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Glad Tidings – December 2012

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Glad Tidings – December 2012 GGGLLLAAADDD TTTIIIDDDIIINNNGGGSSS NNNeeewwwsss fffrrrooommm TTTrrriiinnniiitttyyy EEEpppiiissscccooopppaaalll CCChhhuuurrrccchhh EEEaaassstttooonnn,,, PPPeeennnnnnsssyyylllvvvaaannniiiaaa Trinity’s Christmas Worship Schedule 3n1-1n3 Sunday, December 16 – The Third Sunday in Advent: The Tree of Jesse 8:00 AM – Holy Eucharist, Rite I Hope that never fades 10:30 AM – Holy Eucharist, Rite II followed by the greening of the church and light luncheon Do you ever wonder if our faith will ever pay off? As we approach Advent, do you ever wonder if Saturday, December 22: your hope will ever be fulfilled? The season of 12:00 PM – Ark Christmas Dinner Advent is about waiting for the Messiah, and it is 5:00 PM – Holy Eucharist & Healing also a reminder that our faith rests with a God who is with us for the long haul. Sunday, December 23: Advent starts with a promise. In the 11th chapter 8:00 AM – Holy Eucharist, Rite I of Isaiah we hear of the ideal king in the line of 10:30 AM – Bishops visitation/Holy Eucharist, Rite II Israel’s great king, David who will be one who heralds God’s reign. Isaiah 11:1 says, Monday, December 24 – Christmas Eve: A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, 4:30 PM - Prelude and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 5:00 PM – Family Service with Holy Eucharist, Rite II Jesse was King David’s father. The image of a 10:30 PM – Choral & Organ Prelude branch growing out of the roots of Jesse points 11:00 PM – Service of Light with Holy Eucharist, Rite II to a new king in David’s line. Christians know that this is fulfilled in Jesus, the King of Kings, Tuesday, December 25 – The Nativity of Our Lord: who is a descendent of Jesse. One tradition is 10:00 AM – Holy Eucharist, Rite II to decorate a tree branch with symbols that remember other important persons from the Old Sunday, December 30 – The First Sunday after Christmas Testament. The symbols on the "Jesse Tree" 8:00 AM – Holy Eucharist, Rite I remind us that our belief grows out of deep roots 10:30 AM – Lessons & Carols with Holy Eucharist, Rite II of thousands of years of ancestors in the faith. The Tree of Jesse is a kind of family tree or Christmas Memorial Envelopes genealogy like what you might find in a family Enclosed, you will find the Memorial Music & Flowers envelope. Bible or create using a web-site like Please return your envelope to the parish office by December 14th Ancestory.com. It originates in a passage in the ~ Please print names clearly. Biblical Book of Isaiah which describes metaphorically the descent of the Messiah, and is accepted by Christians as referring to Jesus. Continued on Page 2… Discovering, Sharing… 1 … Living God’s Love. Glad Tidings – December 2012 Hope that never fades …Continued from Page 1 At 2:00 there is the Minor Prophet Nahum and John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus. In the New Testament the lineage of Jesus is traced by At 3:00 there are the Major Prophets Joshua and two of the Gospel writers, Matthew and Luke. Luke Moses. describes the "generations of Christ" in Chapter 3 of Luke's Gospel, beginning with Jesus himself and At 4:00, there are the Prophets Joel and Haggai. tracing backwards through his "earthly father" Joseph all the way to Adam. At 6:00 is Jesse, the Father of King David. Matthew's Gospel opens with the words: "The book of At 8:00 are the Minor Prophets Habbakuk and the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son Zephaniah. of Abraham". With this beginning Matthew makes clear At 9:00 are the Major Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel. Jesus' whole lineage: He is of God's chosen people, by his descent from Abraham, and he is the "shoot of At 10:00 are the Minor Prophets Amos and Micah. Jesse" by his descent from Jesse's son, King David. The In the Center Window are Kings David and Solomon. figures shown are drawn from the genealogies in the Gospels, usually showing only a selection. So if you move your eye from the bottom-most window to the top-most through the center, you get a The children of the parish will be making a Jesse Tree all gemological story of Jesus…descended from David’s through Advent, creating symbols that point to both the Father, Jesus is a “Son of David.” ancestry of Jesus and symbols of the Church, reminding us that we are part And if you move your eye from the bottom to the top of God’s family, the through the outside