A Sermon Preached at Christmastime

___________ death from melanoma occurred when he was thirty-eight years old. The early December death was marked by periods of hope and despair, but most assuredly by faith.

It is a time of joy and sadness. The joy of the approaching Christmas season fades into darkness as we experience death in our midst. The scripture passages we read from the Gospel echo Christ's entry into Jerusalem for the celebration which leads to the crucifixion of Christ. The progress and setbacks of _____________ illness are paralleled in the events we recognize later in the Spring of the Church Year ... The Sunday of the Passion began so full of hope, laughter, shouts and smiles of anticipation and expectation.

Each year we begin anew the cycle of liturgy which follows the life of…