Ascension’s Mission Statement

“DISCIPLES OF CHRIST CALLED TO SERVE NEIGHBORS NEAR AND FAR”

The Sunday Journal.

Greetings and a warm welcome to all.

            Our Gospel today from Luke presents us with the wonderful encounter between Mary, the young girl, and her cousin Elizabeth. Both women have been touched by the holy, magnificent power and strength of God. Both Mary and Elizabeth give tribute and gratitude to God as they each anticipate the births of Jesus and John. We find the elder Elizabeth humbled and awe struck that Mary, the mother of the Lord, would walk the long distance to visit in her home .  Elizabeth’s son would be the prophet who would pave the way for the Messiah, Jesus. John would be the “voice crying in the wilderness,” the one not worthy to untie the sandal of Jesus, and the one who would baptize him in the River Jordan. 
            After their initial greeting, Mary says those familiar words which we call The Magnificat. Her response to Elizabeth symbolizes for us the recurrent theme of reversal of expectations that runs throughout Luke’s Gospel. What we expect to be or to happen do not, and what we don’t expect, is in fact what occurs.  For example, we hear the reversal in these words, “ He has  brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.”  Luke understands that the power of God is infinite and is the final word.
            “Through God all things are possible” is the statement of an understanding of God that gives us hope and promise in this Advent season. This statement also reminds us that God works through the Holy Spirit to fulfill God’s will, and this also offers us hope as we facen an often uncertain future. If there is any golden nugget that we may take home with us today in this passage from Luke, it is that God works through all relationships. In the spirit of “reversal”, God can work through the most unlikely of relationships. For today we focus on the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth, the young and the not so young women who come together to create a future for us which is made holy and is blessed by God. 
            In this Advent season, this Christmastide, and the coming year, I invite us to a year filled with special and intentional prayer in our daily lives, and the renewal of relationships where we seek common ground with one another in God’s love and in which all things are possible.

Please plan to join us Christmas Eve for the celebration of the Nativity and the Holy Eucharist at 5 PM and 9 PM. Hot cider and cookies will be served following the 5 PM service and before the 9 PM service.

Shalom,

Deedie+