​Pastor Philip writes

Epiphany, the Gift of the Journey

​Epiphany was earlier this week on Monday, January 6, and we are in the season of Epiphany now.  The English word Epiphany comes from the Greek word epiphaneia, which means ‘appearing’ or ‘revealing.’ So, Epiphany focuses on God’s self-revelation in the Christ-child. On this day, some Christian traditions pay special attention to the visit of the Magi. Some in the Orthodox traditions celebrate the birth of Jesus on this day. Other traditions focus on the baptism of Jesus, especially the voice from heaven that identifies Jesus as God’s Son. Whatever the case, the emphasis is upon God making God-self known to the world through Jesus, the divine Son.

As Lutherans, it is the visit of the magi, or the wisemen, and the revelation of who this child was to the world, that we celebrate. These men have been assigned many roles: kings, astronomers, or wise men from the East. But we know that they came from affluence, based on their gifts. The Bible neither names their gender nor states how many magi there were. I don’t know how many noticed that we had four magi in our Christmas play! The tradition that there were three magi comes largely from Matthew’s enumeration of three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Using today’s vocabulary one could say that these were people of other faiths who had travelled long distances to visit this divine child, they had journeyed long.  The journey was arduous and difficult, but they did not lose sight of the star that went before them and got to the house that Joseph, Mary and the Christ Child was in.  Yes they did get sidetracked on their way and landed in Herod’s palace, but eventually they did get to their destination, paid their respects and went back.  There’s a meme that suggests if there had been “Three Wise Women” instead of “Three Wise Men,” “They would have asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, brought practical gifts [some versions suggest diapers], cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and there would be peace on earth.”    Yeah maybe they would also not have arrived around 2 years after the birth of Jesus!

The Bible is essentially a record of God’s calling to people through words and signs and events in their lives.  When we respond to God’s call or invitation we will see God revealing Godself.  Many a times our trust is seemingly wanting, we do not want to face the arduousness and difficulty of the journey, we are afraid. But, God is committed to being faithful to God’s calling.

As a congregation, are we willing to dare and follow the light, or would we lose ourselves by being distracted by circumstances, or the strangeness or otherness of that to which we are being called, or is it concern about our security? God has made known that this child is for the redemption of all humanity and let us keep that in perspective as we follow the star possibly into the unknown this new year and extend our gaze beyond us and ours. In so stepping forward, we will find ourselves for who we are as a community of faith and what God has for us at the end of our journey.

On a personal note, our journey in December, as a family, took us to experience the ‘revealing’ of our first grandchild. Cheryl and Jon were blessed with a baby boy, Naveen Mathai Li-Philip, on December 13. Our journey may not have been as arduous as that of the Magi but our delight and joy were not any less!! It was wonderful to spend the couple of weeks after Christmas with him.

A blessed and happy new year as we enter another year as a community.

 

Philip K. Mathai

 

Sacraments and Seasons

We celebrated Epiphany on January 6th, twelve days after Christmas. This is the amount of time that spans the birth of Jesus, and according to tradition when the magi visited Mary, Joseph, and their child. The Greek word epiphany simply means “to reveal” or “to make manifest.” It was the name given by early Christians to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the revelation of God’s love to the world (John 3:16).

Passings

Hope Eaton – I convey with sadness that Hope Eaton died on December 24, 2024, at St. Mary’s Hospital. The family is planning a Celebration of Life service in the future.

Cathy Jane Hutchison (nee Siegner) died on December 15, 2024 at Grand River Hospital.  Her funeral was held on Saturday, December 21st, at the Erb and Good Chapel.  Rev. Peter Kuhner officiated. 

Some of our members have recently experienced the loss of a beloved family member. 

• Mikko Jyrkama & family is grieving the loss of his mother, who is in Finland

• David Grant & family is grieving the loss of his father, Dr. Ross Grant.  His life will be celebrated with a private memorial service for the family.

• Pauline Finch is grieving the loss of her sister Catharine (Lillian)

“Precious in the sight of the Lord in the death of his saints.”​

Pr. Philip Mathai

In Our Prayers

Let us pray for Kerry Joy, Barb, Christine, Marilyn, Mary-Helen, Sandra, Julian, George, Betty, Rosalie, Thelma, Helen, Sislyn and the Stewart family.

• Let us pray for Pauline as she grieves the loss of her sister, Catharine. and for

• Dennis and the whole Eaton family as they grieve the loss of Hope. We pray for

• John, Kimberly and the Hutchison family as they grieve the loss of Cathy and for

• Judi, Donna, Grayden and Lauren as they grieve the loss of Jeff.

Let us also remember

• Mikko Jyrkama & family grieving the loss of his mother in Finland and

• David Grant & family grieving the loss of his father, Dr. Ross Grant. 

We pray for an end to the 100 military conflicts currently ongoing in our world. We pray especially for an end to the wars in Ukraine, Gasa, Lebanon, Myanmar, and Sudan.

