MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR: Merry Christmas! I love Christmastide, and I always try to get as much out of it as possible. I think it’s fair to say that for most Christians Christmas Eve and Christmas Day mark the annual celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, but I invite you this year to consider expanding you celebration of Emmanuel, “God with us”, beyond one night and day to a celebration that spans the entire calendar year.
You have probably heard that there are Twelve Days of Christmas. Christmastide begins at the setting of the sun the night before Christmas Day and concludes each year on January 6, the Epiphany of Jesus Christ. There is one other major Holy Day in the Twelve Days of Christmas: on New Year’s Day the church celebrates the Holy Name of Jesus.
At Good Shepherd on Christmas Eve, Friday, December 24, the Family Service will be celebrated at 5:00 PM. That service will be a Sung Holy Eucharist and will include a procession of the children with Christmas figurines and stuffed animals to the Crèche and the traditional proclamation of the birth of Christ. Child care will be provided from 4:45 until the conclusion of the Family Service. Later that evening the annual Christmas Concert & Midnight Mass will begin at 10:30 PM & 11:00 PM, respectively. Our Music Director Cecilia Sparacio promises wonderful a great variety of international carols accompanied by a mixed quartet at the Christmas Concert this year, it should be fabulous! The Midnight Mass, a Sung Holy Eucharist, will begin at 11:00 PM, and will also feature the traditional proclamation of the birth of Christ and accompaniment by a mixed quartet. Both the Family Service and the Midnight Mass will last about an hour and will be followed by a fireside reception of cookies and hot chocolate! Both services will also feature the traditional Gospel account of Jesus’ birth, narrated by Saint Luke.
On Christmas Day, Saturday, December 25, Sung Holy Eucharist will be celebrated at 10:00 AM. There is nothing wrong with waiting until Christmas Day to celebrate Christmas – the Christmas Day service is actually more ancient than the Christmas Eve services, though certainly Christmas Eve services are now much more popular. There’s also nothing wrong with coming back to church on Christmas Day if you have already been on Christmas Eve – I’ve been doing it for years and I heartily recommend it. There are three great reasons to come to church on Christmas Day. The first is that the Christmas Day Gospel account is different from the Christmas Eve Gospel. On Christmas Day the church proclaims the Incarnation (the mystery of God made human) by reading the prologue of Saint John, which begins “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” My father, who is also an Episcopal priest, sums up the reason for this by stating that “On Christmas Eve the Saint Luke narrates the birth of Jesus Christ, and on Christmas Day Saint John explains the birth of Jesus Christ.” The second reason for coming to church on Christmas Day is the hymns and carols. With one exception, every hymn sung this year on Christmas Day will not repeat what was sung the evening before. If you want to sing, Once In Royal David’s City, Joy To The World, and Go Tell It On The Mountain, you don’t want to miss Christmas Day at Good Shepherd. The final reason to come to church on Christmas Day is to celebrate Christmas after the service concludes by raising a glass of champagne or sparkling cider to our Lord’s birth.
There are several other opportunities to sing other Christmas Carols throughout the Christmas Season. On the First Sunday after Christmas, December 26, we will observe our normal Sunday service schedule: 7:40 AM Morning Prayer, 8:00 AM Said Holy Eucharist, 10:00 AM Sung Holy Eucharist. On Saturday, January 1, 2011, the church celebrates the naming of Jesus. Holy Eucharist with Christmas Carols will be celebrated at 10:00 AM on New Year’s Day. The service will be followed by the annual Open House at the Rectory, hosted by my wife Nicole and I: All are invited! On the Second Sunday after Christmas, January 2, 2011, the transition to Epiphany has begun. The Gospel reading that Sunday will look ahead to the arrival of the Magi on Epiphany – The Magi are commonly called the Three Kings, and in Saint Matthew’s Gospel account they can be viewed as representatives of all the nations of the world coming to honor the King of kings, Jesus Christ, who has been revealed to them by the heavens and the Scriptures. Likewise, hymns that Sunday will feel equal parts Christmas and equal parts Epiphany… when we next sing The First Nowell and What Child Is This, ask yourself if the hymns are more appropriate for the Birth of Christ or the child being revealed as the King of kings. On Thursday, January 6, we will celebrate the day of Epiphany with Said Holy Eucharist with hymns. After the service there will be a pleasant fireside reception with wine and cheese. If you haven’t ever done Christmastide from start to finish, I recommend it. The readings and hymns provided throughout the season say a great deal more than most preachers will ever say about who Jesus is. I hope that you will join me for these wonderful services!
