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The week of Dec. 7-13, 2015
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THE SPIRIT OF GIVING
Help needed with Christmas Food Baskets
The Bible tells us that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Here are some ways to do just that this Christmas season.
St. Paul's annual Christmas basket program is in full swing with plenty of opportunities for parishioners to help out. In the parish narthex (Lobby) is a basket for the foods needed to complete Christmas food baskets for ham or turkey dinners. If you can, pick up some of the items and make a donation.
The Angel Tree in the parish parlor has angel cutouts on the tree that represent families who have signed up for Christmas food baskets. Each family is listed on a sign up sheet on the table next to the tree and on an angel cutout. Puck the angel from the tree for the family you'd like to help out, then sign the signup sheet next to their name. Both the signup sheet and the angel indicate whether the family would like a ham or a turkey. There are small tickets which indicate what the ingredients (fixin's) are for either dinner. Deliver your food to the parlor before Dec. 19.
Volunteers are also needed to set up the distribution, actually conduct the distribution and then follow up. There's signup sheet for this kind of help in the narthex.
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This week's lessons:
Zephaniah 3:14-20; Canticle 9; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:7-18
Season's Greetings to a brood of vipers
In our opening prayer, our Collect, we will pray on Sunday, "Stir up thy power, O Lord, and with great might come among us." The prayer continues, noting, "we are sorely hindered by our sins." It's awfully easy to think that those are references to someone else's misdeeds, not our own.
By the time we've finished reading Sunday's Gospel we know better. It begins with John the Baptist proclaiming, ""You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance." And it goes on to list the corrective steps which the people should take to repent.
Our Collect concludes with, "let thy bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us...". If we are serious about this Advent business, this task of readying ourselves for the coming of the Baby Jesus and the coming of Judgment Day. then we should be on the alert for just the type of corrective steps John the Baptist recommended.
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REMEMBERING ST. AMBROSE
At this time of year, we hear about St. Nicholas. It is to be expected of course, but there is another saint, whose feast day is December 7: Ambrose, of Milan.
I like Ambrose, for as with a number of other saints, he would be considered an unlikely candidate for bishop, let alone a saint. He was the son of a politician, and was himself the governor of Milan. He had a large estate and was in good favor with the emperor. He wasn't even baptized, although he was a catechumen, studying to be baptized. Then life threw him a curve ball, as they say. The bishop died, and there was a lot of contention about electing the new bishop.
There were two factions and things were about to get very ugly when Ambrose was called in to mediate. He was known as a great conciliator and as a man opposed to violence. So he went to work trying to persuade the factions to get along peaceably and elect a new bishop. After listening to him they all calmed down, and shouted for Ambrose as bishop.
He did not want the job, did not even want to be a priest, and as mentioned already he was not baptized. However, he was prevailed upon, was baptized, then a week later consecrated as Bishop of Milan. He gave away his fortune, negotiated peace agreements, even required the emperor to make public penance (for a massacre he had approved), by withholding the sacrament from him. Ambrose' point was that the emperor was in the Church, not above the Church He also began a tradition we have today: Communal singing in the church. He did this when under siege to help the morale of his fellow besieged.
Now that is not bad for a fellow who was a politician. It just that God may choose anyone, and that we all ought to be ready, just in case.
-- Warden Pete Bedrossian
MASON JARS STILL NEEDED
 Our Girl Scouts desperately need Mason jars for their soup project. Every year the scouts produce dry soup mixes for our Christmas food basket recipients. This year, because we are expecting to generate so many more baskets, the scouts need all your Mason jars to complete their part of the program.
Please bring any Mason jars you can spare to church on Sunday. The scouts and the food basket families thank you very much.
CHRISTMAS BAZAAR A BIG SUCCESS
The expenses are paid, the soup is gone, the gifts were bought and the vendors have cleared their tables. The Dec. 5 Christmas Bazaar at St. Paul's was judged by all to be a big success. The spirit at St. Paul's on Saturday was great fun.
Stewardship Committee Chair Bobbie Gordon reports a net profit from the bazaar of $860. Next year we'll have use of our new parish hall and can do even more busi9ness, perhaps including a Saturday evening Christmas-themed supper.
Thanks and congratulations to all who helped plan and execute the bazaar. It's one more sign of what we can do together.
Calendar for the week of Dec. 7-13, 2015
Tuesday, Dec. 8 6 pm Evangelism Committee
Wednesday, Dec. 9 12:15 pm Healing service
1 pm Parish Aid
5:30 pm Advent Supper Series
Thursday, Dec. 10 6 pm Pastoral Care
Sunday, Dec. 13 8 am Rite I
8:45 am Bible study
9:30 am Choir rehearsal
10 am Rite II, Sunday School
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