“By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, *

when we remembered you, O Zion.” (Psalm 137:1)

The psalms contain the whole breadth of human experience from ecstatic happiness to the depth of the pit of sorrow. Your emotional experience on any day is given voice somewhere in the Psalms. As clergy, we are encouraged to pray the psalms daily in the Daily Office of Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline. And it’s not just for us collared types. The Rite II Offices may be found beginning with Morning Prayer on Page 75 of the Prayer Book. I encourage you to pray them. In our 9am forum series between Sunday services we are currently exploring the History of the Prayer Book and how to use it in your daily spiritual exercises. Please join us. Anyway, the offices form the foundation of my prayer life, and their bedrock is the psalter, which is the churchy word for the book of Psalms.

Psalm 137 is the psalm for this Sunday’s Eucharist. It is the one I have the hardest time praying. Mostly this is because of the vengeance sought in verse 9… Look it up and you’ll see why I’m distressed by it. Psalm 137 is the wail of sorrowful grief and furious rage for an entire nation over its destruction and enslavement in Babylon, a near-genocide. The grief expressed in this lament is devastating. Yet, it is critical to not turn away from the pain expressed, lest we fail to grasp its purpose and lesson. The psalm was written in captivity in Babylon or shortly after the Jewish people were allowed to return to Judea after Babylon’s own destruction by the Persian Empire. It is a remembrance and processing of trauma, an outcry of regret for a world, an existence, now lost to the past. There were lives and things lost that will never be again. The trauma of this enslavement persists in the Jewish experience to this day, just as it does for people of color descended from those enslaved in our own history. Psalm 137 stands to remind us all to be mindful of these foundational emotional and psychological truths of our sisters and brothers and to build a better world, together.

In ministry, we are encountering people opening up about their grief over what we have lost just from the pandemic. For some, this is processing their very real grief over the loss of a loved one to the virus. Others are processing their sorrow over our society’s loss of patience and decency in behavior. What is clear is that we now live in a world that has shifted for the worse, somehow, and we are now left with the task of creating a new way forward. But rejoice with me! For, this is where the Church can shine. Together we need to ask what sort of world that should be. As for me, I will hope and work for a world that looks like the Kingdom of God, not like the ideological and populist wasteland of social media and cable news infotainment celebrities. The new world begins with community, with being together as much as possible, really being together… unmediated by media or screens.

Please come to Eucharist in person if you are able. Please come to those events that your fellow parishioners are passionately hosting (like this weekend’s clambake). I am convinced that it is in the hard but necessary conversations around tables, God’s and our own, that our new life forward will be found. After all, it’s how Jesus gathered the first followers. They literally changed the world after his ascension. We can too. But it is important we do not look away… even if, especially if, it is hard to see.

Let us walk in love.

Tim+

Tower Lighting

The tower was lit on Thursday, September 29th, to the glory of God

in honor and loving memory of beloved friend, Jacques Chartier,

who died in Lyon, France, on September 24, 2022, and with deepest

condolences and love for the extended Chartier family, by Cheryl Hatch. 

The tower will be lit on Thursday, October 6th to the glory of God in loving memory of her mother, Silvia Wedge, by Debby Lengyel and family.

The Tower will be lit on Friday, October 7th, to the glory of God with thanks

for the life of Anders Staats Nielsen, cherished son, nephew, and grandson.

Office Closure & Availability

The office will be closed on Friday, October 7th in observance of Columbus / Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

In addition, Canon Tim will be attending the SCP Annual Conference this coming week and will be out of the office from Tuesday, October 3rd to Friday, October 7th.

For pastoral emergencies, please contact Deacon Christine at 617-599-2296.

Blessing of the Animals

Pumpkin Patch 2022

💥  The pumpkins are coming early this year!  💥

They are arriving on Columbus Day

Monday, October 10th at 4pm 

This is exciting as we will have them earlier but it means that we have more time to cover.

Start signing up today for shifts on the Patch! 

They'll be here before you know it! 

T-8 days!

If you would like to know more about how to help please contact 

Diane Myers, 401-924-5531 or Debby Lengyel 401-862-4474

CALLING ALL BAKERS!

Baked goods will be needed for the 3 busy October weekends so please start to stock up on Pumpkin Bread supplies and look for future signups for Bakers to supply the Patch on Fridays, Oct 14, 21, and 28. Thanks for all your help in making the Patch successful and delicious!

Ellen Patterson 508-397-7330 [email protected]

Dolores Bauer 401-447-1006 [email protected]

Fall Concert Calendar

Clam Bake Reminder

Reminder to those of you who have already RSVP'ed

Saturday, October 1st

Dinner Starts between 4-4:30pm

Don't forget your lobster crackers and tools!

This event will be held rain or shine

(We will gather in the Hawes room for Dinner)

We look forward to seeing you then! 

8AM Service

Preacher & Deacon: The Rev. Christine Cassels

Presider: The Rev. Canon Timothy J. Watt

Lector & Intercessor: Miriam Smith

Altar Society: Mary Sinnott, Jeanne Kelley, Helen Brennan, and Candy Gilmartin

10AM Service

Preacher & Deacon: The Rev. Christine Cassels

Presider: The Rev. Canon Timothy J. Watt

Organist: Michael Bahmann

Acolyte & Crucifer: John Smith

Lector & Intercessor: Michael Bowley

A/V Production: Dennis Kretzschmar

Ushers: Richard Alexander, and Jim and Ellen Patterson

Altar Society: Mary Sinnott, Jeanne Kelley, Helen Brennan, and Candy Gilmartin

Coffee Hour: Andrea Dwyer

Trinity Loving Community (TLC), is the Pastoral Care ministry of this parish. Reaching out with visits, meals, cards, and phone calls; and providing rides and errands, TLC extends the love of Christ to those in need. If you are aware of a need – for yourself or for someone else – please contact the TLC Monthly Coordinator(s).

For October 2022, our TLC coordinator is:

Cissie Ferzoco

401.835.6103 or [email protected]