Good day!

In the news…

Friday, November 18th at 5:30 pm is the Christ Church Baked Ham dinner by reservation/ticket only (and there are a limited number of seats available).  Cost of a reservation/ticket is $25.00 and can be purchased from Bonnie Lyons or Laura Avery. Contact info: lyons.bonnie@gmail.com; phone 705-779-2858 or lau.ave88@hotmail.com; phone 705-254-2477. 

Sunday, November 20th: Cookie Tray sale at the Legion in Richards Landing, 10am until 2pm. Trays are just $15 each!

I know that the people at Emmaus are busy making meat pies right now. If someone could let us know when the sale/dinner will happen then that’d be great.

A Liturgical Note For You:  The coming Sunday is The Reign of Christ, the end of our Christian year. It is the final Sunday of the Season after Pentecost (Note that it is not the season of Pentecost – there is no such season).  The Reign of Christ is the culmination of all that has come before and launches us into Advent with the passionate hope fuelled by the knowledge that Christ is, indeed, King of all things, reigning with Father and Holy Spirit, one God.  This Sunday we will be hearing the story of Jesus hanging on the cross between two others, experiencing the excruciating, shameful, and quite lengthy death of crucifixion.  Why do we hear about this on the Sunday we mark as The Reign of Christ?  All of the things that we can say about this passage are rooted in the fact that Jesus’ death on the cross poignantly and powerfully establishes the huge difference between human ideas of kingdoms, rulers, their power, and the way in which life would be lived in a human kingdom as compared with God’s rule and God’s kingdom. In God and in God’s kingdom, there is abundant love, compassion, and the forgiveness of all who turn to God. There is the forgiveness and love for even those who don’t ask for it and who have done the worst possible act imaginable to our God and King. There is, of course, more to be said, but I hope you’ll hear about this on Sunday morning. 🙂  For Your Devotions:

Monday, November 14th is the commemoration of Samuel Seabury, the 1st Anglican Bishop in North America, died 1784.  Seabury was a medical doctor and a priest at the same time – talk about busy! He was chosen by the clergy of Connecticut in 1783 to be their bishop but, at that time, the Law forbade the Archbishop of Canterbury to consecrate a ‘foreigner.’  To get around this little glitch, Seabury traveled to Scotland to be consecrated in the disestablished Episcopal Church in Scotland. To read more, check this out:  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Samuel-Seabury

Wednesday, November 16th is the commemoration of Margaret, Queen of Scotland, Helper of the Poor, died 1093.  As queen, Margaret gave out large sums of money to help the disadvantaged people of Scotland. More importantly (and this still rings true today), Margaret made sure that institutions already set up to help the poor, actually helped the poor! For more information plus a wonderful reflection on being a ‘helper of the poor’, go here:  https://www.ssje.org/2017/11/16/helper-of-the-poor-br-david-vryhof/

Thursday, November 17th is the commemoration of Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, who died in 1200.  Hugh was born into a wealthy noble family but, when his mother died (when he was 8 years old) he and his father both entered a monastery in France.  Hugh gained recognition for his piety and hard work and his fame spread to England. King Henry II – who had established a Carthusian monastery as part of his penance for murdering Thomas Beckett, recruited Hugh to be its prior. After being elected a bishop, Hugh got on the king’s bad side by not playing along with the king’s politics. Luckily, Hugh didn’t lose his head…  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_of_Lincoln

Friday, November 18th is the commemoration of Hilda, Abbess of Whitby, died 680.  Hilda was a Northumbrian princess raised, in exile, as a Roman Catholic. Although her family regained their throne, she chose to give up her wealth and status, adhering to “Celtic Christianity” and becoming the founder and abbess of the famous monastery at Whitby. The monastery became a centre of learning under Hilda’s guidance – her education and wisdom were legendary. The Celtic Christians observed Easter on a set date rather than always on Sunday like the Roman churches.  Consistency was desired in order to quell accusations of inauthenticity arising from those outside of Christianity (and for other reasons too).  The controversy was settled at a synod held at Hilda’s monastery.  She accepted the decision to observe Easter always on the Sunday (the first day of the week when Jesus was resurrected from the dead) and she encouraged unity over the need to be right. That’s a quality we still need more of these days too! See p.350 for more info:  http://c2892002f453b41e8581-48246336d122ce2b0bccb7a98e224e96.r74.cf2.rackcdn.com/ForAlltheSaints.pdf 

Saturday, November 19th is the commemoration of Elizabeth, Princess of Hungary who died in 1231. Elizabeth was betrothed in infancy to Louis IV of Thuringia whom she married in 1221 when he acceded to the throne. He died of the plague 6 years later and Elizabeth took refuge from his brother by going to her uncle. She gave all of her wealth to a hospice she built for the sick and poor, dedicating the rest of her short life (she died when she was just 24) to those in need. For more info:  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Elizabeth-of-Hungary

In the joy of Christ,

Susan