christ smiles on mee
yea there I see my selfe: and from that tree
he bendeth downe to my devotione
And from his side the blood doth spinn, whereon
My hart, my mouth, mine eyes, still sucking bee.
Like as in Optick workes,* one thing appears
In open gaze, in Closer otherwise:
Then since tears see the best I aske in teares
Lord either thaw mine eyes to tears, or freeze
my teares to eyes, or lett my hart tears bleede
or bringe, where eyes, nor tears, nor blood shall neede.

— William Alabaster (1568-1640)

*Optick workes: drawings or constructions designed according to theories of optics or perspective.

Psalm 22 / 1 Peter 1:10-20 / John 13:36-38

The Agonie

    Philosophers have measur'd mountains,
Fathom'd the depths of seas, of states, of kings,
Walk'd with a staffe to heav'n, and traced fountains:
    But there are two vast, spacious things,
The which to measure it doth more behove:
Yet few there are that sound them; Sinne and Love.

    Who would know Sinne, let him repair
Unto mount Olivet; there shall he see
A man so wrung with pains, that all his hair,
    His skinne, his garments bloudie be.
Sinne is that presse and vice*, which forceth pain
To hunt his cruell food through ev'ry vein.

    Who knows not Love, let him assay
And taste that juice, which on the crosse a pike
Did set again abroach;** then let him say
    If ever he did taste the like.
Love is that liquour sweet and most divine,
Which my God feels as bloud; but I, as wine.

— George Herbert (1593-1633)

*vice: vise, the tool.
**abroach: to pierce (a cask, etc.) so as to let a liquor flow out

Psalm 102 / 1 Corinthians 10:14-17, 11:27-32 / John 17:1-11

Hunger and thirst, O Christ, for sight of thee,
Came between me and all the feasts of earth.
Give thou thyself the Bread, thyself the Wine,
Thou, sole provision for the unknown way.
Long hunger wasted the world wanderer,
With sight of thee may he be satisfied.

— Radbod, Bishop of Utrecht (d. 917)

(tr. Helen Waddell, from Mediaeval Latin Lyrics, Penguin, 1968)

Psalm 55 / Philippians 4:1-13 / John 12:27-36

Look on thy God, Christ hidden in our flesh,
A bitter word, the cross, and bitter sight:
Hard rind without, to hold the heart of heaven.
Yet sweet it is; for God upon that tree
Did offer up his life: upon that rood
My Life hung, that my life might stand in God.
Christ, what am I to give Thee for my life?
Unless take from Thy hands the cup they hold,
To cleanse me with the precious draught of death.
What shall I do? My body to be burned?
Make myself vile? The debt's not paid out yet.
What'er I do, it is but I and Thou,
And still do come short, still must Thou pay
My debts, O Christ; for debts Thyself hadst none.
What love may balance Thine? My Lord was found
In fashion like a slave, so that His slave
Might find himself in fashion like his Lord.
Think you the bargain's hard, to have exchanged
The transient for the eternal, to have sold
Earth to buy Heaven? More dearly God bought me.

— Paulinus, Bishop of Nola (353-431)

(tr. Helen Waddell, from Mediaeval Latin Lyrics, Penguin, 1968)

Psalm 6 / Philippians 3:15-21 / John 12:20-26

Grief

I tell you, hopeless grief is passionless;
That only men incredulous of despair,
Half-taught in anguish, through the midnight air
Beat upward to God's throne in loud access
Of shrieking and reproach. Full desertness,
In souls as countries, lieth silent-bare
Under the blanching, vertical eye-glare
Of the absolute Heavens. Deep-hearted man, express
Grief for thy Dead in silence like to death —
Most like a monumental statue set
In everlasting watch and moveless woe
Till itself crumble to the dust beneath.
Touch it; the marble eyelids are not wet.
If it could weep, it would arise and go.

— Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)

Psalm 51:1-18 / Philippians 3:1-4 / John 12:9-19

I wake and feel the fell* of dark, not day,
    What hours, O what black hours we have spent
    This night! what sights you, heart, saw; ways you went!
And more must, in yet longer light's delay.
With witness I speak this. But where I say
    Hours I mean years, mean life. And my lament
    Is cries countless, cries like dead letters sent
To dearest him that lives alas! away.

