Staying Connected as a Faith Community

Thursday, March 30, 2023

NOTE: There are still Pledge envelopes for 2023

in the Narthex for pick-up.

Holy Week Schedule

This year we will share Holy Week services with St. John's Episcopal Church. They are located at 523 Hartford Turnpike Vernon, CT. Please note the location/time of each worship opportunity.

Palm Sunday – 9 AM Holy Eucharist @ St. Mary's

Holy Monday – 7 PM Compline @ St. John's

Holy Tuesday – 7 PM Compline @ St. John's

Spy Wednesday – 7 PM Holy Eucharist @ St. John's

Maundy Thursday – 7 PM Holy Eucharist with the stripping of the altar @ St. Mary’s (also will be livestreamed)

Good Friday- 12 PM Stations of the Cross with Communion @ St. John's

 7 PM Proper liturgy of the day with Communion @ St. John's

Easter Day – 10:30 AM Holy Eucharist with organ and guest musicians the Prindle Family @ St. Mary's

Easter Flower Memorials Due Tuesday April 4th

We are now collecting donations for Easter Flower Memorials. We will be adorning the sanctuary with our traditional Easter Lilies. Donations may be made as a memorial or a thank offering for a family member, friend or event. Please send your donation to Sandy in the office. All donations are due by April 4th to ensure they are included in the Easter bulletin.

Volunteers Needed for Easter Sunday Preparations

Thank you to the all who volunteered to help the altar guild prepare our sanctuary for Easter Sunday. If you would still like to join us please RSVP below

Collection ends this Sunday

Volunteers are needed to help after the Palm Sunday service this Sunday to break down the wall and prepare items to be delivered to MACC on Main St. We will also need a few drivers and helpers to unload at MACC as they are opening special for us on Sunday morning. Come to the baptistry immediately after the service if you would like to help!

St. John's Worship Opportunities

Sundays 8am & 10am

523 Hartford Turnpike

Vernon, CT

 Thursday Lenten Series hosted by St. John’s

Let us join together each week in Lent on Thursday evenings from 6 to 8pm (March 30) We will share a simple soup supper, followed by discussion around the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer and will conclude with a short Holy Eucharist service. All are welcome!

Nashville School Shooting

Jesus said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me.” Here in America, awash in firearms and an epidemic of mental illness, too often it’s the little children who suffer.

Three 9-year-old children and three adult teachers are dead after yet another school shooting, this time at the church-affiliated Covenant School in Nashville. We ache for this broken community and these shattered families, and we commit them all to God’s loving embrace.

Our children are paying the price for our politicians’ refusal to stop the flow of assault weapons. Newtown wasn’t enough. Parkland wasn’t enough. Uvalde wasn’t enough. How many children have to die before we take weapons of war off our streets?

With each shooting, words alone fail to comfort. When children are gunned down, our hearts are broken. When our schools become killing fields, we fail yet another generation.

Forgive us, Lord, for we know exactly what we do. And what we do ... is nothing.

The Rev. Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith

Dean, Washington National Cathedral

Lenten Reflection: Remember Jesus' Persistence

John 8:21–30

Jesus said to the Jews, “I am going away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” Then the Jews said, “Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” He said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.” They said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Why do I speak to you at all? I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the one who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” They did not understand that he was speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me. And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.” As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

Recently I’ve been watching The Chosen, a television series about the life of Jesus. What I like about this series is that the portrayal of Jesus is wonderfully real. In other series, Jesus only says the words written in the gospels, giving the scenes a stilted feel. In this series, Jesus laughs, teases, and gets frustrated. Jesus’ humanness is loud and clear in our gospel for today’s meditation. Jesus is trying to explain what is going to happen to him – that he is going away beyond his listeners’ reach. When the people try to seek him, they will fail because they are from below and he is from above. They will die in their sins. There is hope however. The gulf can be overcome if they believe in him. Those listening just aren’t getting it. They said to him, “Who are you?” Here is where Jesus gets really frustrated and says, “Why do I speak to you at all?”

The people are not trying to be difficult. This “he is from above and you are from below” business is very hard. Even with our knowledge of Jesus dying on the cross and being lifted up so that we can know the love of God, we struggle to fully understand. The gift here is that even in Jesus’ frustration, he tries again. He describes the oneness between himself and the Father, that he does nothing on his own. This time his listeners believe.

