This psalm portion is similar to Jeremiah 31:31-34 in its plea for God “to create a clean heart and a new spirit within me.” The psalmist wrote these words thousands of years ago and yet they are still fresh and vital to those of us who take our Lenten Journey with and to Christ seriously. Like this unknown author so long ago, we too want God to work within us to help to re-create us into happier, more loving and caring people. That is what walking the road of Lent is all about.
Installing the new columns
Of course Good Friday is always “good” in the sense that it is the day we remember the loving sacrifice of Our Lord for each of us. And we will do that again this year and talk more about it as the day draws near. But I just heard today some good news that may make Good Friday a bit better here at St. John’s. The scaffolding is scheduled to be down and gone by Maundy Thursday!
This week they installed the newly carved columns. They were beautifully carved but someone asked who could see them anyway since they are so high. Well God can see them and they will last up there for a really long time! Oh happy day!
Today we began daylight savings time so everyone had to move their clocks ahead an hour if they were to get to church on time. A lot of folks seem to have forgotten to do that so our crowd at the 11 am Mass was not so large. Maybe that was a good thing since today was also the first time people got a chance to see the new enlarged Narthex and the new Toddler Play area.
The first thing people saw in coming into the church was that something was missing. Hopefully later perhaps they may begin to see what might be added. This sort of thing happened before when we made changes in the configuration of our Nave by removing pews in the back to create the original Toddler Play area and then a year or so later removing pews in the front to make space for a Grand Piano and extra performance space for concerts and such things.
Before doing all that we could seat about 500 people at Saint John’s. I say we “could” because I can’t remember a time when we had that many people in the Church for any occassion. Most of the time most of the pews sat empty, collecting dust. People were scattered here and there with lots of empty space between them. So we decided to make some changes and use the space we have in a better fashion.
But change is hard, isn’t it. Change for the sake of change is silly, but changes which improve life are vital, especially in parishes. Some parishes resist change so hard that they kill themselves. Literally. As people die or move they are not replaced by others because that would provoke change. So eventually the parish dies. The same thing happens to people when they decide to close themselves up and avoid the world around them. You see change is life. Organisms grow and growth means change. When growth stops death begins.
Some people were upset when wer removed the pews from the rear of the nave to create the Toddler Area but we soon became known around the neighborhood as a “child friendly” parish. The first year we had that space we baptized 10 children at one service and welcomed their families into the parish! Since then the number of baptisms have increased many fold.
A short while later when we removed pews from the front of the nave others were a bit upset. No one ever sat there anyway and we made room for lots of activities like concerts and intimate Community Masses. Since we did this we have begun a new relationship with the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music which has led to us hosting more concerts than we have done in years and it looks as though we might be soon having one a month or so! These musical afternoons bring great joy to people who come to listen from all over the community. And in doing that they also introduce people to our parish who may never have come without the concerts. Some of these have returned to attend mass here and to assist in outreach efforts.
Change. We have begun a new change now by enlarging the Narthex. Soon it will provide space for more meetings, small masses, fellowship time, and even for funerals. In that space families will be able to bring caskets in the evening before funerals for viewing and visitation. Then the body can rest here in the church over night and the funeral can be held the next morning. Many people have wanted to do this over the years but we have just not had the space. We do now. These are only a few things that might happen in the new space. You might think of others. I would be happy to hear your comments on all of the above.
Father Clark
Saint John's Church 