I am gall, I am heartburn. God's most deep decree
Bitter would have me taste: my taste was me;
    Bones built in me, flesh filled, blood brimmed the curse.
Selfyeast of spirit a dull dough sours. I see
The lost are like this, and their scourge to be
    As I am mine, their sweating selves; but worse.

— Gerard Manley Hopkins (1884-1889)

*fell: pelt, an animal's skin; also gall, bitterness.

Psalm 144 / Romans 11:25-36 / John 11:28-44

Sonnet of Black Beauty

Black beauty, which above that common light,
    Whose power can no colors here renew
    But those which darkness can again subdue,
Dost still remain unvaried to the sight,
And like an object equal to the view
    Art neither changed with day nor hid with night;
    When all those colors which the world calls bright,
And which old poetry doth so pursue,
Are with the night so perishèd and gone
    That of their being there remains no mark,
Thou still abidest so entirely one.
    That we may know thy blackness is a spark
Of light inaccessible, and alone
    Our darkness which can make us think it dark.

— Lord Herbert of Cherbury (1582-1648)

Psalm 143 / Romans 11:13-24 / John 11:1-27

Unprofitableness

How rich, O Lord! How fresh thy visits are!
'Twas but just now my bleak leaves hopeles hung
    Sullyed with dust and mud;
Each snarling blast shot through me, and did share*
Their Youth, and beauty, Cold showres nipt, and wrung
    Their spiciness, and bloud;
But since thou didst in one sweet glance survey
Their sad decays, I flourish, and once more
    Breath all perfumes, and spice;
I smell a dew like myrrh, and all the day
Wear in my bosome a full Sun; such store
    Hath one beame from thy Eys.
But, ah, my God! What fruit hast thou of this?
What one poor leaf did ever I yet fall
    To wait upon thy wreath?
Thus thou all day a thankless weed doest dress,
And when th'hast done, a stench, or fog is all
    The odour I bequeath.

— Henry Vaughan (1621?-1695)

*shear

Psalm 142 / Romans 11:1-12 / John 10:19-42

The mystery of God, of the Divine Redemption and of his infinite mercy is generally nebulous and unreal even to men of faith. Hence we do not have the courage or strength to respond to our vocation in its depth. We unconsciously falsify it, distort its true perspectives, and reduce our Christian life to a kind of genteel and social propriety. In such an event Christian perfection no longer consists in the arduous and strange fidelity of the spirit in the darkness of the night of faith. It becomes, in practice, a respectable conformity to what is commonly accepted as good in the society in which we live. The stress is then placed on exterior signs of respectability.

— Thomas Merton, "Life and Holiness." Image, August, 1969.

(contributed by Janine Economides; see March 16)

Psalm 130 / Romans 10:14-21 / John 10:1-18

"Out of the depths... ." We have all been there. From the depths of our being we cry out in the depth of suffering — whether caused by health, finances, human relations, intellectual, psychological or spiritual crisis, or some vague and indefinable angst, we cry out. And often we feel that God does not hear us, or, if He does, He does not choose to answer. And, to make things worse, we have all received bad advice about suffering. We have been told not to be selfish, to stiffen the upper lip, to think of others. "Why do you complain? Think of poor so-and-so, who... ." And, worst of all, we have been told that suffering is punishment for our sins.

But the Psalmist reassures us. Although no one can stand in the face of divine judgment, God forgives us. Having noted that, the poet turns to his anticipation of divine presence, waiting more eagerly for God than "those who watch for the morning." We expect a very special encounter, even from the very depths.

Our Lord states that he has come to give us life "more abundantly." The Greek term "perisson" denotes more than a cornucopia. It means "extraordinarily," "remarkably," "uncommonly," "in a far superior manner." It is more about "how" than "much." Perhaps our suffering is a part of this "abundant" life. And so we "wait" for the Lord.

— Liz Hill

Psalm 126 / Romans 10:1-13 / John 9:18-41

In trying times like these, our faith offers solace, comfort and a promise that all will be well.

"For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved" (Romans 10:10). It is doubly trying to believe today; the world seems to be working against us.

We are offered solace and also the promise of delivery from a time of trial. "He that goes forth weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him" (Psalm 126:6). We all have those "seeds" in our talents and skills. We must remember to make ourselves go out and plant those seeds.

"When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.' The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad" (Psalm 126:1-5). The Lord has indeed done great things for us Ascensionites, and we must remember this to survive times of trial.

We must persevere. "The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight, and asked them, ‘Is this your son who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?'"

