St. Michaels Litchfield

Bevan

Online Worship Services

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Sunday Worship, 10am on Facebook.  

The bulletin for Sunday, May 10, 2020

The Sunday services are recorded on Facebook Live and available to watch at a later time. 

Mon-Thurs 9am: Morning Prayer on Zoom
Wed 8am: Bible Study on Zoom

For Zoom login information please email: rector@stmichaels-litchfield.org
Specify Zoom Request in the subject heading.

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There are many online opportunities to participate in weekday prayer and services across the Northwest Region. Northwest Region News and Programming.

Why virtual Sunday Services and what about Eucharist?

5.10.20

May 10, 2020 with video link

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Watch the service here.

The Fifth Sunday of Easter                                                                                  E. Bevan Stanley

May 10, 2020

Year A

 

 

Acts 7:55-60

1 Peter 2:2-10

John 14:1-14

 

               Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.” In the Name of the one, holy, and undivided Trinity. Amen.

               This homily is going to have three sections that at first will seem disconnected. We will see if they come together in the end

We start with the Gospel. Jesus says we should not let our hearts be troubled. In this time of the COVID19 pandemic, many of us may find it difficult not to let our hearts be troubled. How are we to find peace in our hearts when thousands are dying around us? Jesus says, “Believe in God, believe also in me.” Believing in God is pretty easy. God is kind of an abstract idea. Sure God is out there; God made everything. And God made this virus. Why did God do that? What does that say about how trustworthy God is? Now we are asked to go a step further and believe in Jesus.

               Philip said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?” To put it in our vernacular, when Philip asks to see God, Jesus says, “You’re looking at him.” Jesus is God. Jesus is right here with us. Jesus is God sharing our human life. In Jesus God risks catching the corona virus.

               That’s the first part. For the second part we turn to the first letter of Peter. He writes, “Like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” This  pandemic with its accompanying discipline of keeping physical distances has robbed of us of our usual ways of worshiping together. Her I am in an empty church building and you are participating remotely in your homes. It gives us the opportunity to think about what do we mean by “church.” Clearly, it is not the building. The church existed long before special structures were built for worship. Now, when we cannot meet together in the building, we are still the Church. Peter reminds us that we are living stones built into a spiritual house. The Church is we the people of God. Nevertheless, this physical structure is a sacrament of our unity and mission as a gathered community of Christians. It is important though not necessary, that the Eucharist be celebrated in this space rather than my study at home. Peter goes on to say, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. When he says that all of us together are a “royal priesthood,” he is saying that collectively, as the Church, we perform the functions of priest. The function of a priest is to stand between the world and God. This works in two directions. First from the world to God, we stand before God on behalf of the world in intercession. We offer sacrifice to God on behalf of the whole world. That sacrifice is the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving and it is the oblation of our lives in service to the world. Second, as a priesthood, we speak and act on behalf of God to the world. We proclaim the good news of God’s love and we work with God to build the kingdom of God on this planet. This is what is means to be a royal priesthood.

               This brings us to the third part of this sermon. I cannot let another Sunday go by without saying something about another epidemic in our land. That is the epidemic of racism and the unwarranted killing of African-Americans. I am referring to the murder of

Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia in February. Here is an unarmed black man out jogging when two white men accost him and shoot him. The two white men said they thought he fit the description of a suspected burglar. The white men were not police officers, though one was a retired law enforcement officer. Their lives were in no way at risk. There was absolutely no reason for them to fire on this man. Then these two were not arrested for two months because of their relationship to the local District Attorney’s office.

This is has to stop. It is wrong. We cannot honestly hold ourselves out to the rest of the world as the land of freedom and equality when, our citizens can be killed simply because of their skin color. One of the ways we can be a royal priesthood, that we can act on God’s behalf, that we can help in building God’s kingdom is to use our voices and our votes to insist that every time an unarmed person is shot, especially by people connected with law enforcement, that the perpetrators be held accountable.

