Confirmation at Christ Church

Today was Pentecost Sunday, the Feast of the Holy Spirit, and the birthday of the Church, the fiftieth and last day of Easter Season.  You may have known all  (or at least some) of that.  I didn't know, and the bishop explained to me, that since Pentecost is the day when the Church was inaugurated, it is also the feast of title (i.e. the patronal feast) of any church named "Christ Church," since every Church carries on Christ's work through their ministry.  Anyway, that's why this parish has always hosted the bishop for confirmations on this particular Sunday. 

Of course, we sang Hail Thee! Festival Day as the opening hymn.  How could we not, after the bishop said it was his favorite hymn?  I do think the Easter lyrics are superior to the Pentecost lyrics, but still, it is  a stirring mix of word and music. 






The choir was in more than full force, and sang the Schubert Mass in G.



There was one confirmand, a teenager, and it turns out that the bishop remembered him as a small boy from the time before he was bishop.  He was rector of the family's parish in the south of the city.
Here is Eduardo, the confirmand, with Mother Susan, the priest who prepared him and presented him for confirmation. 

One of the traditions at Christ Church is that since Pentecost is the birthday of the Church, we have cake at coffee hour after the service.  Actually, we have TWELVE cakes -- one for each month of the year.  I'm not sure if you're supposed to eat the cake representing your birth month only -- November was a vanilla cake with penuche frosting with walnuts.  But I had to try some of December's Hazelnut torte, which was scrumptious. 

All in all, it was an exciting and beautiful day, and a wonderful celebration of the third major feast of the church.  And it would have been enough, except...we also had a baptism and a first communion at 12:30 service.  This was followed by a Mexican lunch of Pozole (a thick soup of chicken and hominy, with multiple garnishes like diced radish, onion, avocado, minced jalapeno, chili powder, oregano, and lettuce.  I would never have thought to put lettuce in my soup, but it was actually quite good.  The other traditional "accompaniment" that is to be taken with pozole is mezcal, which is a fermented beverage that is distilled into tequila. Every person at the reception following the 12:30 service received as a party favor a ceramic cup, shaped like a tiny jug, that held about a shot glass full of mezcal.  Which is all you needed, since it is STRONG -- not only in alcoholic content, but also in flavor.  It is very earthy, and burns a bit, going down.  After you take a sip of mezcal you suck on a lime then take a spoonful of the pozole.  Or some I was told.