News from Saint Thomas Church for May 17, 2020


In this week’s news…


The Rector’s Message

Rector Turner
The Reverend Canon Carl Turner

Dear Friends,

Each week, Bishop Mary writes an ‘unofficial letter’ to the clergy of the Diocese. This week, I shared it with Dr. Filsell, Mr. Haigh, and Mr. Quardokus because she wrote beautifully and encouragingly to them as musicians at a time when choirs cannot gather and sing together. For Saint Thomas Church, to be without our choir for so long is so hard and, yet, imagine how wonderful it will be when we are able to sing again! Jeremy suggested that I share some of Bishop Mary’s letter with you:

“Music has always been the key to unlocking my soul. As I was growing up, there was nothing that I loved more than Thursday night Choir Rehearsal when I got to sing with others and attempt, together and with much practice, to make beautiful music through which to praise God. American composer and teacher Alice Parker (b. 1925) writes this: ‘Singing is the most human, most companionable of the arts. It joins us together in the whole realm of sound, forging a group identity where there were only individuals and making a communicative statement that far transcends what any one of us could do alone. It is a paradigm of union with the Creator. It is what the words talk about. We need to sing well.’ (from Melodious Accord: Good Singing in Church by Alice Parker, copyright 1991 Archdiocese of Chicago, Liturgy Training Publications.)  

“Perhaps you can guess where I’m going with this. During this time of pandemic, public assemblies for worship in churches is forbidden. Articles by epidemiologists and others caution us about churches being petri dishes for the coronavirus, because of even asymptomatic people being together in closed spaces for longer periods of time breathing the same air. . . Small wonder that many Church Musicians, both professional and volunteer, fear for the future of Church Music. That is why I want to say to my sister and brother Church Musicians and to all who love church music: Please! Do not despair! It may be a longer time than any of us wants before we are able to safely gather in our churches and not worry about being vectors of disease – but we will get there! We must get there! Music is a sacrament, and we are a sacramental church. In the sacred meantime, be creative. . .There’s a traditional Quaker hymn which begins thus: ‘My life flows on in endless song, Above earth’s lamentation. I hear the real though far-off hymn, That hails a new creation. Through all the tumult and the strife, I hear the music ringing; It sounds and echoes in my soul; How can I keep from singing?'”

Thank you for those beautiful words, Bishop Mary.

Speaking of Bishops, this Sunday was to have been Bishop Allen Shin’s visitation to our parish and he was due to confirm and receive a number of new members of our church who have been attending our Pilgrims’ Course. Sadly, of course, all that is postponed but I am delighted to tell you that Bishop Allen will be joining us for coffee hour on Sunday. Please do come and meet with him; he will be available to answer any questions that you have. On Tuesday, he is going to join our Pilgrims as they meet together via ZOOM; appropriately, the next session is on ordination, vocation, and ministry so it will be good to have Bishop Allen meet the group.

After this letter, you will find a third installment on the theme of ‘silence and stillness’ written by Sr. Promise. I am pleased to tell you that Promise will be leading a quiet day for us on Saturday, May 30 which will begin and end with ZOOM sessions and use audio webcast during the rest of the day, in the same way that we worshipped on Good Friday.

Thursday, May 21 is a principal Feast day of the Church – Ascension Day. We have prepared a Solemn Mass to celebrate and the video-webcast will be broadcast at 8am and, then, available on-demand. There will be no Shrine Prayers on that day. We will have a special preacher – Bishop Andrew St. John.

There is an old tradition in the Church of keeping the nine days between Ascension Day and the Feast of Pentecost as a time of prayer and waiting. Jesus said to his disciples that they should wait in the city until they received power from on high (Luke 24:49). The practice of holding a novena or nine-days of prayer has become popular again in some parts of the Anglican Communion. In England, it has become a way for the Church to pray for strength and for renewal. We will mark the nine days with a short scripture passage and prayer which we will email each morning. For those who have more time, we will also include a psalm to recite. Our hope is that the parish is united in prayer from Ascension Day until Pentecost.

Finally, I want to tell you about a little project that Rhonda Shearer has initiated in partnership with our friends at Frank Campbell Funeral Home. The ‘Lazarus Project’ is inspired by the parable of Jesus about the rich man and the poor man, Lazarus, who was homeless and destitute. (see Luke 16:19-31). For some time, Campbell’s have been honoring homeless veterans who die on the streets with a dignified funeral and they have agreed to expand this to other homeless people who die on our streets near Saint Thomas Church. Every week in New York, people die homeless or in poverty with no family and, often, no friends. While some are suffering from addiction of some kind, others have mental illness or suffer from post-traumatic stress. Many of these homeless are buried on Hart Island because nobody claims their bodies. It is poignant to recall that the Lord Jesus was laid in someone else’s tomb when Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus came to claim his body.

A week or so ago, very tragically, a young man died who was in one of the city’s homeless shelters. With the help of Trinity Wall Street, Rhonda has been able to obtain a grave where we can inter his body and Campbell’s are making the arrangements. This may be a tiny gesture but we hope that it will raise awareness of the plight of many who find themselves in desperation on the city’s streets. One of the traditional prayers said as a body is carried out of church is, “May the Choir of Angels come to greet you, and where Lazarus is poor no longer, may you have eternal rest.” May Andrés rest in peace.

