Throughout the year the rector and other ministry leaders write columns that are featured in the parish newsletter, the Evangel. The columns have been catalogued on this webpage.
We have entered the Greater Ferias (weekdays) of Advent. Beginning on December 17 and ending on December 23, at the daily masses we hear the stories from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke that lead to the birth of Jesus. If you are fortunate to attend these daily masses, you will be thoroughly prepared for Christmas.
I am excited to announce that this Christmas, and into the new year, we have some new worship offerings. The first is on Wednesday, December 18, when we will celebrate the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary with a candlelight mass at 6:00 pm. December 18 is exactly one week before Christmas, forming a pre-octave leading up to the Nativity.
I want to begin by thanking everyone who provided gifts for Responsive Caregivers. Many of those who will receive the gifts are wards of the state, and your generosity will make their Christmas particularly joyful. The First Sunday of Advent always brings new energy to the church, and Sunday was no exception.
Some weeks are particularly special when it comes to the daily celebration of the mass. Tuesday was an open day in the calendar - a day without the celebration of a saint. The mass was designated a requiem for the war dead, as conflicts grind on in Ukraine and the Middle East. Hearing the news of a potential ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was welcomed indeed.
I want to begin by thanking our Senior Warden, Dr. Randy Furushima, for the excellent Marian Talk last Sunday after High Mass. I have been amazed at the number of people who attend the forum each Sunday, for we live in a time when solid religious teaching is under-valued. This past Sunday was the third Marian Talk of the year sponsored by our Guild of the Annunciation.
This Sunday, November 17, we celebrate the Feast of Dedication. It was 70 years ago on November 30, 1954, that the current building was dedicated for worship. Our current church is the second building. St. Mark's dates back to 1908, when the church was founded in memory of Queen Emma, who died on St. Mark's Day, April 25, 1885.
Let me begin by saying thank you to everyone who helped with our celebrations of All Saints and All Souls. We are fortunate that we are able to celebrate both of these feasts, and thereby honor the themes of each. That being said, changing the church over from All Saints to All Souls within such a short period of time was not an easy task for the Altar Guild. I am grateful for the hard work of our worship and music volunteers.
We have a truly wonderful weekend ahead of us, and personally, All Hallows-tide is one of my favorite times of the year. I have never understood those Christians who attack Halloween, for I have always understood it as an opportunity to mock death with costumes and frivolity. In its truest sense, Halloween is simply the Eve of All Hallows or All Saints - one of the greatest feast days of the church year.
One of the things I am noticing more and more among people, is that their lives are consistently governed by things beyond their control, and as a result, they find themselves unhappy with what they must do, while also being annoyed by what they are not able to do. It leads to a state of constant restlessness or unfulfillment, and it is a state of being which is dangerous for mental health if it continues for too long.
