• Sunday Worship at the Ascension (Reminders):
  • Live Streamed Services: If you are interested in viewing Sunday service, you can do so by logging in to the new church website ascensionnl.ca, and go to the Social Media tab. Once there, click on the Facebook tab (please note you do not have to have a Facebook account to view the service). This will link you directly with the service once it has begun on Sunday.
  • Cancellation of Service/Storm Notice and Office Closures:  Please refer to the church website, ascensionnl.ca, or check the church answering machine (368-5693) for up-to-date information on the status of services as well as the church office.
• Weekly Service Guidelines – Many Members, One Body:  As you may have heard and seen, the Diocese has offered amended guidelines to Many Members, One Body (https://anglicanenl.net/home/covid19/) as we are now in a modified Alert Level Four since the latest lockdown. As a result, we will be resuming online streaming from the church on Sunday mornings. These services will be attended by those who are directly associated with the leading of worship and the live-streaming of worship. We will be following all of the guidelines, and conducting ourselves safely so that we can continue in the participation of the liturgy. I pray that as we continue to move through these weeks ahead, the restrictions will continue to adjust based on Provincial requirements, and the great way the entire community has been adapting to the most recent outbreak. I understand the hardship that this has been for so many of us. None of us understood that the events of this past year would be as they were. I continue to encourage you to be gentle with each other, show care and consideration, and always respond in safety and in love. My prayers continue to ever be with you. David
• Birthday/Anniversary Sundays: We are once again designating one Sunday of each month as family Sunday. The worship for that Sunday will include the celebration of birthdays or anniversaries for that given month. Please send us a picture of yourself to include during the Birthday Sunday celebration portion of the liturgy. You can send your photos to [email protected]. We request that you submit your photos by the end of the first week each month to ensure they are included.
• Clergy Contact During the COVID-19 Pandemic: All pastoral visits/interactions will be via telephone, email or zoom appointment with either Reverend Burrows or Reverend Courage. To set up an appointment, please contact them via their email or cell phone. Reverend Burrows may be reached at 746-2095 or by email at [email protected] and Reverend Courage may be reached at 682-8500 or by email at [email protected]
• Front Line Workers Fund:  The City of Mount Pearl is coordinating a Care and Support Fund for front line workers who are operating Covid test sites in our area. If you wish to make a donation in thanksgiving for their work, please do so by logging in to the parish website at canadahelps.org/en/charities/parish-of-the-ascension-mount-pearl/. Use the drop down menu to select the Covid Front Line Workers Care Fund and follow the prompts to complete your donation. Thanks for your support.
• Lenten Folders:  The church office is closed to the public due to the recent Covid 19 outbreak. As a result, your Lenten folders are not available for pick up. If you wish to contribute, you may do so by placing your donation in an envelope and dropping it in the church mailbox located at the front steps of the church. You may also donate electronically on line at canadahelps.org/en/charities/parish-of-the-ascension-mount-pearl/. Thank you.
• Pre-Authorized Givings: If you would like to set up pre-authorized givings, please contact the church office at 368-5693 for direction. Thank you!
• Pandemic Appeal: To date we have raised $6,585. We encourage parishioners to continue to support our Parish in this effort by donating to the Pandemic Appeal. Thank you to all who have donated thus far.
• YouTube: The weekly on-line services are now available on YouTube. At this time, the services are not live on YouTube but they are available for viewing once the service is over. To find the Parish YouTube channel, type Parish of the Ascension NL into the search bar in YouTube. Some parishioners have experienced difficulty finding recorded videos on Facebook so this is another option for viewing.
• Home Again Furniture Bank - Heads Without Beds Campaign: I hope and pray you are all well even as the world continues to adjust to the realities of COVID19 among us. This year, in thanksgiving for my birthday, and in support of Home Again Furniture Bank, I will be sleeping on the floor for their Heads without Beds Campaign. If you would like to make a donation to support this essential ministry and enable families to create homes, I would be so honoured. Home Again enables families in the Northeast Avalon Region to receive beds, dressers, tables, chairs, all sorts of furniture, and in the process, eliminate furniture poverty, and assist the community in eradicating poverty. On April 23, I will be sleeping on the floor so as to continue to advocate for the great work of Home Again and provide families with much needed support. Please, consider making a donation to help! The website link is below. Thanks for your time to read and consider! canadahelps.org/en/charities/parish-of-the-ascension-mount-pearl/p2p/heads-without-beds/team/anglican-east-nl-team/member/david-burrows/
• Maundy Thursday Renewal of Vows and Blessing of Oils:  This year our Maundy Thursday Renewal of Vows and Blessing of Oils will be online. In consultation with Archdeacon Roger, we will have a small gathering with the representation of the Deacons and Priests in attendance. This liturgy will be live-streamed via the Diocesan and Cathedral Facebook pages at 10:30 a.m. (Newfoundland time) on Maundy Thursday, April 1.
• Services During the Week:
  • Wednesday morning, Mar. 31: 10:00am, Lent in a Bubble lent.thetransmission.ca
  • Wednesday evening, Mar. 31: 8:00pm, Compline fb.com/anglicantransmission/live
  • Sunday, April 14 (Easter Day): 11:00am, Holy Eucharist/BAS ascensionnl.ca

