Dear People of Ascension,

One of our cherished Holy Week traditions is the watch before the Blessed Sacrament from the end of the Maundy Thursday service until the beginning of the liturgy for Good Friday. In the intimacy of our chapel, with candles and beautiful spring blossoms creating an "altar of repose", we enter imaginatively into the Garden of Gethsemane, to keep watch with Jesus as he wrestles with God in prayer: "Let this cup pass from me... yet not what I will, but what you will."

This Maundy Thursday, because of the pandemic we are not yet able to be together again and to keep the watch in that familiar way. But I invite you to take an hour during that liminal time nonetheless to watch and pray. Light a candle, read a psalm, perhaps open your journal. Sit in quiet. Ask Jesus to be present to you and bring all your griefs, struggles and hopes for yourself and the world into that space. Ponder where Christ's presence is revealed in the intensity and craziness of these days, with all who suffer and cry out for help and healing. Consider how you can be faithfully present with Jesus in those situations- and how Jesus is present with you. Rest in that presence.

God bless you in this Holy Week journey.

Liz

If you do not have a device with a camera, you can still join with your phone by dialing the following number: 929-205-6099, and enter the meeting ID: 986 6942 3643.

All of our online services, with their links, can be found on our public calendar, and are listed below.

Click this link to read up on some best practices for Zoom meetings.

Andante (Sonata III)

Celebrant: Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins.

Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

Psalm 116:1, 10-17   (St. Helena Psalter)

I love you, O God, because you have heard the voice of my supplication, *

   because you have inclined your ear to me whenever I called upon you.

How shall I repay God *

   for all the good things done for me?

I will lift up the cup of salvation *

   and call upon the Name of God.

I will fulfill my vows to God *

   in the presence of all people.

Precious in your sight, O God, *

   is the death of your servants.

O God, I am your servant; *

   I am your servant and the child of your handmaid;

   you have freed me from my bonds.

I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving *

   and call upon your holy Name.

I will fulfill my vows to you *

   in the presence of all your people,

In the courts of God’s house, *

   in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.

I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord--and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, `Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Leader I ask your prayers for God's people throughout the world; for our Presiding Bishop Michael, for our own bishops Andrew, Allen, and Mary; for this gathering; and for all ministers and people. Pray for the Church.

Leader I ask your prayers for peace; for goodwill among nations; for the well-being of all people; for this fragile earth, and for the will, wisdom and courage to care for and live sustainably with all creation. We pray for Joe our president, Andrew our governor, and Bill our mayor. We pray for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, Ethiopia, Yemen, Uganda, Haiti, and the Uygur people; for all laboring to end racism and white supremacy and establish racial justice in our country. We pray especially for our Asian-American siblings, that they may be protected and respected.

Leader Bless all whose lives are closely linked with ours, and grant that we may serve Christ in them, and love one another as he loves us. We pray for all affected by COVID-19: for the frightened and the sick, for the dying and those who mourn; for all who have lost jobs and livelihood as a result of this pandemic; for all healthcare workers, especially Scarlett, Madonna, Trudie, Nancy, Anna, Sarah, Endine, Terese, and AJ, for all whose labor supports our common life; for those developing and distributing vaccines, for those charged with making decisions about public health and public policy.

Leader I ask your prayers for the poor, the sick, the hungry, the oppressed, and those in prison. We remember especially Robert, Ed, Janet, Ellen, Joseph, Brielle, Lucas, Holly, Allejandro and Jesus, Nancy, Barbara, Dorothy, Stewart, Patricia, Judith, Hannah, Jurek, Alice, Michael, Deb, Deacon Luis, Stephen, Martin, Marion, Sandy, Jonathan and family, Cammie and family, Ed, Soren, and Mary Ann. Pray for those in any need or trouble.

Leader I ask your prayers for all who seek God, or a deeper knowledge of him. Pray that they may find and be found by her.

Leader I ask your prayers for the departed, especially Jeff Paley, Jack Chinery, Bill Burket, Mike Kehoe, Andrew Brannon, Minerva Viera, Paul LoBello, Liz Hill, and the more than 550,000 Americans who have died from Covid-19, as well as others around the world. I ask your prayers for killed in the racist attack in Atlanta, GA, and in the shooting in Boulder, CO. Pray for those who have died.

