Let Us Pray + Amistad Shopping + Virtual Pilgrimage Continues

March 3, 2021

I call on thee, Lord Jesus Christ,
I have none other help but thee.
My heart is never set at rest
till thy sweet word have comforted me.
And steadfast faith grant me therefore,
to hold thy word evermore,
above all thing, never resisting
but to increase in faith more and more.
Hymn #634, The Hymnal 1982
text by Miles Coverdale, d.1568
 
Dear Hearts,
    Between the hymns and the songs sung by Mark Rehnstrom, I wondered why I bothered to prepare a sermon!  Mark R's own "Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me," and the spiritual "I want Jesus to walk with me," both responded to Jesus' invitation in the Gospel to follow him -- even/especially when the going gets rough. 
The hymn quoted above, was our Sequence hymn on Sunday, i.e. the hymn that leads into the gospel reading.  Miles Coverdale may be best known to us as the translator of the Psalms that appeared in English and American Prayer Books through 1928.  But he was also an acclaimed teacher, who taught through the hymns he wrote. "I call on thee" came during a rough time for him; he was in exile in Europe because of his work translating the Bible into English.  Yet he trusted God's word to increase his faith "more and more."
 
Let us pray for all who are commended to the parish's prayers:
All who are ill, including
Amy B, Leslie P, Carol U, Diane L, Kelly T, Jim R, Jason, andPeter;  
and all who are contending  with Covid-19 disease;
for the medical caregivers who minister of God's healing gifts;
and for all facing financial hardship because of the pandemic.
May they all know the healing power of
Christ's presence and love.

And for all who have died --
including the over 515,000 of our fellow citizens
claimed by the coronavirus.
Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord;
may light perpetual shine upon them.

Look with favor, O Lord, upon
Will Jones
as he celebrates his birthday;
may he continue to grow in grace and delight.

Please also continue to pray for Dale, Buster, Jimmy C, Patrick and family, Felipe, Richard D, Alice M, Elizabeth Ann, Parker, Webb, Jill, Andrew E, Ed C, Pastor Bryan Meyers, Bob C, Sue S, George H, Alex & John H, Jeremy H, Shelly, Philippe, Kate, Frank, Jack, Judy & Ed S,  Michael M,  Richard D, Dave K, Brian A, Annie, John, Joan G., Lois C., Winnie Z, Bernie and family, Susie & Paul, Pam McG, Julie H,  Murray E., Brooke & family, Kate S., Tracy M., Carl, Michael S, Joanne N-R,  Madeline H, and Kelly G,
Also: Paul D, Susan S, Linda B, Charlie K, Anne C, Mark S, Angela G, Maria, Bob, Olivia, and Jo B.
Please also remember:  St. Luke’s School & Church in Martel (Haiti)
To add names and concerns for Wednesday's and Sunday's intercessions, and this "Let Us Pray" letter, please send them to YFNR at harrisoncec@snet.net with any details you care to share.  Names will move to the longer term list upon request. 
A Lenten Outreach Opportunity:  Our Outreach team has devised a way for us to help stock the pantry of New Haven's Amistad House:  To support the House's ministry of hospitality with folks who are unhoused, unsheltered and/or food insecure, we can "shop" via "Sign-Up Genius" here.  Choose the items you wish to purchase and then send the appropriate funds to the Parish Office, or drop them off, or leave them on the altar.  Your "purchases" will be ordered in bulk and delivered directly to Amistad House for us.
Our experiment continues -- keeping the side door, closest to the Guild Room, unlocked between 10a.m. and 3p.m.  This  provides an opportunity for a quiet moment of prayer in the church, likely alone, and to leave gifts on the altar, as well as to pick up a candle stub to light during prayers at home.
Our Lenten Discussion, "A River Through the Desert," continues Tuesdays and Sundays.  We are taking advantage of a "Virtual Lenten Pilgrimage" from St. George's College in Jerusalem.  The next gatherings explore the image of water in the Bible.  The College's Dean Richard Sewell leads the video and provides a discussion guide.  Expect some photos from my Holy Land pilgrimages.

Wednesday's Order for Evening will commemorate brothers John and Charles Wesley, and include Wesley hymns. The livestream of the services will start before Noon and 7p.m. at www.facebook.com/cecguilford.

Thursday Bible Study continues March 4 at 9:30a.m. with the newly freed Israelites complaining.  Join the conversation via this new Zoom code.  There are no prerequisites or homework!

On Sunday, our morning worship continues online with our own Holy Eucharist at 10a.m.  Unfortunately, Sunday's forecast currently looks to be in the deep freeze.  If it warms up, we'll be in the Garden on Sunday, March 7, at 1p.m.

Another inspiring hymn text from Sunday, or at least I've long found it so, was our closing hymn, "How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord."  In Sunday's Gospel, Jesus acknowledged we will face rough times in our lives -- just as he did; God's promise is that just as God did not forsake Jesus, God will not forsake us.
The soul that to Jesus hath fled for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
that soul, though all hell shall endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no, never, no never forsake.
Hymn #636, in The Hymnal 1982,
text by John Rippon, d. 1787
 
In the faith, hope and love of Christ,
Harrison+
Your Friendly Neighborhood Rector