As you know, it is not my normal practice to talk about such things in a sermon. I do so today because I truly believe that as Christians, as members of the Body of Christ, as a royal priesthood, we must offer ourselves to God to be used for the building of God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. And if we find the way confusing or difficult, we have Jesus present with us, who is the way, the truth, and the life. We have God in us and among us as the Holy Spirit. We live in the compassion of God for ourselves in this pandemic, for Ahmaud Arbery and his family in their suffering, and for the two perpetrators whose fear and insecurity drove them to a terrible act.

In a few minutes as we offer the bread and wine to God at this altar, we will also be offering up ourselves to be transformed by God’s love and power into sacraments of God’s compassion and wholeness for our families, neighbors, and nation. In this we need never fear. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. We have no better friend or guide.

 

4.26.20

April 26, 2020 with video link

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Watch the service here

The Third Sunday of Easter                                                                                 E. bevan Stanley

April 26, 2020/ Year A

Acts 2:14a,36-41
1 Peter 1:17-23
Luke 24:13-35

They stood still, looking sad. In the name of the one, holy, and undivided Trinity. Amen.

               Two men are walking down South Street, talking about the news. More people are dying. People are out of work. If we let people return to work, the pandemic will last longer and more people will get sick and die. If we continue strict policies of isolation and quarantine, people may lose their homes, or their savings, or their jobs. Suddenly, a third guy is walking with them, keeping six feet apart.

“What are you talking about,” he asks.

“Are you the only one around who doesn’t know what’s going on? Do you have your head buried in the sand? We’re talking about all this bad news.”

“Where is your faith? Where is your hope? Yes, this pandemic is horrible. And it is killing a lot of people. But what does the Bible say? No matter how hard it gets, God is with us. What seems like and end is always the beginning of something new. Every experience is an opportunity to give and receive love.” And he told them story after story from the Bible about God being with people and new beginnings.

Then the stranger stopped and did a strange thing. He pulled plastic bag out of his pocket. From it he took a slice of bread. He looked to the sky and said, “Thank you, Father.” Then he broke it. It was then that the two men noticed the wounds in his hands. He vanished. The two men gaped at each other. “Holy, moly. Did you see that? That was Jesus!”

And what did they do then?

               We are all in the middle of a lot of bad news. Life is harder for some than others. Even spring seems to be having a hard time getting here. And Jesus is here with us. God is here. The Holy Spirit is here. Sometimes we see them briefly; mostly we don’t. We are not alone.

               Here’s a story I read somewhere: Some women in a Bible study came across Malachi 3:3 which says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” This verse puzzled the women, and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

               The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot then she thought again about the verse that says: “He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.” She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

               The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?” He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s easy – when I see my image in it.”

               If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

               Which brings us to the words in the first letter of Peter: Through Jesus you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God. Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

               Hope and trust are things we choose. Its not just that we feel hopeful some days and not others. It is not that we feel trusting some days and not others. No. In the midst of this danger and disruption, we choose hope. We choose trust. We choose love. That is our work for now. And as we hope and trust and love, God will be seeing more and more of the divine in our characters.

               So as we endure this time of disease and death, into what new thing is God refining us?

 

4.19.20

April 19, 2020 with video link

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Watch the service here

The Second Sunday of Easter                                                                                 E. Bevan Stanley

April 19, 2020
Year A

Acts 2:14a, 22-32
1 Peter 1:3-9
John 20: 19-31

 

               Jesus said to Thomas, “Do not doubt, but believe.” In thee Name of the one, holy, and undivided Trinity. Amen.

