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.
The Annual Meeting of St. Mark’s is this Sunday, January 19, at 12:30 noon in the Parish Hall. We will hold elections for the Vestry and Diocesan Convention delegates, ministry reports will be shared, and the vestry will serve lunch. The meeting usually runs under an hour. When you arrive please sign in, so that the vestry may establish that we have a quorum consisting of the membership.
One of the challenges we face every year in the Church is that once Christmas Eve and Day have been celebrated, people have grown tired of Christmas. Because the secular world begins Christmas so early, by the time the Nativity of our Lord arrives, people are ready to be finished with Christmas. Add to this the great emphasis placed on New Year's Eve in our local cultures, and there is little energy left for a robust celebration of the Twelve Days of Christmas culminating with Epiphany Day on January 6.
We quickly caught our breath after Thanksgiving to welcome Advent this year. Such pace may have caught us unprepared for the riches of Advent. I have friends who struggled to fit family obligations into their calendars. To have control over our calendars is alluring. After all, managing time well is a hallmark of responsibility and an increasing social necessity.
A good mystery novel is a work of art. Every scene is significant–even those in which not much seems to be happening–and every detail, no matter how small, has a place in an intricately crafted plot. The same is true of the liturgies of the church. Not just the yearly cycle of seasons from Advent to ordinary time, but the cycles of liturgies that mark the special holy days in our parish life, like Easter and, most recently, Christmas.
The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. At St. Mark's we hear these words from St. John's Gospel at the conclusion of almost every mass. One of the exceptions is on Christmas Day when the Prologue of John is the main gospel of the mass, and at the end of the mass we hear the story of the Magi adoring the Christ. Many of us can say the Prologue of John from memory since we hear it almost every day.
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.
