Weekly Reflections
Weekly Reflection-4/13/2024
St. Mary's Reflection: Heather Coyne, St. Mary's Parishioner
In Matthew 25, Jesus very clearly names that how we treat "the least of these" - those who are sick, hungry, naked, lonely, and in prison - is how we treat Jesus. Hebrews 13:3 implores us to "Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them." When we care for the ones looked down on by society, we…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 3/26/2024
St. Mary's Reflection: The Rev. David Erickson
The Journey of Holy Week
The journey of Holy Week unfolds as a sacred passage through time, a narrative deeply rooted in faith, a path marked by profound sorrow and radiant joy, encapsulated in the rhythms of life, death, and resurrection. It is a pilgrimage of the soul, a testament to the depth of divine love, and a mirror reflecting …
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 3/19/2024
St. Mary's Reflection: Linda Woodworth, Junior Warden
During Lent, we are called to make room for and share God's presence with others. Some practice fasting or taking on a new habit. Others follow a spiritual guide or series of conversations with others. These practices are intended to turn us away from an inward focus on ourselves and create space to serve others. By turning …
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 3/12/2024
St. Mary's Reflection: The Rev. Kira Austin-Young
The Bishop is Coming! The Bishop is Coming!
This coming Sunday, March 17th, Bishop Marc Andrus will preach and preside at all three of our morning liturgies in addition to joining us for a reception in between the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. services. With his impending retirement and the ordination of our Bishop-Elect Austin K. Rios, this w…
Read More »Weekly Reflection 3/7/2024
St. Mary's Parish Choir and Chamber Orchestra, together with the Schola Cantorum of St. Dominic's, come together to present Bach's Passion According to St. John this Sunday at 5:00 p.m.
I would like to share with you about its context and construction:
On Good Friday of 1724 (300 years ago this year), J.S. Bach's St. John Passion was first performed at St. Nicholas Church in Le…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 2/26/2024
St. Mary's Reflection: The Rev. David Erickson
God, Relationship, and Story
"The heart of God is relationship, and the doorway to relationship is story." Rev. Ed Bacon
My friend and mentor, Ed Bacon, gave me this wonderful quote many years ago that continues to inspire and instruct me. We believe in a Trinitarian God. A god whose core is three individuals in dynamic relationship. T…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 2/22/2024
St. Mary's Reflection: Russell Fudge, Senior Warden
I am deeply honored to be selected for the position of St. Mary's Senior Warden for the coming year. My immediate predecessor, Gloria Galindo, has bequeathed to me a Vestry that has been, and I fully expect will continue to be, a joy to work with and prepared to advance the St. Mary's community in the coming year.
I fully believ…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 2/13/2024
St. Mary's Reflection: Natalie Hala, Parish Liturgist & Verger
Hear our Prayer: The Great Litany
Thomas Cranmer, compiler of The Book of Common Prayer and the first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury, was burned at the stake in 1556. Crafting liturgy is known to have its occupational hazards.
St. Mary's marks the change of liturgical seasons on Feb. 18, the First Sunday of Lent, w…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 2/6/2024
St. Mary's Reflection: The Rev. Kira Austin-Young
Preparing Our Hearts for Lent
Our official Lenten preparations begin this Sunday with our Shrove Sunday pancake breakfast at 10 a.m. as we feast before our Lenten fast begins, and I hope you'll join us for this fun and joyful meal. The liturgical season of Lent begins this year on February 14th, which is also Valentine's Day. After …
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 1/31/2024
St. Mary's Reflection: The Rev. David Erickson
Annual Meeting: Participating in the Extraordinary Ordinary!