Affectionately,

Carl,
Your priest and pastor

Back to top


This Week’s Services at St. Thomas Church

The Solemn Eucharist of the Sixth Sunday of Easter

Sunday, May 17
Video and Audio Webcasts available at 8am

Shrine Prayers (Intercessions) and Mass

Monday, May 18 – Saturday, May 23 (except Thursday)
Audio Livecast at Noon

The Solemn Eucharist of the Ascension

Thursday, May 21
Video Webcast available at 8am and then on demand

Evening Prayer and Meditation

Thursday, May 21 Via Zoom at 6:30pm
Email Fr Spencer for more information

The Rosary

Saturday, May 23  Via Zoom at 10am
Email Fr Spencer for more information

The Solemn Eucharist of the Seventh Sunday of Easter
Sunday, May 24

Video and Audio Webcasts available at 8am

Back to top


Looking for Silence: a Reflection from Sister Promise

Sr. Promise Atelon, SSM

Where are we looking for silence? Are we looking outside of us or within us?

I remember when I moved to New York in 2008. I was living on Fulton Street. On Fulton Street, it seems they never stop digging the street. The fire trucks and the ambulances were non-stop, combined with the music at the South street support tourism. While in Boston, the Mother House was located on the top of the hill back then. It was quiet and peaceful, and it was easy to find silence. When I was living on Fulton Street, it was hard for me to center and to go to that experience I had in Boston. Then I realized that, though I moved here to New York, my soul was still attached to the comfort of silence in Boston.

As Richard Rohr put it in his book, Everything Belongs: “The soul doesn’t know itself by comparison and differentiation. The soul is, and the soul knows itself through what is, what is now, and Everything that is both the dark and the light.” I went down by the water, and still, the cars were moving, and the vehicle honked, and it was not making it any easier for me to find silence. Finally, one morning I decided to sit by my window to meditate, and I suddenly felt the power of silence embrace my soul again. I realized that silence does not come from outside of us, but from within us. I was able to find silence again when I let my soul be in the moment instead of trying to defeat the noises and try to separate myself with my environment to find silence.

I realized that my authentic self does not have to oppose, differentiate, or compare my experience with my experience in Boston. Most of the time, it is hard for us to find silence because we are in contradiction with our environment and forget that Everything else has the right to be, including us. We find ourselves split, and we repress ourselves because we are so desired to be efficient in finding silence. When we are in synchronization with our environment, the still center, our true self does not oppose anything or does not need to resist, differentiate, or compare itself. Instead, it is part of the environment. When we get into that point, it does not matter where we are; we can still find silence and peace within us.

For us Christians, our lives are not about us; we are part of a larger mystery. When we can make peace in the environment we will find silence no matter where we are, and we will realize that life is not about us and it is about God and God is in the center of everything. When we fail to realize that, we focus on the small self, and when we focus on the small self, we become restless. When we become restless, we want to attack or give evil eyes to our neighbors on the train who are playing loud music. Every little thing disturbs us. We want to isolate ourselves to find silence, and when we could not isolate ourselves, we become frustrated. Therefore, finding silence is a journey that we can take a small step to include it throughout our day.

Finally, I realized that the noises, the fire trucks, the ambulance, the construction all of them belong to the same environment that I am part of. I need silence, but I have to learn to cultivate silence where God puts me, because it is not about me. I started to meditate sitting by my window with all the noises, and they were no longer a distraction because I discover peace within. We can become more proactive about our silence by the choices we make throughout the day. Instead of turning on the TV or surfing the internet the first thing in the morning, we can start by taking some deep breaths to center ourselves before we began the day, and that will help us to respond to the environment instead of reacting to it. We will be able to find silence wherever God places us. As the psalmist put it in Psalm 63: “O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” In our search for silence in the middle of the noises, may we find God in Everything even in the weary land where there is no water, because silence is found within.

The Reverend Sister Promise Atelon, SSM

Wisdom Year Seminarian

Back to top


Adult Education at Saint Thomas Church

Theology Class

Sunday, May 18, 10:00-11:00am
A study class on the English and Greek texts of
Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians

Pilgrims’ Course

Tuesday, May 19, 6:30-8:00pm
“Mission and Ministry: Vocation, Ordination, and the Mission of the Church.”

Friday Online Bible Study

Friday, May 22, 12:45-1:45pm
A study on the Gospel of John with Fr. Bennett.

For more information about these activities, all on the Zoom platform, please contact Fr. Cheng for the first two classes, and Fr. Bennett for the Friday Bible Study.

Back to top


Evening Prayer and Meditation

Thursdays at 6:30pm via Zoom

Saint Thomas Church has begun a regular 6:30pm Thursday service of Evening Prayer and Meditation that you can join online, led by Fr. Adam Spencer, Associate for Pastoral Care, and Sr. Promise Atelon, Deacon and Seminarian. This service will take place over the Zoom platform.

Please join us for this time of peace and prayer together.

For log-in access to these worship services, please contact Fr. Spencer.

Back to top


“Cut Red Tape 4 Heroes” Initiative

With your help, Personal Protective Equipment is being delivered to New York City doctors, nurses, and healthcare staff. This initiative has distributed to more than then thousand healthcare workers and those at risk, and has purchased more than one million units of PPE for distribution.

Please come to the aid and the rescue of our heroes! The more money we raise, the more supplies we can provide.  We need caring people to step up so we can continue delivering to hospitals and providing for healthcare workers in need.

100% of your contribution will go directly to NYC First Responders, EMT, ER, hospital, healthcare workers and those at risk.

SUPPORT 

“CUT RED TAPE 4 HEROES” HERE.

For more information contact: [email protected]. 212.925.8812

Back to top