Weekly for 24/25 December 2023
Dear People of God
Grace and Peace to you all
This edition will cover Advent 4 and Christmas Day (as you might expect!).
I suppose that we live in a highly secular and increasingly unchurched society, but I always feel somewhat let down when on the day after Christmas the shops have taken their decorations down and probably put the Easter eggs and Hot Cross Buns out for sale when the Church is just getting into the swing of things! I probably remind you every year that, in Western Christianity, Christmas goes at least until Epiphany (6 January) and, in some traditions right through to the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary/Presentation of Christ in the Temple (2 February), 40 days after the birth of Jesus. Western Christianty follows the Gregorian calendar, Eastern Christianity follows the older Julian calendar, and the two are out of sync. (When the west adopted the Gregorian calendar there was a gap of 11 days: there were riots in some places with people demanding “give us back our 11 days!). We might feel the same way about “daylight saving!)
I was reading an article about the search for intelligent life elsewhere in the universe (and sometimes I even wonder if there is such a thing on Earth) and the “Rationalists” claiming that finding such a thing would disprove Christianity . Rationalism believes only in the things it can see and touch or which can be conclusively proved by rigid scientific method. Intelligent faith peers through to the Great Mystery to that which lies at the heart of Creation. I am constantly reminded of song by Sydney Carter from his collection “In the Present Tense”: from memory the words are:
Every star shall sing a carol, every creature high or low
Come and praise the King of Heaven by whatever Name you know
God above, Man below, holy is the Name I know.
When the King of all creation had a cradle on the earth
Holy was the human body, holy was the human birth
God above, …
Who can tell what other cradle far beyond the Milky Way
Still may rock the King of Heaven on another Christmas Day
God above, ….
Who can tell how many angels, far beyond the Milky Way
Sing another King of Heaven, on another Christmas Day
God above, …….
Who can tell how many crosses, still to come or long ago
Crucify the King of Heaven; I will praise the Name I know
God above, ……
Who can tell how many bodies He will hallow for his own
I will praise the Son of Mary, brother of my blood and bone
God above, ……
Every star and every planet, every creature high and low
Come and praise the King of Heaven, by whatever Name you know
God above, ……
Christianity holds that the ultimate revelation of Godself is in the person and work of Jesus the Christ, the Incarnate Word. We must, however, respect those cultures and traditions whose search for Ultimate Meaning and Purpose has led them along a different path. If we respect that, we might actually find greater depths in the Mystery which we describe as God the Holy Trinity. Archbishop Michael Ramsay, one of the greatest Archbishops of Canterbury of modern times (and there have been some outstanding ones) once said “I hope that I shall meet many atheists in heaven”, recognising that our human knowledge cannot possibly grasp the fulness of the One who called Creation into being and to which we must all ultimately return.
I am not going to publish a sermon or repeat the set of readings for this week. Several sets of readings and multiple sermons would be too much for one mailout!
Whether you a regular worshipper, or an occasional attender, or someone who comes along at Christmas only, I hope to see our churches full at our Christmas services and pray that this season may be for a us all a renewed opportunity to stand in awe of the One who continually calls us to reconciliation with Godself.
The Lord be with you
Fr George
Sydney Carter was an English folk singer who died early this century. We are familiar with another of his compositions, “The Lord of the Dance” and if I can find the vinyl record I have somewhere and a record player………
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