November 2016 message

NOVEMBER 2016 • Volume 18, Number 6

Trunk or Treat 2016

Waking: 2 An Irish Christmas: 7 Farewell Lena: 8 Christmas Eve Services: 10 What is Patrick Reading Now?: 12 Photo Album: 15

FROM

In this issue:

Waking

Music Ministry ...................... 5

This is the seventh in a series of ten essays Patrick is writing on the lesser-known stained-glass windows in the nave of Christ Church.

Family Ministry..................... 6

I

Youth Ministry ...................... 8

never awoke before my Uncle Bob.

Our Church Life ................... 9 Page Turners.......................12 Great Commission..............13 Calendar of Events.............14 Photo Album........................15

Sunday Services: 7:30 a.m.

Holy Eucharist, Rite 1 9:00 a.m.

Family-friendly Communion Service with Music 10:00 a.m.

Christian Education for Children, Youth, and Adults 11:00 a.m.

Choral Eucharist, Rite 2 6:00 p.m.

Holy Eucharist, Rite 2 Visit us on-line at www.cecsa.org

Cover photo by Susanna Kitayama Back cover photos by Lena Bozzo

Throughout my childhood, PATRICK GAHAN I attempted to Rector arise before him, patrickg@cecsa.org but try as I may, I would pad out to the den to find him ensconced in his favorite chair sipping black coffee and smoking a filter-less cigarette. Uncle Bob never objected that I joined him in his pre-dawn vigil, or at least he never let on that he did. He would read and I would sit. We would bathe in the silence only broken by the rustle of his newspaper.

The wreaths of tobacco smoke circled above as incense in our own private cathedral.

Truthfully, Uncle Bob was more than a quiet brooder adroit with his hands. He was a renaissance man, albeit an unlikely one, who was merely constrained by

School and play followed my sunrise. Ten or more hours of construction work followed Uncle Bob’s.

Looking back through the decades of my own labor, measurably lighter than his, I do not doubt Uncle Bob’s need for two hours of solitude and quiet. He was a contemplative clad in a yellow hard hat.

Uncle Bob could build any residential or

2

commercial structure, read all manner of architectural schematics, heal any plumbing or electrical disaster, and repair the larger family’s fleet of ancient jalopies. He was the anointed savior of our sprawling, insolvent tribe, yet I never heard him complain a syllable about being called out in the middle of the night to rescue one of us when stranded on the outer reaches of Birmingham.

The left and right panels from the Palm Sunday Window

From Our Rector... the pressing need of an hourly wage.

In all those years I arose to share his early mornings, I recall his array of selftaught talents. He could play a guitar like Les Paul, type 90 words per minute on his ancient Royal, program a PC, knit a winter sweater faster than my grandmother, and, had he wanted to, he could have baked bread better than Wolfgang Puck.

For the Lord’s anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Psalm 30:5 In our Episcopal tradition, every sunrise is an echo of Easter. We Anglican Christians arise, not unlike my Uncle Bob, in the belief that the

the Middle Ages, our first Archbishop railed against the notion that monks and nuns alone were invited to daily take hold of the new day with the sunrise and determinedly claim the resurrection as an earthly reality. Thus, in 1549, he composed the rite that we practice today. For all his shortcomings in buffering his king, “Hank #8”, Cranmer was a prophet of hope for all the generations of Anglicans that followed. In his second edition of the Prayer Book in 1552, Cranmer wrote this invitation to Confession at the beginning of Morning Prayer:

I would creep from the bliss of the covers and join him in his morning sanctuary hoping to become like him. Our clan uttered “Uncle Bob” in tones of reverence, for no one Dearly beloved brethren, the else could free the septic system Scripture moveth us in sundry with a coat hanger, resurrect a dead places to acknowledge and confess car with a butter knife, and type a our manifold sins and wickedness; term paper during a single episode and that we should not dissemble of Bonanza. My veneration of Uncle nor cloke them before the face of Bob was aroused by his boundless Almighty God our heavenly Father; curiosity and exploration. Rising but confess them with an humble, out of the numbing, exhausting drift lowly, penitent and obedient heart; of his daily existence, Uncle Bob ... constantly steered his mind toward the horizon of exacting challenges, as In our own 1979 book, the words he sailed toward the shores of fresh ring with essentially the same spirit. enterprises. He refused to surrender We cannot take hold of the new day to the mundane march of life, and roused himself, like a modern day one-year-old Patrick - far left, Uncle Bob - far right, as long as yesterday’s missteps and Cousins Gladys and Lee mistakes trip us up. The Lord invites alchemist, to create gold from the us to start off afresh: common elements of his measured new day promises to resurrect the stale days. remnants of yesterday and marshal And so that we may prepare ourselves in heart and mind to Not surprisingly, the golden Texas us onto higher ground. The leading worship him, let us kneel in silence, sunrise often reminds me of my Uncle signpost of the Book of Common and with penitent and obedient Bob, and the promise announced by the Prayer is Morning Prayer. With its initial hearts confess our sins, that we may daily sunrise is what draws me to Christ invitation to confess our sins from the obtain forgiveness by his infinite Church’s seventh window, our Palm day before, followed by the opening goodness and mercy.