This Sunday, 2/4, at 11:20am, Lunch to Follow
Now you are called to work as pastor, priest, and teacher, together with your bishop and fellow presbyters, and to take your share in the councils of the Church.- BCP pg.531. Ordination of a Priest
During a priestly service of ordin…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 1/18/2024
St. Mary's Reflection: Nicole Elliott, Vestry Member
Over the last few weeks, as many of us have settled back into our pre-holiday season routines, I have been struck by the number of times I have heard the expression, "We put away Christmas" or "Christmas is put away." This often is followed by some reference to life returning to regular programming (or "the grind," as I also h…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 1/9/2024
New Year, New You? - The Rev. Kira Austin-Young
Happy New Year! As we leave the festivities of Christmas behind and return to our regular schedules of school and work, the new calendar year offers a chance to reflect on the past year and potentially set resolutions or intentions for the next one. New Year's resolutions are famous for being abandoned with researchers suggesting tha…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 12/20/2023
St. Mary's Reflection: Linda Woodworth, Vestry Member
I recently saw a quote attributed to 'anonymous' - "let's approach Christmas with an expectant hush, rather than a last minute rush." This message embodies for me the heart of the Advent season - quietly preparing, waiting and listening - being present in the current moment. However, this is also one of my biggest challenges.
Th…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 12/13/2023
St. Mary's Reflection: The Rev. Kathy Guin, Assisting Priest
What is your favorite time of day? I love the early morning hours, when the quiet, stillness brings a calmness to my spirit. During this Advent, I have been focusing more on the first moments of the day as I begin to wake up. Trying to wake slowly, seeking to be open to drawing closer to the Divine. I begin my wakefulnes…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 12/6/2023
St. Mary's Reflection:Marla Perkins, Music Associate
Comfort
"Comfort Ye!" soars out the lone tenor voice opening G. F. Handel's Messiah. Then twice more, stronger, longer, with both gentleness and command, "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God." (Isaiah 40:1)
Eleven minutes into Arcangelo Corelli's "Christmas Concerto" in G minor, Op. 6, No.8, lies a most tender movem…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 11/30/2023
St. Mary's Reflection: The Rev. David Erickson
Wishing You a Wonderful Advent - Full of Christmas Cheer!
This coming Sunday the church year begins again with the season of Advent, a wonderful time of expectation and preparation for the coming of the Christ child on Christmas.
The world around us, though, is not waiting for Christmas at all. One of the radio stations in my car is al…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 11/20/2023
St. Mary's Reflection:Barbara Bernard, Vestry Member
A General Thanksgiving
Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonderful life, and for the mystery of love.
We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for the loving care which surrounds us on e…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 11/7/2023
St. Mary's Reflection: Lilly Riveron-Lewis, Altar Guild Member
A Performer's Reflection on Altar Guild
When I first joined Altar Guild in September, 2021, I was struck by how much the set of tasks before and after each service reminded me of my time in the performing arts world (specifically in ballet). There's so much that goes on behind the scenes to make the curtain go up, so to…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 10/10/2023
There is so much darkness... there is also light
A Reflection by The Reverend David Erickson
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. John 1:5
If I am honest, sometimes the darkness is overwhelming. The terrible violence in Israel and Gaza is horrific. And we know it is only beginning. In the background of this most recent eruption is the war in Ukrai…
Read More »Weekly Reflection -10/5/2023
St. Mary's Reflection: The Rev. Kira Austin-Young
Read, Mark, Learn, and Inwardly Digest: Studying the Bible Together
As part of my ordination to the priesthood, I declared that I believe "the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary to salvation." Generally speaking, Episcopalians are not known for our Biblical knowle…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 9/28/2023
St. Mary's Reflection: Russell Fudge, Vestry Member
"Ska.nonh" (Peace and Wellness) From Tully Lake
Each summer Emily and I spend part of our summer at our cottage within the Tully Lake Park Association on Tully Lake in central New York State. The Association celebrates 1888 as the date of its founding.
SOME BACKGROUND
>From the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 9/20/2023
St. Mary's Reflection: The Rev. Kira Austin-Young
Ministry of the Baptized
In the Catechism of the Episcopal Church, found towards the end of the Book of Common Prayer, the answer to the question "Who are the ministers of the Church?" is "The ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops, priests, and deacons." (BCP pg 855) Lay (i.e., non-ordained) people are not listed first by…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 9/12/2023
St. Mary's Reflection: The Rev. David Erickson
Oh What a Mess!! Grace in all Life's Circumstances
'Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.'