               Here we are in the midst of a pandemic. Most of us are doing our best to keep a safe distance from others and to avoid any possibility of encountering the COVID19 virus. Fear is all around. There is the real possibility of being infected by the highly contagious disease. If one is infected, there is the real possibility of dying from it. Nevertheless, medical and emergency personnel continue to go into work in places where the virus is all around. They risk their lives for others. And since we can never know where others have been or how careful they been, anyone who is still working with the public is risking themselves for their neighbors. Everyone of them is a hero. And then there are those who are laid off and cannot work and are facing financial hardship or disaster.  And the rest of us, even if we have luxury of avoiding contact with others still can’t be sure that a loved one, a relative, a friend may not catch the disease. As a species we are hard-wired to come together in a crisis, to help each other. This distancing is counter-intuitive to us and increases our anxiety and our psychic discomfort. This is a hard, frightening, and dangerous time. It does no good to deny it; indeed, it can be dangerous for ourselves and our neighbors.

Despite modern communication technology, we can feel disconnected and isolated. And time! Time has slowed down. I can’t believe it has only been a week since Easter. The snow yesterday makes it feel like mid-March, not mid-April. It appears we have at least another month before we can think about easing the restrictions that are hindering the spread of the virus. I feel like the kid in the car who, after only five minutes into a two hour trip, says, “Are we there yet?”

                              One of the advantages of slowed time is that it gives us the opportunity to slow ourselves and pay more attention to all that fate or God offers to our consciousness. Many of us are enjoying walking outside. Others are taking time to cook or bake more. Others are taking more time to read or pray or write in their journals. Time also helps us absorb new truths. What seems impossible when we first hear of it becomes real over time. Like the COVID19 virus. In January it seemed far fetched that a flue in China would so disrupt our lives here.

               The reading from the Gospel of John contains several of these elements. The story begins on the evening of Easter Day. The disciples have locked themselves in a house “for fear of the Jews.” They were afraid that the authorities might come and kill them Just as they had their leader. Jesus “came and stood among them.” It’s not clear if he passed through the door like a ghost or materialized in their midst as if tele-transported in Star Trek. He says, “Peace be with you.” They need not be afraid any longer. He shows them his wounds as a means of identification, as if they wouldn’t recognize him with them. The disciple rejoice when they see the Lord. Jesus repeats his message and adds to it: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Then he breathes on the disciples and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is the breath of Jesus. It is the gift of the Spirit that allows us disciples to be sent in the same way that God sent Jesus in to the world. Then he continues, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” This implies that the primary task of followers of Jesus is to forgive sins, to reconcile people, to overcome estrangement and alienation. We are putter-togetherers. Which makes it all the more frustrating that we cannot pass the peace. That we must keep our distance from one another.

               Then the story switches to Thomas. He missed the whole scene on the day of the Resurrection. When he heard about it, he said, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

He is an empiricist. I think he is say, “I’m not calling you guys liars; I’m just saying I got to see for myself. This is too good to be true.” Then a week later, which would be today, They are gathered again in the same house, and Jesus comes and stands among them again, just as he had a week earlier. Again, he sayd, “Peace be with you.” Ever since that day for nearly two thousand years we disciples have gathered together on the day of the Resurrection so that Jesus can come and stand among us, and give us his peace, and breathe the Holy Spirit into us, and send us out just as God sent him into the world. This time Thomas was there. Jesus invites him to put his finger in the wounds and his hand in his side. “Do not doubt, but believe,” he says. Actually, a more literal translation would be, “Do not become untrusting but trusting.” Thomas is convinced. Indeed, the text does not say that Thomas did put his fingers in the wounds; he just says, “My lord and my God.” As far as we know he is the first to make this affirmation. So it’s a little unfair to call him “Doubting Thomas,” when he is the first to acknowledge Jesus as God. Then Jesus says, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” This is a word to the rest of us. Seeing is not necessary to faith, at least not in this physical way.

               The next couple of lines make it clear that this was the original ending of the Gospel. So this Jesus’ last word to us. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.

