ST. LAMBERT UNITED CHURCHMercille Avenue415

St. Lambert, QC J4P 2L6(450) 671-6003slunitedchurch@videotron.cawww.stlambertunited.org

Church Alive! DECEMBER 2015

DECEMBER 2015

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Today White Gift Sunday is a tradition that is celebrated in many churches across many denominations, a tradition that had its beginning in a small Methodist church in Ohio in 1904. The minister’s wife and two daughters initiated the idea of the White Gift to solve the problem of inequity of gifts given at the Sunday school Christmas party. Instead of a gift exchange, gifts would be brought to Jesus that could in turn be shared with people who were in need. All the gifts would be wrapped in plain white paper, so that no one would know which was an expen-sive gift and which was a more modest one. Now no one would feel their gift was inad-equate and everyone could share in the joy of giving to others.

Although the tradition of White Gifts may have started in a small Methodist Church in 1904, it is said that it was inspired by a story of long, long ago.

It all began about 1000 years ago in the mighty kingdom of Cathay - where there ruled a very rich and very powerful king called Kubla Khan who was dearly beloved by all of his people. Men admired him because he was strong and just. In all of his dealings they knew they could depend upon him. Every matter that came to his consideration was carefully weighed in his mind and his decisions were always wise. Women trusted him because he was pure and true with noble thoughts and the children loved him because of his gentleness and tenderness toward them. He was never so burdened with ruling his kingdom that he could not stop to speak a pleasant word of greeting to the tiniest child, and the very poorest of his subjects knew his compassion.

One year his subjects decided to hold a great birthday party for Kubla Khan to honour him as their King. They had held great birthday parties for him before, because he was well loved, but this particular year they decided to do it differ-ently. They wanted to make him especially glad. Because he treated all his people the same they decided to show no difference in the gifts that they gave him; therefore every gift that was given was wrapped in white so that they would all look the same. The people brought their white gifts to Kubla Khan on his birthday. Some could only bring a handful of rice, but it was wrapped in white. Others were able to bring beautiful ivory and precious jewels, but these too were wrapped in white. All the gifts looked the same and when the king unwrapped them he treated them all the same - because he knew that each gift was given with the same degree of love and devotion as the next gift. Never had the King been so happy as he was that day and never had such joy filled the hearts of the people. This Sunday, we will honour the birth of our king, Jesus, by giving Him what we can for people in need, knowing that all our gifts are equally precious to Him. When we offer our white gifts to God the joy of Christmas shall be ours to share.

The Legend of the First White Gifts

White Gifts for the King

Everyone is welcome Tout le monde est bienvenu

10:15 a.m. – Christmas Carol Hymn Sing

10:15 a.m. – Christmas Carol Hymn Sing

10:30 a.m. – Advent III Service Sunday, December 20

Sunday, December 13

10:15 a.m. – Christmas Carol Hymn Sing10:30 a.m. – Advent II -White Gift Sunday

with guest speaker Fred Braman

Sunday, December 6

10:30 a.m. – Advent IV - Christmas Sunday Service

7:30 p.m. – Longest Night Service with CommunionThursday, December 24 – Christmas Eve

Tuesday, December 22 – Blue Christmas

4:00 p.m. – Family Worship with Christmas Pageant 8:00 p.m. – Candlelight Communion Service

