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in Special Annoucements

Adopt a Family in Red Hook and Sunset Park

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We have been in touch with the administration of PS 15, an elementary public school in Red Hook, that serves families both in Red Hook and Sunset Park. The majority of the students at PS 15 live in public housing, with some percentage in shelters. The school has set up a system for families to request materials at home - for school work, reading and arts & crafts, as well as some basic cleaning supplies. Food is well provided for with 3 meals a day being offered for pick up for the whole family at the school and other locations. They realize that educational equity is not just about access to technology, it also means access to many of the materials that we take for granted in our homes.

There are currently 40 students whose parents have submitted wish lists. We will be receiving these lists either Friday or Monday. Our hope is that we will be able to adopt all of these children, and provide them with the materials they need. We estimate that it will cost between $75-100 to provide materials for a child with items bought on Amazon, Target, etc for direct delivery to the family. If you are willing to adopt a child(ren), please email us and indicate the number of children you would like to adopt.

We will be in touch with you once we have received all the information.

As always we pray that you are all keeping healthy, and encourage you to be in touch with one another during this time - make a point to reach out to one or two church friends a week. We need each other more than ever to get through this trying time.

Contact Us to Participate

In peace with love,

The Mothers



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Posted by The Mothers Holy Apostles
in Lenten Daily Reflection

Lenten Daily Reflection 2020-04-11

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Psalm 27  


1 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom then shall I fear? *
the Lord is the strength of my life;
of whom then shall I be afraid?

2 When evildoers came upon me to eat up my flesh, *
it was they, my foes and my adversaries, who
stumbled and fell.

3 Though an army should encamp against me, *
yet my heart shall not be afraid;

4 And though war should rise up against me, *
yet will I put my trust in him.

5 One thing have I asked of the Lord;
one thing I seek; *
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life;

6 To behold the fair beauty of the Lord *
and to seek him in his temple.
7 For in the day of trouble he shall keep me safe in his shelter; *
he shall hide me in the secrecy of his dwelling
and set me high upon a rock.

8 Even now he lifts up my head *
above my enemies round about me.

9 Therefore I will offer in his dwelling an oblation
with sounds of great gladness; *
I will sing and make music to the Lord.

10 Hearken to my voice, O Lord, when I call; *
have mercy on me and answer me.

11 You speak in my heart and say, "Seek my face." *
Your face, Lord, will I seek.

12 Hide not your face from me, *
nor turn away your servant in displeasure.

13 You have been my helper;
cast me not away; *
do not forsake me, O God of my salvation.

14 Though my father and my mother forsake me, *
the Lord will sustain me.

15 Show me your way, O Lord; *
lead me on a level path, because of my enemies.

16 Deliver me not into the hand of my adversaries, *
for false witnesses have risen up against me,
and also those who speak malice.

17 What if I had not believed
that I should see the goodness of the Lord *
in the land of the living!
18 O tarry and await the Lord's pleasure;
be strong, and he shall comfort your heart; *
wait patiently for the Lord.


I might be the only idiot rereading Stephen King's The Stand right now. Often hailed as one of his best novels, it's about a plague with 100% mortality that wipes out 99% of humanity, only to have the survivors divided in an epic battle of good and evil. The good are called to Boulder, CO, and the bad commune in - where else - Vegas. Strangely, this complete fiction is soothing against current realities.

This Psalm says so much At This Time. It's not difficult to latch onto the military wording, given the parallel language we're hearing each day - the 'war' against coronavirus, our healthcare workers on the 'front lines', and the 'enemies' lurking on every surface yet visible only with an electron microscope. Only, we can't leave our houses and gather together to find strength in numbers, like the good guys in The Stand.   

The phrase that's playing on loop for me is '... he shall keep me safe in his shelter'. What a cosmic flipping of the script that we're called to use our homes to safeguard ourselves, friends, family and people we've never even met - by NOT welcoming them in. It's strange to think that our battle is fought through stillness and distance. But then I remember we're all living within God's shelter - just with separate rooms for a little while. 

Living on Ocean Parkway, the wailing of ambulances had been a constant reminder of the gravity of this situation and that so little is in our control. Fortunately, the sirens have been fewer the past few days - and that has comforted my heart.


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Posted by Janet Turley
in Lenten Daily Reflection

Lenten Daily Reflection 2020-04-10

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Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-33

3 I am one who has seen affliction
   under the rod of God’s * wrath; 
2 he has driven and brought me
   into darkness without any light; 
3 against me alone he turns his hand,
   again and again, all day long. 

4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away,
   and broken my bones; 
5 he has besieged and enveloped me
   with bitterness and tribulation; 
6 he has made me sit in darkness
   like the dead of long ago. 

7 He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
   he has put heavy chains on me; 
8 though I call and cry for help,
   he shuts out my prayer; 
9 he has blocked my ways with hewn stones,
   he has made my paths crooked. 

19 The thought of my affliction and my homelessness
   is wormwood and gall! 
20 My soul continually thinks of it
   and is bowed down within me. 
21 But this I call to mind,
   and therefore I have hope: 

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,*
   his mercies never come to an end; 
23 they are new every morning;
   great is your faithfulness. 
24 ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul,
   ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ 

25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
   to the soul that seeks him. 
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
   for the salvation of the Lord. 
27 It is good for one to bear
   the yoke in youth, 
28 to sit alone in silence
   when the Lord has imposed it, 
29 to put one’s mouth to the dust
   (there may yet be hope), 
30 to give one’s cheek to the smiter,
   and be filled with insults. 

31 For the Lord will not
   reject for ever. 
32 Although he causes grief, he will have compassion
   according to the abundance of his steadfast love; 
33 for he does not willingly afflict
   or grieve anyone. 
 
There is nothing like Lamentations to express the depths of our human emotions.  I, like you, have been witness to the unfolding catastrophe of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Helpless, I have seen the numbers increase, the desperate measures taken, my own isolation.  “I am one who has seen affliction,… he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light.”  Yet, I was one of the fortunate ones.  I was retired, I didn’t have to brave the subway and go to work.  My husband Martin was with me in my isolation, I am blessed with friends and family who love me.
 
And then we both got sick—fever, aches and queasiness.  My temperature went up and down.  All I could do was sleep.  “He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has put heavy chains on me.”  For over a week I was sick—it is only in the last few days that I have felt more myself.
 
Even with recovery, sadness closes in: we discover today that our next-door neighbor has died due to Covid-19.  The angel of death has descended so close to us. 
 
Still, life in its goodness carries on.  We keep our religious traditions.  We have a tiny Passover Seder, we observe Maundy Thursday. “It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”  Waiting quietly is what we are called to do.  It is sufficient-dayenu.


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Posted by Deacon John Musco

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