Pastor Peter Kuhnert

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Finances

Breaking News…We ended the year with a surplus

As of the publication date, the financial records for 2024 have not yet been finalized. However, Treasurer Richard Brubacher reports that we will end the year with a small surplus in the Ministry and Mission account. While the surplus is not substantial, it is certainly something to celebrate. We will include the full report in the next newsletter. You will receive your receipts next week.

Thank you, Thank you for your continued financial support.

You can hear all the details at the Annual General Meeting, which will be held on

March 2, 2025, at 11:30 in the sanctuary. We hope to see you there!​​​

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We are making some changes to our newsletters.

It's a new year, and we are implementing some changes. We will start publishing our online Mount Zion Newsletter monthly and introduce a new four-page print edition that will highlight key content.  Here’s why.

Since the COVID years, our newsletter has been available online, with a new edition every two weeks. Also, even before COVID, Pastor Philip wrote a brief update for some of our members, which was mailed out with what we call the Sermon Pack, again biweekly. Between the two newsletters, we published and distributed something every week.

Despite our busy communication schedule, several members appeared to have slipped through the cracks. They did not receive the mailing and lacked access to a computer. Additionally, the time and energy needed for all this communication are substantial.

So, we have rethought our newsletters and feel that we could use our time better with a planned monthly online newsletter coupled with a four-page printed edition that would include the highlights.

The four-page edition will be mailed with the sermon pack, and copies will be in the narthex for those who still attend weekly but do not have computer access. The delivery date will be sometime in the first week of the month to allow time to include up-to-date financials. The deadline for the next edition will be included in the monthly calendar.​​​​​

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Open Sesame

We are delighted to announce that Rev. Cindy Jacobson will join the board of Open Sesame in March and will participate in exploring its possible expansion as part of Mount Zion’s Reimagining Initiative.

On Dec 24, we received the official approval of Open Sesame funding for 2025 under the new Ontario funding guidelines. We anticipate receiving $175,000 (subject to adjustments based on actual expenditures at year-end). This funding, plus parent fees and grants, will cover our expense budget for 2025.

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Announcements

Dear Mount Zion Family - A heartfelt "thank you" to all who have provided so much prayer support, hugs, cards, words of compassion, caring and condolence following the untimely death of my son Jeff.  We are also so very grateful for all who helped prepare for the funeral service, the choir whose benediction was beautifully sung, and for all who assisted in any way with set-up and serving of the luncheon and the cleanup which followed.  You have been a blessing!   With much gratitude, Judi Harris

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Congratulations

to Warren Stauch, who was presented with the King Charles 111 medal by Senator Marty Deacon in December for his community involvement.

 

Music Notes

The choir is taking a well-earned break after Christmas. So many people have told me how much they enjoyed the Christmas music. Well done choir! Thanks to Sarah Cardwell (junior) for playing the oboe so beautifully on Christmas Eve.
We are sorry that Choral Scholar Grace Soucie is leaving us to continue her spiritual journey in another direction. We will miss her and thank her for her contribution to Mount Zion's music program.

The choir will now work toward the Black History service, Holy Week, and Easter. If you are interested in singing with us, now is a great time to start.

 

Mitten Tree Thank You!

Thank You to our Mount Zion Church members and friends for the wonderful selection of hand-knitted, purchased, and gently used hats, mitts, neck warmers, scarves, socks, slippers, coats, boots, gloves, games, cross-stitch kits, and colouring books/crayons. Together with donations from the New Dominion Lodge on those made on behalf of Jeff Harris, 15 bags containing 284 items were donated to the Anishnabeg Outreach in Kitchener.

Hoping you can start saving or knitting for the Mitten Tree of 2025. Thank you again to all.

Joan and Jacquelyn Schweitzer, the Mitten Tree collectors and counters.

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Poinsettias Thank you

Thanks to all of you blessed our Christmas service with the gift of a poinsettia.

Richard & Susan Brubacher       Loved ones

Karen & Bill Gastmeier                Family & Friends

Joan & Jacquelyn Schweitzer     Grandpa, Parents, Joyce

Carol & Lloyd Ziegler                    Loved ones

Margaret Waechter                       Loved ones

Jane & Ross Schlegel                   Family members

Mary Thompson                             Family

Peggy Nickels                                 Family

Stephanie von Schilling               Family

Margaret Murison                          Husband, Sandy

Dianne Frombach                         Husband, Elmer

Steve Brown                                    Family

Judy & John Penteker                    Loved ones

Henriette Stumper                        Husband, Jake 

Pauline Finch                                  Husband, Alfred            

Marg & Roger Tupling                   Family & Friends

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​Food Card Ministry

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A big thank you to all who are supporting the food cards program as we head into the colder part of the year. Although the monetary value of what we provide to each person or family is small, we are pleased to be part of the work helping to ease food insecurity in our surrounding community. Mary Thompson.