There are three other very important events at Good Shepherd that are related to Christmas, but technically fall outside of the Twelve Days of Christmas. The first is the Pageant and Twelfth Night Celebration which will take place on Saturday, January 8, 2011 at 6:00 PM. So that as many families can be present as possible, the Pageant and Twelfth Night celebration was moved years ago to the first convenient Saturday after New Year’s Day. Last year, which was my first at Good Shepherd, we had over 100 people present for the festivities. The children and teachers of the Sunday School work very hard throughout November and December to prepare for this wonderful pageant. After the pageant, everyone moves to the parish hall for a potluck dinner and the arrival of the Magi – three mystery guests who will bring gifts to every member of the Body of Christ present (everyone in the room)! It is a fitting end to the Christmas season, and I hope you will make every effort to experience and be a part of Twelfth Night at Good Shepherd!
The second important event that is related to Christmas is the commemoration of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, commonly called Candlemas, celebrated on February 2 forty days after Christmas, which is the last event narrated by Saint Luke in his narrative of Jesus’ birth. Candlemas services are beloved by the many Christians who have celebrated them. The service, a Sung Holy Eucharist, begins in near darkness with the lighting and blessing of candles. Like the rites of Holy Week, the Feast of the Presentation and its candle lighting rite seem to have evolved in the fourth century Church in Jerusalem, when it first became legal in the Roman Empire for the Church to be public in its witness. The Church links the prophecy of the coming of the Lord to his temple with the Gospel account of Jesus being presented in the temple. This year, so that we do not have to move or cancel our weekly AA groups, we will celebrate the Eve (or night before) of Candlemas, on Tuesday, February 1, 2011. After the service concludes the Brotherhood, our Men’s Group, will host the annual Chili and Chowder competition. All are invited to attend and bring a pot of either a Chili or a Chowder (or both if you are very ambitious!). Beverages, sides and other dishes are also welcome and will be pot luck. I must most humbly admit that I am the reigning Chili Champion, though one could make the argument that everyone was just being nice by voting for the new rector last year. This year I intend to defend my crown, and I guarantee this year’s Matt’s Mild Chili will be hotter than the flames of . . . well, it will be hot! Candlemas at Good Shepherd is awesome! Mark your calendars for Tuesday, February 1, at 6:00 PM… and bring your appetite! Child care will be provided during the service and until 8:30 PM.
The final important event that is related to Christmas is the annual commemoration of the Annunciation of Jesus to Mary by the angel Gabriel, celebrated every year nine months before Christmas, on March 25. On Friday, March 25, we will celebrate the Annunciation with Sung Holy Eucharist. The service will be followed by our second annual Charity Wine Tasting & Potluck dinner, hosted by the Outreach Committee. All are invited to attend, we ask for a minimum donation of $30 per adult at the door. Any wine that is offered for tasting may be purchased at the event at a discounted rate by the bottle, half case or case. The church receives a percentage of every bottle of wine that is sold, so if you plan to come and you like wine, this is a fabulous day to stock up your wine cellar for charity. Last year we had over 70 people at the Wine Tasting and we raised funds for the parish, for Keon Center and for Northern Westchester Food Pantry. Our goal for the event this year is 100 people and $4000. Please mark your calendars for this wonderful event, which will be Friday, March 25, 2011, beginning at 6:00 PM, and remember that you can purchase wine at this event and a percentage of the proceeds go to the church! Child care will be provided during the service and until 8:30 PM.
All of that in a Christmas message! Living into the church year, whether it be the Christmas cycle, the Easter cycle, or the annual commemorations of the many saints, forms Christians in ways that are difficult to explain. The entire Christmas cycle, beginning with the Annunciation and concluding nearly a year later with Candlemas, has deepened my faith and allowed me time and space to grow closer to my brothers and sisters in Christ. Hearing not only the story of Jesus’ birth, but also the entirety of the Infancy Narratives and how they play out across the entire year puts the birth of Jesus into something I can easily understand… the annual cycles of life. As I grow and time passes God is made present to me in many amazing ways; likewise Jesus was revealed to Mary and Joseph and all who knew him, before his birth, at his birth, as a boy, as a man, as the One who called all of us to follow him and who was crucified and died and rose from the dead, Jesus was revealed in so many different ways through the years of his life and after his resurrection. Through the Christmas cycle, celebrated across the course of the year, I have come to a fuller realization that God is truly with us, not just in a manger at Christmas, but in every aspect of our lives.
Celebrating these feast days is something that I treasure for those reasons, but also because the “weeknight feasts” that seem to pop up randomly throughout the year offer some of the best opportunities for Christian fellowship. I know it isn’t always possible for everyone to carve out a Tuesday or Friday evening, but for those people who are able to and who have been able to make it to some of the Holy Days that we celebrated this past year, I know it’s worth it. Looking back, we wouldn’t have had an Oktoberfest without Saint Michael. We wouldn’t have had a Steak and Wine Dinner for fifty people without Ascension Day. This year, I invite you to live deeper into one or more of the cycles of the church. I have enjoyed the Holy Days and the church and fellowship celebrations that accompany them so much that I learned the church calendar. So, with that in mind, scan back through this article and mark your calendars. You will be happy that you carved the time out now.
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