               Maybe in this time of having time, we can see what we have not seen before. Or we can see with our inner sight as well as with our outer. We may practice seeing with our heart. In this time of peril, we can practice trusting our Lord. In this time of not breathing on each other we can practice breathing the breath of God. In this time of anxiety we can practice receiving the peace of God. In this time of separation from one another we can practice reconnecting by phone, Zoom, or letter. In this time when we are all in this together we can help our neighbors who may be experience financial hardship with generosity in supporting the various efforts to help them. And we can express our appreciation for those who continue to work in jobs that keep our food, utilities, medical care, and other necessities coming to us.

               In the end we practice hope, courage, and love. It’s the Christian thing to do.

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Easter

April 12, 2020 with video link

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Watch the service here

Easter Sunday      E. Bevan Stanley

April 12, 2020

Year A

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised.” In the name of the one, holy, and undivided Trinity. Amen.

Alleluia! He is risen! The Lord is risen, indeed. Alleluia! This is the proclamation of Easter. After the betrayal, after the sham trial, the beatings, the shaming, and finally the gruesome death. After this total defeat and destruction, after the loss of all things, Jesus lives. Not just in our hearts. Not just in that his ideas live on. But as a total human being with a body and soul. He is risen. And he stays risen. Jesus is alive. Now and always. As has often been said, the message of Easter is that the worst thing is never the last thing. No matter how bad things get, there is always a new page, a new chapter. After sin comes forgiveness. After estrangement comes reconciliation, after bondage comes freedom, after injury comes healing. After death, comes life. The message of Easter is that God’s love conquers all. Not even death can separate us from the love of God.

Now we are in the midst of a world wide pandemic. To protect as many people as possible we are staying home. We are avoiding contact with others. Many have lost jobs or are furloughed. Many who must continue working are risking their health. Hospitals are filling with COVID19 patients so that other medical needs are not being addressed. Many will die from this disease. The enemy is invisible. We never know who might be a risk to us.

In the midst of this, we hear once again the announcement of Easter. Jesus has defeated death. Jesus has reunited God and humanity. Jesus is healing the world. The Kingdom of Heaven has begun. Love and hope. These are the gifts God gives. Love and hope are the choices we make. Love and hope are the results of our practice. Love and hope will see us through this time of illness and death. The earth itself provides a picture, metaphor, and icon of this message. From the dead ground of winter, the daffodils, the hyacinths and the tulips spring forth and reach for the sky. Forsythia explodes with exuberant joy. But these are mere metaphors and pictures of the reality. Resurrection is not merely a nice idea or are a theological abstraction. The Resurrection is a fact as real as gravity. Listen to John Updike’s poem, “Seven Stanzas at Easter”:


Make no mistake: if He rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells’ dissolution did not reverse, the molecules
reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.

It was not as the flowers,
each soft Spring recurrent;
it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled
eyes of the eleven apostles;
it was as His flesh: ours.

The same hinged thumbs and toes,
the same valved heart
that-pierced-died, withered, paused, and then
regathered out of enduring Might
new strength to enclose.

Let us not mock God with metaphor,
analogy, sidestepping transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the
faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the door.

The stone is rolled back, not papier-mâché,
not a stone in a story,
but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow
grinding of time will eclipse for each of us
the wide light of day.

And if we will have an angel at the tomb,
make it a real angel,
weighty with Max Planck’s quanta, vivid with hair,
opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen
spun on a definite loom.

Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are
embarrassed by the miracle,
and crushed by remonstrance.

 

That is to say, the resurrection is more real than this crummy little virus. The resurrection is mightier than our fears. Weeping may spend the night, but joy comes in the morning. Jesus is going before us and we are just trying to catch up. It feels as though this year we need Easter more than usual. That is not true. We need Easter all the time—Every year, every month, every day, every minute. We need the new life, the eternal life. We need the joy that overcomes every fear. We need the life the defeats every death. We need the love of God that truly conquers every enemy.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

Bell Ringer Michael

Bells of Hope

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Our community, like many others, are ringing bells at 8:00pm each night. It is done as a sign of hope and to let each other know that we are not alone. At  St.Michael’s a group of 6 volunteer families are taking turns each night ringing the bell.
 
