This weekend the green comes out.

Like many Christian churches, the Episcopal Church embraces liturgical colors – colors that signify particular church seasons – and we have now entered the "Season After Pentecost," also known as the "Long Green Season." For the next five months or so, expect to see green.

Those who have spent time in liturgical churches may hardly notice this change, but those who are new may wonder why we do such things, and what they mean. Well, the short answer is that changing colors points to a shift in our spiritual focus. Like the Sanctus Bell, which is struck at special moments in the Eucharist to call our attention to certain holy actions, the change in color is meant to help us notice something new is happening.

But why green?

Well, the color hints at growth and life. Green is out in the long months when we hear of the call of the disciples and their growth in the way of Jesus, so it makes a kind of symbolic sense to adorn the church in the color of flourishing nature. The green calls to mind the image of trees in summer, and like them we are doing the slow but steady work of "leafing." As disciples, we are gathering in light, putting out a few new branches, deepening our roots. Day by day, it could seem that little is happening, but over the long course of a season, we can recognize the patient accumulation of faith and virtue. So, when you see the green this weekend, remember to pray for the grace to keep growing, slowly but steadily, more and more into the likeness of Jesus.

Along with bringing out the green this weekend, we will make a few other changes to mark the change in season, too. The Prayers of the People will change forms, becoming more interactive, and we're changing to Eucharistic Prayer C, because it, too, is more participatory. We want to make sure everyone is awake, alert, and engaged in these summer months! Not to mention that Prayer C includes a specific title for God – "Lord God of our ancestors: the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" – and this summer we'll be reading the saga of those patriarchs and how they began the long story of salvation history eventually leading to the Incarnation of Christ.

These stories are not simple or straightforward, to be sure. They reveal a complicated, flawed people responding with imperfect faith to the will of a mysterious God. But that is what makes them powerful and relevant, for we are still complicated, flawed people responding with imperfect faith to the will of a mysterious God. And that God who called them all those millennia ago is still seeking, through their distant descendants spread around the world, to bless the whole world.

So, join us this weekend and all summer long. The green is out. The slow work of discipleship continues. The way of Jesus stretches before us, and his invitation still rings in our ears: come and follow.

Father Casey