Weekly Update from Fr. van Dooren 9.18.26
Dear members and friends of our parish family,
Blessings on this Friday with a touch of fall in the air!
The men of the choir will return this Sunday, with our boys and girls returning the next Sunday. And as you can see from the growing length of this update, our fall activities are increasing. Fasten your spiritual seatbelts for a glorious ride!
Our Gospel passage this Sunday presents us with the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16). The owner contracts various laborers throughout the day to work in his vineyard, promising his early morning hires one denarius (the standard daily wage), and for the others hired at later hours simply that they would be paid what is fair. At the close of the day, lo and behold, they were all paid the same! Even the workers hired one hour before quitting time got paid the full daily wage.
Obviously, the workers that had worked in the hot sun the whole day, were disgruntled for not being paid more than the workers that worked a mere hour, even if they were paid the agreed upon amount. The workers that worked less hours were no doubt surprised and happy. When questioned, the owner of the vineyard simply said that he paid what was promised to the full day laborers. Why couldn’t he be generous and do what he wished for the rest of the laborers with his money? This is a powerful parable about the generosity of God, even if it leaves us with a bit of discomfort.
The Rev. Deacon Ann Conti will be our guest preacher for the 8:30am and 11:00am masses. Deacon Ann Conti serves as deacon of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Pawling, New York. Click here to read more. Welcome Deacon Ann!
We will celebrate our monthly Spanish mass this Sunday at 5:00pm. All are welcomed whether or not your Spanish is perfect, good, fair, or in need of prayer!
Please join us for a special Christian Education Hour on Sunday, September 27th at 1:00pm in the Family Chapel featuring a talk “How do I follow Jesus?” in which Rick Hamlin will explore ways in which we can embody Jesus’ invitation to follow him in our 21st century, and how we hear His blessed advice in today’s world. Click here to read more about Rick Hamlin.
Join us on Wednesday, September 30 at 1 pm, for the first concert in our 1 West & 1 East Midday Music Series in partnership with Marble Collegiate Church. From immigrant ballads and singing schools to parlors, organs, spirituals, folk songs, and Ives, our series "AMERICANA" asks a simple question across four weeks: How did American music become American? The first concert will be held here at the Little Church with our very own Claudia Dumschat, organ, with Marble Collegiate's Molly Yuko McGuire, mezzo-soprano. The series begins with music of the young United States: William Billings’s revolutionary-era hymn tune Chester, James Hewitt’s exuberant The Fourth of July, and Charles Ives’s wonderfully unruly transformation of America—alongside songs by Ives. Suggested donation is $10, and contributions can be made in advance here.
Please plan on joining us for the yearly celebration of our Foundation Day, Sunday, October 4th. To make the day special, we will have a reception following the 11 am mass. The church will provide the majority of the main course, but donations of homemade or store bought salads and desserts are greatly appreciated. Volunteers to help clean up are also needed. Please contact the parish office (parishoffice@littlechurch.org) if you are able to volunteer, contribute, or have any suggestions!
Also on Sunday, October 4th, we will have our annual pet blessing in the garden. If you have a well-behaved pet, please bring them to this special mass. We will meet in the garden roughly at 12:30 pm for our annual pet blessing. Pets of all faith traditions are welcomed to receive a blessing.
Thank you so dearly for the outpouring of generosity and response to our restoration of the St. Joseph of Arimathea Chapel. How privileged we are to have stewardship of this treasured and historical space! Click here to read more about this current project.
The Holy Rosary will be prayed in the Family chapel at 9:30am this Sunday. We will pray the Glorious mysteries this Sunday.
We continue to live-stream each Sunday’s mass at 11:00am, and a link is sent out each Sunday morning at 8:00am. We live-stream on Facebook and YouTube. Please email the parish office if you would like to pray the morning and evening offices with us by Zoom.
Thank you for your continued faith, support, and love for the parish.
Fides Opera
With loving wishes,
Fr. van Dooren