— Frank Mackey

Psalm 35 / Romans 9:19-33 / John 9:1-17

At the end of today's Gospel reading the Pharisees disagree with each other about the nature of Jesus' power after he gave a blind man sight. To resolve the disagreement they ask the blind man, "What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?" The blind man replies, "He is a prophet."

It seems to me the Pharisees want to ground prophecy in experience. They assume that the beggar will know whether Jesus is righteous because he has personally experienced Jesus' miraculous power. However, as we read on, we learn that the Pharisees are not persuaded by the blind man's testimony about Jesus. They refuse to accept what he can teach them.

Like the Pharisees, we are confronted with the choice between the evidence of faith and the evidence of the world; and like the Pharisees, we must choose which we believe.

For me, this reading brings to mind the words of "Amazing Grace": "I was lost and now I am found, was blind and now I see." The price for true sight — grace — is high: you may be cast out. But the reward is greater: the gift of revelatory, redemptive vision.

— Martha Mitchell

Psalm 107:33-43 / Jeremiah 23:9-15 / John 6:60-71

What a crazy world the Lord has made. Who has the wisdom to understand it? A mentor of mine loves to call it the plane for the spiritually retarded.

In Psalm 107, David speaks of the inevitable vacillations of the physical world and says "by observing these things, we will understand the loving-kindness of the Lord." Jeremiah, a prophet himself, vehemently warns us not to listen to the prophets and priests. And finally, in the book of John, even Jesus seems to be intentionally trying to push us away with divisive, confusing and frightening parables filled with "hard sayings." He seems to say in verse 65 that we are predestined for heaven or hell.

I sat with these sayings for days waiting for some comfort and solace and only two things came to me.

When everything in Job's life had been destroyed or taken from him and he is sitting, literally on a dung heap, a passerby asks him what he thinks about God now. "The Lord God giveth and the Lord God taketh away" he says and continues, "blessed be the name of the Lord." Now there's a spiritual goal.

And when Jesus was asked, slyly, which is the greatest commandment, he responds unhesitatingly, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind and with all thy strength. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these things two hang all the law and the prophets."

So I guess the goal of life isn't to acquire and hold on to things...nor is it to seek wisdom, particularly from outside oneself. And even, finally, if I'm not chosen by God, and end in hell, I will still love. Love, love, love. Easy? No. Possible? Intermittently.

— Lewis White

Psalm 107:1-32 / Jeremiah 23:1-8 / John 6:52-59

All three readings set for this day center on giving thanks to God.

Only the first reading from the Psalms does this in an obvious way, cataloging a veritable litany of demonstrations of God's power and love for us. "So they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress" (REB) is repeated twice after its initial statement. Whether they are imprisoned for their personal misdoings, storm-tossed at sea, caught up in the national tragedy of Diaspora, or lost, hungry and thirsty in the desert wastes, the Lord sets them free, calms the storms, brings the exiles home and satisfies both hunger and thirst. The result is the injunction to all to "give thanks to the Lord for his enduring love and for the marvelous things he has done for mankind."

Jeremiah begins with the denunciation of those leaders who have brought calamity upon the nation by neglecting their duties as shepherds of the people. Yet even the denouncing prophet follows up with the declaration that the wondrous deeds of the Lord of the return from Egypt will be so exceeded by His hand's bringing the exiles to live on their own soil again. The thanks of the people will be so great that they will swear by the Lord who brought them home again, superseding swearing by the Lord who brought them out of Egypt. The Lord will appoint new shepherds, who will abolish fear, dismay and punishment.

John gives us a statement of Jesus proclaiming the Eucharistic feast as God's great gift, real manna from heaven, giving eternal life, not merely temporary sustenance. It is this Thanksgiving to the Father, the meaning of the word "Eucharist," that completes the daily readings. Enduring love, return from exile, dwelling in Christ and the Father, all this should certainly evoke in us the praise of God with thanksgiving for his love that endures forever.

— Dennis Weiscopf

Psalm 69:1-23 / Jeremiah 22:13-23 / John 6:41-51

In the age of airplanes, it is not easy to understand a religion whose founder got around by donkey. To me, the problem of grasping the Gospels' concepts is twofold:

There's the challenge of understanding how the people lived and the meaning of their stories and their figures of speech. I mean, how much do we really know about sheep? When I was teaching a second-grade Sunday school class, one of my favorite ideas was a unit on sheep. We talked about how stupid they are, how a shepherd protects them and keeps them moving. We manipulated samples of wool, ate lamb sausage, attended a sheep-shearing. And so one comes to understand this, from today's Jeremiah passage: "The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds." How much more desolate can it be?

