The Power to Bless

Dear Beloved Ones of Trinity Church,

This past week, I found myself re-reading John O’Donohue’s classic work To Bless the Space Between Us, a wonderful collection of poems and soulful wisdom. Toward the end of the book, he has a section called “Preparing the Space for Blessing.”

“When a blessing is being invoked, time deepens until it becomes a source from which refreshment and encouragement are released. As Yeats says: Feeling I was blessed and that I now too could bless.

Whenever one person takes another into the care of their heart, they have the power to bless. There are things we never do simply because it never occurs to us that we can do that. To bless someone is to offer a beautiful gift. When we love someone, we turn toward them with our souls. And the soul itself is a source of blessing.” (p.207)

In the Examination portion in the liturgy for the Ordination of a Priest, it says, “You are to preach, to declare God’s forgiveness to penitent sinners, to pronounce God’s blessing, to share in the administration of Holy Baptism and in the celebration of the mysteries of Christ’s Body and Blood, and to perform other ministrations entrusted to you.” (BCP, p.531) 

Within the liturgies and sacramental rites of the Church, priests are given the privilege and responsibility of pronouncing blessing, but I pray that you never underestimate your power to bless. We are created in and through God’s blessing and love. That reality is the ground of our being and the true essence of our humanity, wonderfully restored and animated in the waters of baptism.

One does not need to raise their hand and make the sign of the cross invoking the trinitarian formula of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to bestow blessing. When you listen with compassion, see the truth of someone’s pain, speak words of tenderness and truth, open your heart and soul to another, and reach out your hands to serve and care - you offer a blessing. You become a living, breathing, loving blessing!

O’Donohue goes on to say, “Perhaps we bless one another all the time, without even realizing it.” (p.209) This offers us the possibility of a life “infused with blessing.” And this, dear ones, changes us, changes the world, changes everything.

Peace and blessings to all!

Forum This Sunday

Over the next two weeks, our Adult Forum will explore immigration and the lives of immigrants. Our forum this Sunday will be a talk by Professor Leah Boustan of the Department of Economics at Princeton University. Prof. Boustan is most recently the author (with Ran Abramitzky) of Streets of Gold: America's Untold Story of Immigrant Success. She is the co-director of the Development of the American Economy Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and serves as the co-editor at the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. An Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow in 2012 and winner of the IZA Young Labor Economists Award in 2019, she is also an active member of the Jewish Center of Princeton. 

We Announce...

In the early Church, one job of the bishop was to calculate the date of Easter each year and transmit that information to every priest. It’s one duty that Bishop French is happily freed from, although she might prefer that to processing the pile of email she receives every day! Because written calendars were rare, and because few laypeople could read, the priest would in turn announce the date of Easter to the congregation. The Noveritis (Latin for “we announce”) was chanted at the Eucharist on the feast of the Epiphany. It was an appropriate time to do this, as the liturgical calendar moved from seasons governed by the fixed date of Christmas to seasons governed by the movable date of Easter.

At our Epiphany service (5 PM this Saturday), I will read the Noveritis for 2024 and announce the date of Easter to the people of Trinity Church. Why do this in an age where we have calendars on our phones as well as on our walls? Besides than the fact that I think ancient practices like this are fun, it’s above all a reminder of how central the Resurrection is to our life as a Church. Every year revolves around Easter, and every Sunday is a feast of the Resurrection of our Lord. We live our lives as Christians illumined by the light of Christ that is kindled every Easter.

