PARISH NOTES

Sunday 1 July 2018

Paolo Veronese, Christ and the Woman with an Issue of Blood (1565-1570)
Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna, Austria

FROM THE RECTOR

In Catholic tradition, July is the month of the Precious Blood - a time when we meditate on the mystery of Christ's blood shed for our salvation. The traditional form of the Anglican Eucharistic Prayer asks that "by the merits and death of thy Son Jesus Christ, and through faith in his blood, we, and all thy whole Church, may obtain remission of our sins, and all other benefits of his passion." The same prayer goes on to ask that offering "our selves, our souls and bodies" we may "worthily receive the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son Jesus Christ ..."

In the biblical worldview, blood is life, and blood is power. This Sunday's Gospel features a woman suffering twelve years from an issue of blood - not only rendering her ceremonially "unclean," but also slowly draining her life away. She is healed by touching the hem of the Lord's garment; he in turn sheds his blood for the healing of the nations - and then gives us that same blood (under the outward appearance of wine) as the medicine of life eternal.

As the ancient hymn translated by Edward Caswall puts it:

Abel's blood for vengeance
Pleaded to the skies;
But the Blood of Jesus
For our pardon cries.

Lift ye then your voices
Swell the mighty flood;
Louder still and louder
Praise the Precious Blood!

-- Fr.John D. Alexander

THIS SUNDAY’S READINGS 

Sixth Sunday After Pentecost – Proper 8, Year B
Psalm 30
Wisdom 1:13-15,2:23-24
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
Mark 5:21-43

ANNOUNCEMENTS 

Welcome to S. Stephen’s – especially to our visitors and guests! We’re glad to have you join 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.

Guest Organist – We welcome Jay MacCubbin at the organ again today while Organist and Choirmaster Dr. James Busby is on a well-deserved vacation. (James is scheduled to return on Sunday 5 August; we wish him safe travels and a relaxing break!)

Monthly Requiem – for the departed of this parish whose year’s mind falls during July will be offered tomorrow, Monday 2 July, at 6:00 pm (preceded by Evening Prayer at 5:30 pm). If you have any names to add to those to be remembered, please let Fr. Alexander know. See GAS announcement below.

Guild of All Souls: St. Stephen, Proto-Martyr Branch – S. Stephen’s celebrates a parish Requiem Mass on the First Monday of most months at the 6:00 pm Mass. Departed members of the parish whose anniversaries fall during the month are remembered in prayer, and anyone may submit additional names of the departed.

Independence Day – As on all public holidays, we will offer Morning Prayer at 9:30 am, followed by Low Mass at 10:00 am. Please join us as we start the day by giving thanks for our liberties and offering prayers for the nation.

Society of Mary – This month's meeting will be held this Saturday, July 7, beginning with Holy Rosary following the 10:00 am Mass and a brief meeting (for coffee and bagels) to follow in the Great Hall. All are welcome and invited to join us.

New Prices for Altar Flowers – Arrangements in the church’s brass vases (currently in the Lady Chapel) cost $25 each, for a total of $50 (a considerable savings from the $75 per vase we have been charged before now). Please consider making an offering of flowers in thanksgiving or in memoriam to help beautify our worship of God. (Flowers can now be paid for online via our website; see notice following – but please verify with the parish office that your desired date is available.)

Online Giving – We have just updated the parish website to make online donations and pledge payments easier and more convenient. You can now set up repeating payments of your pledge, designate gifts to funds such as Special Music and Flowers, and pay either directly from your bank account or charge to a credit card. You will receive an email receipt for each online gift, and you can enter your pledge number to have the gift included in your mailed hardcopy quarterly statements as well. Go to the parish website (www.sstephens.org) and click on the “Give” button at the top right corner to check it out.

Solemn Evensong and Benediction – will be offered on Sunday 5 August (Eve of the Feast of the Transfiguration) at 5:30 pm. The guest preacher (and officiant at Evensong) will be the Rev. Canon Jeremy Haselock, recently retired Canon Precentor at Norwich Cathedral in England, and a Chaplain to Her Majesty the Queen. The Schola Cantorum will interrupt their summer break to sing works of Heinrich Schütz, Harvey Burgett, and Marcel Dupré. Mark your calendars now and don’t miss what promises to be a splendid choral service.

