Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

A little girl screams, "There is a monster/ghost under my bed!"  In comes her father to check to see about that monster/ghost. He looks under the bed and declares that all is well and invites his daughter to go back to sleep. Off to his own room he goes. A few minutes later, "There is still a monster/ghost in my room."  This kind of back and forth exchange goes on for several minutes. Finally, the parent says, "Don't worry about it, God will protect you."  The small child replies, "I need someone with skin!"

This is the season where we prepare for "skin" to come to us in the form of the small Christ child. God brings the "Light of the World" to us so that we may feel free to rid ourselves of the "monsters" or "ghosts" that are in our lives.

What fear might you shed this year and sweep out of your life to allow God's flesh and skin Jesus be the light that shines around and through you?

-Shawn

shawnschreiner@sbcglobal.net 

Mystick Krewe of LAFF's
Fourth Annual PADS Fundraiser

To Benefit PADS (Public Action to Deliver Shelter) at Grace Episcopal Church

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!!!

Please mark your calendar for this fun, family-friendly event.

Saturday,December 8th

4:00 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Grace Episcopal Church Parish Hall

924 Lake Street, Oak Park

At the door, donations of $5.00 per person, with a cap of $20 per family

Food and Beverages (wine and beer)

Great Raffle Prizes!!!!!!!!!

Face painting and Children's Costume Corner

Live music by
BS Brass Band - bsbrass.com

Sponsored by the Mystick Krewe of Laff Social Aid and Pleasure Club   (Facebook - Mystick Krewe of Laff or www.mystickkreweoflaff.org)

For more information about West Suburban PADS - www.westsuburbanpads.org

Please bring donations large men's coats and men's socks, gloves, scarves and new underwear

For more information: rbtaxman@hotmail.com or kjmensch@yahoo.com

As of December 2nd, 152 of our children and youth have been murdered in the Chicago this year. This number hardly captures the scope of the violence: it doesn't include victims outside the city, nor the hundreds more injured, nor the grieving families and friends. The problem is enormous, unwieldy, and seemingly intractable. 

And yet those of us who are Christians have entered the season of Advent. And we remember God's promise of the coming of the Kingdom of love, justice, and peace. We wait and we hope that, in the words of the Luke's Gospel, "the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet in the way of peace."

As we approach the longest night of the year, join CROSSwalk for Silent Nights, a vigil for peace in our streets, on Monday, December 17th at 7 p.m. at First Baptist Congregational Church, 1613 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago. We will pray and commit ourselves to advocate for sensible gun laws and other measures to reduce the violence. Plenty of parking is available in the church lot.

If you like to sing, we also invite you to join the CROSSwalk Choir, which will perform at this vigil. The choir will rehearse at First Baptist on Saturday, December 15th from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. Everyone is welcome!  To sign up for the choir, visit the Events page on our website, http://www.crosswalkchicago.org/

These December nights are dark and long. But we know that the dawn is coming.