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‘The Bright Field’ by R. S. Thomas

I have seen the sun break through
to illuminate a small field
for a while, and gone my way
and forgotten it. But that was the
pearl of great price, the one field that had
treasure in it. I realize now
that I must give all that I have
to possess it. Life is not hurrying
on to a receding future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity that awaits you.

In this week’s Gospel, Jesus prays that we might know the same love that the Father has shown to him. He is just hours from being sentenced, tortured, and hung on a cross and this is final prayer to God, “And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves” (John 17:11-13). Jesus knows we must have faith that our lives rest in the care of God. When we give of ourselves, wonderful things start to happen. Jesus prays that you will have this incarnate love that moves mountains. Are you ready for what is ahead of us at St. John’s? Our parish can do wonderful things, not because we are powerful or rich, but because God does marvelous things for those who have faith and give of themselves for others. We must have faith that our lives rest in the care of God.

Each weekday morning at 9 am, a large group of St. John’s parishioners join on zoom for Morning Prayer. Each morning we pray for those we love, the sick, the poor, the oppressed, those with birthdays, the church, and for those who have died. We are in unity with one another and God through our common prayer and the remembering of a common story. We are connected through our faith. This week’s collect asks God to send us the Holy Spirit to strengthen us. We need to have a belief that there is something more in this world other than the chaos we see around us. There is a force of love and unity that we can tap into. That is the pearl of great price. It is valuable beyond measure because it came with a price. Jesus will teach, die, and be resurrected in three days that we might know that we are loved by God. The love and unity of God and Jesus are the way and the truth and the life. That is our common story.

Please join us in celebrating Mother’s Day at St. John’s this Sunday. We would love to see you and your whole family. May God’s blessing be upon you now and always.

In Christ’s love,
Fr. Duncan

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This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
—John 15.12

“All you need is Love,” a well known song from the Beatles made famous in the 60’s – during a time when life was turbulent. I would have us ponder the following question? When isn’t life turbulent? When do the winds of change ever stop blowing? 

Life can be turbulent when welcoming a newborn into ones’ family. Life as one knew it has now changed. Turbulent, joyful and a whole mix of emotions as parents adjust to the immediate transformation that a new little human with his/her own personality brings! Newborn welcome is certainly a fresh experience for Gary and me, as we continue to rejoice in the arrival of our first grandchild: Myles William Mis. Watching his parents jump through hoops to settle him down so reminds us of the turbulence we too went through as first time parents. Winds of change!

We too, as a parish family will welcome little Cayden Chipman into our fold through the sacrament of Baptism at our 10 a.m. serivce. In addition to his parents, Victoria and Brady, we, as his larger family are committed to keeping him in the faith and communion of God’s holy church. We pray that he will be filled with the holy and life giving Spirit and that he, and all of his new larger family will learn to love others in the power of that spirit. “All you need is Love.”

And speaking of love – wind and boundaries...

This Sunday, we also celebrate and actively support Episcopal Ministries of Long Island (EMLI) – an amazing ministry program that strives to move us out of our own little silos and open our eyes, ears, and hearts to the love and outreach of parishes within our very own diocese. How are we as a larger diocesan community connected beyond the borders and boundaries we often erect and to reach out to those in our neighborhoods who are in need of God’s love and bounty.

The winds of the Holy Spirit are interrupting our complacency and moving in our midst. We have been called into the mission field right in our own backyard, here at St. John’s in Huntington. And, we thank God to be able to reach out to EMLI for a grant to get us started.

The St. John's Garden of Grace

Grace: A Free Gift!!!  Our project will be a renewal and expansion of the good work that Alan Schorn began last year at the Robert Kubecka Memorial Organic Garden located off Dunlop Road in Huntington – three miles from our church. If we succeed in being awarded the grant, we will develop the land under the guidance of our very own master gardener, Fr. Duncan, (trained through the Cornell Cooperative Extension), to properly grow organic vegetables which will be distributed to the homeless, migrant and food insecure communities in our neighborhood.

There will be jobs that all of us can do to assist in this ministry:

• Pray-ers - to ask the Holy Spirit to be our guide
• Recorders - to record our progress each step of the way
• Builders – of raised garden beds
• Movers of mulch and soil
• Planters
• Weeders
• Harvesters
• Deliverers to Tri CYA and Helping Hands Rescue Mission

All that we do is out of love for our neighbor – to be able to reach out and make a tangible difference in someone’s life. So this Sunday, we ask you to support Episcopal Ministries of Long Island with your generous gift during our collection.  Let’s take down the invisible “no-tresspassing” signs and open our hands and hearts in loving outreach!