Sunday 10 a.m. Masses during the Summer – take on a simpler (and somewhat briefer) form, following closely the texts and rubrics of The Book of Common Prayer, 1979 and adding a fifth hymn to the usual four. It is vitally important to keep up our attendance during these months; our prayers and presence at Mass express our love for God and our neighbor, bringing real blessings both in our own lives and in those of our fellow parishioners. (If there are any favorite hymns you’d like us to sing during the summer months, please contact Fr. Alexander, who will do his best to accommodate all reasonable requests!)

Sunday School and Nursery – We need volunteers to assume responsibility for organizing Sunday School for the 2018-2019 Program Year (beginning in September). Please speak to Fr. Alexander or one of the Wardens (Tom Bledsoe or Bill Dilworth) if you would like to learn more and / or contribute your time to this crucial aspect of parish life.

FOR YOUR PRAYERS 

Prayers have been requested for: Elizabeth, Richard, Norman, John, Shannah, Sister Carolyn, Lynne, William, Hannah, Kaitlyn, Mary, Gus, Leonard, Harrington, Joan, Elizabeth, Sandy, John, Phebe, Ed, Gregory, Richard, Colin, Sandy, Kiersten, Beverly, Jonathan, Deborah, Bryan, Angela, Bobby, Douglas, Beverly, Allora, Carlos, Betsy, Rhoda, William, James, and Louis.

Birthdays this week: Jack Tessier (Thursday 7/5).

The faithful departed: Year’s Mind: Ben C. Claunch (1 July 2000), Georgiana Kincaid (2 July 2013), Charles A. Kilvert (4 July 2000), and Albert S. Cook (7 July 1998). Recently Departed: John Ladds.

Anglican and Diocesan Cycles of Prayer – In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, we are asked to pray for The Church of North India (United): The Most Rev’d Dr. Prem Chand Singh, Moderator of CNI & Bishop of Jabalpur; in the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer, we are asked to pray for our country, the President and all in civil authority, for Congress & Courts of Justice, for sound government.

THE SUNDAY ROTA 

Acolytes – Acolyte/MC J Ihnen; Thurifer F Pisaturo
Lector – W Dilworth
Ushers – Tom Oakes and Chris Martel
Coffee Hour – Hooks Family

THIS WEEK AT S. STEPHEN’S 

PARISH PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

Monday 2 July
Guild of All Souls 6:00 pm (Lady Chapel)

Saturday 7 July
Society of Mary 10:30 am (Lady Chapel/Great Hall)

EXTRA-PAROCHIAL EVENTS HOSTED AT S. STEPHEN’S

Saturday 7 July
Epiphany Soup Kitchen 2:30 pm (Great Hall)

LITURGICAL CALENDAR & SERVICE SCHEDULE

1 July
THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (G)
Morning Prayer 8:00 am
Low Mass 8:10 am
Mass with Hymns 10:00 am

Daily Mass and Office Lectionaries: Proper 8, Year Two

Monday 2 July
Evening Prayer 5:30 pm
Requiem Mass 6:00 pm (Black)

Tuesday 3 July
FERIA (G)
Noonday Prayer 12:00 noon
Low Mass 12:10 pm

Wednesday 4 July
INDEPENDENCE DAY (W)
Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal, 1336
Morning Prayer 9:30 am
Low Mass 10:00 am

Thursday 5 July
FERIA (G)
Noonday Prayer 12:00 noon
Low Mass 12:10 pm

Friday 6 July
Thomas More, Scholar, and John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, Martyrs, 1535 (R)
Sexburga, Abbess of Ely, 699 (W)
Noonday Prayer 12:00 noon
Low Mass 12:10 pm

Saturday 7 July
Palladius, Apostle of Ireland, 5th century (W)
Morning Prayer 9:30 am
Low Mass 10:00 am
Holy Rosary 10:30 am

8 July
THE SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (G)
Morning Prayer 8:00 am
Low Mass 8:10 am
Mass with Hymns 10:00 am

NEXT SUNDAY'S READINGS (8 July)

Seventh Sunday After Pentecost – Proper 9, Year B
Psalm 123
Ezekiel 2:1-5
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Mark 6:1-13