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The Thomist
25 December 2015
Christmas Day and The Feast of St. John the Apostle & Evangelist
In This Week's Issue
Last Week's Sermon

Gaudete Sunday
Gaudete Sunday

To see more sermons and services, go to our YouTube page!
Christmas Day 10:30am
High Mass


LECTIONS
Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 98
Hebrews 1:1-12
St. John 1:1-14

CELEBRANT & PREACHER
Canon Ian Elliott Davies

DEACON
Dea. Walter S. Johnson

MASTER OF THE MUSIC
Mr. Jeffrey Parola

PRELUDE
Improvisation on Christmas Carols

SERVICE MUSIC
Communion Service in C
by John Ireland (1879-1962)

OFFERTORY
Gloria
by Antonio Vivaldi
(1678-1741)

POSTLUDE
Improvisation on 'Joy to the World'

HYMNS
"God rest you merry gentlemen"

"O little town of Bethlehem"
(Forest Green tune)

"Away in a manger" (English tune)

"Good Christian friends, rejoice"
The Feast of St. John the Apostle & Evangelist (Sunday)

LECTIONS
Exodus 33:7-11a
Psalm 117
I John chapter 1
St. John 21:19b-end

CELEBRANT & PREACHER
Canon Ian Elliott Davies

DEACON
Dea. Walter S. Johnson

GUEST ORGANIST
Mr. Daniel Lozier

CANTOR
Ms. Leslie Kaplan

PRELUDE
Lo, How a Rose is Blooming IEs ist ein Ros' entprungen)
by Johannes Brahms
(1833-1897) 

OFFERTORY
Improvisation on "O Little Town of Bethlehem" (Forest Green)

POSTLUDE
Trumpet Voluntary
by John Stanley
(1712-1786)

HYMNS
"While shepherds watched their flocks by night"

"Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light"

"In the bleak mid-winter" 

"Joy to the world! the Lord is come"
Today in
Christian History

On this day in 800 Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne the first ruler of the Holy Roman Empire.
Ongoing Ministries Calendar

25 December - 4 January
Parish Office Closed

26 December - 7:30am
Homeless Breakfast & Outreach

9 January - 7:30am
Homeless Breakfast & Outreach

13 January - 7:30pm
Vestry Meeting

16 January - 10:30am
Newcomer Orientation

17 January - 12:00pm
Annual Parish Meeting
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"No priest, no theologian stood at the manger of Bethlehem. And yet all Christian theology has its origin in the wonder of all wonders: that God became human. Holy theology arises from knees bent before the mystery of the divine child in the stable. Without the holy night, there is no theology. "God is revealed in flesh," the God-human Jesus Christ - that is the holy mystery that theology came into being to protect and preserve. How we fail to understand when we think that the task of theology is to solve the mystery of God, to drag it down to the flat, ordinary wisdom of human experience and reason! Its sole office is to preserve the miracle as miracle, to comprehend, defend, and glorify God's mystery precisely as mystery. This and nothing else, therefore, is what the early church meant when, with never flagging zeal, it dealt with the mystery of the Trinity and the person of Jesus Christ... If Christmas time cannot ignite within us again something like a love for holy theology, so that we - captured and compelled by the wonder of the manger of the son of God - must reverently reflect on the mysteries of God, then it must be that the glow of the divine mysteries has also been extinguished in our heart and has died out."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
God is in the Manger:
Reflections on Advent and Christmas
 

Welcome to The Thomist, St. Thomas the Apostle, Hollywood's new version of our award-winning eNewsletter. 
Christmas & Epiphany Schedule

FRIDAY, 25 DECEMBER 2015
CHRISTMAS DAY
10:30am - High Mass with Sermon, Hymns & Choir

SATURDAY, 26 DECEMBER 2015
THE FEAST OF ST. STEPHEN, DEACON, PROTO-MARTYR
5:00pm - Latin Vigil Mass with Gregorian Chant
6:00pm - Boxing Day Party in the Rectory

SUNDAY, 27 DECEMBER 2015
THE FEAST OF ST. JOHN, APOSTLE & EVANGELIST
8:00am - Low Mass with Sermon
10:30am - High Mass with Sermon & Hymns

THURSDAY, 31 DECEMBER 2015
THE FEAST OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
10:30pm - Low Mass
11:00pm - Alcohol-free New Year's Eve Potluck Party

SUNDAY, 3 JANUARY 2015
THE SECOND SUNDAY OF CHRISTMAS
8:00am - Low Mass with Sermon
10:30am - High Mass with Sermon, Hymns & Choir

WEDNESDAY, 6 JANUARY 2016
THE EPIPHANY
7:30pm - High Mass with Sermon, Hymns & Choir

Christmas at St. Thomas
Annual Parish Meeting

The Annual Parish Meeting will take place in the Large Parish Hall following the High Mass on Sunday, 17 January 2016. At this meeting, present, eligible Communicants in Good Standing will elect four new Vestry persons to serve a three-year term, and four delegates & two alternate delegates to represent St. Thomas at the Annual Diocesan Convention. Those interested in standing for the Vestry or representing the Parish at the Diocesan Convention must request a nomination form from and submit paperwork to the Parish Office on or before Thursday, 7 January in order to be nominated. 

Those seeking the Vestry must meet with Canon Davies prior to the Annual meeting in order to understand the specifics of the ministry.

In accordance with the canons, which were modified for 2016, a list of Communicants in Good Standing eligible to vote will be published prior to the Annual Meeting. 
The Episcopal News Weekly
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St. Thomas the Apostle, Hollywood is an Episcopal Parish in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. 

Come to St. Thomas just as you are: A child of God and an inheritor of God's grace!