He came riding, on a donkey,
He came riding into town;
Slow and easy, kind of lonely,
He came riding with the dawn.

His disciples walked beside him,
Staying close, a little shy;
Not too sure where he would lead them,
On to live or on to die.

Each Palm Sunday, for the longest of times, I have entered the Sanctuary early in the morning, before anyone has arrived, and offered this song, written by Gordon Light of the Common Cup Company. It is a part of my prayer, my action, my pattern of entering into Holy Week, journeying the passion of Jesus, son of Mary, carpenter of Nazareth. The music, the lilt of the rhythms, and the music set me to enter into a path of discovery and rediscovery. The Holy One ignites my experience, as for me, during this week, all time stands still. Story and song, custom and pattern interweave, and I remember weeks long past, and persons with whom I have journeyed in Holy Week.

This year I enter the Sanctuary and the few that are gathered to prepare and deliver the online worship will all hear this song once again. There are so many memories: palms and singing, voices proclaiming, crowds and words, feelings and smells. Food, banners, cross, nails, tears, and emotion. All of these experiences, over a lifetime of journeying as a participant and leader, listener, and speaker, have changed as COVID19 has affected us all these past twelve months. This year palm is waved from afar. This year we enter Holy Week as we have journeyed through Lent – in our bubbles. Stories are recounted in the companionship of those around us – immediate family. On the screen, we see likes and prayers offered by folks through Facebook Live, or YouTube. Prayers are offered in the companionship of close family, with only the familiarity of seeing the place of worship. We don’t have the community gathered around us. Remotely we see faces and hear voices, familiar words, prayer, and song.

Holy Week this year will be both different and familiar for us, as it is each year. This time of intentional journey and exploration is nuanced by a deeper vulnerability and a deeper reality of both community and isolation. As in other times of crisis, both personally, and communally, certain words, prayer, song, and story will resonate. We will hear and experience the Holy One, and the holy ones around us, in new and transformative ways.

Crucify will be shouted; tears will be shed. Images will overwhelm, and Jesus will be dead. In the recounting and journeying through palm, passion, meal, trial, and crucifixion we will have opportunity to see ourselves, our family, and community, within the stark reality of our time, and within the continued embrace of the compassionate Holy One.

In all this, we are reminded that this week is a week of remembrance and thanksgiving for the journey of Jesus, which is a journey from palm to passion, through crucifixion to resurrection. It is the recounting of the act of redemption which those of us who walk the Christian life profess. It is the living of our reality that there is more to life than that which we see and experience in the present, proclaiming the depth of love and sacrifice that the Holy One embraces for the sake of the world.

Hosanna

Our Lord comes to us humbly, riding a donkey and proclaiming a message of peace. Let us pray, saying:
Lord, hear our prayer.

That Christians hear and share the word of God as true disciples, we pray:
Lord, hear our prayer. 

That all the ends of the earth receive the words of the king of peace, we pray:
Lord, hear our prayer.

That all leaders, of church and of state, prefer humble service to empty power; we pray for Bishop Samuel, for the parishes of Cox’s Cove/McIver’s and Deer Lake, we pray:
Lord, hear our prayer.

That those who see the cross starkly revealed in their lives draw strength from the name above every other name, we pray:
Lord, hear our prayer.

That we who hope to greet Jesus when he comes again be ready and joyful, we pray:
Lord, hear our prayer.

That the weary and the sick especially those on our Ascension Prayer Cycle may find hope in the power of the cross, we pray:
Lord, hear our prayer.

