Shepherd's Voice: From the Rector #3

ADVENT HYMNS: I've often thought that Advent is one of overlooked gems of the church year. It’s easy to jump right into Christmas as soon as Thanksgiving is over, but I believe the observance of Advent helps to deepen one’s understanding of Christmas. Advent is a season of watching and waiting, which in my opinion is marvelously expressed in the many great Advent hymns. The words of these hymns are heavy with scriptural references appropriate to the season and the tunes are some of my favorites. We are singing some great hymns this year, and I think knowing a little bit of the background on some of them might be interesting (sources include the Hymnal Companion 1940 and the Hymnal Companion 1982).

On the First Sunday of Advent, one of the hymns sung at Good Shepherd is somewhat out of its traditional context. The Vespers (Evening Prayer) hymn of Advent is Creator of the stars of night, the words of which, in Latin, date back at least to the ninth century. The chant tune, Conditor alme siderum, has historically been associated with the hymn. Though it has a strong association with the evening, the hymn works thematically any time in Advent: we move from darkness to light and by the end of Advent the days will begin to get longer marking the birth of the Sun of Righteousness, Jesus Christ.

On the Second Sunday of Advent we will sing a hymn which might feel more Holy Week than Advent. The hymn Blest be the King whose coming is paired with Valet will ich dir geben, which is the familiar tune sung to All glory laud and honor sung at the palm liturgy on Passion Sunday. The words for Blest be the King were written in 1960 by Uruguayan Bishop Federico J. Pagura. The tune was written by Melchior Teschner in 1613 as an accompaniment to Valerius Herberger’s hymn for the dying. The tune found in the Hymnal 1982 was originally set for All glory laud and honor by Ronald Arnatt, and since the Hymnal 1871 it has had a strong association with Holy Week in the minds of most Episcopalians. I’m not sure I’ve ever sung this tune outside of Holy Week, but I think any overt link to Easter is probably a good thing. After all, Easter is the focal point of the entire liturgical year, and no matter what the season every Sunday is a glorious celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

One of the hymns we will sing on the Third Sunday of Advent, Hark a thrilling voice is sounding, is one of my favorites. The tune, Merton, was composed by William Henry Monk in 1850 and until very recently was reserved only for this hymn. (In English hymnals published in the last 15 years Merton has been paired with Jesus calls us o’er the tumult.) The hymn at first seems to echo John the Baptist, who is featured in the Gospels on both the Second and Third Sundays of Advent, but the words (originally in Latin and dating back at least one thousand years) take up a great variety of themes and are almost entirely direct scriptural quotations (Romans 13:11-12; Revelation 22:16; Isaiah 60:1-3; John 1:29; Romans 3:24; James 4:8-9; Luke 21:26-27; Psalm 103:10, 14).

The Fourth Sunday of Advent is focused on the Annunciation (celebrated officially on March 25 every year). Several of the hymns that day will quote passages from the Gospel of the day “Hail Mary, full of grace!” One of the hymns we will sing is Ye who own the faith of Jesus. The text was written for the Annunciation by Vincent Stuckey Stratton Coles and included in the English Hymnal of 1906. The Hymnal 1982 includes a greatly shortened version of the hymn with two good, but somewhat difficult, tunes. We will sing a less shortened version of the hymn (we will sing seven of the original, which had eleven verses!) to the tune, Daily, Daily, which it is often paired with. It’s one of the classic “Marian” hymns and one that links seamlessly with the Gospel of the day.

Why I Love Good Shepherd #1

“WHY I LOVE GOOD SHEPHERD” (December 2009)

This article is the first in a series presented by the 2010 Stewardship Committee. If you are interested in submitting an article for the series, please contact Father Matt, we’d love to print your submission! This month we begin the series with a note from Amanda Slattery:

 I can make a difference here. There are endless opportunities to contribute to the life of the church community. Rick and I moved to Yorktown in 1980 and immediately looked for the nearest Episcopal church. The first Sunday we attended Good Shepherd was Father Corrigan’s last day, so it was during Father Dresser’s ministry that we grew to know the parishioners and become involved in parish life. We met other members of the church in their homes during “Dinner for Eight”. Debbie Dresser created a folk group and I enjoyed learning new music while playing clarinet with the group. Over the years I have played a number of roles within the church organization and enjoyed many social and educational activities. I have found that my time and talents can be put to good use at Good Shepherd and I can make a difference here. Somewhere along the way we discovered that St. Mark’s, Mount Kisco is closer to our home. But why would we go anywhere else? A church is first and foremost a house of worship, but more than a building, it is a social club and a business staffed to a large extent by volunteers. It’s a cliché, but it’s true: it’s the people that make the church, and it is involvement in the organization of the church and its activities which can be so rewarding. You too can make a difference.

