December 21, The Fourth Sunday of Advent
Wednesday, December 17, 2014 at 5:54AM Christmas Services At Church of the Angels
Wednesday December 24: Christmas Eve
4:30 p.m. Children’s Christmas Eve Liturgy
10:00 p.m. Midnight Mass
Decorate the Church for Christmas
Saturday December 20: 9:00 a.m.
The Altar Guild will lead a group of volunteers of all ages to prepare the Church for Christmas. Everyone is invited to help, and we do need people to come out. We need help with hanging the decorations, as well as setting up and decorating the Christmas trees in the front of the Church. The Church decorating is always fun and it’s great to have children and young people help as well. So everyone in the parish is invited to come and help. It only takes a couple of hours, and together we’ll make the Church look magnificent.
The Fourth Sunday of Advent Sunday December 21:
10:15 a.m. Advent Lessons and Carols with the Holy Eucharist.
We conclude Advent with our Liturgy of Lessons and Carols. The Liturgy of the Word contains the stories of Creation and the Fall, and the Advent Prophecies from Catechesis of the Good Shepherd; the Star, the Light, the City, the Mother and the Names, followed by the Annunciation Gospel from St. Luke. Between the readings we will sing hymns reflecting what we’ve heard. This is always a powerful way to close Advent and make us ready for Christmas.
CGS Level I Atrium
December 21, 2014
Advent 4
“But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.”
Micah 5:2 NRSV
In the Level I atrium, we complete our prophecy lessons this Advent with a new prophet, Micah, and the Prophecy of the City. Not only do we focus on the city of Bethlehem as the place of Jesus’ birth but, it also presents a great introduction to our discussions at Lent about the Kingdom of God and how greatness comes from something very small. With this prophecy, greatness in Jesus as Christ comes from one of the little clans of Judah.
This Advent, we have prepared for the coming feast of Christmas by lifting up the words of the prophets, Isaiah and Micah, who listened deeply to the Word of God and who shared God’s word with the people.
We have had insightful discussions about the messages told. For example, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” Isa 9:2 NRSV In the Level I, the 3-6 year old tends to take the words literally, dark (the physical property) and light (illumination so one can see where one is going). As catechist, my focus is on observing their insights, not thinking about mine. However this time, I broke the rule and took some time to reflect on a response to the following question, “Ms. Georgie, what about a blind person (ancient Hebrew), were they able to see the light too?”
Off script, I took the cue from my heart and tried my best. Darkness could be a place where one does not know where s/he is going; a state of mindless wandering; a life without a GPS or a Thomas Guide. The ancient people of Israel were in dire need of redirection on their path with God.
For some, seeing great light may also mean recognizing the way to God. Although the children have not yet had the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth presentation, I lifted a few of the highlights to address this question. (For the whole story, please refer to the Gospel of Luke 1:39-44, especially v 41, 44.) In the story, Luke tells us John the Baptist (not yet born) leapt with joy upon Mary’s visit with Jesus (not yet born). How was it possible for John to know/recognize the light? While those who could see with their eyes, they would not recognize Jesus as the messiah.
Some days, you get the most interesting discussions.
In addition to the Prophecy of the City, this Sunday we will be attempting to make bread for the Eucharist at the Children’s Christmas Service. There isn’t a whole lot of time to do this. If you are planning to have your child attend this atrium please come at 10:00 am because that is when we will begin.
Ms. Georgie
Annual Giving
We are about 2/3 of the way toward finishing the Annual Giving drive for 2015. A follow up letter has gone out. Please return your Annual Giving Pledge Cards to the Church as soon as possible. If you have not pledged before, as Bill Woods said to us when we began Annual Giving, “Please join with us.” A parish of our size depends on everyone’s participation. If you have questions please speak to Fr. Bob, or the Parish Wardens, Jim Gruettner and Kris Hillary, or our Parish Treasurer, Leigh Torgerson.
