This Week at Ascension + March 16, 2022
"Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." - Psalm 96
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March 16, 2022
Wednesday in the Second Week of Lent
Evening Prayer at 6:00 p.m.
In-person and Live-streamed Said Mass at 6:30 p.m.
Image: The Petition of the Mother of Zebedee's Sons,
oil on panel by Peter Pietersz (ca. 1600), Museum of Fine Arts, Dunkirk, France
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Sunday, March 20, 2022
The Third Sunday in Lent
9:00 a.m. In-person Sung Mass
with Organ and Hymns
11:00 a.m. In-person &
Live-streamed
Solemn High Mass
Image: The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree, etching, Jan Luyken, Bowyer Bible, Bolton, England
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Change, Continuity, and Anxiety
“The fundamental and all-encompassing theme of the Christian life is pilgrimage: its images are the images of wayfaring, of exile, . . . of alienation and reconciliation. . . . The Bible abounds in imagery of this kind, from beginning to end.” —Robert Crouse, Images of Pilgrimage: Paradise and wilderness in Christian Spirituality.
These words written by my mentor when I was a young priest have remained with me. I believe the experience of pilgrimage is the Christian experience. Embedded in the idea of pilgrimage is the experience of both change and continuity. We know this intuitively as we grow and mature. We are not who we were, yet we are the same person. The pilgrim’s life is steeped in change yet grounded in continuity. Over the past few years, the Ascension community has experienced significant change, yet we have remained in continuity with our Anglo-Catholic faith tradition and practice.
Ascension and its people have now entered a new pilgrim experience. Change is upon us, as we seek to remain true to who we are as a Christian community, amid grieving the loss of our beloved Rector, and anxiously await what this new journey will bring. Like the people of the exodus, our journey will bring change. We are anxious about this new reality. We do not want to lose what we have, and we may feel at risk and anxious during this important transition.
Anxiety is a tricky thing. We are not always able or willing to identify the vulnerable feelings attached to our anxiety. When this happens, we can easily become reactive in a process that seems out of our control. The way through is to own our feelings of fear and anger, as we grieve the departure of our Rector and the implications of this important transition. If we patiently give voice to these feelings to our parish leadership and develop relationships of trust and openness with them, we can come through this period of change with healing, wholeness, and a renewed vision.
For their part, our leaders will need to be good listeners and create opportunities for open dialogue. Most of all, we will need to commit to the interim process and trust that both the Search Committee and the Parish Vestry are under God’s good providence. But even in this, we all have important decisions to make, healthy and supportive decisions around how we are going to support the process, as we enter this new pilgrimage and transition.
— Fr. Petite
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UKRAINE CRISIS RESPONSE
Many of us are feeling helpless as to how to respond to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. One way to help Ukrainian families is by giving financially to Episcopal Relief and Development. Your donation will help provide cash, blankets, hygiene supplies and other needed assistance to families fleeing from violence in Ukraine.
And finally, pray. Pray hard for peace in Ukraine. For peace in all places of conflict and violence. And for peace in our own hearts.
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Outreach Committee Meeting TONIGHT
The Outreach Committee will meet tonight at 5 p.m. on Zoom. This committee is in its nascent stages as we are assessing the ways in which Ascension can best reach out to and serve our neighbors here in the immediate area and across the city. All are welcome. Please contact Mtr. Murphy-Gill with questions.
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Come Make Bagged Lunches Every other Tuesday
A small group of parishioners has been gathering every Tuesday evening to prepare bagged lunches for Chicago Help Initiative, a nonprofit organization that delivers and serves meals to Chicago’s unhoused population. The group will meet again, March 29 at 7 p.m. We currently need assistance with preparing the approximately 50 lunches as well as delivering them to First St. Paul’s Lutheran (just a few blocks of Ascension on LaSalle) at between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday mornings. Please contact Bonnie Scott for more information.
This ministry is in its early days, and the sustainability of it is unclear unless there is more participation. If the monthly food pantry on Saturdays has been difficult for you to attend, please consider this feeding ministry as an alternative.
