May 5, 2010

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

This Sunday after the 10:30 am Holy Eucharist, we will take a photo of the congregation in front of the Church. Please plan to stay for five minutes after the service so that all of us can be included in the photo.

May 9th is the Sixth Sunday of Easter and Rogation Sunday (from the Latin "rogare" – to beseech or to ask). On Rogation days the church asks God's blessing upon the crops, gardens, and fields. This blessing has a new relevance today as we raise our awareness of our stewardship responsibility to care for God's creation.

This Sunday, at the conclusion of our 10:30 am service we will process outside, join in singing a round, and then offer a blessing for our gardens and all farmers and gardeners and their plants. We will reaffirm our responsibility to preserve our planet and its fragile habitat. During the service we will bless our mothers, graduates, and confirmands. For information about Rogation Sunday, please click here.

On Sunday, May 16, we will welcome Bishop Roy "Bud" Cederholm for an episcopal visitation of our congregation. Bishop Cederholm will meet with those are new to the congregation at 9:30 am, preside and preach at the 10:30 am Holy Eucharist, and meet with the entire parish at a luncheon at 12 noon. For more information, please click here.

Members of our parish participated in the Greater Boston Walk for Hunger last Sunday. The Walk raised $3.8 million for food banks and meal programs throughout Massachusetts. Congratulations, walkers! For more information, please click here.

The Ruah Spirituality Institute, founded by All Saints Parish in 1992, is an interfaith organization committed to engaging transformative and creative forms and practices of spirituality in facing the urgent realities of our world; facilitating dialogue among the various faith communities around matters of spiritual concern; and offering a hospitable gathering place for persons and communities seeking a deeper spiritual life. Ruah is merging with Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries this summer. For more information, please click here.

SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR tHE SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

The reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells the story of Lydia, who welcomed the apostle Paul to her home and who is an example of the hospitality that we should extend to others: "We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, 'If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.' And she prevailed upon us." (Acts 16:9-15)

Psalm 67 is a prayer of praise and blessing: "Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide all the nations upon earth. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. The earth has brought forth her increase; may God, our own God, give us his blessing. May God give us his blessing, and may all the ends of the earth stand in awe of him."

The reading from Revelation is a vision of the heavenly Jerusalem: "In the spirit the angel carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day – and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5)

In the reading from the Gospel of John, Jesus says that he and God will make their home in the heart of the believer. Jesus will send the Holy Spirit, who will teach us, and Jesus will give us "shalom," the gift of peace. "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." (John 14:23-29)

Please join us for the Holy Eucharist on Saturday at 5:00 pm and on Sunday at 10:30 am.

Sincerely,

David A. Killian
Rector

Worship Services for

The Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 8-9, 2010
Saturday, May 8, at 5:00 pm: Preacher: The Rev. David A. Killian
Sunday, May 9, at 10:30 am: Preacher: The Rev. David A. Killian

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