I like how the Message Bible translates Jesus’ words:“You’re tied down to the mundane; I’m in touch with what is beyond your horizons. You live in terms of what you see and touch. I’m living on other terms.” We, too, live in this tension of being below and seeking Jesus who is above – the struggle of following Jesus while we live in this earthly world.

The good news is that Jesus will never give up on us. So, if you are sure that when Jesus hears your thoughts he is saying – why do I speak to you at all? – remember this passage. Remember Jesus’ persistence and that he came to seek us out and show us the way to the everlasting love of God.

The Rev. Canon Anne-Marie Jeffery

GHIAA Update on Legislative Session

Let us hold up in our prayers these GHIAA Legislative campaigns and all who are working as advocates and disciples in moving this work forward in Connecticut over the next 8 weeks.

Fighting Homelessness Together! TONIGHT 6pm-8pm

ECCT's Spring Training & Gathering Registration Open

ONLINE WORKSHOPS [April 17-27] Offered morning, noon, and evening, choose from a variety of presentations, and build a schedule of courses that meets your needs. Workshops are offered through ZOOM with unlimited seating.

CLICK HERE to register

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IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS, LUNCH, & PLENARY [April 29, 8:30AM-3:00PM] Gather for our opening plenary at our Cathedral. Then, we walk across Main St. to Capital Community College for workshops and return to our Cathedral for lunch and the afternoon plenary. Seats are limited. Pre-Registration is required, and a $20 fee helps cover lunch and other costs. Scholarships available.

Registration for In-Person closes on Friday April 14 Note: No walk-ins on the day of.

CLICK HERE to register

If you would like to make a 2023 pledge to support God’s work through St. Mary's Church CLICK HERE

Weeknight Compline on Zoom

@ 7:30pm

Monday: Carol

Wednesday: Andrea

This short service from The Book of Common Prayer can be found in the BCP on page 127 or you may access the prayer book online at www.bcponline.org.

Join Zoom Meeting:

CLICK HERE

or

Dial

1 929 205 6099 

Meeting ID: 856 0827 5573

Passcode: 41Park

Prayers of the People

Please take a moment to lift these names up in your prayers. Send any prayer requests to Andrea Burr at acburr2@cox.net. Andrea will relay the prayer need to the prayer team and will update the Prayers of the People list weekly.

Italicized names are newly added this week

All those suffering in mind, body, or spirit

Geoff Olivier

Jane Bensche

Carol Mallett

Jennifer and Jerry Hrycyszyn

Hrycyszyn Family in Ukraine

Cliff Dubiel

Joseph Longo

Betty Keehner

Ellen Schmedding

Amber Mallett

Edna Hennessey

John Jr.

Shirley McGarry

Wayne Keith

Lois Johnson

Lynette Wilson

Mikie Cook

Joyce Banks

Andy Zeidler

Sonia Grosvenor

Sylvia, Carlson, and Carlson Rogers, Jr.

Caleb, Meriah, and Tom

Miriam Gustow

Pat Bourret

Denise Donze

Margaret

Zeke Lane and his parents, Kari and Troy

Joyce Porter

Elliott (Nick) Georgeady

Beth Lavalette

Those who have died

Desmond O’Neill

Joan Stauch

Lawrence Cassells

Marv Thon

Rev. Joseph Bourret

Allen Piper, Jr.

Christopher Marvin

Veronica Feragne

The Rev. Beth Hoffmann

Robert “Bob” Taylor

Joan Sheffield

Don Sineti

Bruce Green

Elaine Gillotte

Lea Dubiel

Stephanie Kwasnicki

Dot Garrison

R J Wiles

Bob Newton

Patricia Mudge



Comfort for their families and for all who mourn

Thanksgiving for

Our Priest in Charge, Fr. Shaw Mudge

Our Wardens, Officers & Vestry leadership

For our partner school, Bennet Academy

For the work of the Greater Hartford

Interfaith Action Alliance (GHIAA)

For our friends at Concordia, Emanuel and

Saint John’s, Vernon

Sunday Altar Flower Donations 



Altar flower donations may be made as a memorial or a thank offering for a family member, friend or event. Please send donations to Sandy in the office marked with the desired month and name of the loved one. All floral arrangements are purchased from Brown's Flowers.