For ourselves in this assembly, that we may strain forward toward Easter, especially all who are impacted by the Pandemic, those undergoing testing, those who received positive results, those in isolation, those who work in the ICU and Covid Units, believing in our every deed the good news, that after a year of turmoil and strife we are closer to having a vaccine and freeing the world of this virus:  Lord, hear our prayer.

That those who have died, that he and all those who were humble servants may find peace in their eternal life, we pray:
Lord, hear our prayer.

God our creator, you show your sons and daughters the way to freedom through the gentle obedience of your Son Jesus Christ. Grant our petitions as we seek to follow him. We pray in his name, Christ the Lord. Amen.

Ascension Prayer Cycle:  Aden, Amelia, Ann, Annie, Aubrey, Audrey, Barbara, Baxter, Bob, Brenda, Brian, Brittany, Brandon, Callum, Carl, Cathy, Christina, Cindy, Claire, Clarence, David, Debra, Delilah, Dennis, Derrick, Don, Donna, Doreen, Dot, Doug, Dulcie, Ed, Edgar, Elaine, Emily, Erin, Evelyn, Finnley, Frederick, Fred, Frank, Flo, Garrett, George, Gerry, Glenda, Gordon, Harry, Hilda, Ike, Ina, Ingrid, Ira, Jack, Jason, Jennifer, Jenny, Jim, John, Josephine, Joan, Judy, Junior, Kent, Kevin, Kim, Laura, Leo, Leonie,  Lindsay, Lori, Louise, Madeline, Marie, Marsha, Mark, Marion,  Maurice, Maxine, Maxwell, Melissa, Melvin, Michelle, Mike, Moana, Nancy, Pam, Phyllis, Rachel, Randell, Rodney, Roland, Ruby, Ruth, Rita, Sean, Shirley, Stephen, Susan, Tina, Todd, Tom, Valerie, Vera, Victoria and Wayne

Prayer during the Pandemic

Keep us, good Lord,
under the shadow of your mercy
in this time of uncertainty and distress.
Sustain and support the anxious and fearful,
and lift up all who are brought low;
that we may rejoice in your comfort
knowing that nothing can separate us from your love
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.

Collect

Almighty God,
whose Son was crucified yet entered into glory,
may we, walking in the way of the cross,
find it is for us the way of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.  AMEN 

Liturgy of the Palms: The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ According to Mark

It was two days before the Passover and the festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him; for they said, ‘Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.’

While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. But some were there who said to one another in anger, ‘Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.’ And they scolded her. But Jesus said, ‘Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.’

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, ‘Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, “The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.’

But one of those who stood near drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear.  MARK 14:1-15:47

Reader: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God

Liturgy of the Passion: A Reading from the Book of Isaiah

The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens - wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty? ISAIAH 50:4-9A

Reader: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God

Psalm

Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;
my eye is consumed with sorrow, and also my throat and my belly.

For my life is wasted with grief, and my years with sighing;
my strength fails me because of affliction, and my bones are consumed.

I have become a reproach to all my enemies and even to my neighbours, a dismay to those of my acquaintance;
when they see me in the street they avoid me.

I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind;
I am as useless as a broken pot.

For I have heard the whispering of the crowd; fear is all around;
they put their heads together against me; they plot to take my life.

But as for me, I have trusted in you, O Lord.  
I have said, “You are my God.

My times are in your hand;
rescue me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.

Make your face to shine upon your servant,  
and in your loving-kindness save me.”

Helper of the helpless, comfort of the afflicted, may your servants who stand in the midst of evil find strength in the knowledge of your presence, and praise you for the wonders of your love; through Jesus Christ our Redeemer.   PSALM 31:9-16

A Reading from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11

Reader: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God

Prayer over the Gifts

Gracious God,
the suffering and death of Jesus, your only Son,
makes us pleasing in your sight.
Alone we can do nothing,
but through his sacrifice,
may we receive your love and mercy. AMEN

Prayer after Communion

God our help and strength,
you have satisfied our hunger with this eucharistic food.
Strengthen our faith,
that through the death and resurrection of your Son,
we may be led to salvation,
for he is Lord now and for ever. AMEN

• Level 2 Announcement
• Order of Service
• Food Drive Donations Request
• Palm Sunday Gospel
• Holy Week Easter Sunday Worship Schedule