Don’t Stay Home for Christmas
Last Friday night, we had a real treat at Trinity Cathedral. Music and Art at Trinity hosted a festive concert featuring Alla Boara, a local Italian Folk ensemble whose lively repertoire is based on recovered folk recordings from decades ago. We heard (and sang) Christmas music that was new to almost all of us, led by some of Cleveland’s finest musicians.
If you haven’t been paying attention this fall to what Music and Art is up to, you really should. From Alla Boara to the Theodicy Jazz Collective, Shiloh Roby and the M&A board have shaped a program of music that is as lively as it is beautiful, and reflects a joyful diversity that raises the bar on what a Cathedral can offer.
But I also found myself, in that first week of Advent, reflecting on what it means to celebrate this festive season together throughout the weeks of Advent and Christmas, not just on Christmas Eve itself.
I’m not always one for nostalgia, but I believe we would be wise to recover the practice of celebrating Advent and Christmas as a community, coming together throughout the season and making the Cathedral an intentional part of our weeks of preparation and celebration.
Alla Boara returned us, for one evening, to a communal culture, where feasts and fasts are celebrated as a village or town. Our contemporary culture is quite the opposite: our homes are often our fortresses and our castles. It becomes harder with every passing year to leave the comforts of our homes to gather as a faithful people.
Yet, the Body of Christ is a profoundly communal thing. We come together not as audience members or as consumers of programs, but as siblings in Christ who mark the seasons together. I am grateful that our online presence continues to widen what this community can look like, and I also encourage us to reclaim the practice of celebrating together.
Whether for Advent liturgies or Messiah Hymn-Sings, holiday gatherings or Italian Folk concerts, the Cathedral is an expansive place to gather and celebrate throughout the seasons of the year.
Faithfully,
The Very Rev. Bernard J. Owens