St. Paul's Episcopal Church   Poughkeepsie, NY 12601


MESSENGER
"Making friends while serving God"

The week of March 4-10, 2019
Lent has arrived!
 

Our Ash Wednesday services:

12:15pm      Healing Service & Eucharist with                                     Imposition of Ashes

5:30pm        Ash Wednesday Liturgy
 

T E M P T A T I O N 
 


Our Gospel reading for the first Sunday of Lent involves Satan's three temptations of Jesus from Luke's Gospel. Although the personification of Satan and the specific temptations seem hugely improbable to us, the notion that we regularly face temptations, that is inducements, to forget our principles and "just do it" are quite familiar to each and every one of us. One quick look at the offerings at the checkout line at the grocery store and we are reminded. Temptations are everywhere.
bible.jpg

THIS WEEK'S READINGS


 

 
If we don't know what to do when faced with temptations it can be very awkward, perhaps even difficult. But if we know what leads us in the direction of our faith and what detours us away from it, then the decision is not so difficult. Lent is a season of getting clear on these things and being able to ask God's help in distinguishing them from our needs and from those choices that are not injurious in the short- or long-term.
 
Our Hebrew Bible reading from Deuteronomy describes the requirements for sacrifice in recognition of God's generosity to us. It parallels the notion of Lent, when we give up something or take on something to acknowledge and draw closer to God. Whether in resisting temptations or giving thanks, in Lent we seek especially to draw near to the Almighty in praise and with thanks.     
 
   Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 91:1-2,9-16;
   Romans 10:8b-13; Luke 4:1-13

    
  
                  Readings for the week of March 4-5
 
Monday, March 4
Romans 16:17-23 
 *NRSV omits verse 24
  
Tuesday, March 5
Romans 16:25-27

  PARISH  NEWS

   
MARCH IS MAYO MONTH
 
March is mayonnaise month at St. Paul's Food Pantry. Please bring your jars, any size to church on Sundays during the month and place them in the basket in the narthex. And if you are able to donate also a can or two of tuna fish, so much the better!
  
The Pantry's volunteers and clients thank all who brought donations of peanut butter and jelly in February. God bless you.

 
 
ANNUAL CORNED BEEF & CABBAGE DINNER


25 WEEK CLUB RETURNING!

  
A REMINDER FOR THOSE WHO DON'T REMEMBER HOW IT WORKS.
  
You buy a ticket for $25.   You are then eligible to win any of the drawings and you can win multiple times!! Weekly drawings of $20 & $10 will be held every Sunday at Coffee Hour beginning April 7 and continuing through September 22.
  
A final drawing and party will be held Saturday, September 29. Prizes of $500, $250, $150, $100 and $50 will be awarded at that time.
  
Tickets will be available beginning Saturday, February 16. Plan to get at least 1 ticket and try to sell some also. It's a fun way to support the church.
This time at least half of the profits will help pay for our new pew cushions.



C O M M U N I T Y    N E W S
 
 

Last fall, anti - Semitic fliers were posted by supporters of neo - Nazi hate groups on three Poughkeepsie college campuses and two Beacon churches.

During the first week of January 2019, 17 notices were posted in the Town of Poughkeepsie on stop signs and light poles - this time targeting the immigrant community.

The Town of Poughkeepsie police reported that nothing can be done, but we disagree. If we as a community don ' t speak up, who else will?

At this time when there is increased violence and harassment toward Jews, Muslims, immigrants, LBGTQ, African - Americans and other minorities, a group of non - partisans, concerned Dutchess County residents ask for your help and support in changing the narrative with a visual campaign of yard signs, window signs and bumper stickers that read " Hate Has No Home Here. "

Please CLICK on the link below

HATE HAS NO HOME HERE to order lawn and window signs and bumper stickers for you to have and distribute. For more information, please write to hhhnhh@gmail.com

(" Hate Has No Home Here " Dutchess is an informal group,
non-partisan, and not affiliated with any institution.)