Sunday Window. Crowning both side vesicle: “O Lord, open our lips,” we are panels are brilliant sunbursts stacked again freed to spend our hours issuing atop flaming roses.

The beaming blessing, as our Lord spent his. The Similarly, the confession of 1552 reads suns represent God as the source of rising sun is the angels’ trumpet call almost identically to our own: new life and the blazing roses radiate to flee the dark tombs of our former ALMIGHTY and most mercyfull the Lord’s divine love. Curiously, the lives and step into the light of the father, we have erred and strayed luminous symbols are set above two of Son’s promise of transformation. Our from thy wayes, lyke lost shepe. We the Gospels’ most disturbing stories – peculiar Episcopal way of life is entirely have folowed too much the devises Jesus’ furious confrontation with the optimistic. Death could not hold our and desyres of oure owne hearts. money changers at the Temple (MT Lord in perpetual night, and, because We have offended against thy holy 21:12-13; MK 11:15-19; LK 19:45-48 & of his victorious duel with darkness, we lawes. We have left undone those JN 2:13-22) and his harsh admonition cannot be held by it either. The sun rises things whiche we oughte to have of Martha in her own home (LK 10:38- to draw back the curtain on despair. We done, and we have done those 42). Perhaps we should not be so are not held by former fallen, mediocre, thinges which we ought not to have surprised at the artist’s choice of incurable images of ourselves. Christ is done, and there is no health in us: iconography. After all, are not most of risen and we are being drawn up into our “resurrections” experienced after the light with him.

And in 1979: we have fallen, disappointed others and ourselves? The psalmist sings out the Thomas Cranmer’s genius bequeathed Almighty and most merciful Father, truth about the Lord’s grace and how Morning and Evening Prayer to us. we have erred and strayed from he showers you and me anew each day: Long the sole vestige of monastics of

3

From Our Rector... thy ways like lost sheep, we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts, we have offended against thy holy laws, we have left undone those things which we ought to have done and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.

Lest we begin to imagine the Prayer Book is somehow dour and inordinately obsessed with the gravity of our sins, the Morning Prayer rite breaks out into the unrestrained song of Psalm 100, known to our forebears as the Jubilate – “Be Joyful!” Kay and I croak out this psalm every other morning at 5:30 AM. Coming out of our slumberous stupor, we offer, ‘…serve the Lord with gladness and come before Him with a song. Be ye sure that the Lord he is God. It is he that hath made us and not we ourselves.

We are his people and the sheep of his pasture…’ Rather than inhibit us, it is liberating to acknowledge first thing in the morning that we were fashioned by God and are not some accidental genetic cocktail. Thus, we were created for a purpose beyond survival. Paradoxically, we were made to “gladly serve God,” with the gifts he has given to us in the first place, which is richly reminiscent of my Uncle Bob. He did not advertise his knitting, computing, typing, or strumming prowess. Anyone could see that he was fully awake to his life.

Uncle Bob, like you and me, was created to create, and from that proceeds the deep joy God promises.

At one point during the Last Supper, Jesus breaks off his instructions to declare that very promise, ‘I have said

these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete’ (John 15:11). However, it is imperative to note that Jesus states this treasured line as a summation of his “Vine and Branches” analogy. We can only “bear fruit,” Jesus attests, if we are attached to him – the vine. In

my estimation, we have adequately emphasized being connected to Christ, our creator and savior, but we have expected very little to occur as a result of that unequaled relation. Sitting with his disciples and instructing them for the very last time, Jesus invites them to come fully awake to their lives, as he is awake to his. Jesus, in other words, is not simply the perfect human being; he is the fully actualized one. Being connected to him as a branch to a vine should infuse us with the vitality to transform our stale, elemental lives and make them uniquely golden.

personified what it means to live in his “golden years” more than Bishop Bill Frey. Like most everyone reading these lines, I have admired Bill’s resonant voice, his deep well of knowledge, his endless reservoir of quotes, quips, and stories, his prophetic utterances, his ambit of affection, and his curious desire to spend time with all of us.

However, I am most drawn to Bill because he is awake to his life. While he must now carefully watch his steps, punctually take his meds, and make his ceaseless rounds to the doctors, his youthful spirit of inquiry, discovery, and creativity never abate. Those of us in the Men’s Monday Morning Bible Study await his carefully chosen words at 7 AM like those who expected Moses to clamber down Mt. Sinai.

A key to understanding Bill’s evercreative witness can be found – of all places – on the rear window of his aging Honda. Looking closely at the left side, printed in block, bold letters are these words: The glory of God is man fully alive. The quote is taken from the second century theologian Irenaeus of Lyon in his monumental treatise Against Heresies. In the same document, Irenaeus continues with “the life of man is the vision of God.” In other words, indelibly connected to our Lord, we are infused with his being to live creatively unbounded, regardless of the strictures issued to us by circumstance, heredity, occupation, and frailty. Every morning we are invited to come fully awake and arise to His presence.