…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 8/21/2023
Amy Nachman, Vestry Member
"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and …
Read More »Weekly-Reflection - 6/8/2023
St. Mary's Reflection: The Rev. Kira Austin-Young
A Reflection on Pride
My first year at Pride as an Episcopal priest, I wondered whether I should even be there, if my presence has an official religious person mattered. After all, every June my social media feeds were full of my colleagues at Pride festivals, marching in parades, and bedecked in rainbow paraphernalia. Though my chu…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 6/1/2023
St. Mary's Reflection: The Rev. David Erickson
"The Extraordinary in Ordinary Time"
He also said, 'The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. Mark 4:26-28
Welcome…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 5/26/2023
Mission Trip to NMS
"We cannot change global injustice today if we isolate ourselves ... in places that are safe and removed and disconnected. To change the world, we are each going to have to find ways to get closer to people who ... are living on the margins of society. It's actually in proximity to the poor that we hear things that we won't otherwise hear, that we'll see things…
Read More »Weekly-Reflection - 5/16/2023
St. Mary's Reflection: Elizabeth Falcon, Vestry Member
"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us." Ephesians 5:1-2
Today, as I'm writing this, it is Mother's Day. All day, I've been reflecting on how beautifully faith and motherhood are often intertwined. I use the word "motherhood" to mean any mother-like figure, recognizing that it…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 5/10/2023
St. Mary's Reflection: The Rev. Kira Austin-Young - Mother's Day
This approaching Sunday, May 14th, is not only the Sixth Sunday of Easter but also Mother's Day. Different churches take varying approaches to observing Mother's Day, knowing that, in many parts of the country, their pews will be full of dutiful children who attend services with their mother before taking her out to …
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 5/3/2023
St. Mary's Reflection: Matt Spitzer, Vestry Member
Our recovery from, or evolution due to, the pandemic continues at a varied pace across all aspects of our lives. On Saturday evening, an anonymous benefactor generously provided a dinner for the St. Mary's community of Young Professionals, which took place in the Parish Hall. It was a joyous occasion, with twenty-one people in att…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 4/26/2023
St. Mary's Reflection: Eric Choate, Director of Music
The Choral Mass is one of the Church's greatest gifts to the world. There are five movements--Kyrie, Gloria in excelsis, Credo, Sanctus & Benedictus, and Agnus Dei--which we sing every week because they are central to our faith and obligatory to the celebration of the Eucharistic liturgy.
This text is the basis of thousands upon…
Read More »Weekly Reflection - 4/11/2023
St. Mary's Reflection: The Rev. Kira Austin-Young, Associate Rector
A Guide to Observing The Great Fifty Days of Easter
Alleluia! Christ is Risen! After forty days of Lent and the intensity of Holy Week, we celebrate Easter Sunday, the culmination of the Christian liturgical calendar joyously with its lilies, brass band, and shouts of "Alleluia!" Collectively, we observe…
Read More »Weekly-Reflection- 4/4/2023
St. Mary's Reflection: The Rev. David Erickson
Holy Week: The Journey with Jesus through the Cross to the Empty Tomb
Jesus invites us to be his disciples and follow him. One of the greatest ritual experiences we have in following Jesus liturgically is through Holy Week. Holy Week marks the culmination of the Lenten season and the preparation for Easter Sunday. It is a time of deep …
Read More »Weekly-Reflection-3/29/2023
St. Mary's Reflection: Natalie Hala, Parish Liturgist
A "Cook's Tour" of Human Evil and the Power of Language
"But this is your hour, and the power of darkness reigns." (Luke 22:53)
As we approach Palm Sunday and Holy Week, when we will once again hear the Passion narrative playing out in the full brutality of what happens when human collective darkness is cut loose and is allowed t…
Read More »Weekly Reflection-3/21/2023
St. Mary's Reflection: Lynne Dombrowski, Junior Warden
Compassion: Learning to Love Our Neighbors
Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters …
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