Happy Epiphany-tide!

Enjoy a message from The Rev. Canon Beth Benson our Interim Associate Priest and share it with your family and friends!

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The tree is at the curbside, the Advent wreath and the decorations have been put away and
the turkey soup is (finally!) finished. But I have kept the fairy lights and candles on the mantle
and most evenings we put a log on the fire. The light brings comfort and cheer into the early
winter as the days slowly lengthen.

Light, the light of Christ, shines the way on our Epiphany path, too. We have heard the
stories of Jesus’ birth, his naming, his baptism and this week we hear the story of the
beginning of his ministry in Galilee. Each story is a chapter in a bigger narrative. Each one
tells us something about Jesus – and beckons us into a deeper relationship with him and one
another.

Fresh from his time in the wilderness, Jesus launches his ministry amid danger and darkness,
and death. He enters the fray proclaiming deliverance and light and life. “Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matt.4:17). His call to three fishermen to follow him
was just the beginning. His words and actions changed the lives of all those who followed
Jesus in the first century – and they still do!

On January 8 we celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany and at the 11:00am Choral Eucharist
our choir sang this wonderful Christmas proclamation:

When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flocks, the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among the people, to make music in the heart. (The Work of Christmas. Text H. Thurman; Setting T. Bell)

As we continue to reflect on these moments in our Lord’s life I wonder if we might hear a
fresh invitation to join in our Lord’s ministry, to make music in our hearts. What might that
look like for you?

The Rev. Canon Beth Benson
Interim Associate Priest