C O M M U N I T Y   C A L E N D A R

Note: Please visit the DCIC website (www.dutchesscountyinterfaith.org) and our Facebook page for updates on these events and more.
UPCOMING EVENTS-PLEASE SAVE THE DATES!

Date
Event
Time
Venue
Tuesday, March 12
DCIC Annual Membership Meeting
Keynote Speaker: Jody Miller (Chair of the Dutchess County Commission on Human Rights)
5:30 p.m.
First Evangelical Lutheran Church (325 Mill Street, Poughkeepsie). Reception follows meeting.
RSVP by Wednesday, March 6 by emailing us at office@dutchesscountyinterfaith.org
This event is open to the public and all are welcome.
Tuesday, March 19
DCIC Story Circle
Theme: Legacy
7:30 p.m.
The Hindu Samaj and Cultural Center (3 Brown Road, Wappingers Falls). For more information, contact us at
office@dutchesscountyinterfaith.org
Sunday, April 7
Maccabeats: Premier A
Cappella
4:00 p.m.
Congregation Shir Chadash (1168 Route 55, Lagrangeville). For more information, email info@shir - chadash.org or call (845) 232 - 1029
Sunday, May 19
DCIC Clergy Meet and Greet
4:00 p.m.
Freedom Plains United Presbyterian Church (Route 55, Lagrangeville). For more
information, contact us at
office@dutchesscountyinterfaith.org
Wednesday, May 29
DCIC Religious Leaders
Discussion on " The First Amendment "
Led by retired NYS Supreme Court Judge Albert Rosenblatt
7:00 p.m.
Freedom Plains United Presbyterian Church (Route 55, Lagrangeville). For more
information, contact us at
office@dutchesscountyinterfaith.org
Sunday, October 6
DCIC CROP Hunger Walk
More details to follow.
Sunday, November 24
DCIC Interfaith Thanksgiving Service
More details to follow.
Saturday, December 7 and
Sunday, December 8
DCIC Fair Trade and
Handmade Bazaar
More details to follow.

                           
                     
                              MARCH BIRTHDAYS
 
11   Margaret Robinson                                21         Linda Aleen Dubois
12   Tyler Jones                                                         Lisl Prater-Lee
14   Kattyann Goodwin                                 24         Alice Leigh
17   Deborah Marie Williams                        25         Michael Van Pelt
       Whitman (George) Williams                  26         Karen Reid
       Bryanna Winkler                                    29         Danya Clarke
20   Stacey Rosborough                               30         Stuart Ballinger
                                                                      31         Rose Marie Proctor
                                                                                   Peter Bedrossian
                                                                             

The Sunday Sermon  
                           
Get ready, get set, Lent!

SERMON: Last Epiphany C 3 3 19
Ex34:29-35; Ps99;2Cor3:12-4:2;Lk 9:28-43a

Moses really had a hard time of it. He was thrown in the Nile River in a basket as an infant. He had to deal with the burning bush. He had to deal with followers who were often quite cranky. So one day he had had enough and he went up the mountain where he communed with God and explained to the Almighty that he was tired, he was weak, he was worn out by his people and all their demands.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," God said to Moses, as if He didn't already know all this. "I think I can help you. Here, take these two tablets."

OK, maybe that's not the way it's spelled out in today's Hebrew Bible reading, but you get the idea. My joke leads to the presumption that the cure for Moses' headache -- and for all of our headaches -- is The Ten Commandments. I suppose that is true, even if it was just a joke. Or at least, if we follow the Ten Commandments our headaches will diminish. But following them is the key.
Our collect this morning notes that Jesus "revealed his glory upon the holy mountain. This is one of the many ways in which the Christian tradition acknowledges its linkage to the Jewish tradition; Jesus is effectively mimicking Moses. Both went up the Holy Mountain, both had shining faces after time on the Holy Mountain.