Your brother,

No one, in my circle of friends, has

Patrick U

2016 Advent Service of Lessons and Carols December 11 at 9 & 11 am Join us to hear members of the San Antonio Symphony, Christ Episcopal Church adult and children’s choirs and guests perform the following selections: “Death shall be no more” by Josh Benninger “For unto us a child is born” from Messiah “Let mortal flesh keep silence” arranged by Frank Butcher and Josh Benninger “Mary said yes” by Russell Schulz-Widmar “Hallelujah Chorus” from Messiah “Where shepherds lately knelt” by Craig Courtney “This Christmastide” by Donald Fraser 4

MINISTRY Prepare The Way

of the

Lord

Prepare the way, O Zion, your Christ is drawing near!

Let every hill and valley a level way appear.

Greet One who comes in glory, foretold in sacred story.

Oh, blest is Christ that came in God’s most holy Name.

JOSH BENNINGER Director of Music and Worship joshb@cecsa.org

He brings God’s rule, O Zion; he comes from heaven above.

His rule is peace and freedom, and justice, truth, and love.

Lift high your praise resounding, for grace and joy abounding.

Oh, blest is Christ that came in God’s most holy Name.

Fling wide your gates, O Zion; your Savior’s rule embrace.

His tidings of salvation proclaim in every place.

All lands will bow before him, their voices will adore him.

Oh, blest is Christ that came in God’s most holy Name.

- “Prepare the way, O Zion”, Hymn 65

A

s many of you know, prior to serving as your music minister, I served many years in the military. As an enlisted Air Force member, I deployed to war zones frequently, spending a combined total of nearly three years away from my respective home base.

These deployments typically required moving hundreds of people along with hundreds of tons of equipment to faraway locations. We deployed to places that usually lacked adequate infrastructure or support. Deploying this high volume of assets was no easy task, and getting it right the first time was of critical importance. The only way to ensure success was to make sure the path we were to travel was well mapped out and clear of danger.

In the spring of 1999, my squadron was called upon to help lead the NATO bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. We were tasked to transport all of our Squadron’s personnel and equipment from central Germany to our deployment location.

Airlifting the personnel and equipment was not an option, so we needed to travel by road.

The distance to travel was vast and slow going; especially considering the average highway convoy speed was a laborious 45 mph due to the heavy weight and size of our military vehicles. The trip required multiple days of travel, and we needed places to stay overnight to rest. As is customary, a small team of specialized and highly trained personnel deployed in advance

of the main group. These personnel were referred to as an Advanced Echelon (ADVON) team. Their job was simple: Prepare the way.

The ADVON team had to determine the number of days it would take to reach our destination and how much fuel we would need. The team also needed to make sure we had safe places to stay overnight and that those locations had enough parking to support over 80 vehicles the size of semi-trailer trucks.

This was no easy task and the team rushed ahead of the main column of vehicles to prepare our way, sometimes driving only 24 hours ahead of us in our race across Europe.

If this detailed level of preparation had not been accomplished, the end result could have been disastrous. What if we didn’t bring enough spare tires and tools to repair our vehicles when they broke down? What if a particular foreign nation decided they didn’t want the U.S. military driving across their borders and we had to waste additional days driving around it? What if we were attacked on our journey and we didn’t pack our mobile armory with adequate supplies? The ADVON team made sure the right questions were asked and answered prior to the first truck leaving the base.

Have we cast aside those things, which block and cloud our connection to God? What kind of life are we leading? Who is at the center of our lives, God or us?

What can we prune from ourselves to live a more faithful life? Consider the following Collect that kick-starts the Advent season: Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

The Collect for the First Sunday of Advent

Josh Benninger

I ask that we compare this preparation with our own faith walk with Jesus.

The season of Advent is approaching.

We set aside Advent for reflection, to remember the events leading to the birth of Jesus and to prepare ourselves for His coming again. Are we ready?

5

MINISTRY

People,

W

e will be celebrating the first Sunday of Advent as a Church Family on Sunday, November 27, by making Advent Wreaths and HALLETA lighting the first HEINRICH candle on our Director of wreaths together Family Ministries in the Parish Hall. halletah@cecsa.org This will be an intergenerational celebration for all families no matter what size or age.

Parents of children ages three years and older should bring their children

get ready....

to this All Sunday School Celebration. There will be no regular Sunday School held this day. Children’s Chapel will be held as usual during the 11 AM service.

All supplies will be provided including: Advent Prayers for each week of Advent, wreath forms, real greenery, ribbon with which to decorate your wreath, and candles. An offering of $10 per family is requested to cover cost of supplies unless you bring your own wreath form, then cost will be $5 per family.

Please bring a plate of your favorite Christmas cookies to share! Nursery

What Shall We Give

to the

Babe

in the

E

very year I ask the children at the beginning of our Epiphany Celebration the question, “What’s the best gift we can give to Jesus?”

Most know the answer and shout, “Our hearts!”

