PARISH NOTES

Sunday 19 May 2019

  

The New Jerusalem, from The Apocalypse Tapestry (1377-1382)
Chateau d'Angers, Angers, France

FROM THE RECTOR 

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). This saying of our Lord comes from the “Farewell Discourse” at the Last Supper. In what sense is it a “new” commandment? The Old Testament Law had included the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). What is “new” here is the further qualification “even as I have loved you.” In this section of John’s Gospel, Jeus has just washed his disciples’ feet as a sign of his servanthood which will find its fulfillment the following day when he gives his life on the cross. Further on in the discourse, he explains: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Here, then, our Lord is exhorting his disciples to be servants of one another, and to love one another with a self-denying, self-sacrificing love. Love among Christians is the most powerful sign possible of the reality of God’s love for the world: “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” – Fr. John D. Alexander

THIS SUNDAY’S READINGS 

Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year C)
Acts 11:1-18
Revelation 21:1-6
John 13:31-35

THIS SUNDAY’S MUSIC 

Cristóbal de Morales (c. 1500 – 1553)—Missa super Ut re mi fa sol la

Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810 – 1876)—Blessed be the God and Father

ANNOUNCEMENTS 

Welcome to S. Stephen’s – especially to our visitors and guests! We’re glad to have you with us. Please join us for Coffee Hour following the 10 a.m. Mass in the Great Hall upstairs. If you have any questions or special needs, please speak to one of the ushers, who will be glad to assist you.

Flowers at the High Altar – are given by Nancy Gingrich to the glory of God and in loving memory of Tyrone Gene Gingrich (19 May 2014).

The Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ – a principal feast of the Church calendar, is celebrated on the Thursday forty days after Easter (see Acts 1:3), falling this year on May 30th. Following the precedent set last year, we are planning a joint celebration with the other two East Side parishes (Saint Martin’s and Redeemer) to be hosted here at S. Stephen’s at 7 pm. We hope that you will mark this joyous event on your calendars and plan to attend. The Mass setting will be Service of Holy Communion by Francis Jackson (b. 1917), and the motet will be God is gone up by Gerald Finzi (1901-1956). The preacher will be the Rev. Mark Sutherland, Rector of St. Martin’s Church. Volunteers are welcome to organize a small reception following in the Great Hall; please see Alison Huff if you are willing and able to help. 

FOR YOUR PRAYERS 

Prayers have been requested for: Virginia, Elizabeth, George, Hannah, Kaitlyn, Mary, Richard, Beverly, Ethel, Henry, Carl, Kade, Sherri, Norman, John, Shannah, Terri, Lynne, Fred-Munro, William, Gus, Leonard, Harrington, Joan, Sandy, John, Phebe, Ondre, Jack, Richard, Ann, Colin, Sandy, Kiersten, Beverly, Gail, Phoebe, Deborah, Bryan, Angela, Bobby, Beverly, Allora, Carlos, Rhoda, William, Roger, and James. 

Birthdays this week: Noah Butler-Rose (Sunday 5/19), Kathleen MacLean (Monday 5/20), Robert Rose (Wednesday 5/22), and Rose Callanan (Saturday 5/25).

The faithful departed: Year’s Mind: Janice Dobson (19 May 2000), Tyrone Gene Gingrich (19 May 2014), Elise Jackson Steedman (19 May 1985), Martha S. Fearson (20 May 1987), Allen Burnett Williams (20 May 2010), Royal Martin Disley (21 May 2005), and Clinton Nickerson Williams II (21 May 1991). Recently departed: Sister Mary Angela, CSM; the Rev. Canon James Daughtry. 

Anglican and Diocesan Cycles of Prayer – In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, we are asked to pray for the Anglican Church of Melanesia: The Most Revd George Takeli, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Melanesia and Bishop of Central Melanesia; in the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer, for the people and clergy of Church Beyond the Walls.

THE SUNDAY ROTA 

Acolytes – MC B Rose, SD R Noble, Thurifer J Starks, Torches F Pisaturo and TBD
Lector – A Campbell
Ushers – Simon Newby and Patricia Barnes
Coffee Hour – Tom and Cathy Bledsoe

THIS WEEK AT S. STEPHEN’S 

EXTRA-PAROCHIAL EVENTS HOSTED AT S. STEPHEN’S

Saturday 25 May 

Epiphany Soup Kitchen 2:30 pm (Great Hall)

LITURGICAL CALENDAR & SERVICE SCHEDULE

Sunday 19 May
THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (W)
Morning Prayer 8 am
Low Mass 8:10 am
Solemn Mass 10 am

Daily Office Lectionary: Easter V, Year One
Daily Mass Lectionary: Easter V

Monday 20 May
Monday in Easter V (W)
Alcuin of York, Deacon, Abbot, 820
Evening Prayer 5:30 pm
Low Mass 6 pm

Tuesday 21 May
Tuesday in Easter V (W)
Helena, Empress, Protector of the Holy Places, 330
Noonday Prayer 12 noon
Low Mass 12:10 pm

Wednesday 22 May
Wednesday in Easter V (W)
Evening Prayer 5:30 pm
Low Mass 6 pm

Thursday 23 May
Thursday in Easter V (W)
Vincent of Lerins, Priest, Teacher, 450
Noonday Prayer 12 noon
Low Mass 12:10 pm

Friday 24 May
Friday in Easter V (W)
Jackson Kemper, First Missionary Bishop in the United States, 1870
Noonday Prayer 12 noon
Low Mass 12:10 pm

Saturday 18 May
The Venerable Bede, Priest, Monk, Scholar, Historian, 735 (W)
Gregory VII, Bishop of Rome, Reformer of the Church, 1085
Morning Prayer 9:30 am
Low Mass 10 am

Sunday 26 May
THE SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (W)
Morning Prayer 8 am
Low Mass 8:10 am
Sung Mass 10 am

NEXT SUNDAY'S READINGS (26 May)

Sixth Sunday of Easter (Year C)
Acts 16:9-15
Revelation 21:10, 22--22:5
John 14:23-29