It stands to reason that we would get a lot of parallel signals in today's lessons. This is the last Sunday after the Epiphany. This means that Lent begins on Wednesday, Ash Wednesday. It's important as the forty days of Lent begin and we track Jesus through the wilderness that we are clear that he was God-sent and that he is connected with the holy people of the faith who preceded him. In the Gospel Jesus is accompanied on his trip up the mountain by Peter, John and James. His appearance and his clothing are changed as he is praying. Jesus then does not appear to be surprised by the appearance of Moses and Elijah, but the three disciples are. Peter's confusion at this situation is helpful to us because we are confused as well. We don't understand what's going on any better than Peter does. His proposition that they build three shelters, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah makes sense only in that Peter was being helpful to the three spiritual guides.

Then a cloud surrounded them and a voice said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him." And that's the effective end of the story. Jesus and the disciples are silent for awhile, then they go down the mountain and Jesus heals a young man tormented by a demon, but only after declaring, "You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you?"
This combination of Bible readings sets us straight as we look ahead a couple of days and imagine Lent being upon us again. We are clear about Jesus being decidedly God's Son and Chosen One. We recognize the similarities with Moses, and we see that Jesus is, indeed, worn out by his followers whose faith seems to disappoint often.

Not to put too much pressure on ourselves, but how do you think we should use these readings to prepare us for the season of Lent? Officially Lent is a season of penitence and fasting in preparation for Easter. Lent is derived from the Old English word for the season of spring which meant lengthening days. I can imagine that some kind of restraint might be necessary as we look past Lent and see Easter. It is not difficult to imagine a time when church was a more central community activity, and perhaps people wanted to celebrate Easter before they'd gone through the rigors of Lent. That makes penitence and fasting sound a little more reasonable.
Some practice, some discipline, before the big celebration.

Delayed gratification is not a hallmark of contemporary society, however. We want what we want when we want it. Well, that's not the way the church works. If we do not submit to the cycles and seasons of life in the church then we miss the connection to our heritage, to the people who populated the pews and before pews the homes where services were conducted, where people of faith gathered to reflect on the meaning of our belief system.

So how do we prepare? The days of giving up something for Lent have given way, significantly if not mostly, to people assuming a new discipline or practice during the weeks of Lent. For a number of years here at St. Paul's we have held Lenten suppers on Wednesday nights during Lent. This year they are scheduled for March 13, 20, 27 and April 3, followed by our Lenten Seder with Rabbi Dan Polish April 10. These midweek meals with discussion of Lenten meditations and a brief Compline service are an excellent way to let Lent break into our lives, to give us new things to think about and new ways to think about them.

We also engage in many practices that are common in Anglican churches worldwide during Lent: We don't sing the service music or the Lord's Prayer during Lent; we discontinue the use of the word Alleluia (and we wait to see whether the priest can remember). We change our version of the Prayers of the People and the Eucharistic Prayer. All this is to help us recognize that things are changing: the season, the progress of the church year, our worship methods, and so on.

There is also the potential to do something in church because you want to. There is some discussion about a Prayer Group meeting for the 15 minutes before the 10 am service in the pews near the Baptismal Font to pray special prayers for the season. And there are endless prayer and meditation practices available to us when we try to build awareness into our Lent.

It is very much both a personal thing and a collective thing. How we engage in Lenten practice as a congregation is well known and well established. How we choose to effect Lenten practice privately is, well, private, and utterly up to you and me. I can tell you, though, from personal experience that taking Lent seriously brings definitely positive results. Not only does it ready us for Easter, but it opens us up to the awareness of what Jesus was living through in the wilderness. No, Satan is likely not going to try to get us to deny God, but temptation does surround us all the time.

Lent is intended for us to take stock, to consider what occurs to us when we recite the Confession every Sunday. What do we wish we didn't do? What do we wish we did more? What would we like to include? What would we like to omit? What would we choose to inject into our lives to replace the things we'd like God's help removing? And how will we pray to God to please remove whatever it is and replace it with something more fitting? The answer is: ask God. Ask God to open your mind and your heart to see what calls for adjustment, to inspire different actions or choices or thoughts, and to continue to pray for this.

