Merry Christmas!

Dear friends,

“Do not be afraid; for see — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all people!” (Luke 2:10)

Greetings to you at the end of what we know has been such a challenging year! We have continued to bear one another in these difficult times of evolving restrictions and changing public health guidelines. We have gathered with one another in zoom and in person. We have held one another and our loved ones – as some have travelled, as others have stayed put, and as we have all longed for some sort of return to normal. And our longing grows as we anticipate the Feast of the Nativity.

I wonder how we encounter the story differently reading it from our context?

We find that we are not alone – that our longing and confusion in uncertain times puts us in communion with so many who have come before and whose lives and stories gives us hope. So we turn again to those who first encountered the good news of Emmanuel – God with us – so many of whom we have read and pondered throughout these weeks of Advent. To Zephaniah. To Mary and Elizabeth. To Malachi.

So many of those who have come before us lived in anticipation that God would do a new thing – would bring about some good news, would breathe fresh life into our circumstances, such that we would be set free! We have searched throughout this year for the little glimmers of grace that might buoy us up just another day, week, month. I have found deep respite in the flight of a Heron over the sea, in the way the sun gently rises in the early morning, in the fierce words of a friend reminding me I too am Beloved, in the joy of so many of your faces as we were able to gather again. We have found God in many places – even as we continue hold grief and places of deep pain, loneliness, and longing for God to come and make things new.

Francis Weller writes, "The work of the mature person is to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other and to be stretched large by them.”

It is this image I’ve been holding – reluctantly – over this last year. If you are like me, you feel already quite stretched, don’t we? What might it mean to open our hands to both the gratitude and grief of our lives – to let ourselves be stretched large by them? The image itself is cruciform – as two stretched hands and arms reach out, revealing the very heart of God who for our sake became human and was willingly stretched large in love for us.

And it is this great story – of God made flesh in Bethlehem – that we continue to turn to in these difficult times. It is this great story – of the wonder of the Incarnation – that we anchor ourselves in once again.

May you find God in all of this beautiful and broken world – may you know the loving hands of Christ who holds you in grief and gratitude!

Merry Christmas from all of us at St. Matthias!

-The Reverend Matt Humphrey and The Reverend Meagan Crosby-Shearer

“Advent Poem” by St. John of the Cross

If you want, the Virgin will come walking down the road
pregnant with the Holy and say,
“I need shelter for the night.
Please take me inside your heart, my time is so close.”
Then, under the roof of your soul,
you will witness the sublime intimacy,
the divine, the Christ, taking birth forever,
as she grasps your hand for help,
for each of us is the midwife of God, each of us.
Yes, there, under the dome of your being,
does creation come into existence eternally,
through your womb, dear pilgrim,
the sacred womb of your soul,
as God grasps our arms for help:
for each of us is
His beloved servant never far.
If you want, the virgin will come walking down the street, pregnant with Light, and sing!

As we approach the conclusion of another challenging year, we can take solace in the truth that our present circumstances don’t determine where we can go; they merely determine where we start. As Christians, we are blessed that we get to start again, every year, to “witness the sublime intimacy, the divine, the Christ, taking birth forever.” In this season of hope, peace, joy and love, we celebrate that God knows our needs and the needs of those people we serve. God has acted and is at work in our world.

As I near the fulfillment of my first year as your bishop, I am grateful for all we have accomplished together. I am thankful for all the new relationships and mindful of those people I have yet to meet. My blessing be upon you, and may you feel the delight that God takes in you as midwives of the divine.

Peace and Christmas blessings upon you all,
+Anna

1 Quote adapted from words by Dr. Nido Qubein, motivational speaker and president of High Point University.

A joint Christmas message from the Primate and National Bishop

December 20, 2021

When we remember 2021, we will remember the pandemic and its global effects as wave after wave of illness, lockdowns, missed events and lost opportunities washed over us. We will also remember that climate change hit parts of our country and world with devastating events like the heat and fires in B.C.; the flooding and landslides that followed; the tornadoes in the southern U.S.A. We will remember feeling helpless in the face of forces beyond our control that could disrupt the globe so profoundly.

There have always been times when life has overwhelmed the human heart – these are the latest and maybe seem more intense because of the instantaneous capacity to hear the devastating news through all the media channels available around us.

Just when we want to be rescued – when we want a power greater than all the pain around us to swoop in and fix all that is wrong in our world – just when we cry out in mourning, frustration and pain for God to do something – we find ourselves preparing for Christmas – and we hear again God’s response.

God does not come in power or triumph but in the soft, wail of a baby. God comes – in this most vulnerable way – entrusted to two young adults far from home and caught up in the systems and powers of their own times – and it is enough to change the world. A bevy of angels – a few shepherds doing their work – two faithful elderly worshippers in the temple and some strangers from a foreign country recognize something wonderful and profound has happened – but the fulfilment of the promise will take another thirty years.

In the midst of all that seems to be too much for our hearts in this year – remember the promise begun that Christmas night – in all vulnerability, smallness and insignificance to the powers around. God is here and all shall be well in God’s time.

May the hope, joy, peace and love birthed in Bethlehem fill your hearts and homes this Christmas and always.

The Most Rev. Linda Nicholls
Archbishop and Primate, Anglican Church of Canada

The Rev. Susan Johnson
National Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

Christmas Greetings

Christmas Eve Service - In Person and Online

Feast of the Nativity - AbbeyChurch Pageant

Christmas Day Service

Bishop's Christmas letter to the diocese

1 Quote adapted from words by Dr. Nido Qubein, motivational speaker and president of High Point University.

Anglicans and Lutherans working together in Canada

A joint Christmas message from the Primate and National Bishop

December 20, 2021

The Chapel Gallery presents: 'Once for a while'

Financial Update

Holiday Closure - Dec 25 - Jan 2

A note that we will be closed the week following Christmas!

There will be no gathering for worship on Sunday Dec 26. Please join us for worship on Sunday Jan 2, 2022!

Our administrative office will also be closed, reopening Tuesday January 4th at 9am.

Please reach out to the clergy via email of the pastoral cell if you need any assistance during this time!

team@stmatthiasvictoria.ca

250-208-7296

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