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Greetings to the family of faith and those still seeking to understand and to know the blessings of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Many of you already know what I plan to share but for those who have never heard of it, the church has a calendar.
Whether your church follows it all year or not, there is in fact a calendar. We have a three-year cycle on our calendar and are currently in Year A. This year, on Sunday, Dec. 3, we will turn to a New Year, Year B. That is the first Sunday of Advent.
Most people, even if they haven't been to church, know that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ. But Advent, which comes before, is a time of preparation.
Many area churches will advertise their Christmas Eve services. They are beautiful services, but if you get up Christmas morning and wonder what to do with the day, or how to teach your children about the meaning of Christmas, then I invite you to the Woolrich Community UMC at 9:30 a.m. on the first day of Christmas. Just a note to remind you that Christmas is a season, not a "day." You get to celebrate for 12 days! What we are celebrating is the incarnation of God, coming to us in human form that we name Christ, Jesus, Messiah, Savior, Lord, and many other names. This part of the calendar most all churches follow.
Then we enter a season called Epiphany which begins with celebrating the Baptism of the Lord and ends with His transfiguration. This season can last as long as nine Sundays depending on when Easter falls. During this season there are many traditions in the church that folks participate in without really knowing why. The big party of Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday began as a way to remove from your home the things you did not consume during Lent. So if you fry up a bunch of donuts, that takes up a lot of oil and you get the fat out of your house.
Since Lent is a time of atonement, reflection, and self-denial, many people, I think, do things during Mardi Gras celebrations so they have something to atone for! Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. Perhaps you have seen someone in the community with a black mark on their forehead in the shape of a cross. They have been to an Ash Wednesday service. On Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent), we remember that we are dust, and to dust we shall return.
Lent last for 40 days (not counting Sundays) and invites us to either give up some practice that is not good for us (eating candy or chocolate), or to take up a new practice which is (daily prayer, volunteering at the Food Pantry). In the early church it was a time for people to learn what they needed to know to fully participate in and join the church. It was also a time when someone who had sinned so badly that they were put out of the church, could atone for their sins and be restored!
Now don't get discouraged because Lent is 40 days long. Don't get the idea that the church is a gloomy place because we celebrate Christs' last supper with his disciples on Holy Thursday, sometimes called Maundy Thursday. "Maundy" comes from the Latin word mandatum, or commandment, reflecting Jesus' words "I give you a new commandment," 1 that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13.34-35). Then on the Friday after that we remember the crucifixion of Christ where he was nailed to the cross and he who was without sin, died for mine and for yours. So, yes, this is a very solemn time in the church but hold on...
The first Sunday after the first full moon, after the vernal equinox is when EASTER begins! And I say begins because where you fasted from chocolate or whatever for 40 days of Lent, you now get to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus the Christ, my Lord and Savior, from the dead for 50 days! Fifty days folks, that's right. I find it odd that most of the Easter Egg hunts are well over before then when it is warmer after the first Sunday than one or two Sundays before.
After Easter we get to celebrate the Ascension of our Lord. You may know that our Anabaptist brothers and sisters, i.e., the Amish and Mennonites, celebrate this day with great joy and do no business on this day. Then we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit to the disciples hiding out after Jesus' death on what we call Pentecost, followed by celebrating the Trinity.
We finally get a break from high holy days in what we call ordinary time. The word comes from the Latin ordinal meaning counted. So we count the time and hear wonderful messages of the teaching and healing and feeding that Jesus did, and how he welcomed everyone, sinners and saints, children and women,
Then we celebrate All Saints Day by remembering those saints who have gone before us. Those who have died in the last year are remembered especially around the communion table as we feast with them again in Spirit. And finally, we get to Christ the King Sunday. This is the last Sunday of the Christian Calendar. The following Sunday begins the first Sunday of Advent in the New Year as we prepare again to celebrate the birth of the Christ child, Emmanuel, God with us.
Now maybe your church doesn't celebrate all these things, but some do. But most churches will read the scripture from the Bible that talks about Resurrection on the first Sunday of Easter and the birth of Jesus on Christmas Eve, so to some extent, we all follow the calendar. Many of these celebrations are based on Scripture, some are based on tradition. But all of them are meant to help us know the depth and height of God's love for each and every one of us.
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Finding Faith is written by area pastors. This week's column comes from Pastor Laura King of Caldwell and Woolrich United Methodist Churches.