If we take those aspects of our lives that represent temptation, that is, the things that harm us yet compel us, and we surround ourselves with resources both spiritual and practical that serve as a barrier between us and our temptations, we come out of the Lenten experience with dual benefits. One is we will have succeeded in living into the choices we know are best for us, the choices we make when we are mindful of what is best for us. The second benefit is that we are energized and prepared for the meaning and experience of Easter when it arrives April 22.

As I said, it is a very personal matter. I offer my experience and encourage you to find ways to live life differently during Lent. For all who seek to fully devote themselves to new practices and ways of being in Lent, I pray that peace and discovery and Easter preparedness are the result.                     Amen


A sermon on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, March 3, 2019, delivered at
St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Poughkeepsie, NY by The Rev. Tyler Jones, Rector

Please " Like" our page to stay up to date with all services and events.
St. Paul's Episcopal Church-Poughkeepsie
 
 

'In Service to God & You'
 
SUNDAY 8AM
Server:            Maria Bell

Lectors:           Rose Marie Proctor
                        Tom Walker

Litanist:           Pete Bedrossian
  
SUNDAY 10AM
Organist:         Maris Kristapsons
  
Acolytes:         Shawn Prater-Lee                 
  
Lectors:           Aleen Josephs-Clarke
                        Bobbie Gordon
  
Litanist:            Mark Debald
  
Usher:              Dewy Clarke
                         Mark Debald
  
Altar Guild:       Joanna Frang & Rose Marie Proctor

Greeters:          Rose Marie Proctor & Cynthia Benjamin             
 
 
 
 

THIS WEEK'S HYMNS

1982              143          The glory of these forty days
 
1982              635          If thou but trust in God to guide thee
 
CPWI             116          Jesu, who this our Lenten-tide
 
1982              142           Lord, who throughout these forty days
 

HYMN INFORMATION: Lord, who throughout these forty days signals the beginning of Lent. Forty is a number with special biblical significance. Apart from Christ's forty days in the wilderness as the paradigm for Lent, it rained for forty days and nights when the earth was overtaken by floodwaters, Noah waited another forty days before opening the window of the Ark, Israel wandered in the desert for forty years, and Jesus was seen on earth following the resurrection for forty days. Claudia Hernaman, daughter of an English Anglican minister, wrote about 150 hymns. This one appeared in 1873 and is the only hymn text she is now commonly remembered by. It is traditionally sung to the hymn tune St. Flavian, which is from an unknown source first published in a 1562 psalter. 
  
 

 
 
 
 
 

THIS WEEK'S CALENDAR
March 4-10, 2019
                               
MON 4
7:30am "Good Morning" AA Meeting;  

5pm Stewardship;
6pm Evening Prayer, Vestry;
6:30pm NA Meeting;


TUE 5
10am-2pm Office, Pantry, Thrift Store;
6pm Evening Prayer, Spiritual Life;
6pm SHROVE TUESDAY PANCAKE SUPPER;


WED 6
10am-2pm Office, Food Pantry, Small Blessings Thrift Shop; 
12:15pm Healing Service & Eucharist w/ IMPOSITION OF ASHES;
5:30pm ASH WEDNESDAY LITURGY


THUR 7
10am-2pm Office, Food Pantry, Small Blessings Thrift Shop; 


FRI 8
7:30am "Good Morning" AA meeting; 
6:30pm NA Meeting;


SAT  10
9:30am Morning Prayer
10am Buildings & Grounds Mtg;
10am NA Meeting "Men do recover"
3pm NA Meeting "Journey to Recovery"; 
 
SUN 11
8am Rite I;
8:45am Lessons' Discussion;

9:30am Choir Practice; 

10am Sunday School;

10am Rite II;

11:15am Coffee Hour
11:30am Youth
                          

YOUR NEWS BELONGS IN ST. PAUL'S  MESSENGER

Help us get the word out by submitting news of parish activities. Send submittals to stpaulpk@verizon.net or call 845 452 8440

Give us a call today!