They each receive a symbolic heart to carry along the Epiphany journey as they follow the Star and the Wise Men in search of the Christ Child. Children have the opportunity to give their hearts to Jesus at the grand finale of our Epiphany Journey and Celebration on Sunday January 8 from 10 – 10:50 AM.

Epiphany Celebration 2014

6

will be provided for infants through young three-year-olds in the FMC nurseries during this event.

We will begin the journey in Children’s Chapel.

We will venture out in our search to Jerusalem, King Herod’s Palace, and Bethlehem where the manger and the Christ child await us. Each child then places their heart in

Manger?

the manger. What a beautiful sight to see Baby Jesus smothered in hearts representing the children’s love for Jesus!

In return each child receives a Star representing the Light of Christ to serve as their life’s guide. We recess from Chapel into our final destination – the World, where we will share the Light, Hope, and Love of Christ.

An Epiphany Reception follows the journey in the Tomlin Room where King’s Cakes are shared, and prizes are rewarded to those who find the Baby Jesus in their piece of cake. I pray this beloved ritual, repeated each year during Epiphany, will firmly plant the seed of faith in Christ in each of our children.

I pray the symbolic gestures of giving their hearts to Jesus and accepting Him as the Star of their lives is much more than symbolic, but is the most meaningful act they or any of us can do.

I know our God is faithful, and he honors my prayer. These precious children belong to Him and are loved beyond our understanding!

Love,

Halleta

Family Ministry...

A Wee Gift

for

You

from the

Children

Children’s Christmas Pageant is based on this vision as told in Brigid’s Cloak – An Ancient Irish Story, a beautiful picture book written by local author Bryce Milligan, illustrated by Helen Cann, and published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. I knew I had come upon a treasure that had to be shared with our Church Family when I discovered Brigid’s Cloak.

A

s a child, I remember wishing I could experience and see the first Christmas in Bethlehem. I learned much later that St. Brigid of Ireland had a vision of the first Christmas, and was transported to Bethlehem as a witness when she was a ten-year-old child. This year’s

This will be a Christmas Pageant – Irishstyle, with each Children’s Sunday School Class helping to tell the story of the first Christmas through song and drama. Our own Owen Duggan has committed to be the Pageant Music Director and will bring a touch of the Irish to this presentation. Our Fifth Graders will play the starring roles in the pageant. Preschoolers will become the Manger Animals and Sheep who witness the birth of the Christ Child.

First and Second Graders will portray Stars and Irish Angels, and Third and Fourth Graders will be Irish Villagers and Shepherds.

There will be an All Parish Reception honoring all of our Christmas Pageant Stars in the Carriage House, immediately following the 11 AM service. We hope all of our Parish Family will come receive this Advent gift from our children to you and Jesus.

Love,

Halleta 2016 Children’s Christmas Pageant

“Brigid’s Cloak” Sunday December 4 at 11 AM

7

MINISTRY Of Ninjas, Geckos I read somewhere that being a youth minister is similar to that of being a ninja. Now, I don’t remember Patrick ever mentioning those words to me in my job description, GAVIN ROGERS but I can’t deny Youth Minister that I agree with gavinr@cecsa.org that statement.

Urban Dictionary (great source, right?) describes a ninja as someone who doesn’t sweat the small stuff, lacks any personality, fights skillfully for what they believe in, can go anywhere they want instantly, is a master of disguise, and trains 20 hours a day starting at age 2. Now, let’s look at those descriptors in a more parallel sense. A Youth Minister helps others to remember that they shouldn’t worry about things that aren’t important.

A Youth Minister without a sense of humor, patience, loving spirit, and sense of fun is not someone your kids might want to hang out with. Fighting for what they believe in - fighting for the word of God, helping kids understand that a fulfilling life comes from knowing Him, understanding that if a youth needs assistance of any kind, anywhere, a Youth Minister will be there. Youth Ministers can be your friend, confidant, role model, realist, and may even turn into a Gecko who makes balloon animals in front of the Alamo. The job of a Youth Minister is not one that you just sign up for. The life they have carried before will spread

8

and

Love

into their actions now, from hardships to joyous celebrations and the lessons they have learned. A Youth Minister might not know it, but they have been training for the job their whole life.

My time at Christ Church has been one of the most rewarding experiences

was one filled with anger that then turned into excitement months later.

Never did I think that the humidity in Texas would be surpassed, yet going to New York mid-July shattered all expectations. Also, the Pokemon population in NYC is booming. Being able to experience the joy, excitement, and opportunity of travel with these kids broadened my perspective. I have loved the late night phone calls about school anxiety, boyfriend troubles, or just funny prank calls. I wouldn’t miss them for the world. Because the fact that they are even calling shows how much trust they have in me. And that, my friends, is truly an honor.

Working with CEC Youth has helped me grow spiritually, independently, and as a role model. When you would rather spend your evening with youth running around Target, picking out new books to read, than hanging out with your college buddies, you can then understand that I truly love my job.

