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Glad Tidings Trinity Episcopal Church – Ossining, New York Volume 19 Number 4 April 2020 Jesus asked his disciples “Who do people say that the Son of man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, but who do you say that I am?” Peter answered “You are the Christ, the Son if the living God.” (Matthew. 16:13-16) I have often wondered why Jesus asked his disciples these questions. They come in the second half of the Gospel. At this point, Jesus knows he is going to die. Does he ask because he is wondering whether this path he is traveling is worth it? Is he uncertain of his own identity? Or, does he just want to get a sense of what his followers understand? No matter why he asks, it is certain that the questions he asks deal with identity, perception, and value. The world (people) see Jesus as one in a continuing tradition of spiritual leaders while Peter sees him as unique and tied to God. And Peter’s perception is the one which Jesus approves. As we draw to the end of this Lenten season, I find myself asking similar questions to those of Jesus. “Who does the world think I am?” “Who do I think I am?” I believe I am asking this because at this time so much of what I usually do has been suspended. No face-to-face meetings. No home visits. No public worship. And now no celebration of Eucharist! Who am I? Further, as I talk to folks at home, I hear that I am not alone. In losing face-to-face contact we all lose the definition that social activities bring. Thinking together, touching lives, and the satisfaction of contributing to the common good−all become limited. We can feel that our hands are tied, we are out of step, or even underwater. But as this very different Easter looms, I think on this passage from Matthew. When Peter identified Jesus as the “Son of the living God,” he was told, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” Maybe our legacy from this period of isolation will be just that, an understanding that it is not what we do or what tradition we follow that defines us but rather our relationship to the “living God.” May your final weeks of Lent bring you wisdom and peace and may God reunite our parish family soon. Faithfully, Cooper+
Transcript of Glad Tidingstrinityossining.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Glad...How God Changes Your Brain:...
Glad Tidings Trinity Episcopal Church – Ossining, New York
Volume 19 Number 4 April 2020
Jesus asked his disciples “Who do people say that the Son of man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, but who do you say that I am?” Peter answered “You are the Christ, the Son if the living God.” (Matthew. 16:13-16)
I have often wondered why Jesus asked his disciples these questions. They come in the second half of the Gospel. At this point, Jesus knows he is going to die. Does he ask because he is wondering whether this path he is traveling is worth it? Is he uncertain of his own identity? Or, does he just want to get a sense of what his followers understand?
No matter why he asks, it is certain that the questions he asks deal with identity, perception, and value.
The world (people) see Jesus as one in a continuing tradition of spiritual leaders while Peter sees him as unique and tied to God. And Peter’s perception is the one which Jesus approves.
As we draw to the end of this Lenten season, I find myself asking similar questions to those of Jesus. “Who does the world think I am?” “Who do I think I am?” I believe I am asking this because at this time so much of what I usually do has been suspended. No face-to-face meetings. No home visits. No public worship. And now no celebration of Eucharist! Who am I?
Further, as I talk to folks at home, I hear that I am not alone. In losing face-to-face contact we all lose the definition that social activities bring. Thinking together, touching lives, and the satisfaction of contributing to the common good−all become limited. We can feel that our hands are tied, we are out of step, or even underwater.
But as this very different Easter looms, I think on this passage from Matthew. When Peter identified Jesus as the “Son of the living God,” he was told, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” Maybe our legacy from this period of isolation will be just that, an understanding that it is not what we do or what tradition we follow that defines us but rather our relationship to the “living God.”
May your final weeks of Lent bring you wisdom and peace and may God reunite our parish family soon.
Faithfully,
Cooper+
Photo courtesy of Deacon Dorothée
L. to R. Amy Kitakata-Sporn, Deacon Dorothée, Fr. Charlie, Terri Roman, Mo. Cooper, Tam Hernández,
Carolyn Black, Judy Travis (by phone!)
DEACON BEACON
In a time of Pandemic! There is much to be hopeful about. I’m seeing and hearing of more people reaching out to the church. This is good news indeed. Our message is one of hope and confidence in a God that loves us beyond our imaginings.
What a blessing it has been to call our parishioners. To post Evening Compline every night of the week on our Facebook pages. How cool is it to gather on Zoom Video conference for our Lenten Book study of Richard Rohr’s book What Do We Do With Evil. See the photo of last Sunday’s gathering on Zoom. What fun!
We’re looking for more ways to continue to be the church gathered in spite of being scattered!
See you online!