The second is more difficult. I have trouble understanding the concept of sacrificing live animals to our God. The practice is bloody and violent. Even more violent to me is the idea that our God insisted on the very, very bloody death of his own son as a sacrifice. And the idea that Jesus knew that he was to be that bloody sacrifice. The only sacrifice story I relate to is the one about Abram and Isaac, and in that one God let the sacrifice escape. So why did His son have to die?

The passage from John makes so much more sense to me: Jesus is not the flesh and blood of the bloody sacrifice, but his flesh is the Bread of Life. Once again, we are called upon to understand a metaphor based on life two millennia ago. Bread was not just something to spread butter on: it was the staff of life. And when we read that the Israelites died even though they ate the manna from heaven, we understand that this is not just literal bread but "the spirit that gives life."

— Isabel Spencer

The Feast of the Annunciation
Psalm 110:1-5, Psalm 132 / Book of Wisdom 9:1-12 / John 1:9-14

Salvation to all that will is nigh;
That All, which alwayes is All everywhere,
Which cannot sinne, and yet all sinnes must beare,
Which cannot die, yet cannot chuse but die,
Loe, faithfull Virgin, yeelds himself to lye
In prison, in thy wombe; and though he there
Can take no sinne, nor thou give, yet he will weare
Taken from thence, flesh, which deaths force may trie.
Ere by the spheares time was created, thou
Wast in his minde, who is thy Sonne, and Brother;
Whom thou conceiv'st, conceiv'd; yea thou art now
Thy Makers maker, and thy Fathers mother;
Thou hast light in darke; and shut'st in little roome,
Immensity cloystered in thy deare wombe.

— John Donne (1572-1631) from "La Corona"

Psalm 97 / Jeremiah 17:19-27 / John 6:16-27

"It is I; be not afraid," Jesus says to his terrified disciples as he walks across the turbulent sea and steps into their small craft. This episode, from the Gospel of John and described with an economy of means, has come down to us as one of the archetypal miracles of the Jesus story. It shows Jesus, defying natural law, joining his followers to offer them comfort and protection.

In Psalm 97 we are presented with a stern and ferocious lord, described to us in detailed visual terms. He is surrounded by clouds and darkness; a fire proceeds him and burns up all his enemies; he melts mountains like wax.

Finally, in Jeremiah, the lord gives a strict admonition not to work or carry any burden on the Sabbath day. If it is observed, then kings and princes shall enter the gates and the city shall remain forever. But if disobeyed, a "fire will be kindled" and "shall devour the palaces" and "not be quenched."

As we navigate our small crafts through the great river of life, watching as a political and economic firestorm melts our palaces of commerce like mountains of wax and threatens our established social order with anarchy, it might be comforting to keep in our minds an image of Jesus, walking towards us across a storm-tossed sea, urging us not to be afraid, as he lightly steps into our little boat and stirs us towards dry ground.

— Matthew Snow

Psalm 89:1-18 / Jeremiah 16:10-21 /
John 6:1-15

Did God change?

Somewhere between the Old and New Testaments, did he suspect he was messing up as a parent? Did he have a symposium with Benjamin Spock and Lee Salk and decide to give up on corporal punishment and send us a little love instead?

In Psalm 89, the writer extols God's "steadfast love." His "faithfulness ... as firm as the heavens," praising Him for David and the covenant with His people. But, suddenly, at verse 38, God has "renounced the covenant," "spurned and rejected" David and the people. Yoiks!

Another example of apparently horrifying, capricious parenting comes up in our section from Jeremiah: "because you have behaved worse than your ancestors refusing to listen to me ... I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have known ... for I will show you no favor." However, in the next breath, God says that later, after the Babylonians and Egyptians finish bashing the Jews, he "will bring them back to their own land" that he "gave to their ancestors."

Segue to the New Testament, to John's account of the loaves and the fishes. Could there be a more generous, loving Father? He sends Jesus, not to knock our heads together, but to miraculously feed us — with love and compassion and forgiveness for our "stubborn evil will." Then again, there was Jesus' hideous murder — was that God ... or was that us?