ring of window, you discover the Church, because spiritual forbears, indicating the prophets who foretold Jesus’ incarnation, the coming of the Messiah. death and I don’t know why seven of the twelve minor prophets resurrection. were included and why Hosea, Obadiah, Jonah, And we at Trinity are Zechariah and Malachi were left out except that it was blessed with another probably for artistic reasons and because the window is depiction of the Tree only so big. of Jesse and it is There may be something else at work in the window’s right under our story. The documents we have suggest that the Simon noses; or more brothers were German immigrants of Jewish descent. precisely, right over The Jesse Tree in both medieval and renaissance art our heads. On the depicted not only the Old Testament roots of Jesus, North Wall of the Church, is our beautiful Rose Window. but—of course—his Jewish roots as well. The Simon It is called that because it is a circle with each panel brothers may have seen links between their journey of radiating like a petal from a center circle like a rose. Our faith and Jesus’ by indentifying with the connections of window depicts a Tree of Jesse. Jesus in Hebrew Scriptures. The window was created by the D’Ascenzo Studios of Advent is a season of waiting and preparation. Philadelphia in 1901. It was given by the owner of the Influenced by our culture, we think of it as “waiting for Easton Silk Mill, Herman Simon, in memory of his Christmas” because it corresponds with our holiday brother Robert. Today you can walk the Easton Poets shopping season. But Advent, and the Jesse Tree our th Trail and get a good view of the Easton Silk Mill on 13 kids are creating along with the Jesse Tree in our Rose Street, where a plaque describes this amazing Window tell us that Advent is much more. operation. At one time, Easton was the center of manufacturing of both silk and embroidered silk We are reminded that all through history, people of faith products. The Simons were members of Trinity Church. have looked to God for their hope and have longed for the day when God’s justice, God’s mercy and God’s I’ve included a sketch of the window, but to really abundance would come to God’s people and creation. In appreciate what is going on you have to look at it. the stories of Abraham setting out for a promised land, of Each window has a character from the Bible, mainly the Moses and the people of Israel escaping slavery, of the Old Testament, indicating a spiritual or genealogical people of Israel carried of into—and then returning forbear of Jesus. Let’s look at the window, starting at the from—captivity, we see our own story of being a people top and working clockwise. of faith waiting for God. As people await the Messiah, we await the fulfilling of God’s kingdom. At “Noon” is Mary & the Christ Child. Discovering, Sharing… 2 … Living God’s Love. Glad Tidings – December 2012 As we live our day to day lives, it is easy to forget that about the season of Advent through the creation of a God is at once present with us in the near term and, at Jesse Tree. the very same time, God plays “The Long Game.” The generations between Jesse and Jesus were many, but his hope was fulfilled in Jesus. The generations between us and Jesus are equally long, but we know in the incarnate, crucified, risen and ascended Lord that we are partners with God in the healing and salvation of humanity and all creation. From The Ark Angels… Right now, we live day to day and by faith. Right now, Christmas for the Ark Soup Kitchen we live with hope and expectation. Right now, we live and hope and pray and work with a God who lives. The Thanks to all who filled our Thanksgiving food wishes… Jesse Tree reminds us that we knew we could count on you… and also to our 15-20 God’s promises are firm and setup, serving, and cleanup volunteers (mostly from the God’s faithfulness never fades. community). A special tip of the hat to Fred Crivellaro and his hard-working cooking crew! And now there’s Christmas! Our dinner will be on the December Mission of the Month: 22nd of December – same location, and another food Trinity’s Ark Soup Kitchen list to be filled. Our Christmas project will include not only the dinner on the 22nd, but also the distribution of We have done for others outside our walls, so December $10 food gift certificates (from Joe’s Market or Subway) is the month we have chosen to support our very own to each attendee. The Christmas menu list is at the back mission – the Ark Soup Kitchen.
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