Author: websexton

This week, Mother Liz reflects on Advent hope through lucille clifton’s poem “john,” imagining John the Baptist speaking fierce solidarity from prison. As John waits in confinement and questions whether Jesus is the one to come, we are invited to consider how hope endures when circumstances narrow and enthusiasm fades. The poem and gospel call us to acts of connection and care, even with little to give, and to trust the holy mystery out of which light emerges. Advent becomes a season of waiting, watching, and faithful love — expecting “somebody bigger than me coming.”

This Sunday we welcome the Rev. Richard Witt, executive director of Rural and Migrant Ministry, as our preacher and forum leader. For 40 years, RMM has created hope, justice, and empowerment with farm working and rural families in New York by building community and developing leaders through advocacy, education and the arts. They are vitally involved in seeking justice for immigrants in these days. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear more about RMM’s work and how we can support and stand in solidarity with them.

In this week’s newsletter, Mother Liz shares a Thanksgiving reflection centered on a prayer from Diana Butler Bass’s Grateful: The Subversive Power of Giving Thanks. In times marked by uncertainty and division, the prayer calls us to choose gratitude deliberately—to recognize life, the earth, and one another as gifts of God’s love. Around our tables, we are invited to resist fear and anger, to keep love at the center, and to live in “a circle of gratitude.” May this Thanksgiving strengthen us in grace, generosity, and thanksgiving that transforms.

This week, Mother Liz writes on the Transgender Day of Remembrance, honoring the lives of transgender people lost to hatred and violence and calling us to build a world where all genders are celebrated as reflections of God’s boundless creativity. She shares a moving prayer from the Corrymeela Community that gives thanks for the diversity of human identity and laments the harm done through fear and division. Together, we pray for courage to protect every person’s dignity, to live authentically, and to love in the fullness of Christ.

This week, Mother Liz invites us to reflect on stewardship — not only of our parish and shared life, but of our gifts, stories, and the fragile earth itself. She shares a powerful poem by m jade kaiser, a blessing that calls us to discover our unique way of embodying divine love “in this groaning and gorgeous world.” Whether as healing, courage, solidarity, or joy, God’s invitation is always near: to live as conduits of eternal love, saying “yes” to the sacred possibility within and around us.

This week, Mother Liz shares joyful news: Elizabeth Adams has been accepted by Bishop Heyd as a postulant for ordination to the priesthood in the Diocese of New York. This milestone affirms years of discernment, prayer, and faithful exploration of her call, supported by the parish and diocesan community. Elizabeth will begin seminary studies in fall 2026 leading to ordination, God willing, in 2029. Mother Liz celebrates Ascension’s ongoing role in nurturing vocations and invites the parish to hold Elizabeth in prayer as she continues her journey of joyful “yes” to God’s call.

In this week’s newsletter, Mother Liz addresses the federal shutdown’s immediate harm: the halt of SNAP benefits, leaving 1.7 million New Yorkers — 39% of them children — without food assistance. She outlines Ascension’s response alongside diocesan partners: scaling up pantry support, offering emergency food bags (for those with and without kitchen access), and providing grocery gift cards as funds allow. Parishioners are invited to donate to the Rector’s Discretionary Fund and bring nonperishables; advocacy for reinstating benefits is underway. As we observe All Saints Day, we’re called to meet Christ in the hungry and respond with mercy and justice.