Mission Giving: Local Need
Dear Friends at Church of the Angels,
Many of you know that Church of the Angels has been supporting the De la Torre family for nearly two decades. We’ve helped the kids go to summer day camp, we’ve purchased appliances when the family was moving into a place that did not have a stove or a fridge, and we’ve bought food when times were lean.
This Christmas, Adele De la Torre is struggling with health issues. She is not able to work, and her job does not offer paid sick leave. I have started an on-line campaign through a web site called Indiegogo to help raise $2,000 so that Adele can pay her rent and utilities this month. At this writing (on Tuesday afternoon, 12/16), a total of $825 has been donated.
Please consider making a donation for Adele. Contributions are tax-deductible (you will receive a letter/receipt verifying your donation). If you make a donation of $50 or more and choose to receive a “perk,” we’ll send you a one-of-a-kind photograph by Tim Down.
You can read more about the campaign at: http://igg.me/at/home4theholidays
Thanks for your kindness,
Kelly Russell
kellylcr@gmail.com
Outreach Committee: Mission Giving for Advent & Christmas
Church of the Angels Outreach Committee has decided to try something different this year for Christmas giving, and we invite you to join us. Each Sunday during Advent, we will have a Christmas tree on the patio. The tree is covered with paper ornaments, each bearing the name of a children’s book. We hope that you will take an ornament or two, buy the book in hard cover, and deliver it to the church on or before the Christmas Eve Service. We will carry the books forward as our offering during the Children’s Christmas Eve Service. (Please leave the book unwrapped.)
We suggest supporting either the independent children’s bookstore “Once Upon A Time” in Montrose (located at 2207 Honolulu Avenue, La Crescenta-Montrose, CA 91020 – Phone: (818) 248-9668) or Vroman’s at 695 E. Colorado Boulevard Pasadena, CA 91101 - Phone: (626) 449-5320. If you would like to shop using Amazon.com, we have created a “Wish List.” Go to www.amazon.com, and click on “Wish List” at the far right. Navigate to “Find a Wish List or Registry” in the drop down menu. Enter “Global Hands of Hope Uganda” and you will see a wish list entitled Christmas 2014. If you need help with Amazon, contact Kelly at kellylcr@gmail.com or 626-665-6142.
On December 28th, Tracy Gaestel will fly to Uganda to deliver the books to an impoverished Christian School called Suubi Children’s Center. She will offer a teaching seminar to the teachers at Suubi (teachers need only a High School diploma to teach in Uganda). The seminar will train the teachers on using children’s literature in the classroom, and will include both instruction and hands-on training. Tracy will leave the books for them to use in the coming year.
This is the Outreach Committee’s first International venture, and we are nervous and excited. The book titles have been individually selected as resources that will be good for the teachers and the students at the school. We are fortunate that Tracy will be able to provide us with a first-hand report about the school and what they are doing. The director of the school knew Tracy’s siblings and wanted Tracy to come to present to the teachers at Suubi. It seemed natural for us to send books for them to use.
Suubi has been highly successful in teaching the children in the village of Bukkeka. You can read all about the organization and their work at www.globalhandsofhope.com
Have we abandoned Hillsides? No. Many people from the Los Angeles community donate to ensure the children at Hillsides have a Merry Christmas. When we started, Hillsides had a much smaller annual budget than it does now. At this point, they have great capacity to raise the funds they need for children’s presents throughout the year.
Please contact Tracy is you have any questions. Thank you for supporting education in Africa!
Music with the Angels
Jouyssance Concert: Sunday, January 4, 4:00 p.m.
Jouyssance will revisit favorites of the season by Spanish masters Victoria, Morales, and Guerro, plus rousing villancicos and sumptuous motets by Portuguese composers
$20.00 seniors, and SCEMS members/$15.00 students.
For further information, or group sales, please call 213, 533-9922 or visit www.jouyssance.org