Shepherd's Voice: From the Rector #2

All Sants' Day: November is one of my favorite months in the Church Calendar.  It begins with All Saints’ Day (November 1), one of the greatest and oldest Christian celebrations.  In Eastern Churches dating back as early as the fourth century a day was set aside to celebrate and give thanks for the lives of Christian Martyrs.  May 13 was the official date in Syrian churches, though it was not apparently a fixed date in all Eastern Churches.  Greek Orthodox Churches have continued since the time of Saint John Chrysostom (late fourth century) to celebrate All Saints’ Sunday on the first Sunday after Pentecost (when we celebrate Trinity Sunday).  An East Syrian liturgy from the same period associates the day with the Friday after Easter Sunday.  All three days were known and celebrated variously by the churches in Rome.  However, May 13 became the official date for Roman Christians when the Pantheon, the pagan temple in the heart of Rome devoted to all of the pagan gods which had been given as a gift by Emperor Phocas to Pope Boniface IV, was consecrated as a Christian Church in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the martyrs on May 13, 609.  Twenty-eight wagon loads of martyr’s bones were brought from the catacombs to the church for the consecration service while “Rise up, saints of God, from your dwellings; sanctify this place and bless the people!” and other such antiphons were sung – it was a big day and from that celebration a feast for all martyrs was kept annually.  A little over one hundred years later a chapel dedicated by Pope Gregory III to all of the saints – even those that were not martyrs – was consecrated in Saint Peter’s Basilica on November 1.  The date of November 1 likely was chosen because it was already the date churches as far north as Ireland were celebrating a similar feast for all saints.  About one hundred and fifty years after that Pope Gregory IV ordered universal observance of a festival to All Saints on November 1.  (See The Liturgical Year by Adolph Adams for more information.)


This year November 1 falls on a Sunday.  At Good Shepherd we will give thanks for the lives of all the saints who have come before us.  The readings assigned for All Saints’ Day in the new lectionary (adopted by the Episcopal Church in 2006) provide for three different sets of readings for All Saints’ Day which allows for a bit more thematic variety.  This year (Year B) the readings are primarily concerned with the resurrection of the dead.  We will hear from both Isaiah and St. John the Divine that God will wipe away every tear, and then we will hear about the tears of our Lord Jesus Christ who wept at the tomb of his friend Lazarus before he called Lazarus by name and raised him from the dead. 


The raising of Lazarus is not the last word.  The resurrection of Christ is not simply the raising up of one man, but new life offered freely by God to all.  In our baptism we die to the world and rise to new life in Christ.  The sacrament of new birth will be celebrated immediately after the sermon and two more people will not only become Christians, they will become part of the Body of Christ and share in his resurrection.  The language of dying and rising isn’t clean and neat.  Lazarus had been dead so long that his sister feared opening the tomb would release a stench.  When he walked out of the tomb he needed to be unbound from his burial clothes.  Christian baptism is likewise a bit messy.  A person who is baptized gets wet and is anointed (not just touched but actually anointed) with pungent oil, and since we are baptizing two young children expect it be loud!  The rite does not end there.  A beeswax candle signifying the light of Christ is given to the new Christian (you should be able to smell the aroma of the beeswax) and then at last he or she is dressed in new white clothes.  Maybe it’s not as eye catching as twenty-eight wagon loads of bones, but the elements of the rite mark Baptism as something that is big and, frankly, life changing. 


This All Saints’ Day I hope you will join me as I watch, smell, and listen… and then I hope you will join me and the children at our Lord’s Table to eat and drink of the Body and Blood of Christ.  It really is a festival for the entire body, and I hope you can be with us.

Shepherd's Voice: From the Rector #1

New Beginnings: It is a great pleasure and an honor to write my first article for the Shepherd’s Voice as the new rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd. As I write I hear the sounds of happy children playing at the Bright Beginnings Daycare down the hall from the parish office: my son Liam is among the children at the day care. Like me, he is thrilled to be among new friends in a new place. When I dropped him off he began to introduce himself to those around him; I think I will follow his example and introduce myself.

My wife Nicole and I were married in 2004. We have two children: Liam, who turns three in November, and Nicholas, who is four month old. Before coming to Good Shepherd we lived in Times Square in Manhattan. Nicole is originally from Long Island, and most of her family lives in Whitestone, Queens. She went to Syracuse University where she studied Journalism and French. While we were in New York City, she worked as a health editor (most recently at RedBook Magazine). Nicole plans to continue freelancing as a writer and an editor once we settle into the rectory.

I was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and have also lived in Philadelphia, Boston (a second time) and New York. My father is an Episcopal Priest (rector of Saint Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue in New York), so we moved each time he was called to a new parish. I went to college at the University of Chicago where I studied Philosophy (my mother said I studied Fraternity – I was in fact president of my fraternity). After college I worked in a law firm as a paralegal for three years before discerning a call to the priesthood. I went to Seminary at the Yale University Divinity School. After Seminary, I served for five years as the Curate for Liturgy and Christian Education at the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin (known affectionately as “Smoky Mary’s” for their prodigious use of incense!) in Times Square. In late July of 2009, I was elected rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd!

We love living here: the transition from Times Square to Granite Springs has been wonderful so far – we have a yard and we don’t live in a fifth floor walk-up, what more could you ask for! I look forward to meeting and getting to know my sisters and brothers in Christ at Good Shepherd: please forgive me if I have trouble with faces and names for a few weeks. I am so honored to be your priest and pastor. Please know I am always available for pastoral care. If you can’t reach me at the office, my home phone is a listed number and my cell phone is always on (917-696-1027). God bless and thanks so much for the warm and gracious welcome you have given us. It has been a bright and wonderful beginning and we are looking forward to many happy years at Good Shepherd!