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Curate Away March 21–24
Following the Sunday Masses, Mtr. Murphy-Gill will be away on retreat Sunday evening through Thursday, March 24. If you have a pastoral emergency, please contact the parish office (312-664-1271). In case of an emergency outside of parish office hours where a priest is needed, contact Fr. Gary Lawler (312-415-8693).
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Faith Formation and Prayer Opportunities in Lent |
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Mondays - Lenten Lunches at Noon via Zoom
Join Mtr. Murphy-Gill every Monday at noon during Lent for conversation and reflection on preparing for Holy Week. We’ll be using the book Holy Solitude as our guide. We no longer have copies of this book at the church, but it is available on Amazon or IndieBound. If you are experiencing financial hardship and unable to purchase a copy, please contact the church.
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Fridays - Stations of the Cross at Noon
Come pray the Stations of the Cross every Friday at noon in the church. David White will accompany on the organ. If you’d like to be a lay officiant or assist, please reach out to our verger MB Hwang.
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Mtr. Meghan Murphy-Gill's sermon for the Second Sunday in Lent may be read here.
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Organ and Choral Repertoire for March 20, 2022 |
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ORGAN
By custom, organ voluntaries
are omitted on this day.
At the Entrance Procession
MENDON (11am)
At the Offertory
MENDON (9am)
MAGDALEN COLLEGE (11am)
At the Communion
SICILIAN MARINERS (9am)
O WELT ICH MUß DICH LASSEN (11am)
At the Retiring Procession
SICILIAN MARINERS (11am)
Mass Ordinary
Orlande de Lassus (c. 1532-1594) Jägermesse
Offertory Motet
Lassus
Benedic anima mea Domino
Communion Motet
Heinrich Isaac (c. 1450-1517)
Passer invenit
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Between Masses, please don’t forget that The Choir of the Ascension has recorded upwards of 60 tracks that you can listen to anywhere you have an internet connection. They can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/choir-of-the-ascension
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Ascension Connections
(with your click and God's help)
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Meeting ID:
792 031 7452
Password: 1133
Join-by-Phone Option: (312) 626-6799
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Weekly Ascension Schedule
For connections:
SUNDAYS
9:00 a.m. In-person Sung Mass
11:00 a.m. In-person and Live-Streamed Solemn High Mass
MONDAY-FRIDAY
WEDNESDAYS
6:30 p.m. Said Mass
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Please give generously as you are able.
Treasurer Susan Schlough has asked me to remind you of Ascension's ongoing expenses at this time. To the extent that you are able, payment on your pledges or the offering of Holy Day or other special gifts will be greatly appreciated. You may still write a check and mail it to the church, or online payment is possible through the buttons at various places on our website. Thank you!
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For our prayers: The Rev. Canon Paula Clark, August 'Augie' Alonzo, Jim Berger, Taffy Wehe, Beth Hall, Sue Lenz, Ben, David D. Jones, Gina, Tom Baer, Edward Minieka, Brenda Martins, Claire Green, Marion Cantore, Georgia Schell, Edith Cole
Birthdays: Ted Saunders, 3/17; Sr. Judith Marie Mandrath, 3/18
Requiescat in pace: Edith Mulcare, 3/15/1972; John Mulcare, 3/18/2020,
David E. Leonard, 3/19/1992; Heather Downs, Carey Weiss, Annie Picard,
Fr. Louis Weil
Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them;
May their souls and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
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The Rev. Meghan Murphy-Gill, Curate
Susan Schlough, Treasurer
Br. Nathanael Deward Rahm BSG, Parish Office
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Vestry of Church of the Ascension
Ian Barillas-McEntee, Jim Lo Bello, Ken Cozette, Marlea Edinger, Sean Hansen, George Pineda, Joshua Simpson, Sam Sommers, Enrique Vilaseco, Vestry
Approved minutes of Vestry meetings are always available online to parishioners who request the link. If you would like Internet access to these Vestry Minutes, please email the Parish Office and request the link. Once you access the web page, you can read all recent Vestry meeting minutes.
The link remains live indefinitely. Any parishioner who has the link will not need to request a new link from month to month.
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