The bell sits on on a 3’ frame, somewhat like a sawhorse. The wheel that causes it to be rolled is 21” in diameter and the bell is said to weigh 200 lb.
 
The info in the tour book notes the following: High above the crossing is the belfry which contains the third bell of the parish, cast in 1920 at the Meneely & Company Bellfoundry in Troy, New York. It bears the inscription: “CAST IN 1920 FOR THE FOURTH ST. MICHAEL’S CHURCH, REPLACING THE BELL OF 1855, WHICH IN TURN REPLACED THE FIRST BELL OF 1828. ADESTE FIDELES”.
 
The bell sounds Tenor E and is rung manually from a rope just inside the tower stairs.
 
Some pictures of the climb up the bell tower. It’s a bit spooky and fun.
Bell Ringer Michael
Bell Ringer Audrey
Bell Ringer up
Bell Ringer down
web3-saint-patrick-portrait-flickr

Postponed – A Service in Celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day

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web3-saint-patrick-portrait-flickr
Join us for this festive service in celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day
Saturday, March 14 @ 4:00pm
 
Captured by Irish raiders and sold in to slavery, the tale of a young British/Roman boy’s journey from shepherd to Saint will be woven in to a festive service that brings together prayer, song, meditation, and storytelling in the finest Celtic tradition.
 
This is an opportunity to step back from the green potatoes, and the pop culture image of Patrick, and truly learn something about a man whose extraordinary life and vision is a cornerstone of Celtic spirituality. All this and traditional Irish music too.
 
Flute and fiddle by Mickey Koth of The Wild Notes.
Songs by Saint Michael’s choir
Narrative by Claudia Chapman.
 
This service builds upon a new tradition of Celtic style Saturday worship at Saint Michael’s. We hope you will join us.
 
From our service:
 
His days were spent watching sheep graze on a green mountain not far from the sea. Living out of doors, with neither books nor friends to occupy his mind, young Patrick’s attention turned to the natural world.
 
Huddled together for warmth he slept rough with the dogs who stayed by his side even through frost and rain. Not yet fluent in the local language and yearning for companionship, he began to speak with God. The pure white moon was the skullcap that covered his head as he learned to pray.
Lenten Soup

Canceled Lenten Soup & Talk Series @ 6 PM

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Lenten Soup & Talk Series
TIME 6 PM
(in case of weather — no school, no talk)
 
March 3     St. Anthony of Padua – Grief but not Despair (John 16:20)
March 10   St. Michael’s – Matthew 5:44 “Love and Prayer” 
March 17   St. Paul’s (Bantam) – Love Conquers All (John 17:24)
March 24   United Methodist Church – Listening to Our Heart and to Jesus (Matthew 17:5)
March 31   First Congregational Church – Jesus the Light of the World (John 9:5; Mathew 5:14)
 
Prayer-for-web2

Postponed – Sunday School During Lent

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Sunday School is postponed. 
We hope to resume in two weeks time. 3.13.20

Children’s Sunday School during Lent,
March 1 – April 5
9:45am – 10:30am
 
Children are welcome to gather at the Community House at St Michael’s on all or any of the Sunday’s in Lent, March 1 – April 5, from 9:45 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. There children will find a welcoming environment to read, write and or share prayers, as well as decorate and add weekly prayers to a personal prayer journal they will find waiting for them to create. During their time together there will also be a craft or game to extend their learning.
 
Children are welcome to bring prayers they are familiar with and will be encouraged to participate in a little extra time of simple heartfelt personally created prayer during lent as we prepare for Easter.
 
All In the parish are encouraged to send or drop off copies of their favorite prayers or stories of how praying has impacted their life to the church office. These treasures will be shared with the children. In addition, adults might consider reading the book Thanks, Help, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers by Anne Lamott as the children will be discussing simple ways to pray. Please continue to pray for all the children of our community and the world.
 
Questions, please contact the office.

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