Happy New Year!!

"Ok," you might say, "You're a bit off schedule. After all, the next holiday for us is Thanksgiving, a day when we give thanks for all the blessings in our lives." True, but this coming Sunday is what we might consider the beginning of the Christian liturgical year. This past Sunday, we celebrated Christ the King Sunday, a celebration of Christ as King Eternal, reigning in Glory forever. Christians can consider this our equivalent of New Year's Eve because the next Sunday is the first Sunday in Advent, the beginning of the Christian Liturgical Calendar cycle. On Christ the King Sunday and during this week, we should take a moment to look back at all the major events of this waning liturgical year and thank God for all the blessings that we have known throughout the year.

It's appropriate that this special Sunday comes right before Thanksgiving. We can begin our week-long celebration of giving thanks to God for all the blessings in our lives, so that Thanksgiving can last for an entire week! Not just one day! (For those of us who enjoy good cooking that comes with this time of the year, that's good news!)

As we approach Thanksgiving, we remember the things or people in our lives for which we are thankful. So, what are some of the liturgical blessings in our lives? As we remember all the major liturgical seasons (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost), we note that they all reflect some action of Christ for us. As we recount our blessings, Christ should head the list! Next, we can be thankful for our community of faith, that Body of Christ universal called The Church. We give thanks for all of the Body of Christ, including those who have come before us and those who will come after us, those who don't look like us, and those who speak different languages from us. The universal Body of Christ includes all believers of all time and from all places. Next, our local congregations are like bridges connecting the local community to the Body of Christ. (If you haven't been to the bridge lately, come home to the church over the holidays!)

Just like our human families, our church families reach out everywhere as people move in and out of the community. Just like our human families, church families like to get together, celebrate, and eat! Just like our human families, our church families are not the same without you! No celebration or family gathering is ever quite complete until we are all together! Our celebration of Christ the King Sunday looks forward to the time when Christ will reign eternally, and the Church - the universal Body of Christ will be together for the best family reunion of all. That will truly be Thanksgiving!!

As we approach the holiday season, please remember your church family. If you are currently not connected with a church family, there are around 90 churches in Hancock County. Come home for the holidays! We'll be waiting for you!!