Dear Cathedral Family,
The Thanksgiving holiday is upon us, with children looking forward to a week out of school, college students coming home, families and friends planning to gather, and preparations set to begin.
Once again, this year, Virginia Ladd is preparing Pies for the Planet here in the Cathedral kitchen; information about ordering may be found in this email and in Sunday’s bulletin. Next week, the Dean’s Bible Study and Wednesday’s Service of the Simple Presence will be on vacation for the week, and the Cathedral office will close at noon on Wednesday, November 23 and reopen at 9 a.m. Monday, November 28. Advent will begin on Sunday, November 27.
This Last Sunday after Pentecost is known as Christ the King Sunday, and it prepares us for our Advent posture of looking both back and forward from our present moment—this week, back to Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection and ascension and forward to Christ’s coming again. Christ as “King of kings and Lord of lords” reminds us that the universal cosmic Christ is both the creative source of every aspect of our lives and the ultimate end toward which all life moves. Everything we love and have in life is God’s gift and will remain with God in the end. Our purpose in this life is to tend God’s gifts and help them grow before handing them back.
Thanksgiving is our national occasion for celebrating the gifts of this life and expressing our gratitude for what we have been given. As you gather with family and friends, please pray for our continued faithfulness as members of Christ’s Body together and for the restoration of all things in Him.
Faithfully,
Beverly+
Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP 246)