Leader I ask for your other prayers and thanksgivings.

Leader Praise God for those in every generation in whom Christ has been honored. Pray that we may have grace to glorify Christ in our own day.

 Our Father, who art in heaven,

     hallowed be thy Name,

     thy kingdom come,

     thy will be done,

          on earth as it is in heaven.

 Give us this day our daily bread.

 And forgive us our trespasses,

     as we forgive those

          who trespass against us.

 And lead us not into temptation,

     but deliver us from evil.

 For thine is the kingdom,

     and the power, and the glory,

     for ever and ever. Amen.

Now, my tongue, the mystery telling

of the glorious Body sing,

and the Blood, all price excelling,

which the Gentiles’ Lord and King,

once on earth among us dwelling,

shed for this world’s ransoming.

Given for us, and condescending

to be born for us below,

he with us in converse blending

dwelt, the seed of truth to sow,

till he closed with wondrous ending

his most patient life of woe.

That last night at supper lying

mid the twelve, his chosen band,

Jesus, with the Law complying,

keeps the feast its rites demand;

then, more precious food supplying,

gives himself with his own hand.

Word made flesh, the bread he taketh,

by his word his Flesh to be;

wine his sacred Blood he maketh,

though the senses fail to see;

faith alone the true heart waketh

to behold the mystery.

Therefore we, before him bending,

this great Sacrament revere;

types and shadows have their ending,

for the newer rite is here;

faith, our outward sense befriending,

makes our inward vision clear.

Glory let us give and blessing

to the Father and the Son,

honor, thanks, and praise addressing,

while eternal ages run;

ever too his love confessing

who from both with both is One.

or zoom.us/j/97846082843

or zoom.us/j/95743570876

Saturday, April 3, 7:00 p.m.

or zoom.us/j/91403568982

Sunday, April 4, 11:00 a.m.

ascensionnyc.org/easter

or https://zoom.us/j/322793633

Please check us out at ascensionnyc.org/give to find out how easy and secure it is. Click the envelope on the right to go the Ascension Website for more information and to give, whether a one-time donation, pledge payment, or make a new pledge.

(If you experience any issues with Abundant Giving, please email us at websexton@ascensionnyc.org)

A Note about Using Abundant Giving: When you donate and pledge through the Abundant Giving app or go through the website, you need to direct your donation to the correct category. Presently there are five categories:

These categories change as we update categories during the year. (An example would be when we delete the Easter flowers category after Easter and add Christmas flowers for the weeks leading up to Christmas.)

To donate through your app or the website, click the link above. The next screen will prompt you: "How Much Do You Want To Give?" Next to that, is a drop-down list of categories. Offering plate is always listed first. Click on the little arrow and the list will appear. Click on which ever category you want your donation to be credited. It is important to identify which category you are donating to so that your year end statement will be correct.

You should have received your year-end statement for 2020. Please review it carefully and contact the parish office immediately if there are any issues.

Lenten Devotional Books Are Here! The devotional is made up of 40 personal reflections from members of the parish and clergy at Ascension. The booklet is available online and in hardcopy (limited supply), with original artwork by Matthew Snow. To download the PDF of the Lenten Devotional, go to ascensionnyc.org/lent-devotions and follow the instruction to download or read online. The daily meditations from the booklet will also be available on our Facebook page starting Ash Wednesday. To request a hard copy (suggested donation $5), please email the Parish Office at info@ascensensionnyc.org. If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth Adams. Thank you to all our writers for their work to make the devotional a reality.

Upcoming April Forum: Justice and Reconciliation: Looking Ahead - on Sunday, April 11 (the Sunday after Easter), we will discuss our learnings from our Lenten series. So many of these forums concluded with the sense that we wanted to go deeper! Please think and pray about what next steps you feel called to explore.

Follow Up on Last Week's Forum- Restorative Justice in NYC Schools- Click here to link to the Fairness Survey discussed at last week's forum led by Mihret Maxwell.

