Good morning,

Saturday, Dec.2 is the Pastie Luncheon and Silent Auction at St. George in Echo Bay, 11am-1:30pm. Just $15 for adults. More detail in the photo below.

Saturday, Dec.9, 10am-2pm at Zion Lutheran (corner of Wellington and Upton, SSM) is a Christmas Bake Sale of pulla, cookies, and cinnamon buns. Also, apparently Pastor Brad has a large collection of nativity scenes for you to see. 

Also at Zion Lutheran: Wednesday, Dec.13, 7pm is an Evening Prayer for Advent using Holden Evening Prayer. 

Wednesday, Dec.20 at St. Luke’s Cathedral on Brock (SSM),there is a Christmas Walk performance called “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”. There are four performance times (5:30, 6:15, 7:00, or 7:45pm). Entry is by monetary donation to the Sault Star Sand Fund/Christmas Cheer and /or canned goods for St. Vincent’s Food Bank. Please email your name, time requested, and number of guests to Christmas Walk at stlukesalgoma@gmail.com.

A Liturgical Note for You:  I was going to write more about Advent but that would be too much along with information about the Reign of Christ so let’s just stick with what comes next…

The Reign of Christ Year A: 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, reigning with Father and Holy Spirit, one God. Perhaps you’ve noticed that the Gospel According to Matthew has already been leading us into this season of joyful and expectant hope with stories of the certainty of Jesus’ return and instruction on how we are to live our lives throughout the delay.  This Sunday we will hear the story of the sheep and the goats which reminds us of God’s coming judgement. It is important to always remember that God’s justice and human justice are not the same thing. We are taught, through our system of justice, that “justice” is getting what you deserve – our system doles out punishment according to our wrongdoing. God does not work this way. The God who judges us is the God who loves us. If we got what we “deserved”, not one of us would have life with God in God’s kingdom. But, the God of love has already given that to us. It is in how we live the life already given to us – seeing God as abundantly generous and compassionate and living into that ourselves – that we will be counted among those good and trustworthy servants who enter into the full joy of life with God that is coming “on earth as in heaven”.

For Your Devotions:

Monday, November 20th is the commemoration of Edmund, King of East Anglia, martyred in 869 or 870.  We don’t know much about Edmund but, the legend is, he was martyred by the Danes who had defeated him. He refused to renounce his faith or give his kingdom to the “heathens.” The details of his murder are rather gruesome…To learn more, go to p.354:  http://c2892002f453b41e8581-48246336d122ce2b0bccb7a98e224e96.r74.cf2.rackcdn.com/ForAlltheSaints.pdf  

Thursday, November 23rd is the commemoration of Clement of Rome who died around 100 AD.  Yes, I’ve said this before and I know I’m a “Church Geek” but, I find it really exciting to know I can read what was written by someone who almost certainly met Paul in Rome and probably even heard him preach! Clement’s letter to the Corinthians (yes, those Corinthians again) spelled out the church hierarchy and apostolic succession (that the bishops succeeded the apostles…i.e. taught what the apostles taught). Tradition has it that Clement was martyred by being tied to an anchor and then thrown into the sea. For more info, check this out: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1-300/clement-of-rome-11629592.html  

In the hope of Christ,

Susan