Webmaster's Note: Bishop Mathes has given permission to print his notes to the clergy of his diocese. The Bishop writes regularly to his clergy in order to inform, to teach, to share his joys and sorrows, and to encourage the clergy to likewise share with him. We are grateful to Bishop Mathes for allowing us to share these notes with you.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In our gospel reading for the Third Sunday in Advent, we are with Elizabeth and Mary as they greet each other with words that we sing to this day: songs of wonder, joy, and God's love.

A child leaps in Elizabeth's womb and she cannot contain her joy and the joy of the yet unborn prophet. And Mary's reply, the Magnificent, is a clarion reminder of God's concern for the poor and their needs. Our lives are as pregnant with the presence and possibility of God as Mary's. We sing these words in the expectation that we too will see the salvation of God in Christ Jesus. "Come, Lord Jesus, Come."

Bishop Girault Jones of Louisiana retired to Sewanee and was our neighbor. I thought that his home had the best name for a retirement home; the sign read "Meanwhile." Our Advent posture is one that reminds of the expectant place of the Christian. We are Elizabeth and Mary, waiting with almost breathless, holy words for grace and God to come upon us like babies dropping from a womb.

As Advent quickly shifts into the season of Christmas, we recognize that Jesus has come into our hearts and touched our lives. But we remain, like Bishop Jones, making our home in meanwhile. And so we pray for Jesus and we live as Jesus would have us live, simply and doggedly working to bring the Kingdom a little nearer.

May God bless you in your preaching and witness in this holy time. I offer you my love and my prayers.

Faithfully,

The Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes
Bishop