Goodbye, Year of Mercy

As the Year of Mercy comes to a close, Catholics across the world have celebrated the feast of Christ the King and will soon be lighting Advent candles. This particular moment in the liturgical year - the transition from one cycle to another, from end to beginning - more than ever puts before believers the conviction of reliance on God.

Last Sunday Christians declared Jesus as King of the Universe, "before all things, and in him all things hold together, that in all things he himself might be preeminent." Blasting organs and joyful alleluias filled the air and the grandeur of Christianity reigned. Yet, this Sunday, the same congregations will gather in comparatively quiet churches, with no Gloria sung. We now await Jesus, hope for a savior - a king - to come, rather than rejoicing that we have been "delivered out of darkness and transferred into his kingdom." We are suddenly in darkness - lighting candles one by one each week, the light growing stronger in anticipation, preparing for Christ to come, the "great light."

American as Apple Pie

Suddenly this week, the temperature has dropped drastically and the wind has blown in with it. October is surely upon us (and perhaps December, too). With the autumn harvest come merry dreams of sunny days in pumpkin patches and the deliciously haunting scent of cinnamon in the air. These days, fall is more often defined by the availability of the PSL than the changing colors of the trees. Marketing ploys and tactics are trying their best to turn autumn into a commercial sensation much the same as Christmas. Pumpkin beers are tapped sooner and sooner and how dare you resist a pumpkin scone that is shoved your way, hot and steaming. These efforts are certainly delicious and I am glad pumpkin is being revived beyond its jack-o-lantern possibilities into the culinary workhorse fruit (yes, fruit) that it is.