I have had. I look back on my first Trunk-or-Treat, remembering how I was automatically accepted into this wonderful church community, even though I had on a pink wig and an alien hat. I remember my first Youth Retreat and playing flashlight tag and running head on into a barbwire in the pitchblack abyss of the night. I remember teaching Sunday school and, at times, not being fully sure as to whether the kids were reading along on their Bible App or were on Instagram. Where do I even start when it comes to our summer adventures? My relationship with trains

To the Youth - you will never understand how much you have taught ME. You remind me to go easy on myself, to find fun in every situation, to embrace conversations and small talk, to know that I am beautiful, and most importantly, how to flip a water bottle.

My memory of a Sunday morning will forever be filled with Cheez-it’s, Tacos, Wii, and having the company of the best, most caring kids I know. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Lena Bozzo

You’re Making

a

Difference

in the

Middle East

F

or our Noisy Offering in September, the children gathered your coins to support Love For the Least, the ministry of Fr. Andrew Sloane to beleaguered BRIEN KOEHLER C h r i s t i a n Associate Rector communities for Mission and in the Middle Formation East. The money brienk@cecsa.org raised has gone to spread blessings to the children of displaced families in the Middle East.

Father Andrew Sloane’s report:

Here are the supplies in the storage area before distribution began!

“We also took school supplies with us. Christ Church San Antonio had a children’s “noisy collection” on a Sunday last month and their generous mission committee matched what they raised to give us just over $3000 for school supplies for needy children.

That means we have purchased: 4 1 1 1 3 1 2

exercise books drawing book box of pencils box of crayons erasers ruler pencil sharpeners

for 1000 children!”

Father Sloane and “Love for the Least” have taken the supplies to various schools in the region. At one school the director was very grateful because he had been told by the government there was no budget for school supplies.

The director of this Christian school has been there for only one month and has no budget for supplies for the school.

Children everywhere just want to play with their friends.

Notice the boy proudly showing his new box of crayons.

Your generosity means children can focus on learning, just as our children do here. You have helped them to be “kids at school” as they should be.

Brien Koehler Children patiently waiting

9

Our Church Life...

The Community

of

Hope - Serving God’s People

T

hey serve among you. Community of Hope Lay Chaplains can be found in a variety of ministries: certainly as Home Eucharistic Visitors, visiting our elderly in nursing homes and at home, hospital visitors, prayer ministry, even our James Madison tutoring program.

I have been involved with the Community of Hope at Christ Church since 2003. Every class has amazed me with their growth in faith and their dedication to serving in Christ’s name.

The initial training class offers practical instruction in Benedictine Spirituality and pastoral care. The community part is found in monthly Circle of Care groups that offer support, encouragement and prayer for the lay chaplains.

Quarterly luncheons offer an opportunity for continuing education with engaging speakers. The Annual Quiet Day at the Bishop Jones Center, the Mustang Island CoH Retreat and the Camp Allen CoH Retreat continue the ongoing commitment to spiritual growth and refreshment.

Our next Community of Hope class will begin on Saturday, January 21 and continue every other Saturday morning through April 1. If you are interested in knowing more, please contact me, the Rev. Eric Fenton, cell 210-887-0067, email efenton1@mac.com, or Carol Miller at the church, 210-736-3132 or email carolm@cecsa.org

invites you to a

Quiet Day

with Sylvia Maddox

Author, Retreat Leader, Professor of Spirituality, UIW

Saturday, December 10 9:00 AM—12:00 PM 12:15 PM Communion Service

“The Humility of Advent” Advent is a sacred time when we prepare our hearts for the gift of the coming of Christ. To truly receive this gift in joy and peace, we return to the place of humility. It is in humility that we bow in reverence and say Yes to God. Bishop Jones Center 111 Torcido, San Antonio, TX 78209 RSVP by December 5 to Carol Miller (210)736-3132 or carolm@cecsa.org

Eric Fenton

Annual Parish Christmas Dinner Wednesday, December 7 6 - 8 pm in the ParishHall

RSVP for the dinner to Elizabeth Martinez (210)736-3132 Volunteers are needed to prep, serve, set-up and clean-up. To help contact Logan Ames at lbames@sbcglobal.net or Fern Burney at 7342445 or ferneburney@hotmail.com 10

CEC Community of Hope

Christmas Services

December 24 3 pm Child Friendly Communion Celebration

5 pm Family Service with Junior Choirs

8 & 11 pm Rite II Eucharist with Brass and Choir

December 25 10 AM

Our Church Life...

For Whom Has

O

the

nce again Advent is upon us and even now as I put pen to paper I can feel the level of anxiety rising about me. Stores are beginning to hawk their Christmas wares alongside candy for Halloween and pumpkins for Thanksgiving. Grandparents and parents alike are beginning to feel the pressing need to “get the Christmas shopping done early this year,” but alas, inevitably we will find ourselves harried and scrambling to get those last few gifts in the days just before the jolly old man in red slides down the chimney. These are things that are expected of us: that we find just the right gift, that we answer every invitation to every party, that we get those Christmas cards out in time, that the house is decorated, and that our darlings have equal amounts of plastic, glue, and stickers wrapped up just right. There is much expected of us and dog gone it, we will make it happen.

