St. Cross, Hermosa’s Home for the Holidays
Did you know that the clergy of St. Cross are invited to the Kiwanis Christmas Tree lot every year to Bless the Christmas trees? Yes, we sprinkle the trees with holy water, then we say a prayer for the lot workers, the homes the trees will go to, and the good causes for which the tree sales raise money.
It is one of my favorite St. Cross Christmas traditions. Even more so now that the tradition includes me taking Rev Rachel to the lot by bicycle while blasting Jingle Bells by Booker T and the MGs. It is a sight to behold and brings a smile to many faces as we ride by.
One of my favorite things about the holiday season is that it offers the church so many opportunities to naturally engage the community.
Our calendars and our pews get fuller and fuller as we get closer to Christmas. We have the Messiah concert, the Pageant, the Longest Night service, tree lighting ceremony on the plaza, advent market, and of course services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. (Last year on Christmas Eve, over 800 people came through our doors.)
During these holidays people fill our pews for a variety of reasons. It may be out of a sense of nostalgia, or of family obligation, or just a longing for community brought about by the winter holidays. Whatever reason people have for finding their way here to St. Cross, we know what they’ll find when they get here: God loves them. We show them God’s love, by showing them love ourselves.
A warm smile, a hearty handshake, sharing a bit of your story, inviting them to share theirs, walking with them to the parish hall and buying them a doughnut or christmas cookie. Sharing the joy-out-loud of raucous children, or being ready with a tissue or a shoulder to cry on, a promise of prayer and an open door whenever they are ready to come back.
Letting them know that wherever they come from and wherever they are going, God is with them. With them through the love they experience along the way. Especially at this stop on their journey: St. Cross.
So whenever you are here at St. Cross during this very full season, I encourage you to deputize yourself as a greeter and welcome as many people as possible. That they might find in you, the love of God that we will all find in the manger on Christmas day.
Rev. Josh
