Late in time behold him come, offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail, the incarnate deity,
pleased as one of us to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Christmas 2017
Dear friends,
For many, December is one of the busiest of months. Expectations run high with the promise that this year, the seasonal celebration will be the best ever. We want to celebrate, in fact we should. What happens when we see that we might not meet all of those expectations? Maybe most of all, our own?
Perhaps there’s always need to roll back the expectation meter and take a fresh look at what Christmas, and the Advent that leads us there, is really all about. We might be shocked to discover just how easy maneuvering Christmas should be after all.
The truths we enjoy and remember at Christmas should be straight forward: God enters into our experience. God is not far away. God visited this world in the person of Jesus Christ some two thousand years ago. In Jesus, we often say, “heaven was wedded to earth.” The boundary between the divine and what is of the earth became very thin indeed. “Christ is the image of the unseen God …” (Colossians 1:15)
Many have difficulty to believe God could inhabit the earth in such a way. That virgin birth, what’s up with that? And many celebrate Christmas anyway. It is the revealing of a message that God cared enough about us to become one of us. Christmas has extended itself far beyond the Church and the Faith where it began. The approach taken by the Church for centuries is to recognize that God is in all things and that even the secularism of a culture can still be touched with truth revealed. Santa, parties, cards, cookies and caroling can all contribute to our devotion without becoming themselves the object of our worship. Let’s be ever mindful of whom we offer our worship.
Truth in a person. Jesus is the very Word of God incarnate and to him every word of scripture points. The Godhead, veiled in flesh. The incarnate deity, pleased as one of us to dwell. All things will one day find their fulfilment in him and we look to the day when we are with him in the place of eternal joy and light. “In him was life, and that life was the light of all people.” (John 1:4)
May your home be a place of comfort and joy as you take heart in that revelation received long ago but still today. And may the very presence of God, be with you and with those for whom you care this season and beyond.
Sincerely,
Christmas offering envelopes are included in our numbered boxed sets
Make a Christmas offering Online HERE
Geoffrey
Dean of Fredericton
Read or download in PDF format here
Christmas Worship 2017
Fourth Sunday of Advent (24 Dec)
10:00 a.m.
Christmas Eve (24 Dec)
4:00 p.m. (contemporary)
8:00 p.m. (11:45 style)
11:00 p.m. (traditional)
Christmas Day(25 Dec)
10:00 a.m.
First Sunday after Christmas (31 Dec)
8:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
11:45 a.m.
New Years Day (01 Jan)
11:00 a.m.
Please contact the Cathedral Office (506) 450 8500
to schedule a Home Communion.