Deacon Dorothée
Due to measures instituted to control the spread of the coronavirus, Sunday services are being live-streamed on Facebook. To watch the service just click on the link. You do NOT need to be a Facebook member. Here is the link to our public Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/trinityossining/
Evening Gatherings (led in rotation by Mo, Cooper, Fr. Mayer, and Deacon Dorothee) will be posted by 7:00 PM Monday through Saturday, also on the Trinity Episcopal Church Facebook page.
All of these will also be on our website under the Worship tab. Here’s the link:
http://trinityossining.org/
OUR UPCOMING SUNDAY SERVICES
April 5 9:30 AM Palm Sunday
April 12 10:00 AM Easter Sunday
April 19 9:30 AM Easter 1
April 26 10:00 AM Easter 2
We are always grateful for our beautiful space but never more than now.
Thanks to a lot of preparation work by Kate Pendzuk, program oversight by Marco Chacon, food by the faith communities of Ossining, and professional cleaning support from Arco, we are opening the Parish Hall to safely house the BOMA Shelter guests for overnights till our Ossining public spaces reopen. This is a critically important time for these men to have indoor housing and we look forward to safely offering it.”
If you want to help with this important ministry by ordering food, this is how:
1 Go to Meal Train:
https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/d39mmz?fbclid=IwAR0UPAy9nhm4ckS9-Dj1Il8Q5e1vfMwgbz-O1uhNa5rEMJt3JenWDv6Q4rI
2 Pick a date on which you will treat to dinner for 10 people. Click on Volunteer for this.
3 You’ll be asked for the type of meal. You can put in the restaurant name in Note. Decide when you want to be reminded. Then click on Volunteer.
4 Sign up with Meal Train.
5 Call the restaurant to order the food and arrange the delivery. And give them your credit card number.
Hi Everyone,
I hope everyone is well during this difficult time we are in.
It has come to our attention that parishioners are interested in alternatives to making their pledge payments. The options are:
A) Mailing your payment in to the office:
Trinity Episcopal Church P.O. Box 108 Ossining, NY 10562
B) Set up online payments through your bank. In case you are not familiar with this, your bank can send a check to Trinity and deduct it from your bank account.
For Chase, it is listed under the “Pay &Transfer” tab. Then choose Pay Bills For Wells Fargo, it is under the “Transfer & Pay” tab. Then choose Pay Bills For Citibank, it’s under Payments and Transfers/Manage Payees.
You can chose the day of the month and have it be an automatic payment or you can choose to initiate the payment each month yourself. I am not sure about the other banks. If you have any questions, please call your bank’s online banking customer service.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me either via email: [email protected] or my cell phone: 914-523-8464.
Everyone stay safe and well.
Best Regards,
Kate Pendzuk, Treasurer
Saturday, March 14
PANDEMIC What if you thought of it as the Jews consider the Sabbath— the most sacred of times? Cease from travel. Cease from buying and selling. Give up, just for now, on trying to make the world different than it is. Sing. Pray. Touch only those to whom you commit your life. Center down. And when your body has become still, reach out with your heart. Know that we are connected in ways that are terrifying and beautiful. (You could hardly deny it now.) Know that our lives are in one another’s hands. (Surely, that has come clear.) Do not reach out your hands. Reach out your heart. Reach out your words. Reach out all the tendrils of compassion that move, invisibly, where we cannot touch. Promise this world your love—for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, so long as we all shall live.
(Lynn Ungar, composed on 3/11/20)
NOT CANCELLED: Family
NOT CANCELLED: Music
NOT CANCELLED: Prayer
NOT CANCELLED: Laughing
NOT CANCELLED: Recovering from Insufficient Sleep
NOT CANCELLED: Exploring the Bible
NOT CANCELLED: Getting Outdoors
NOT CANCELLED: Singing
NOT CANCELLED: Exploring the Prayer Book (bcponline.org)
NOT CANCELLED: Re-connecting with Someone after “too long”
NOT CANCELLED: Journaling
NOT CANCELLED: Reading
NOT CANCELLED: Helping Others
NOT CANCELLED: Exercise
NOT CANCELLED: Love
NOT CANCELLED: Hope
Let's give thanks for what we have and use this time to get less busy and more
healthy.
From Fr.Garrett Mettler of Trinity Fishkill
SPIRITUAL ACTIVITIES DURING SELF-ISOLATION
During these days of isolation, the way we orient our spirit matters. Self-isolation can be a spiritually fulfilling time. Several biblical figures self-isolated for lengthy periods and had significant spiritual encounters. For example, Moses encountered God at the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-17), Elijah met God at Horeb (1 Kings 19:11-21), John the Baptist returned from the wilderness proclaiming repentance (Matthew 3:1-6), and
the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). Purposefully limited interactions with others can lead to spiritual growth. In The Fiery Soliloquy with God, the fourteenth-century Dutch mystic Gerlac Petersen wrote, “I offer myself unto our Lord, and trust in Him with my whole heart, nor will I be anxious about anything else whatsoever, or about any accidents which may happen, save only that I may be all His” (6). These biblical authorities and mystics, such as Petersen, can show us how to thrive during our days of limited interaction with others.
