Autumn

 

How could it be in autumn?
“How I’d leave in autumn
I never would know
I’ve seen how you sparkle
when fall nips the air
I know you in autumn
and I must be there”

These lyrics from Camelot, somehow have a special note in them to me.  Camelot is a magical kingdom that was meant to endure.  Its legend calls for the return of King Arthur as the ‘once and future king’.  It centers on a table, a round table.  Nobody at the head and nobody at the foot; an equal place for all.  Bring that to mind as you sit at the round tables of coffee hour, sharing with each other.

Autumn is my favorite time of year.  The crisp blue weather , a touch of cool and the eventual frost leaves the color that only God could invent in creation or Mother Nature’s pallet. We can’t resist pulling the color into church with leaves decorating around the Holy Table of communion. People are back from vacation, kids are back to school and the choir brings a depth of feeling to our worship.

This is not the last autumn, but it is the last one that we will share in this relationship of priest and people.  I’m content that I will leave you in winter and I look with hope for the right someone to start a new relationship, a new ministry, with you in springtime.  We should celebrate the seasons, the holy ones and the community wide ones!  From Oktoberfest, to the Blessing of Animals and concerts, to Thanksgiving and then Advent Blue we need to be joyful!  Yule and Christmas will have their own particular celebrations and I look forward to celebrating each of them with you. 

Pray for the comings and goings in life and look for whispers of the Holy Spirit being over both.

Blessings,
Father Jack
716-400-9670
jack.marshall@stmarksop.org