Dear Friends,
While I was away on my post-Easter break, I watched most of the funeral of Pope Francis. I was struck by the large number of Heads of State and world leaders present. I was also struck by the simple homily of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the Dean of the College of Cardinals who said something that resonated with the comments of many new members of Saint Thomas Church. Reflecting himself on what mattered to Pope Francis, he said, “Church is a home for all with its doors always open.” A previous generation of Saint Thomas parishioners had the chance to relocate the church when it was clear that Fifth Avenue was going to change from being residential to mainly commercial, but they decided to stay put. What a brilliant decision! Saint Thomas Church is a home for hundreds of thousands of people who enter its doors daily and find solace and peace in our beautiful sanctuary. It is also a place where people are making their home and finding community by discovering who their neighbor really is.
Cardinal Re also commented on the way Pope Francis dealt with difficult situations in our world – from poverty to war to moral outrage. He said that the late pope got involved by “commenting on the problems of our times with the wisdom of the Gospel.” It is often said that ‘we don’t do politics’ at Saint Thomas and, I have to say that, after listening to some quite surprising sermons in other churches over the years, I am glad we don’t ‘do politics’ but we most certainly do comment on the problems of our times with the wisdom of the Gospel. Over the Sundays of Lent, Fr. Gioia and I have tried to explore what it means to be a community that engages with its public space by asking the question “Who is my neighbor?” Professor Sarah Coakley also gave a stirring lecture that encouraged us to be proud of being a parish church in a very particular neighborhood. As we continue to build a beloved community on Fifth Avenue, we all can learn from one another and center our common life on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
I have asked Fr. Moretz to write the weekly message to the parish, but here is some parish news to be aware of:
This week we host the 50th Annual Choirmasters’ Conference and welcome Organists and Directors of Music from all over the United States.
We also welcome Andrew Lumsden, most recently Director of Music of Winchester Cathedral, to be the resident guest clinician. Please note that Choral Evensong will be sung on Wednesday, May 7, Thursday, May 8, and Friday, May 9 at 5:30pm.
Following our very successful Parish brunch last year, we have tickets available again for brunch in Andrew Hall. Places are limited, so please click this link to reserve your seat.
Please note change of venue and start time: Those who are members of the Order of Saint John and those who are volunteers with our Neighbor-to-Neighbor program will want to sign up to help package meals for hungry children in Africa, organized by Rise against Hunger. The event will take place in the Choir School Gym on Saturday, May 17 from 11am and we hope to package 10,000 meals which will allow a whole class of school children to have a hot meal every day for a whole year. We need at least 75 volunteers and the event will take around two hours. Please click on the image to register:
See you on Sunday!
Your Priest and Pastor,
Carl
A Message from the Vicar
It was a profound joy and privilege to welcome the Most Reverend Dr. Thabo Cecil Makgoba, Archbishop of Cape Town, to Saint Thomas Church for our Festal Eucharist this past Sunday. His presence among us, falling as it did on April 27th, Freedom Day in South Africa, lent the day a particular gravity and grace. On that same day in 1994, after generations of apartheid, South Africans cast their votes in a free and fair election for the first time. Archbishop Makgoba’s visit bore witness to that moment of moral resurrection.
As a white man raised in Georgia, in the South of this country, I cannot help but feel the ache and weight of parallel histories. The resonances between apartheid and Jim Crow (the systems, silences, and sufferings) are sobering. And yet, Easter is the season of resurrection, of life bursting from the tomb. The Archbishop’s presence proclaimed not only the injustices endured, but the liberating hope at the heart of the Gospel: Christ is risen, and we are not abandoned to the wounds of the past.
For us, reconciliation is not a soft word. It is the labor of truth-telling, the cruciform path of repentance, and the Easter promise of new life made real. In his preaching and presence, Archbishop Makgoba embodied this Easter truth. His visit reminded us that the Risen Christ still breathes peace into locked rooms, still calls wounded communities into healing, and still draws a new world from the wreckage of the old.
May we, as members of Christ’s Body, be faithful stewards of this reconciling work, both in this great city and in our hearts. And may the witness of our Anglican siblings in South Africa continue to inspire us toward justice, humility, and hope.
Alleluia. Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.
