12/22/2022
Christmas 2022
Dear All Saints’ Community, Family and Friends,
One of my favorite parts of Christmas Eve is when we exit the Church after the final hymn. I believe it is here where the liturgy for the day concludes. Once the final hymn is sung, the dismissal said, the final moment comes as we walk outside and encounter the night air. A night that began like any other night, has now become a night unlike any other night. Much like for the Shepherds we hear about in the Gospel of Luke, who suddenly found themselves in a night different from the one they had settled into as they hurried to Bethlehem to “see this thing that had taken place,” for me there is always something different about the feel, the smell of the night, once the Christmas liturgy concludes and Christ has once more entered our world.
The air for me this night, which always takes on this special fragrance, one I have always described as Christmas, I will occasionally catch hints of at other times of the year. One place I remember recently being surrounded by this feeling, was on the Third Sunday of Advent. We heard a passage from the Epistle of James where the author writes, “Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.” In this wonderful verse from James, we hear the promise of Christ’s presence; a presence we find in His first coming, which has come, a presence we find in His second coming, which is coming, and a presence which we find near to us, always.
This evening, as I breathe in its wonderful fragrance, as the season changes from Advent to Christmas, as the excitement of anticipation hits a crescendo, I am reminded how I am able to catch hints of the evening’s fragrance at other times of year, throughout the year. I invite us this Christmas to take in this holy night in all its wonder. And whether or not we have similar experiences with smell or perhaps with sight, touch, taste, the sounds of the evening, the season, whether we struggle to feel God, Christ, in our world, in our lives, we all live in the promise of Jesus’ presence with us always, proclaimed in Christmas, proclaimed in Immanuel, God with us. This is the assurance James proclaims to us in his epistle in his immortal words, “The Lord is near.” This is the promise that strengthens our hearts, our souls, our lives which we celebrate during this holy night, this holy season, and which we live in all the year round.
My friends I look forward to greeting you at All Saints’ this Christmastide. I pray for safe travels for those spending Christmas away from West Newbury and those traveling to West Newbury. I wish you all and those you love a very Merry and Blessed Christmastide and a Happy New Year.
Yours in Christ,
Christmastide at All Saints’
Christmas Eve,
Saturday December 24, 2022
7:30PM
Carol Singing
8:00PM
Candlelight Eucharist
Christmas Day,
Sunday December 25, 2022
10:00AM
The Holy Eucharist Rite II with Christmas Hymns at St. James, Amesbury
The Feast of the Holy Name,
Sunday January 1, 2023
Recorded Service posted to Social Media
There will be no services at Church this Day.