With these biblical accounts and Petersen’s words in mind, I invite you to employ the following spiritual practices while we patiently wait for the virus threat to abate.
DAILY SPIRITUAL ACTIVITIES
While washing your hands for the recommended twenty seconds, pray. You will find that saying the Lord’s Prayer, the Twenty-Third Psalm (BCP 476), and the Prayer of St. Francis (833) will take ample time and help settle any anxiousness and re-center your mind on God.
Each day say a different office from the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) as you pray. Daily prayer helps calm your brain’s emotional centers (Newberg and Waldman, 20). The BCP includes two types of Morning and Evening Prayer, Noonday and Compline, and Daily Devotions. Explore each and see how God speaks to you in new and exciting ways.
Read the different parts of the BCP or unfamiliar sections of the Bible. We can often find ourselves in a spiritual rut, which causes boredom. To overcome it, we must delight the mind with new ideas, allowing for creative thinking. Explore new sections such as the Historical Documents in the BCP or the Song of Songs in the Bible.
Sing your favorite hymn or try new ones. If you don’t have a hymnal or can’t carry a tune without help, go to YouTube and search Episcopal hymns. You’ll find plenty.
Sources: Newberg, Andrew, and Mark Robert Waldman. How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist. New York: Ballantine Books, 2010.
Petersen, Gerlac. The Fiery Soliloquy with God. New York: Henry H. Richardson, 1872.
FINALLY!
I am trying to be more efficient while we are in this Twilight Zone existence, here are the
next two books:
Big Lies in a Small Town, a novel by Diane Chamberlain is our next read (May?)
Sula, a novel by Toni Morrison is for the end of summer (TBD)
Tam has advised me that the Ossining Library only has 2 e-books and 2 audio books for our
May selection. Both books are available on Amazon. Sula is cheaper on Kindle and
hardcover. Audible books are free with an Audible trial membership. Hope this helps!
Wishing you all good health, peace of mind and a discerning spirit to help focus your
energies during this period of free time. I know I have folks I need to write to, and I think I
will do some journaling on PowerPoint to capture my thoughts and wishes during this
challenging period. I was inspired by “Write it Down,” a historian is urging people to record
their experience during this time;
https://news.virginia.edu/content/write-it-down-historian-suggests-keeping-record-life-during-pandemic
Till next time!
Cecilia
Contact Cecilia via e-mail: [email protected]
APRIL BIRTHDAYS
Dorothée Caulfield 8 Randall Moeller 8 Karen Otten 8 Dale Bonenberger 9 Kayla Skylar Nixon 13 Warren Dyckman 18 Arlene Lazaro 20 Hannah Ok Beaudreault 24 Synara Okyne-Aryee 26 Frances King 26
APRIL ANNIVERSARIES Donna and Neville Harvey 12 Kate and Steve Pendzuk 24
UPCOMING EVENTS IN APRIL
CHURCH DIRECTORY
The Rev. J. Cooper Conway, Priest-in-Charge
The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Mayer Assisting Priest
The Rev. Dorothée R. Caulfield Deacon
Tam Hernández, Parish Administrator Christopher Fasulo, Minister of Music Katherine Pendzuk, Treasurer and Verger Pablo Montoya, Sexton
Phone: (914) 941-0806 Email: [email protected] www.trinityossining.org
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 108, Ossining, NY 10562
VESTRY — 2020
Carl Gonsalves, Warden Tam Hernández, Warden Charles Baker, Clerk
Alexis Cullen Warren Dyckman Sally Evans Kate Pendzuk Cecilia Quintero
Trinity Episcopal Church
P.O. Box 108 7 South Highland Ave (Rt. 9)
Ossining, NY 10562 (914) 941-0806
www.trinityossining.org
The Episcopal Church
Welcomes You
TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH
P.O. BOX 108
OSSINING, NY 10562
MISSION STATEMENT
Trinity’s mission is to nourish our community in body mind and spirit through worship, music, spiritual formation and outreach activities.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Trinity Episcopal Church is a diverse and inclusive group, dedicated to providing beauty and welcome to all who seek a place of peace and prayer.
