Fr. A. has been working double duty for weeks, with no end in sight (funeral coming, then Sunday, then blessing some chalk on Epiphany). We have been living on cookies and cold coffee for longer than we can recall. We could really use a little Ordinary Time right now.
Still, something curious happened last night. The cynical preacher's view of the Vigil of Christmas is that people come to hear the familiar story recapitulated, a touching fable or two, and then to light a few candles and sing "Silent Night." Anything much different risks rebellion in the pews.
Moved by heaven knows what imp of the perverse, we decided to take our sermon in a different direction. It's all a blur now, but we recall sharing the semantic range of the Greek verb "symballo," digressing on the fact that "host" is the word of an army -- militia coelestibus -- and blathering on about the arrangement of Israelite forces at the Battle of Midian. Oh, and some long-winded anecdote about providing emergency pastoral care at the DMV.
The faithful actually seemed to enjoy this -- quite a bit, apparently -- although Heaven only knows why. A Christmas miracle!
4 comments:
But you were off yesterday, eh? No Christmas Day service?
I felt like a lazy bum. Next year in Jerusalem, though.
Of course, I spent Christmas like a classic TV Dad -- lying on my back trying to understand the needlessly complex assembly instructions to something cheap and ugly, slowly being driven insane.
The boy was banished to another room on the grounds that he shouldn't have to hear his father speak the way I expected to speak (although in fact my restraint was remarkable).
what's up with Lutherans not having a Christmas day Liturgy? I'm in the deep South and I think my parish for its very first time was the only non Roman one to have one. Fifteen attended.
BTW...I do enjoy your blog. Good writing!
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