The problem with setting up these sort of unrealistic, false expectations for ourselves is that inevitably they will lead to guilt, shame, and a social hangover that will last past Valentine’s Day. It is the season of the Advent of Expectation. But is that how life is supposed to be?

The answer is simple: No, it is not.

Lamp Been Lit?

We say it year after year, “This year will be different. I’m going to get everything done that is required of me, BUT THIS YEAR, I will make some room for Christ…I WILL celebrate Advent.” But even though the angel tells Mary, “All things are possible with God,” I’m not sure the pattern of our modern life is what Gabriel meant.

Mother Mary is an example of what we should be doing this season. Setting aside our lives to wait and pray and expect. Sacrificing our idea of “the perfect Christmas” for what will truly be a Christ honoring season. With God all things ARE possible. It is possible to still have a great Christmas without meeting everyone else’s expectations and wait patiently expecting Christ to fill us with his presence anew.

So take a moment, give up something, honor God in the silence before the celebration. For whom are you lighting your lamp in preparation? A jolly old man in red? Keeping up with the Joneses? Or, the Son of God who is coming into the world? Light a lamp for Christ and the fuel will never run out.

The Well - a Daring Community of Connection for 20-40 year-olds Are you feeling lost in the sea of life? Enter the deep waters of authentic Christian community.

On Sunday mornings through Advent we will be examining the topic of “Expectation” - What does the world expect of us vs. What God expects of his children? Join us at 10 AM in Room 246.

Sunday Evening Softball (times vary) - Join us Sunday afternoons and evenings at Rusty Lyons Softball Field and cheer on The Well Softball Team.

Other Events: December 3: Sidewalk Saturday December 6: Happy Hour at Tacos N Tequila (Broadway) December 18: Christmas Fiesta For more information about upcoming events check out our FaceBook page at: https://www.facebook.com/ groups/Cecsa/

Rob Harris

16th Annual Food Pantry Christmas Lunch Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

-- Luke 14:12-14

T

1 PM. We are inviting Christ Church parishioners to join us in volunteering to serve our guests and to provide holiday home-baked desserts such as cookies, brownies, etc... and to assist with various crafts for the children.

Parishioners are encouraged to sit down with our guests and to enjoy a meal with them. Come and be blessed!

For information, please call Tina Honsaker at (210)859-5062 or Rita Millwater at (210)534-7042.

he Hospitality Food Pantry will be holding its 16th annual Christmas luncheon for our guests on Saturday, December 10, 2016, from 11 AM to

11

Our Church Life..

PAGE TURNERS – From

I

confess that it was the book’s dedication that roped me in: This faithful but unpretending record of a remarkable adventure is hereby respectfully dedicated by the narrator, ALLAN QUATERMAIN, to all the big and little boys who read it.

So began my summer walking adventure with H. Rider Haggard’s, King Solomon’s Mines. Written in 1885, by the well-known fabulist of lost African worlds, the book has enchanted brigades of “big and little boys” since its Victorian beginnings. The protagonist is the wise and worldly Allan Quatermain, who accompanies two other heroic figures, HMS Naval Captain John Good and the Nordic Sir Henry Curtis, as they attempt to find Curtis’ estranged brother who has gone missing. Their adventure leads them to the hidden African land of Kukuanaland, mythical site of King Solomon’s legendary diamond mines.

For me it was like reading James Bond and Tarzan mixed into one.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I should say that I did not actually read the rumbustious account, but rather listened to it. The Kindle reader offers scores of its classic books for free. The list is really quite extensive. For an extra $.99, I received the audio version, too. Such a good book impelled me to walk a little longer each morning.

You Are What You Love, by James K. Smith was a title I could not ignore. I spied promotions for the book in every Christian journal and magazine I read for months until I finally put up the white flag and ordered it. However, I did not see the subtitle until the book arrived in the mail – The Spiritual Power of Habit. Once I read that line, I was irreversibly drawn to Smith’s work, which I confess is one of the most

12

the

Rector’s Book Stack

important Christian books that I’ve read in a decade or more.

Smith’s thesis is revealed by his title.

Human beings become – not what “we think”, as Rene Descartes was famed to state. No, we become what we love.

Furthermore, we act on those things we love habitually. Jesus states in his Sermon on the Mount, ‘You will know people by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit’ (Matthew 7:16-17).

The good news is that through the power graced upon us by the Holy Spirit we can be habituated to love the most enduring and valuable things in life rather than its dross. Taking his cue from Aristotle (384-322 BC) and Jesus, Smith carefully explains how we Christians can and must learn new loves and behaviors by heart – by habit.

Reflecting on Jesus’ post-resurrection conversation with Peter, where Jesus asks the careworn disciple three times if he “loves” him, Smith states: So discipleship is more a matter of hungering and thirsting than knowing and believing.

Jesus’ command to follow him is a command to align our loves and longings with his—to want what God wants, to desire what God desires, to hunger and thirst after God and crave a world where he is all in all—a vision encapsulated by the shorthand ‘the kingdom of God.’ I can think of a good many places in history where I wouldn’t have wanted to be – to the west of San Antonio during the great Comanche Indian raids of the 19th century, at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, Korea with my dad and the 1st Marines, or in Khe Sanh, Vietnam during the 1968 Tet Offensive. Now I must add to my list Cholm, Russia, just south of

Leningrad during the winter of 1942.

