The Eve of the Feast of the Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ*
Don’t
miss the Christmas picture Gallery at the end of the MEMO
We
will have ONE service only, at 10 AM, this coming Sunday,
January 3rd, and the Second Sunday after Christmas. We will be
celebrating the day and the season with a special
service of Seven Lessons and Carols for Christmas and Epiphany with Holy
Eucharist. Our music will be enriched by the recorder and vocal ensemble “The
Treble Makers,” with organ and choir as well to support the congregation’s
carol singing. We hope you will join us for worship and fellowship. The coffee
hour following the service will be hosted by the Pastoral Care team.
The
Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord will be celebrated
with a special service of Holy Eucharist at 9 AM this coming Wednesday, January 6, (in place of our
regular service of Morning Prayer). Please join us for this principal feast of
the church year celebrating the arrival of the Magi to Bethlehem and the
manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.
Reminder:
January 15th is the due date for
annual reports by committee chairs to be submitted to Debra in the office.
Email submissions are preferred. Hard copy may be left in Debra’s box in the
office. Please honor this date, since compiling the full report takes time, and
the reports should be available for distribution by January 22. And mark your calendar for our Annual Meeting
on February 7, following the 9 o’clock service.
Special
thanks to our team of three lay worship leaders – Cathie
Lewis, Gretchen Behr-Svendsen, and Lisa Thompson – for leading the service of
Morning Prayer last Sunday in my absence. The rector’s letter of agreement
provides the Sunday following Christmas and Easter as Sabbath Sundays. We are
fortunate indeed to have such an able lay team available to officiate in the
absence of a priest. Duane and I were able to spend the day with our son,
daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters at their new home in Harvard,
Massachusetts celebrating Christmas together.
*Curious about the designation of
today as the Eve of the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus?
January First (New Year’s Day in the secular calendar) is the eighth day of
Christmas. In Jewish tradition it is on the eighth day after birth that a male
child is circumcised, an event recorded in the Gospel according to Luke – that
on the eighth day Jesus was circumcised and given his name, Jesus. The
liturgical commemoration of the Circumcision was of Gallican (French) origin,
and a Council in Tours declared that the day be kept as a fast day to counteract the pagan festivities connected to the New
Year. In Roman tradition at that time the day was specially devoted to the
Virgin Mary. Historically, Jews have always considered the circumcision and
naming of a son to be a day of celebration and joy. In Anglican tradition the
day has long been known as “the Feast of the Circumcision,” but the designation
of “Holy Name Day” which was new with the 1979 Prayer Book revision shifts the
emphasis to focus on the importance of the name given to Jesus, as the angel
explained to Joseph, because he would “save his people from their sins” (Matt
1:21), since the Hebrew word means “Savior” or “Deliverer.”
 |
| Winter returned to welcome the New Year! |
(Distinguished Professor of Old Testament Studies at Catholic
Theological Union in Chicago) …
The mystery of the Incarnation comes to ordinary people living ordinary lives. All that is required is openness to do God's will, willingness to respond to God's call. According to the author of Hebrews, such obedience was the motivating force in Jesus' life: "I come to do your will." In this festal season, we begin to realize that the radiance of God can shine forth through faithfulness in the ordinary events of life.
Continue blessings in the holy season.
Happy New Year!
Heidi+
Thank you to our acolytes and servers!
Telling the Christmas story together
Setting the creche with care,
eagerness,
curiosity,
thoughtful assistance,
attention to detail,
sensitivity,
and great love.
The hibernating cub in his cave woke up enough to be curious.
The moose and the camel, intentionally placed together,
"because I think they would like each other."
The Christmas Feast: Special thanks
to Jen and Tom Huckman for organizing!
Thanks also to Mark and Roger, our carvers!
And to Carol, Ann, Sarah, Jim, and Tim for serving and waiting on tables!
And, of course, thanks to all our diners, with whom it wouldn't have been a community feast!
May 2016 be a blessed year for all of us!
