Loading...Blessings as you roam through these 12 days of Christmas.
"What do you mean, these 12 days of Christmas? Isn't that just a song?"
Well, no. From Dec. 25-Jan. 6, a total of 12 days, we celebrate the Christmas Season and the coming of Jesus into our hearts.
I found this image of the liturgical calendar a few years ago. It's one of my favorites because it helps to explain the liturgical seasons in a very visual way.
Our worship is designed around these seasons and all the feast days that celebrate events and people that have impacted the Christian faith. If you look at the words on the outside ring you can see the focus of each of the seasons.
The different Eucharistic Prayers found in both the Book of Common Prayer and Enriching Our Worship were developed and designed to help us work through the seasons using words, phrases, and prayers that help us to focus, albeit subconsciously for some, on the emotion that fits with the season.
This is one of the reasons we change the liturgy, including service music, throughout the year. All the varieties of liturgy are designed to be used to help us grow and learn and feel. There are other ways we reflect the seasons: We change the colors of the altar cloth and clergy vestments to match the seasons. We don't have flowers during Lent. If you look at the Hymnal, you'll see that they are in liturgical season categories (plus more categories), and Daniel finds hymns and anthems that suit the liturgy for each worship service.
Much goes into planning the way we worship so that we can each, in our unique ways, find some sense of comfort, hope, solace, peace, joy, fulfillment, growth, and transformation through worship based on the liturgical season and holy days.
When I return from vacation, we will be preparing for the first Sunday after the Epiphany. The altar color will be white because we are celebrating the Baptism of our Lord. After that, the color will go back to green, which is the color for "ordinary time."
What is "Ordinary Time?" According to The Episcopal Church website, "Ordinary time can be understood in terms of the living out of Christian faith and the meaning of Christ’s resurrection in ordinary life." https://www.episcopalchurch.org/calendar-church-year/
For me, the rhythm of our faith is grounded in the liturgical calendar. It helps me to focus on Jesus in ways that help me learn and grow, which in turn, helps me teach and develop others.
Do you have a preferred season in the church year? Why?
I pray you enter into 2024 with a renewed sense of faith, knowing that God will roam with you, love you, and guide you each day.
With hope for the coming year,
Rev. Debbie+
