Grace and peace be with you as we near the coming of our Jesus! We have had such a wonderful Advent season and as we come finally to the manger and all that God’s incarnation means for us, I am excited to be able to celebrate a hope that trumps all else. I am grateful for everyone involved in our special events this time of the year, especially our Thanksgiving Dinner Eucharist, St. Nick party and movie on the lawn, Lessons and Carols, pageant, and the wonderful reception for the Wrights. Now we turn our attention to the very moment we have all been preparing for, Christmas. I hope you will be able to join us for one of our services tomorrow. Merry Christmas to all!

When I was a teenager and opened a present from my grandmother one Christmas, I was quite surprised to find a CD. This particular CD had quite a strong image on the cover and wasn’t something I would have thought was on Grandma’s radar. I remember it so vividly because not only was it a bold gift, but for the life of me, I could not imagine her walking up to the register and placing the CD on the counter for purchase. I later asked her how she chose it and she had asked someone who worked at the music store what young people were listening to these days. I wondered if she had been as baffled to see the album cover as I was when I opened it. I, of course, thanked her and gave her a hug.

If your family is anything like mine, the movies we watch this time of the year are an importan part of enjoying and immersing ourselves in the holiday season.  There are the funny movies like Elf and my favorite, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.  We have numerous versions of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (The Muppet version stands out!).  There are some emotional classics like It’s a Wonderful Life, and some films whose “Christmas movie status” may be dubious (I’m looking at you Die Hard).  This last month of the year comes with so many things that compete for our attention, but taking a couple of hours to relive a favorite movie holds a special celebratory place. 

As Korey and I planned our final adult Sunday school class together described below, we quickly came upon the topic of celebration. Throughout the history of humankind, celebration has been an important part of survival, meaning, wellness, and community cohesiveness. Since the early days of people gathering in Bethlehem in Mary’s house at Christmas or praying in Peter’s house by the sea of Galilea, Christians have focused our celebration on what God has done for us and proclaimed the love of God which gives every single other thing in our lives and world meaning.

Thanksgiving and being together go hand in hand. In the middle of the holiday season with Halloween and Christmas on either side, Thanksgiving has in many ways been a moment to pause around the table for a good meal and reflect on all that we have for which to be grateful. For most of us, these past two years have brought limits and challenges to how we could gather. Hopefully this year will bring joyous reunion. For some of us, this year will be different due to loss. The Condons and our extended family certainly feel that poignantly as it was the last holiday we had with Sarah’s parents. And yet…and yet, we have a God we know to be our redeemer. We have a God who has suffered loss and responded with new life. With the awareness of that love, we can not only acknowledge loss, but proclaim hope and gratitude as we gather with so many cousins, aunts, and uncles this year.

As we proceed full speed ahead into this holiday season, it has been so wonderful to see many of our Holy Spirit traditions coming back. Trunk-or-Treat was a blast and there were so many costumed kiddos and creative trunks. We will have our Thanksgiving dinner and Eucharist this Sunday evening at 5 (don’t forget your side or desert to go with our smoked turkeys and dressing!). Some traditional parts of our common life are still not quite back to normal, such as having our Advent wreath making outside next Sunday, but all things considered, it is good to be back.

I recently sat with a couple who are getting married at Holy Spirit next week to talk through our Prayer Book service. When we think of weddings, we often think about vows, rings, and giving the church’s blessing. Whether they know it or not, most are pretty familiar with our BCP vows as they are the basis for most of what you will see in shows and movies with some version of “to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death.” The Declaration of Consent near the beginning of the service may also be familiar, “Will you love him/her, comfort him/her, honor and keep him/her, in sickness and in health…”

The Feast of All Saints holds a special place in the worship life of the church. As is stated in a liturgical book of observances, “All Saints’ Day is classed…as a Principal Feast, taking precedence of any day or observance. Among the seven so classified, All Saints’ Day alone may be observed on the following Sunday, in addition to its observance on its fixed date.” The aforementioned fixed date was November 1st, which you may note is the day after All Hallows Eve, now called Halloween. It is all connected. All this said, All Saints must be a pretty big deal, right?