April, 2007
Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Holy Week begins April 1st (Palm Sunday). That is the most important business for the month!
Palm Sunday (April 1st): Mass (with Blessing of Palms), 8 a.m. at West Laurel Hill
Blessing of Palms & Sung Mass, 10 a.m. at West Laurel Hill
Monday in Holy Week: Mass, 6 p.m. at the rectory
Tuesday in Holy Week: Mass, 6 p.m. at the rectory
Wednesday in Holy Week: Mass, 10 a.m. at the rectory
Maundy Thursday: Sung Mass & Stripping of the Altar, 6:30 p.m. at West Laurel Hill
Good Friday: The Good Friday Liturgy & Preaching on the Seven Last Words, noon, at West Laurel Hill
Holy Saturday: The Liturgy (Ante Communion), 10:30 a.m. at the rectory
Vigil & First Mass of Easter, 8:30 p.m. at All Saints, Wynnewood
Easter Day (April 8th): Mass, 8 a.m.
Sung Mass, 10 a.m.
The principal services which you should plan to attend include Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil, in addition to the Sundays. With the help of Ted and Patty Cheek, we have some special music planned for Easter Day. We also look forward to extra acolyte help at the Easter Vigil, courtesy of the recent Acolytes Retreat, sponsored by the Anglican Fellowship of the Delaware Valley. Several of the acolytes who were at the retreat (which was at All Saints, and joined us for Stations at the beginning of the retreat) attend parishes which do not observe the vigil, and so are available to help us out.
Holy Week is the center of the Christian year, and brings us into the mysteries of our redemption from sin and death. The services help us to understand ever more deeply the love which God has for us, expressed most powerfully in Jesus' passion. If we are at all serious about being Christians, we will want to put aside other concerns if at all possible, to be in church Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. And having been there for the three hours on Good Friday, we will wish to be at the Vigil on Holy Saturday night as well, to celebrate the new life from the dead, the renewal of the Light of the world from the darkness of Good Friday. Notes on the details of the services are available in the porch of the West Laurel Hill chapel. A sacramental confession is an excellent way to prepare to keep the Easter feast. I will be available to hear confessions after the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Masses, and after the Good Friday Liturgy; also by appointment.
I am grateful to all those who make the Holy Week liturgies possible, and especially to our friends at West Laurel Hill Cemetery, and at All Saints' Church in Wynnewood, who provide us the space to observe Holy Week properly.
Prayer Box Project
There are a few further developments since I wrote about our intercession work last month. We have further refined the distribution process: after the prayer requests are collected from the boxes, they are scanned and distributed by email to all those who have email – all this courtesy of Mark Johnson. Those who cannot receive email receive copies through the regular mail. Wendy Denton has agreed to take over the general oversight of the project – for which I am most grateful. I'm also happy to report that we have an additional prayer box placed at the Katherine Drexel Home on Belmont Avenue across from West Laurel Hill Cemetery. This is also home for Emily Fahnestock (who has been coming every other week with Dan Dortenzio). I hope that others of you will wish to join in the effort – all that is required is a little time, and the desire to serve Jesus by bringing human needs to our loving Lord. You can let Wendy, Mark or me know, and we'll get you into the loop.
Confirmations
Confirmations are scheduled for Low Sunday (the Octave of Easter), April 15th, at the ten o'clock Mass. The Right Rev'd Louis Campese, the local Anglican Church in America bishop, will be with us to do the confirmation. I trust you will be there, both by way of support for our confirmands, and to welcome Bishop Campese on his first visit to St Michael's.
Whosoever Gospel Mission
As you may already know, one of the local missions which we have supported for years is the Whosoever Gospel Mission in Germantown. Their primary work is with drug and alcohol addicts, which is supported by a pair of thrift shops. Last winter (as we were moving to West Laurel Hill), their main building was destroyed by an arson fire. The Director, the Rev'd Robert Emberger, writes, “We have discovered that recovering from a catastrophic event is challenging and takes time – especially the insurance issues. But we are thankful for our progress thus far since the fire – the Mission is operationally and financially stable which is critical to our rebuilding efforts, and things are moving forward albeit slowly. This past Christmas was quite different because of the fire – our chapel and dining room were not decorated, nor did we enjoy all of the festivities which made Christmas at the Mission such a joyful time for our men and their families. By God's amazing grace, however, we did have the joy of seeing new life springing from the ashes of the Mission in our weekly After School Club.” The Mission is planning to rebuild in the same location (on Chelten Avenue just above Germantown). They are also continuing their plan to open an additional facility, Hannah's Place, for women with children in need of housing and a new start. Do keep the Mission in your prayers in this difficult time, and they continue to receive donations for the one remaining thrift shop. They can be reached at P.O. Box 48308, Philadelphia, PA 19144; 215-438-3094.
St Anna's Home
Another local mission which we have supported over the years is St Anna's Home, a branch house of the All Saints Sisters of the Poor, near the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. St Anna's originally provided a Christian home for older women – a place where they could live out their years and say their prayers in a Christian environment. St Anna's now operates from a much smaller facility, and without the residential ministry. Sr Elaine (known to many of you) is in charge of the house, and oversees its varied ministry – which includes quiet days, teaching, care for the poor, and her ministry in several parishes (including All Saints'). Here is a prayer you can use for St Anna's:
Almighty God, Look, we pray thee, with thy gracious favor upon St Anna's. May thy presence ever abide in it and thy love protect it. May it be the abode of love and peace and holiness, and may all who share its life and work on earth at last inherit the blessed mansions of thine eternal home in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Allen Lane Train Station
You may be aware that the present rectory abuts the Allen Lane train station. As part of our service to our new neighborhood, we are planning to help care for the grounds on our side of the tracks. There is a community group which already looks after the much larger grounds on the outbound side. The plan is to keep the trash picked up, and try to keep the weeds under control – maybe also some better plantings. (Septa takes care of the mowing.) Since the station is scheduled for a complete rebuilding, beginning in about a year's time, we won't be doing any major plantings at this point. I hear that some annuals may go in along the low retaining wall on the other side of the rectory fence. In any case, I'd like to invite you to a clean-up and work day (morning, actually) on Saturday, April 21st. There will be Mass in the rectory Oratory as usual at 9:30. We'll go to work after that. Please come!
Sunday School Introductions
Continuing our series of introductions for the children of our Sunday School: this month – Rayquan Ruth. Ray is one who does not live in the “old” neighborhood. His connection with the parish is through his mother, Teela Lane, who was baptized and confirmed at St James (the confirmation was the one a few years back at Rosemont with a number of Anglican bishops) – and, tragically, died less than a year after her confirmation. She grew up a few doors from Pat Gillikin, who invited her to the Girls' Friendly Society and Sunday School. As a result, Ray and his sister Octavia have been part of the parish since they were born. They now live with their grandmother, Donna Lane (Teela's mother). Several years back, Ray moved from public school to the St James School for fourth grade – the last year we had the School open. He then attended a Roman Catholic parochial school in Olney (near his home) until this year, when he has joined Jonathan and David Reaves at Christ Academy. Ray is a personable young man, noted for his sense of humor, and his ability to imitate a gospel preacher (among other characters).
Kudos
Thanks goes this month to:
-- the members of the Wednesday Bible study, for doing the monthly Chronicle mailings.
-- Hal Denton, for obtaining kneeling pads for the communion “rail” at West Laurel Hill.
-- Fr Rix and our friends at All Saints, for giving us space for Stations of the Cross on Lenten Fridays, for the Lenten Quiet Day, and for the Easter Vigil.
Faithfully,
Fr David Ousley