On Anti-Asian Violence: A Message to the Clergy and People of the Diocese of New York from the Rt. Rev. Allen K. Shin, Bishop Suffragan with a supporting message from the Rt. Rev. Andrew ML Dietsche, Bishop of New York, and the Rt. Rev. Mary D. Glasspool, Bishop Assistant. Click here to read Bishop Shin's message to us regarding this week's shooting of Asian-Americans in Atlanta, as well as the increasing violence against our sisters and brothers of Asian descent. His comments are joined by Bishops Deitsche and Glasspool.

"Lessons To Be Learned From The 2020 Pandemic", by Stanley Weinberg - When it's all over, what will we have learned? How will the pandemic have changed our lives; or how could it change our lives? Click here to access Stanley’s article, soon to be published in the Episcopal New Yorker,

Space Use at Ascension - While the church is closed and not in general use, occasionally someone in the church will want to use one of our spaces. (Please note, that such uses are strongly discouraged.) During the pandemic we must be extra careful to coordinate these things so there is no overlap, and to schedule plenty of time for cleaning. If you think you might need the space for something, please coordinate via the church office - contact Br. Andrew at info@ascensionnyc.org or 212-254-8620.

Episcopal Relief and Disaster (ERD) Response in Texas. Episcopal Relief & Development is supporting the Episcopal dioceses of Dallas, Texas and West Texas as they provide emergency relief to individuals and families impacted by the unprecedented ice storm, low temperatures and power outages last week. Click here to learn more and help support their relief efforts.

Join us each weeknight at 5:30 for Evening Prayer & discussion. Click this link to join: ascensionnyc.org/eveningprayer. To call in (voice, no camera), dial 929-205-6099; the meeting ID is 770 597 201.

For Your Daily Prayers - "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) During this time of global crisis and personal anxiety, we offer you this prayer form to include in your daily prayers.

Vaccine Registration Assistance? Do you need help scheduling your vaccine appointment? Are you a tech-savvy and patient person who would like to help register people? Please contact Madonna Stack-Barker at m.stack@rcn.com for more information.

Open Church, Tuesdays & Fridays, Noon to 3. The church is open for private prayer and meditation. Attendance is limited to a maximum of 20 people at one time and all safety precautions (properly worn masks, physical distancing, hand sanitizing, and contact tracing) will be followed.

In-Person Midweek Eucharists Remain Suspended. In light of the rising infection rates in New York City, we continue to suspend our Wednesday evening in person Eucharists.We will revisit the question after Easter.

Beware of Fraudulent Emails Purporting to be from the Ascension clergy! Several people received scam emails today pretending to be from Fr. Ed, using a Gmail account under a user name that appears to be him. Click here to read more and learn what you can do.

Church Service (Zoom) 11:00 a.m.

Meditation with Prayers and Music (Available on our Facebook page)

Evening Prayer (Zoom) 5:30 p.m. (Preacher: John Grimes)

(Speak to Sibyl Piccone if you are interested in this group)

Evening Prayer (Zoom) 5:30 p.m. (Preacher: Gretchen Dumler)

Evening Prayer (Zoom) 5:30 p.m. (Preacher: John Thompson)

Maundy Thursday Service, 7:00 p.m.

ascensionnyc.org/holythursday or zoom.us/j/98669423643

Good Friday Service, 12 Noon

ascensionnyc.org/goodfriday or zoom.us/j/97846082843

Open Church* (Church) 2:00pm - 4:00 p.m.

if you want to volunteer or are in need, please contact Fr. Ed (fatherchinery@ascensionnyc.org)

Holy Saturday Liturgy and Rehearsal, 10:00 a.m.

ascensionnyc.org/holysaturday or zoom.us/j/95743570876

Great Vigil of Easter, 7:00 p.m.

ascensionnyc.org/greatvigil or zoom.us/j/91403568982

Easter Service, 11:00 a.m.

ascensionnyc.org/easter or https://zoom.us/j/322793633

Meditation with Prayers and Music (Available on our Facebook page)

The Church of the Ascension -- Fifth Avenue and Tenth Street

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