I hope to see you on Saturday evening! Not only will you find out when Easter is happening, you will also hear some wonderful music from the choir - and you can take home some chalk to bless the door of your house. But in case you can’t make it, here is this year’s text:

Epiphany Proclamation 2024

Dear friends, the glory of the Lord has shone upon us, and shall ever be manifest among us, until the day of his return. Through the rhythms of times and seasons let us celebrate the mysteries of salvation.
Let us recall the year’s culmination, the Easter Triduum of the Lord: his last supper, his crucifixion, his burial, and his rising celebrated between the evening of the twenty-eighth day of March and the evening of the thirtieth day of March, Easter Day being on the thirty-first day of March.
Each Easter — as on each Sunday — the Holy Church makes present the great and saving deed by which Christ has for ever conquered sin and death. From Easter are reckoned all the days we keep holy.
Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, will occur on the fourteenth day of February.
The Ascension of the Lord will be commemorated on the ninth day of May.
Pentecost, joyful conclusion of the season of Easter, will be celebrated on the nineteenth day of May.
And, this year the First Sunday of Advent will be on the first day of December.
Likewise the pilgrim Church proclaims the Passover of Christ in the feasts of the holy Mother of God, in the feasts of the Apostles and Saints, and in the commemoration of the faithful departed. To Jesus Christ, who was, who is, and who is to come, Lord of time and history, be endless praise, for ever and ever. Amen.

Yours in Christ,

Kara

Blessing of the Plough

Monday, January 8 at 6 PM: Blessing of the Plough for Plough Monday.

The Blessing of the Plough with songs and molly dances by Handsome Molly to mark the occasion will take place on Plough Monday, 8 January 2024, 6:30 pm, at the front entrance of the church. Plough Monday is the first Monday after Epiphany. In medieval times, the ploughboys were to return to work on this day to start the new ploughing season, but the day provided one last day of festivity as the ploughboys would disguise themselves and go from house to house threatening to plough up the yard if the landowners did not provide them food and drink. Trinity Church has been marking this day for many years now. Please come.

Regular Sunday Schedule

Sunday, January 7: We will observe the First Sunday after the Epiphany (The Baptism of Our Lord) with our usual Sunday service schedule:

Holy Eucharist, Rite I 8 AM

Adult Forum on Baptism with Kara 9:30 AM

Holy Eucharist, Rite II with Baptism 10:30 AM

Choral Compline 5 PM 

There is a possibility of snow or wintry mix on Sunday, so please be prudent and safe as you decide about venturing out. 

Epiphany Service and Burning of Greens

Saturday, January 6: Choral Eucharist for the Feast of the Epiphany followed by a fire pit and cider on the lawn. Join us for a special Eucharist to celebrate the feast of the Epiphany. Due to unfortunate fire restrictions, we cannot burn entire Christmas trees in the parking lot. We invite you to bring a very small branch or twig from your Christmas tree or wreath, and we'll burn it in Paul's fire pit after the service while we enjoy cider and donuts. We will also bless and distribute chalk for marking your door, along with instructions on how to do this traditional Epiphany activity at home. 

Anglican Prayer Seminar

On Saturday, January 13, the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in New York City (“Smoky Mary’s” in Times Square) will host a seminar with Dr. Derek Olsen entitled “Life, the Universe, and Everything: Finding Holiness in Anglican Prayer.” The seminar will last from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM and will include Morning and Evening Prayer as well as the Eucharist. For more information, see this link:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/life-the-universe-everything-finding-holiness-through-anglican-prayer-tickets-779606974447

If you’re interested in attending, contact Kara at sladek@trinityprinceton.org. We have some train tickets to Penn Station leftover from a choir event and can go as a group if you’d like.

The Road Ahead

Dear Good People of Trinity,  

As we stand on the threshold of a new year, we will most assuredly reflect upon all that was and all that was not in this past year. Each year changes us, shapes us, and forms us. Sometimes, in dramatic and visible ways, and other times, the changes are quite subtle and go seemingly unnoticed. As time passes, we are becoming a new creation. The realities of life wash over us like the flowing of a river cutting its way through the land and, over time, shaping and changing the contours of the terrain as it finds its way to its destination.  

As we ready ourselves to begin this new year, I share with you one of my favorite prayers from Thomas Merton. This prayer brings me great comfort as we live with the uncertainties of life. For as much as we may like to think we have some kind of control, the truth is we have very little. How we live amid all that life brings to us defines who we are, and knowing that God is with us every step of the way changes everything.

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.” -Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude  

For all that was, for all that is, and for all that is yet to be – Thanks be to God!   Peace and Blessings,