My oldest friend from high school sent me Siege, by Russ Schneider, which is a brutally graphic, highly accurate, and surprisingly sensitive historical novel about a German Division surrounded by the Red Army during WWII. Major General Theodor Sherer, Commander of Germany’s 16th Army, held out for 105 winter days and over 100 attacks – 42 of which were supported by Russian tanks. Incurring 4,300 casualties, the diminished unit was eventually reinforced and relieved. The winter claimed just as many German soldiers as Soviet bullets.

The novel does not center so much on the stalwart heroics of General Sherer as it does on the dogged faithfulness of three enlisted soldiers: Private Kordts, Sergeant Schrader, and the teenaged Private Freitag. Following them through Cholm and their subsequent assignment in Velikiye Luki, the three fight the Arctic conditions as fiercely as they do Marshall Zhukov’s unrelenting Soviet legions in the campaign Stalin termed “Operation Typhoon.” For Military history and Russian aficionados, this book is an essential addition. Those drawn to the unassailable power of the human spirit will be drawn to this volume, as well.

“No free lunch,” they say, but I have found there are “free books!” I found myself between books and 2,142 miles from my lending library, when I remembered Amazon Kindle offers some books free of charge. Not only does Kindle provide a Lending Library, but also they offer to download a good many books at no charge. Eureka! I simply jumped on the Amazon site and clicked on “Free Classic Books,” and that is where I found the Agatha Christie hidden treasure, The Secret Adversary, published in 1922. I was quick to learn that the queen of mysteries was as great at her beginning as she was at her end.

The book features the unlikely crime

Our Church Life... fighting team of Tommy and Tuppence.

Tommy Beresford has returned wounded to Britain after fighting in WWI, when he forges a friendship with Prudence “Tuppence” Cowley, who serves as one of the nurse’s aides at the hospital where he is treated.

Later, they meet informally, rekindle their friendship, realize they are both down to their last penny, and thereby hatch a plan to become criminal investigators under the business name of Young Adventurers, Ltd. The two find adventure for sure, as they are suddenly lured into a brazen Soviet scheme to destabilize all of the United Kingdom. The book was more than pure entertainment, for Christie weaves the English language in such clear and captivating ways.

Extending all the way to 1968, Christie wrote three other Tommy and Tuppence novels and a collection of short stories featuring their heroics, as well. Reading the work, I was reminded that the procession of Miss Jane Marple, Hercule Poirot, Tommy Bereseford, and Pudence

Cowley are all classics because they were brought to life by Christie’s pen.

Two months before the most foreboding Presidential election I can recall, I read the much-touted Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, by J.D. Vance.

To my subtraction, I had avoided the title, until Jacque Roberts walked into my office and placed the book in my hands saying, “This reads like your life.” This memoir, penned by a young, highly successful refugee from Appalachia, now a graduate of Yale Law School, is a book about America, about America right now, about poor white America, about Trump’s America, about the part of America we prefer to keep on the other side of our gates and consciousness.

Three facts distinguish this best-selling volume: For one, this is no well-reasoned

economic-political-cultural hypothesis.

It is a chronicle of a boy’s life, caught in poverty and a hopelessness most of us cannot believe pervades the heartland of the U.S.A. Second, this is the best advertisement for the Marine Corps that has ever been printed. For Vance and countless others like him, the Marines led them to higher ground. Third, the author does not think the government can cure this epidemic, and we need to quit fantasizing that it can. Vance, in his convicting conclusion brusquely states, “I don’t know what the answer is, precisely, but I know it starts when we stop blaming Obama or Bush or faceless companies and ask ourselves what can we do to make things better.”

As for me personally, Vance grabbed me by the throat when he admitted, “I grew up in a world where everyone worried about how they would pay for Christmas.” That was my world, and the world so many of our American families still inhabit.

Patrick

SOCIETY

Is

a

Charitable Gift Fund Right

I

for

recently had a conversation concerning a couple that had planned carefully for their retirement and saved well for a comfortable lifestyle. Now they are in that planned retirement and in their 70s. Part of their retirement plans included DRIPS (no, not those pesky leaks that the hail brought): dividend reinvestment plans for a portfolio of stocks. Since they did not need the additional funds that these accounts provided, they looked for ways to reduce them or eliminate them altogether.

The stocks that are no longer desired can be transferred into that charitable gift fund account. In doing so, capital gains taxes can be avoided, and a tax deduction can be taken for the full value of the shares that were donated. The charitable gift fund will sell the shares of stock and the investor chooses how the funds are invested. After that is done, gifts can be made to charities as you choose. This is far better than bequeathing stock share to a charity since they will not have to sell them to realize the money.

The solution might be somewhat simple: open a charitable gift fund account. Many of the very wealthy have charitable foundations, and this is a way to structure something similar without nearly the legal issues. Several investment companies offer such accounts.

