In this week’s news…
- The Rector’s Message
- Full Schedule of Holy Week Services
- This Sunday’s Virtual Coffee Hour
- Children and Families’ Zoom Gathering
- Spring Theology Lecture, April 21
- Free Meals available in New York City
The Rector’s Message
Dear Friends,
We have heard of some of the extraordinary things that are happening around the world: of Italians singing to one another across the street; of the British Prime Minister and members of the Royal family encouraging people to go to their doorsteps to applaud the National Health Service; of the people who live in apartments all over our city banging saucepans and cheering from their windows and balconies every night at 7pm to say thank you to all the healthcare workers who are putting their lives on the line for us.
Every day, we receive prayer requests that we offer at noon. In addition to requests for those who are sick or who have died, we are now receiving requests for those who are caring for them and for all of those who are leaving their homes to go to essential jobs during this difficult time.
Earlier this week, I was talking with Bill Wright, a former warden of our parish who sits on a hospital Board here in Manhattan, and I heard first-hand of the stress faced by our health-care professionals including those who are responsible for the administration of our hospitals.
Let us pray for nurses, doctors, and those who must closely tend to the needs of patients. Let us pray for those having to self-isolate and for those who are worried about their families. Let us also not forget those who work behind the scenes in laboratories, as technicians, in kitchens, as porters, or as cleaners; for clerical staff and receptionists. These people are on the front-line, making themselves available when others are hunkering down. It is part of their professional duty and their dedication to care for others in spite of the risk. And we pray for those who find themselves unable to go to work; they face the added stress of being prevented from fulfilling their care-giving, life-saving role, who think not of having a job, but a vocation.
We are a large parish, and we have medical professionals as part of our parish family. Over the past week or so, we have reached out to some of them and we have heard moving stories. On behalf of all of us, I salute you for your dedication and professionalism during this crisis.
However, there is more that we can do.
The peak of infections in New York has not yet arrived, and our hospitals and community services are already stretched to the limit. Perhaps there is a way that we can show our support to the medical profession going forward. Here are some thoughts and suggestions and I would be glad to receive yours.
Please reach out to people that you know who are nurses, doctors, therapists, ambulance drivers, paramedics, technicians, and any who are on the front lines of this pandemic. Tell them that we care for them and that we are praying for them every day now. Check if they have any specific needs and let us, together, attempt to meet those needs.
Sometimes, a healthcare professional simply needs to know that we are thankful for them; others need a listening ear. Perhaps someone has a practical need that one of us can fulfill – a care package, or some work done ‘pro bono’ or, perhaps, using our network of support to find the right person to help them.
I have been in touch with the St. George’s Society which celebrates its 250th anniversary this year and have suggested that we might partner in practical support. I would be glad to hear your ideas and how we can work together as a parish. Perhaps we could send cards and invite prayer requests to our hospital staff rooms; perhaps we could send treats for staff to enjoy.
Let us tell all healthcare workers that we care about them and that, at the very least, we will hold them in our prayers. And if you want my colleagues or me to be available to them, give them our urgent pastoral care phone number. Perhaps they might like a prayer over the phone or that listening ear or, at a time when clergy are not allowed to visit hospitals, a prayer or a phone call to give comfort to a patient.
Urgent Pastoral Care Phone Number: (917) 674-1899
Alternatively, call the Parish Office on 212-757-7013 and select option 6.
Finally, here is a prayer for healthcare workers from the 1979 Prayer Book. Let us all pray this regularly:
Sanctify, O Lord, those whom you have called to the study and practice of the arts of healing, and to the prevention of disease and pain. Strengthen them by your life-giving Spirit, that by their ministries the health of the community may be promoted and your creation glorified; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Carl,
Your priest and pastor.
P.S. As I was finishing this message, an Emergency Alert suddenly appeared on my mobile phone: “Attention all healthcare workers: New York City is seeking licensed healthcare workers to support healthcare facilities in need.” A timely reminder.
Full Schedule of Services in Holy Week at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue
The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday, April 5
Solemn Eucharist,
Sermon by Fr. Moretz
11am and then on demand.