Did God really change? Or is it our perception? There are still devout people who perceive a punishing, retributive hand in natural disasters, wars and disease. When "stuff happens" to me, personally, is it God? Is it me? Where do we draw the line? Do we draw a line? Or ... is there a devil in these details?

— Gretchen Dumler

Psalm 90 / Romans 6:12-23 / John 8:47-59

It's easy to think Paul is obsessed with sin and even sex when we hear this Epistle lesson. But in all likelihood, it's our Western minds that turn his arguments and analogies into the Church Lady's finger-wagging.

I think more than this, however, Paul's actually telling us not to obsess over sin, whatever form it takes. He's saying neither "if it feels good, do it" nor "if it feels good, you can't do it." Instead, Paul says to "not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies." He's arguing against two points of view here, it seems to me. On the one hand, he pretty clearly says that, while no one may be in service to sin in hope of death, death is still the fatal result of a life dedicated to sin, whether in its practice or its avoidance (which should give the Church Lady some pause). Conversely, the point of becoming a slave to righteousness is not to avoid sin (although that seems to be the result) but to rejoice in sanctification. We don't follow Jesus to avoid death; we follow Jesus to embrace life.

While we can disappoint God or even break God's heart by our actions, nothing we might do can separate us from the love of God. Once I truly accept that, perhaps I'll quit trying to prove otherwise.

— Derek Baker

Psalm 91 / Romans 6:1-11 / John 8:33-47

A typical reaction when I tell people that I believe God will save everyone, no exceptions, is a question: Well, then, why bother being good, if you can do whatever you want and still get to go to heaven?

Paul must have been accustomed to this same kind of question in all his exhortation about the bountifulness of God's grace in Christ: "Should we continue to sin in order that grace may abound?" (Romans 6:1) You can just imagine Paul biting his lip and wanting to tell the questioner that he is a complete idiot. This just confirms a lurking suspicion of mine that we continue as Christians to take sin more seriously than we take grace. How do I know this to be true? Because we all would much rather believe that no one gets a free ride instead of everyone, and that a person who starts work later in the day shouldn't be paid the same as the person who got to work early in the morning (Matthew 20:1-15). Just another reason I am glad God doesn't have my sense of justice!

— Stephen P. Hagerty

Psalm 85 / Romans 5:12-21 / John 8:21-32

"Now is the winter of our discontent." The Bard's words are clearly out of context, and yet they seem to express a collective sentiment gripping our city and the wider world. Anxiety pervades our collective psyche, and I find myself looking for signs of relief, particularly for those around me who have suffered from our current economic crisis.

I think it no accident that I experienced something of a shock when from the pulpit Fr. Mark explained that God's plan for us most likely is not seventy-five or eighty years of pain-free life. Of course it isn't, but that reality usually remains hidden, just out of reach. It's easier to think happy thoughts, that better days are just around the corner.

As I watched the 60 Minutes article regarding the US Airways crash in the Hudson, I was moved by the simple, very human words of the pilot, his crew and family in describing the incident and its aftermath. It was humble and hopeful, but more than that, it reminded me of some other words from Fr. Mark, that God is always here to help make us brave. Brave to face down the small injustices and the larger crisis of life, brave to show love unconditionally to everyone who crosses our path, brave to strive to give of ourselves unstintingly, and brave to answer God's call when we hear it.

If there is a message for these times, it is that the love of God, as perfectly expressed in the person of Jesus Christ, will anchor us through the storms of life and keep us humble and grateful in the times of plenty and triumph. The knowledge of God's love will truly set us free to be his beloved children and witnesses to his grace. And as our troubled, tempestuous, pain-filled lives draw to a close, may he grant us a perfect end.

— David Cholcher

Psalm 82 / Romans 5:1-11 / John 8:12-20

Judging links these readings.

The Psalmist cries out to judges, How long will ye judge unjustly? He accuses them of walking in darkness and accepting the wicked when, instead, they should be defending the poor, the fatherless, the afflicted, the needy and all children of God. He prays: "Arise, oh God, judge the earth." In John, Jesus' teachings have a new message. He rejects a call to judge the woman caught in adultery. "He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone. ... Ye judge after the flesh. I judge no man." Paul widens the frame by talking not just about the troubles arising from the failings of judges but addressing all tribulations: "tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope."

When faced with tribulation, rather than looking for others to blame or judge, let us ask: "What is trying to happen in my life?" Let us remember and know that the way will open.

