Dear Partners in Mission:

Happy New Year!

December 1st we celebrated Advent 1 and begin our preparation for Christ’s coming at Christmas. This is a season with many traditions and celebrations. It is also often a difficult season for those who are lonely, particularly those who have experienced loss in this time. So it is important that we be celebrative but also take seriously the needs of our neighbors.

On Sunday December 8th the bishops of ELCA Region 4 will be joining me as we participate in the annual celebration at San Gabriel-Alvarado to honor the celebrations of the Virgin of Guadalupe. This festival is an important cultural and spiritual event in the life of San Gabriel and the community there. I am glad to host my bishop colleagues so they can experience this event.

As we move into the Advent season and towards Christmas I pray your hearts will be moved by the biblical narrative as we hear of God’s great action in the world. And as we sing the magnificat may its challenge remind us that God has come to humble the proud and powerful, to lift of the lowly, and that is also our work as well.

#TogetherInMission,

Bishop Gronberg