This is not just for the rich. Most companies will allow an individual to open an account with as little as $5,000. Taxes are managed more easily this way, and it is easier to donate to charities throughout the year.

You?

understanding that tax laws change, the best advice is to consult with a tax professional and a financial advisor.

We all want to support our beloved church and its ministries. It is good to know at least a couple of ways that maximize our ability to give...a win/win certainly!

Want to talk about making a planned gift? Please feel free to contact me or another member of our Planned Giving Committee – Tom Frost, Monica Gose, Jack Walters, or Patrick Gahan. Of course, you may wish to contact your financial planner or family attorney.

The important thing is to make plans now!

Ferne Burney

As with any program of this type,

13

OF EVENTS November 11-13: Junior High Youth Retreat

Christ Church Staff:

November 12: Mastersingers Rehearsal & Pizza Party, Choir Room, 9:30 AM

Any Baby Can 25th Memorial Service, 1 PM

Christ Church Fellowship Thankful Gathering

The Rev. Patrick Gahan, Rector patrickg@cecsa.org

November 15: Christ Church Men - Tycoon Flats

Coping with Grief During the Holidays, 12:30 PM

The Rev. Scott Kitayama, Associate Rector, scottk@cecsa.org

November 19: Christ Church Fellowship SA River Mission Reach Walk & Lunch

The Rev. Brien Koehler, Associate Rector for Mission and Formation, brienk@cecsa.org

November 20: Christ the King Sunday - Adult Confirmation with Bishop Frey

The Well Brunch, 12 PM in the Parish Hall

Third Sunday Lunch Bunch at Order Up, 12:30 PM

Youth Service trip to St. Jude’s Ranch, 3 PM November 24: Thanksgiving, church offices closed November 25: Church offices closed November 27: Advent 1

Family Advent Event - Wreath Making, Parish Hall, 10 AM December 3:

The Well Sidewalk Saturday, 9:30 AM Christ Church Fellowship Riverwalk Caroling by barge

December 4:

Advent 2 Children’s Christmas Pageant - Brigid’s Cloak, 11 AM SAMM Cookies with Santa, 2 - 4 PM CCF outing to “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”

December 6:

The Well Happy Hour at Tacos N Tequila

December 7:

Parish Christmas Dinner, Parish Hall, 6 PM

December 10: Community of Hope Quiet Day, Bishop Jones Center, 9 AM

Food Pantry Christmas Luncheon, Parish Hall, 11 AM December 11: Advent 3

Lessons & Carols, 9 & 11 AM

Youth Christmas Party, Carriage House, 1 PM December 14: CCW Christmas Coffee, 10 AM at Kay Bashara’s home December 15: Deadline for submissions for the January issue of The Message December 16: CCF Riverwalk Caroling by barge December 18: Advent 4

The Well Christmas Fiesta

The Rev. Rob Harris, Associate Rector for Community Formation, robh@cecsa.org Carol Miller, Pastoral Care Administrator, carolm@cecsa.org Halleta Heinrich, Director of Family Ministry, halletah@cecsa.org Lily Fenton, Nursery Director lilyf@cecsa.org Gavin Rogers, Youth Minister gavinr@cecsa.org Lena Bozzo, Assistant Youth Minister lenab@cecsa.org Joshua Benninger, Music Minister & Organist, joshb@cecsa.org Ruth Berg, Director of Children’s Music, ruthb@cecsa.org Robert Hanley, Parish Administrator parishadmin@cecsa.org Darla Nelson, Office Manager darlan@cecsa.org Donna Shreve, Financial Manager donnas@cecsa.org Gretchen Comuzzi Duggan, Director of Communications, gretchend@cecsa.org

December 23: Church offices close at noon

Anna Jewell, Executive Assistant to the Rector, annaj@cecsa.org

December 24: Christmas Eve

Services at 3 PM, 5 PM, 8 PM & 10 PM

Donnis Carpenter, Receptionist donnisc@cecsa.org

December 25: Christmas Day Service at 10 AM

Elizabeth Martinez, Kitchen Manager elizabethm@cecsa.org

December 31: CCF New Year’s Eve Celebration January 1:

New Year’s Day - Special Liturgy for New Year’s

January 2:

Church offices closed

January 6:

The Epiphany

January 8:

Children’s Epiphany Celebration, Children’s Chapel, 10 AM

14

Robert Vallejo, Facilities Manager robertv@cecsa.org Rudy Segovia, Hospitality Manager rudys@cecsa.org Joe Garcia, Sexton joeg@cecsa.org

ALBUM

15

Our Youth really get “wrapped up� in their life with Christ

The Message (USPS 471-710) is published bi-monthly by Christ Episcopal Church, 510 Belknap Place, San Antonio, TX 78212. Periodical postage paid in San Antonio, TX. Postmaster: Please send address changes to Christ Episcopal Church, 510 Belknap Place, San Antonio, TX 78212. Volume 18, Number 6.

Periodical Postage PAID San Antonio, TX Christ Episcopal Church 510 Belknap Place San Antonio, TX 78212 www.cecsa.org