March 30, 2008

Dear friends in life and in ministry . . .

As I finally get to this weekly update, it is already Monday morning and I am about to leave for the annual convocation of priests and pastoral administrators which this year will take place at the Holiday Inn in Auburn, NY.

It has been another very full weekend after a thankfully less frenetic week.

Pat and I got away Friday night to Rochester in advance of Saturday's convocation of permanent deacons and spouses. We left that gathering early to attend the 70th birthday (and retirement) party for long time friend and fellow Rotarian Dr. John Whalig. It was a good time, especially the very creative roast by his adult children. The event also provided an opportunity to reconnect with mutual friends of John and Betty that returned for the party - Dave and Peg Borchard - who now life near Philly.

On Sunday morning, I baptized Madison Diamond Carter, daughter of parishioners Lefonza and Jaimie Carter. Our guest presider was Fr. Martin, an extern priest from Ghana who is a student at Cornell. Our priest, Fr. Peter, left on March 26 to return home to Ghana for the funeral of his great uncle Peter Cardinal Dery. He'll return next weekend and we will begin the countdown to the end of May when he will leave us for vacation and his new assignment in Hornell, NY.

Following Mass, I gathered with about twenty parishioners to sing the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy. God, who made us so diverse, will understand that I did my best in this very unfamiliar territory. We ended with the more familiar to me at least, benediction of the Blesses Sacrament, a prayer-form deeply embedded in my childhood memory.

By noon, I was visiting our faith formation coordinator/youth minister Mary Carol Wall who was about to be discharged after Tuesday morning surgery to remove a colon cancer. Praise God, she is doing very well.

Then, at 1:30 p.m. I was honored to perform two of my songs, Welcome Children and The Color Song at the All Saints Academy Variety Show. What a blessing to have these songs "signed and sung" by about twenty little ones. God is good.

I ask your prayers this week for my sister in law Peggy Defendorf who will have a heart valve replace next Monday (April 7) in Topeka, Kansas.

Check of the cover of this week's bulletin for photos of our Triduum celebrations.

May God bless you and those you love during this Easter Season.

This week's Column: March 30, 2008

It has been an extraordinary week filled to the brim with liturgical and pastoral experiences that have both inspired and humbled me in the presence of God’s awesome presence. You are aware of, and likely attended, one or
more of these liturgical services and Easter celebrations:

• the Blessing of the palms, procession and reading of the Passion on Palm Sunday
• the Holy Thursday Mass at which the Sacred Oils are carried into the church after being blessed by Bishop Clark at Tuesday’s Chrism Mass
• the intimate foot-washing ceremony enacting Jesus’ order that his disciples serve and care for one another
• the sacred procession of the Blessed Sacrament to the Chapel ending the Holy Thursday Mass
• the stripping of the church in preparation for the starkness of Good Friday
• time for private adoration in the Chapel - “Can you not spend one our with me?”
• the silent procession and prostration of crimson vested clergy marking the beginning of Good Friday services
• the veneration of the cross
• the Vigil fire, Easter Candle, singing of the Exaultat, the proclamation of the “salvation scriptures” by candle-light
• Singing again the Gloria and Alleluia acclamation as church-bells chime and darkness gives way to light
• Baptisms, Confirmations and Eucharist
• Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
  

But for some, the week began with a celebration of the ancient Jewish Passover Meal - the Seder. About 75 people including twenty or so St. Mary’s parishioners joined fellow Christians from Bath area Baptist, Episcopal, Presbyterian and United Methodist churches to share ritual foods interspersed with scripture, traditional prayers and songs.

On Tuesday, our “elect” Katelyn Rumsey, Julia Gennello, and Mark Young journeyed with Paula Gardner and I to the Chrism Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Rochester. The beauty of this spectacular liturgy which featured glorious music and liturgical dance, bilingual readings and Bishop Clark’s singing of the Eucharistic Prayer was not lost on 17 year old Katelyn who correctly remarked, “This is really cool!”

Earlier on Tuesday, Betty Langendorfer, Barb Perry, Paula Gardner, custodian Dan Barefoot and I decorated the church for the second of three occasions within a week. Day’s earlier, Lent’s purple banners had been replaced by the crimson red of Palm Sunday. On Thursday, palms would remain, but banners and altar cloths would become gold and white for the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. The final change would transform the church into a celebration of Easter glory. The Easter Candle and Baptismal font would be surrounded by Easter lilies and fresh candles and Resurrection themed banners would be hung.

On Good Friday, the residents of the Steuben County Health Center were visited by Aggie Harvey and Janice Luta for prayer, scripture and Communion.

At noon, frigid weather forced the moving of the third annual ecumenical Stations of the Cross from Pulteney Park to the sanctuary of the First Presbyterian Church. About thirty people attended. Again this year, we provided the stations that had formerly hung in the chapel of the former convent.

In the midst of all these wonderful liturgies, God provided me the time and opportunity to celebrate Good Friday Services at 2:30 p.m. with the residents of the Fred and Harriet Taylor Healthcare Center. Again, Paula Gardner, who entered the church through the RCIA process last year, joined me. Our service included a shortened version of the Passion, Veneration of the Cross, and Communion. After, we visited and brought communion to several parishioners who could not leave their rooms for the service. Among the folks we prayed with were parishioners Bonny Barron, Peg Evans, Betty Hand, Mary Giblin, Rita Moretti, Theresa Rodbourn, and Dorothy Yost. Later, at Ira Davenport Hospital, we visited and brought communion to Esther Gerhard and Dorothy Zimar. It was a truly graced day.

O our adult children joined us for Easter dinner. Monica, who lives in Chicago, joined Chris, Annie and her husband Jason and of course grandson Jack who live in Corning and Addison. Following dinner and a game of Dominoes (in which I was thoroughly trounced) we joined the monks at Mount Savior Monastery for night prayers. When Jack began singing louder than the monks, I took him outside to gaze at the clear star-filled night. It was Easter. God is so good.

As I write this, on Monday evening, our beloved Mary Carol Wall is readying herself for Tuesday morning surgery at Corning Hospital. As always, Mary Carol is upbeat. She sends the following to parishioners and friends:

As you have heard . . . I have colon cancer. There are two pieces of good news in this (once we got over the obvious bad news!)... first, it is NOT a spread of the original breast cancer, but is a whole new one. That is far better than the old one spreading around, because then we know the previous treatment has definitely not worked, and it could be anywhere. Thus far, that cancer, which I was told was not worth treating, is nowhere in sight... apparently either under control or eliminated.

Secondly, this new cancer was apparently caught very, very early. We are hopeful that surgery alone will be the cure, and that will be the end of it. I go in for surgery the Tuesday after Easter. The hospital stay will be one week, and I will be relying on others to drive for another week and a half, I believe.

Thanks for all the love and support. St. Mary's. You are very special! God bless,
Mary Carol

You too are very special Mary Carol. Know that you are held in prayer.

Monday I’m off to Auburn for the Convocation with Bishop Clark. Fr. Peter, meanwhile, is in Ghana for his uncle’s funeral. He will return on April 4.

Have a good week. Serve one another well

Deacon Ray

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Bulletin: March 30th, 2008