In December’s issue on Turnings and Yearnings, we’re exploring the balance between change and tradition, the turning of the old year into the new. Hannah Foulger writes about grief and changing traditions at Christmas through the lens of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and Ryan Turnbull extrapolates on some new

He came with love to Bethlehem; He comes with grace into our souls; He will come with justice at the end of the world. –Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, Divine Intimacy Advent simply means “to come” (Latin: advenire, from ad – “to,” venire – “come”). Christians have traditionally set

At saint benedict’s table, we’re big on the season of Advent. That’s partly my doing, as Advent is the season I most treasure, but I’m far from the only person in our community who has come to love the season. We take care to emphasize the themes of expectation, preparedness,

I can remember only one glorious summer when my father decided to become a gardener. To fully appreciate this wondrous event you need to know something of my father. He is a Portuguese immigrant, who came to Canada claiming on his immigration forms that he was skilled to work on

As seen in Acts 6:1–6, the diaconal ministry has been deeply involved in the church since its earliest days. One of a deacon’s many roles was to help the bishop with distributing communion elements, with the bishop sharing the bread and the deacon sharing the wine. In the examination at

Theo Robinson writes about the importance of the deacon’s role of preparing the table for Eucharist. Steve Bell offers a reflection on Advent as a season of active preparation. And Jamie Howison writes about getting ready to receive those parishioners who only visit at Christmas. In via media, Kirsten Pinto

To paraphrase St. Paul, I have no commandment from the Lord on this topic, but I give my opinion. Christian veganism makes sense to me, and I am deliberate in my choice of adjective here. I am vegan because I am Christian. My diet is an outworking of my faith,