WITH US !CELEBRATE Christmas

WITH US !CELEBRATE Christmas

by Susan Bejba

***

O ComeLet Us Adore Him

For unto us a child is born,unto us a son is given

Isaiah 9:6

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My reverie was suddenly pierced by a bari-tone voice. “Siège occupé, Monsieur?” said a gentleman pointing to the unoccupied half of my seat. I nodded in the negative and tried to con-tinue with the poem of love to Jeanne d'Arc that I was valiantly trying to compose. “Vas-tu à Shawinigan?” he asked. “Oui”, I replied, and muttered a comment about the slowness of the freight/single coach train as it wound its way from Trois-Rivières along the embankment par-alleling the Saint-Maurice River. My new travelling companion easily recog-nized my English accent as I spoke my incorrect French and switched to English which he spoke with difficulty. This was December 31, 1955, when the francophones still made the greater effort to speak English than did the anglophones to speak French. The conversation dipped into politics. He seemed mildly pleased about the hard time Premier Maurice Duplessis was giving the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Next was reli-gion. “Es-tu protestant?” he timidly asked, lapsing into French. My impression in the ‘50’s and before was that almost all francophone Que-becers were Roman Catholic and faithfully attended Mass. Many, I believed, equated being anglophone with being Protestant. Religion was an important consideration in my life at this juncture but my immediate objective was to finish that poem before I arrived at Shawinigan, not to discuss religion. I answered falsely that I was an atheist. A long silence followed and after a few moments he left to have a smoke in the vestibule. I was cordially received by Jeanne d’Arc’s parents, M. et Mme Régnière. Afterward, Jeanne d’Arc suggested that we attend Mass New Year’s Eve rather than New Year’s Day. (What’s this?!. Go to church N.Y.’s Eve! Well, when in Rome....) This would be the first time that I actually attended a Roman Catholic Mass. The priest celebrated the Mass with his back to us and mostly in Latin. This was before John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council. Every once in a while he would whirl around, his tunic flowing, and bestow upon us the sign of the cross and utter some words. “What did he say?” I asked Jeanne d’Arc. “Dominus Vobiscum (the Lord be with you),” she whispered, hinting that I was talking too loud.

Back at the house, Jeanne d’Arc helped her sister Laurence prepare the food for the New Year’s Day dinner. Another sister, Colette, dropped in. I watched the clock as the evening drew to a close. Would we be going to bed before midnight, New Year’s Eve?! The bewitching hour arrived first, shortly before bedtime, but seemingly not by design. I rose to shake Mme Régnière’s hand with a Bonne et Heurese Année. “On ne fait pas ça ce soir. Attendons demain matin,” was her response. Sure enough, the next morning there was a great deal of warm embracing. I learned to get used to kissing on both cheeks. The Régnières had numerous cousins, neph-ews and nieces. It was tradition for them to drop in on New Year’s Day to greet their most senior uncle and aunt. For the occasion, M. Régnière prepared his beverage called – at least among the relatives – le petit rouge. It was a simple mixture of cherry brandy essence and alcool served in a small glass. As I was present in the house from the beginning of the day, I was at home for every visit of relatives. Each time, M. Régnière passed around a tray full of the little glasses of petit rouge and each time I graciously accepted his hospitality. I noticed after a few of the drop-in visits that my tongue had loosened considerably and my French improved immea-surably. I noted also that almost everyone stated the same New Year’s greeting: Bonne et heu-reuse année, bonne santé et tout ce que vous désirez. I remember becoming a bit giddy after a few petit rouge and warning people about the possible consequences of wishing me tout ce que vous désirez. Early afternoon, the suggestion was made to visit Margôt, the youngest of M. et Mme Régniêre’s eight children, who was an Ursuline nun in the convent at Trois-Rivières. M. et Mme R., Jeanne d’Arc and I, Laurence and Colette packed ourselves into Colette and her husband Gilles’ car and we were on our way. In the con-vent vestibule, speaking to a nun unseen, we requested to see Soeur Maria Goretti. That was Margôt according to her religious name. A buzz released the door into the visitor’s parlour. It was practically a room within a room except that the walls of the inner room were waist high. Double metal grills (grill, space, grill) extended from the low wall to the ceiling. Visitors were contained within the inner room surrounded by the double grill. We had a short wait and Margôt appeared. The Ursulines wore a white wimple which allowed exposure of the face only and a black veil and habit which extended to the wrists and ankles. I found Margôt to be a very