Every experience, if accepted, examined, and understood, makes us more able to love, to have empathy and understanding for all men. It opens us to hope.

All are children of God. No one starts life wanting to be a jerk. When we have an impulse to judge another and label someone destructive or dumb or dysfunctional or selfish or greedy or psychotic — whatever — let us all stop and know that God's will is trying to happen through that person. Though they are a tribulation to themselves and to us, let us be patient, open to their experience and ours. Let us not cast the first stone.

Let us join in a commitment not to judge, not to point fingers, not to ridicule, blame or shun any human being. Jesus died for the sinners. He judged no man.

— Connie Heginbotham

Psalm 78:1-39 / Romans 4:13-25 / John 7:37-52

"You will search for me and will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come." (John 7: 34)

I believe that what keeps me stronger is the awareness of myself as a very frail human being, with such a frailty that even faith in God sometimes is hard to accept because of the obstacles of daily life. These are the moments in which hopelessness replaces any form of belief.

But faith in God is different. It is stronger than any kind of belief: it can't make you hopeless.

After reading the Scriptures, I feel much stronger, considering that having Faith is like being part of a whole, a common place in a compelling culture, so deeply inherited by human kind for centuries, that its acceptance is beyond any imagination.

That is why:

"Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living waters." (John 7:38)

— Vittoria Chierici

Psalm 80 / Romans 4:1-12 / John 7:14-36

We begin with the Psalm, addressed to the One who is enthroned between the cherubim. This is the One who is so unknowable that we cannot name his name and his image can't be fashioned — the mysterious Lord in the mercy seat.

And then we come to Jesus. He speaks with authority, having no earthly authority. He teaches without having been taught. He heals on the Sabbath and stands accused. He tells people to judge him with good judgment and not by appearances. To have faith in the will of God is to recognize that the works he does are true because the One who sent him is true. He says they know where he is from, but not where he is going.

Mystery is the key to Christianity and its central relationship with the mysterious Lord who is both unknowable and at the same time the God who's been made human. The only way to know that unknowable God is to participate in mystery through faith, love and trust. The Eucharist is the prime example. We approach it in whatever way we can, and it works in us both consciously and at levels we don't know. Jesus did not simply give us a prescription of do's and don'ts for a social order. Rather, he seeks our faith, a relationship of love and trust. This is the way to discern the good, the true and the beautiful. We must grow through relationship to "know" him just as we do with other persons.

— Janine Economides

Psalm 76 / Jeremiah 5:20-31 / John 7:1-13

It is hard not to tremble before the words of Jeremiah, a response that surely cannot be called unintended. God, through Jeremiah, asks: "Should you not fear me?" We pay a great deal of attention to God's love and all too often forget the fearsome majesty of God, who created all that is, seen and unseen. However, Jeremiah calls us back to the fear that inspires worship and reminds us that it is our stubbornness and rebelliousness that have separated us from the good things of God and his wondrous creation. And what better emblem of this sin of separation than the rich and powerful who have grown fat and sleek while forsaking the poor and the fatherless in their need? "Should I not punish them for this? ... Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?" We struggle to venture an answer, our voices muted with shame and embarrassment. And the most terrible question of all: "But what will you do in the end?" Terrible, yet so full of hope, for the answer is not foreordained, nor — great thanks to our stalwart friend and blessed Redeemer — is it ours alone to make.

— Michael Jones

Psalm 73 / Jeremiah 5:1-9 / John5:30-47

In my Bible — given to me, incidentally, by the Church of the Ascension upon my confirmation — the heading of Chapter 5 of Jeremiah is "The Utter Corruption of God's People." Reading the above verses, I could not help thinking about the current financial crisis in which we find ourselves. The theme of judgment runs throughout the Book of Jeremiah and, while I do not think many of us would suggest that this present situation is divine retribution, during this season of reflection and sacrifice it serves as a sharp reminder that actions have consequences. More to the immediate point, though, the actions of a few can have consequences for many in the larger community and, as we have seen time and again, throughout the world. Although it is true that irresponsible behavior — financial and otherwise — hurts many more people than those directly involved, so too can wise stewardship — personal, corporate and governmental — lead to benefits beyond its immediate circle. At this time of new leadership in our country, and when we at Ascension are in the middle of an important Capital Campaign, prayers for the thoughtful and careful use of our collective resources seem more important than ever.

— Vin Knight