Monday in Holy Week, April 6
Shrine Prayers and Mass,
livecast, 12pm
Bach: St. John’s Passion (Part One),
an archival presentation from April 11, 2019
The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys
with
New York Baroque Incorporated
Daniel Hyde, conductor
5:30pm and then on demand
Tuesday in Holy Week, April 7
Shrine Prayers and Mass,
livecast, 12pm
Bach: St. John’s Passion (Part Two),
an archival presentation from April 11, 2019
The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys
with
New York Baroque Incorporated
Daniel Hyde, conductor
5:30pm and then on demand
Wednesday in Holy Week, April 8
Shrine Prayers and Mass,
livecast, 12pm
The Office of Tenebrae,
an archival presentation from 2014
The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys
5:30pm and then on demand
Maundy Thursday, April 9
The Solemn Eucharist of the Lord’s Supper
and the Stripping of the Altar,
Sermon by Mo. Turner
5:30pm and then on demand.
Good Friday, April 10
The Three Hours Devotion,
with guest preacher
The Very Reverend Dr. Stephen Peay.
12pm-3pm and then on demand
Holy Saturday, April 11
The Great Vigil of Easter,
The Lighting of the Paschal Candle
and the Vigil Readings.
Homilies by Fr. Spencer
8pm and then on demand
Easter Day, April 12
Solemn Eucharist of the Resurrection,
The First Eucharist of Easter
with the Renewal of Baptismal Vows.
Sermon by the Rector
8am and then on demand
Solemn Evensong,
an archival presentation from 2007
The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys
4pm and then on demand
Click Here for our Webcast Page
Virtual Coffee Hour Sunday, April 5 at 12:30pm
This coming Sunday, we will continue hosting our “Virtual Coffee Hour” which will use the conferencing program “Zoom” to host a virtual meeting. This meeting will start after the webcast of the 11am Palm Sunday service on Sunday, April 5 at 12:30pm and will last no longer than an hour.
It will start with a short prayer and will continue with checking in and conversation, as best we can. The pacing and scope of the online gathering will very much depend on the amount of people who join in. We will experiment with Breakout Rooms, which will allow for smaller groups to talk together. The hour will be moderated by Fr. Moretz.
Please click here to learn more about Zoom, an extraordinary tool for communication and community.
Please contact us if you would like to learn more and join this time of fellowship.
Children and Families’ Sunday Zoom Gathering
In place of our regular Nursery and Sunday School gathering, we are meeting via Zoom this Palm Sunday, April 5, at 10:15am.
If you know a child or family that would like to participate in this half hour gathering, before joining in the 11am Webcast of Mass and 12:30pm Virtual Coffee Hour please contact Mother Turner.
Email Mother Turner for the required invitation codes.
As we discover new ways of being a church community during in this new chapter of our lives, we will be producing an additional weekly newsletter for families Be Faithful, Be Creative and Be Connected.
If you know a family who wishes to be added to the distribution list for children and families, please also contact Mother Turner.
2020 Spring Theology Lecture: “Global Citizenship and Autonomy: Catholic and Calvinist Perspectives”
We are delighted that the distinguished philosopher Professor Kwame Anthony Appiah of New York University will be delivering the 2020 Spring Theology Lecture on Tuesday, April 21 at 6:30-8:00pm via the Zoom videoconferencing platform hosted by Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue. The title of his lecture is “Global Citizenship and Autonomy: Catholic and Calvinist Perspectives.”
In this lecture, Professor Appiah will explore cosmopolitanism as a long-standing tradition and how its natural complement is a respect for autonomy of many spheres of life. Specifically, he will draw upon catholic notions of subsidiarity and Calvinist ideas of sphere sovereignty.
The lecture will be delivered via the Zoom videoconferencing platform. There will be an opportunity for questions and answers following the lecture. To learn more about how to engage with this lecture, email Father Patrick Cheng.
Free Meals Available in New York City
The New York City Department of Education is committed to making three free meals available daily for any New Yorker. Any New Yorker who wants one can get three free meals a day at more than 400 Meal Hubs across the city.
- Meals can be picked up at all Meal Hubs 7:30 am to 1:30 pm, Monday through Friday
- Meals Hubs will operate for children and families from 7:30 am to 11:30 am, and for adults from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm
- No one will be turned away at any time
- All adults and children can pick up three meals at one time
- Vegetarian and halal options available at all sites
- No dining space is available, so meals must be eaten off premises
- Parents and guardians may pick up meals for their children
- No registration or ID required
- Feeding Sites Local to Saint Thomas Church
High School for Environmental Studies
444 WEST 56 STREET MANHATTAN, NY 10019
P.S. 111 Adolph S. Ochs
440 WEST 53 STREET MANHATTAN, NY 10019
Stephen T. Mather Building Arts
439 WEST 49TH STREET MANHATTAN, NY 10019