A New Year’s Awakening

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animated person and she was delighted to see us, much too lively for a nun, I thought. However, communication through the double grill was difficult for a visiting group. We resolved the problem by taking turns in pairs to speak with Margôt. She spoke English well and seemed quite accepting of me, Protestant and all. She said that she would pray for me and I guessed that to mean for my conversion. Back at the house in Shawinigan we were home in time to start receiving the members of the immediate family. There was Nelson, spouse and their four boys; Jean-Paul, spouse and their two of eventually three boys; Colette and Gilles and their first (a boy) of what would become a family of four children; Thérèse and husband Gaston and their three of eventually four; Ernest and Laurence who never married. Now I under-stood why Jeanne d’Arc, Laurence and Colette spent so much time New Year’s Eve preparing for the New Year’s night supper. As each family arrived the noise level increased and kids seemed to be running in every direction. Sud-denly I felt Jeanne d’Arc pulling me down to the floor. At first I resisted thinking that with so many people around, this wasn’t the time to start cuddling. Then I realized that everyone was on his/her knees except M. Régnière. He had been asked to give the traditional blessing, la béné-diction, as the patriarch of the families. Ernest and Jean-Paul liked to sing and they knew all the old French-Canadian songs. Soon after dessert, Ernest found his way to the piano. He knew enough chords to provide the background for their repertoire. Jean-Paul read-ily joined in. I gained the impression that their sing-song was the highlight for the brothers of the New Year’s Day event. Jeanne d’Arc and I married (the poem helped) and we kept our respective faiths. Because each respected the other, religion was never a problem during our marriage. I never thought that I would attend Mass regularly but by 2007 Jeanne d’Arc’s condition required someone to attend Mass with her. This action benefitted me as well as her. My younger, frivo-lous attitude toward the Roman Catholic Church became replaced by understanding and appre-ciation. Bridging the two cultures and two faiths of our marriage had its challenges but these were outweighed by the deep sense of fulfill-ment. I express gratitude to my beloved. I miss you Jeanne d’Arc.

The last day for donations to be cred-ited to your 2015 income tax is Sunday, January 10, 2016. Please be sure to date

your cheque no later thanDecember 31, 2015.

Church Updates

Just a Little Reminder

The St. Lambert Ecumenical Team would like to thank everyone for the overwhelm-ing generosity in supporting the Ecumeni-cal Refugee Project. So many have rallied with enthusiasm and creativity to orga-nize events that have not only raised funds, but also raised spirits and aware-ness. Thanks to countless donations, we are well on our way to being able to spon-sor other families in the future. As this year’s fund-raising campaign is drawing to a close, we request that the last donations be received before or on Sunday, Decem-ber 13th, 2015. Support teams are pres-ently focusing on our first family’s wel-come, resettlement and integration within our community, making sure they will enjoy freedom and autonomy. Future news and up-dates will be available on our web site: www.oecumen-refuge.org

Our church looks forward once again to pro-viding some Christmas cheer to our local families in need by purchasing and delivering Christmas baskets to about 30 families whose names are provided to us by the Ecu-menical Community Services (ECS). Your kind assistance makes this possible in the form of volunteers who shop and deliver the baskets and the donations you make to sup-port this event financially. Donations for our Christmas Basket Fund will be collected in Memorial Hall for the next few Sundays. Please come and visit the Outreach table in Memorial Hall to submit your name and find out all the details about how you can help this annual church event.

OECUMEN-REFUGEE2015 FUND-RAISING

CAMPAIGN

CHRISTMAS BASKETCAMPAIGN

by Tom Wylie

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The Church Alive! newsletter is in a monthly format, distributed primarily by e-mail. Please make sure the Church has youraddress. Submissions or suggestions for future issues are most welcome! Please contact us at slucnewsletter@videotron.ca

Blue Christmas

Prayer for Peace

Blue Christmas services are also called “Longest Night” service. According to Sir Isaac Newton, the Feast of the Nativity (Christmas as we know it), and most of the other ecclesiastical anniver-saries, were originally fixed at cardinal points of the year, without any reference to the dates of the incidents but more so according to these cardinal points. For instance, the Feast of St. Michael, the archangel known as the “Great Prince” and the “Protector of Children” is celebrated by many on September 29… close to the autumn equinox. (The Project Gutenberg eBook) So it is understood, that the Longest Night (least amount of daylight hours), also known as the Winter Solstice, is most likely how we came to celebrate the Babe born to us in a manger in December. In all likelihood, Jesus was born in the fall, sometime after the Feast of St. Michael and was brought into community to be celebrated in December most likely at the time of the winter solstice. Somewhere along the way, Christians designated December 25th as the day we celebrate the Holy Birth. Christmas can be a painful time for some. It may be the first Christmas without loved family members who have recently died; it may be a time that has always been difficult.

