Fr Peter Helman

“I will stand at my watch-post, and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me.” (Habakkuk 2:1)
 
+

 
Dear beloved of Christ,
 
A newspaper clipping pinned to the bulletin board in the office print room has me trying to put 2020 in perspective. The clipping includes a photo of me dressed in an angel costume from last year’s Christmas Eve pageant, a memory that I love and that also bring a certain sting of nostalgia this year.
 
This Sunday is the final Sunday in the Church’s annual calendar, the Feast of Christ the King, and it’s the Sunday before we begin again the season of Advent. We’ll have seen twenty-five weeks after the Day of Pentecost on May 31 come and go, with only four weeks until Christmas.
 
The twelve days of Christmastide will then carry us past the New Year to the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6, and it will be only two weeks until the Church observes the feast of one of my dearly loved saints, the early Christian martyr Saint Agnes of Rome, on January 21.
 
I realized this week, looking ahead to her commemoration, that January 21 will also be one year exactly since the United States reported its first confirmed case of coronavirus. And it had only been ten days since China reported the first death from coronavirus, a 61-year-old man who visited a live animal market in Wuhan.
 
We have walked a so very long road together this last year, haven't we?
 
This year I’m adopting an Advent discipline that a high school teacher and mentor of mine practiced each December. He spent time each morning for a month preparing his heart for Christmas and the New Year by reflecting on the year passed. Where had he known the comfort of God’s presence? Where had sin drawn him away from the heart of God’s love? For what did he give thanks, and for what did he need to ask forgiveness? When had grace and joy sustained him through suffering? How was God at work in him bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? How was God calling him to love and serve his neighbors?
 
These sorts of questions stand out in my mind as perhaps especially important to weigh as we near the end of a year that has been filled with such a strange and unforeseen mingling of joy and grief. Where have we come, and where is God leading us?
 
Advent is a season that I love. It awakens in me a great degree of anticipation for what God is doing in the world and in my heart. I pray for God’s good purposes to be fulfilled and for myself to have sight as I wait and watch to see what God will say to me. And this week, praise be to God, the Church celebrates the Feast of Christ the King, who reigns over heaven and earth and whose almighty love not even death can destroy.

If you or someone you know needs prayers or has a pastoral need, please reach out to Saint Philip's 24/7 Pastoral CareLine (520-971-3551). A member of the clergy is always on call.


With every prayer for your blessing and safety today,
Fr. Peter