Blue Christmas services are also called “Longest Night” service. According to Sir Isaac Newton, the Feast of the Nativity (Christmas as we know it), and most of the other ecclesiastical anniver-saries, were originally fixed at cardinal points of the year, without any reference to the dates of the incidents but more so according to these cardinal points. For instance, the Feast of St. Michael, the archangel known as the “Great Prince” and the “Protector of Children” is celebrated by many on September 29… close to the autumn equinox. (The Project Gutenberg eBook) So it is understood, that the Longest Night (least amount of daylight hours), also known as the Winter Solstice, is most likely how we came to celebrate the Babe born to us in a manger in December. In all likelihood, Jesus was born in the fall, sometime after the Feast of St. Michael and was brought into community to be celebrated in December most likely at the time of the winter solstice. Somewhere along the way, Christians designated December 25th as the day we celebrate the Holy Birth. Christmas can be a painful time for some. It may be the first Christmas without loved family members who have recently died; it may be a time that has always been difficult.

Gracious Lord, we dream of a world free of poverty and oppression, and we yearn for a world free of vengeance and violence. And we pray for your peace.When our hearts ache for the victims of war and oppression, help us to remember that you healed people simply by touching them…, and give us faith in our ability to comfort and heal bodies and minds and spirits that have been broken by violence.When the injustice of this world seems too much for us to handle, help us to remember that you fed five thousand people with only five loaves of bread and two fish…, and give us hope that what we have to offer will turn out to be enough, too.When fear of the power and opinions of others tempts us not to speak up for the least among us, help us to remember that you dared to turn over the tables of money changers…, and give us the courage to risk following you without counting the cost.When we feel ourselves fill with anger at those who are violent and oppressive, help us remember that you prayed for those who killed you…, and give us compassion for our enemies, too.When we tell ourselves that we have given all we can to bring peace to this world, help us to remember your sacrifice… , and give us the miracle of losing a little more of ourselves in serving you and our neighbors.Walk with us, Lord, as we answer your call to be peacemakers. Increase our compassion, our generosity and our hospitality for the least of your children. Give us the courage, the patience, the serenity, the self-honesty and the gentleness of spirit that are needed in a world filled with turmoil and terror.

Amen.

The constant refrain on radio and TV, in shop-ping malls and churches, about the happiness of the season, about getting together with family and friends, reminds many people of what they have lost or have never had. The anguish of broken relationships, the insecurity of unem-ployment, the weariness of ill health, living with depression or the pain of isolation – all these can make us feel very alone in the midst of the celebrating and spending.We need the space and time to acknowledge our sadness and concern. We need to know that we are not alone. Come out and join with us in a time of prayer and music, Communion and candle lighting as we acknowledge together that God’s Love is for all, especially those who struggle.

Tuesday, December 227:30 PM

Sanctuary at St. Lambert United ChurchEveryone regardless of church background (or

lack of it) is welcome.Please help spread the word. Accompanying

someone could be the best present you give this Christmas.

Cookies and tea are offered in the minister’s study afterward.

The constant refrain on radio and TV, in shop-ping malls and churches, about the happiness of the season, about getting together with family and friends, reminds many people of what they have lost or have never had. The anguish of broken relationships, the insecurity of unem-ployment, the weariness of ill health, living with depression or the pain of isolation – all these can make us feel very alone in the midst of the celebrating and spending.We need the space and time to acknowledge our sadness and concern. We need to know that we are not alone. Come out and join with us in a time of prayer and music, Communion and candle lighting as we acknowledge together that God’s Love is for all, especially those who struggle.

Tuesday, December 227:30 PM

Sanctuary at St. Lambert United ChurchEveryone regardless of church background (or

lack of it) is welcome.Please help spread the word. Accompanying

someone could be the best present you give this Christmas.

Cookies and tea are offered in the minister’s study afterward.

Sally Meyer, Diaconal Minister

by Jack Knox