An Advent feast : The Immaculate Conception

Tomorrow is the feast of the Immaculate Conception, when we celebrate God's grace active in Mary's life from the first moment of her existence. As the Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission puts it,

In view of her vocation to be the mother of the Holy One (Luke 1:35), we can affirm together that Christ’s redeeming work reached ‘ back’ in Mary to the depths of her being, and to her earliest beginnings.

It is very much an Advent feast day. Just as part of what we do in Advent is prepare to celebrate Christmas, so God prepared for the first Christmas in the life and experience of his People, which we read about in the Old Testament, and finally in the life of Mary. God's grace, working at the deepest level of her being, enabled her to say 'yes' to God, to say 'yes' to being the Mother of Jesus. In the anonymous, and no doubt to most eyes unremarkable, life of a Jewish peasant woman, the God of Israel prepared the way for the salvation of the world.

God's action in Mary's life is a supreme example of what Christians have historically called providence. Without in any way compromising our freedom or treating us like puppets, the God who surrounds all things works in our lives for the furtherance of his Kingdom. The way God is working in us might not be clear to us at the time, it certainly might not be clear where God is leading us - but the God who loves us and wants to restore all things is at work, and is calling us to co-operate with that work, to say 'yes' to his love.

God prepared the world for the first coming of Christ through the life of Mary. God prepares the world for the second coming of Christ through the life of the Church. We should look at our own lives, and ask where God might be at work, so that we can say a generous 'yes' to God. And we should look at the world - looking for the 'signs of the times', the places where God in Christ might be establishing his Kingdom of justice and peace, and again we should say 'yes' to God, 'yes' to God's future.



  

A modern take on a traditional hymn to Mary!
Thanks to Angharad for making me aware of this gem.

An Advent saint - Santa Claus!

Today is the feast of St Nicholas, 4th century bishop of Myra. He is the original Santa Claus - legend has it that he helped a poor family by delivering gold coins to them under cover of darkness. On one version of the legend, these coins were placed in stockings which had been hung out to dry - hence Christmas stockings and chocolate gold coins.

St Nicholas is the patron saint of children, and his feast day is a major event in some parts of the world. You can read about St Nicholas' Day customs here.

Almighty Father, lover of souls,
who chose your servant Nicholas
      to be a bishop in the Church,
that he might give freely out of the treasures of your grace:
make us mindful of the needs of others
and, as we have received, so teach us also to give;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Amen

Bishop Peter confirms in the parishes

Tuesday night bishop Peter was with ys as we celebrated the sacraments of baptism and confirmation at St. John's church for both parishes. Congratulations to Thomas, Leena,Lauren,Lisa & Mitra. We had a wonderful service and party after. Thanks to those who brought food and especially Audrey for washing up!

Advent Sunday

This week’s readings speak to a deep-seated longing within humanity for right and justice to triumph. They speak to our yearning for a final end to all cruelty and misery of our world. There is a clear bright ray of hope that runs through the lives of those who write.

Jeremiah was a prophet living around 500 years before the birth of Christ, the long awaited fulfilment of his hope and words of encouragement.

         Jeremiah had a difficult life, his prophecies and the message of warning and condemnation of Israel got him into hot water, he was imprisoned and left to die. He witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and the taking of the ruling classes into exile in Babylon. He was a sensitive man and did not enjoy having to condemn the behaviour and false hope of those around him.

Jeremiah looked for a day when God would renew his covenant with his people and restore the fallen people of Israel and rebuild the city of Jerusalem.

It is to this hope that we turn in the season of Advent as we too prepare for the coming of Christ. 

We too prepare ourselves for God to once again renew his covenant with humanity as he takes on our humanity in the incarnation.

We too look, with hope,  to see the restoration of the fallen as we here in a few weeks time the cry of Mary that the worlds order be reversed and the rich are cast down and the lowly raised up.

All this leaves us with the simple question of what difference do we expect the coming of Christ to make in our lives this Christmas?

Hope is an essential part of our lives and faith. I was at a reunion seminar on Friday for those of us who earlier this year had travelled to Israel to study at Yad Vashem. The topic of hope and the Holocaust was one of the themes we touch on – can there be any hope in the light of an unprecedented desire by Nazi Germany to eradicate every Jew from the face of the earth in the 1930’s?

When the heart rendering stories of survival are told there is a fierce debate within the Jewish community as to whether or not to leave the reader or the listener with hope or not.

For myself I cannot live without hope, and I do not necessarily mean that kind of hope that is akin to wishful thinking, or the kind of hope that for some is revealed by scratching a lottery card, I mean the kind of hope that comes from faith in a God for whom nothing is impossible.

One can have hope without faith, but is it really possible to have faith without hope?

If faith is the seed to flowering hope then there is no wonder that along with the denial of faith and the dismissive attitude of many to faith, hope is also a causality.

There are so many hoping for change and transformation in their lives and the lives of those around us

Those whose privacy has been invaded by the press

The peoples of Afghanistan, Syria, the Congo and many other places of violence and blood shed

Even in our church there are those who campaign, pray and live in the hope of a church that can fully celebrate the calling of Men and Women to service within ordained ministry of the church

And the list goes on …..

Advent is a time to make room for God in a time when there is not just “no room for the stranger in the inn" but for many of us there is no room for God either in our modern lives.

Jesus reminds us to “Watch and pray. We must remain alert and awake, watchful for the signs of God working in the life of his world and in our own lives. For so often Advent is a missed opportunity, a season that passes in the countdown to Christmas as just the number of days left to shop in. It is so tempting to loose the opportunity offered us to spend some time with God, to make space in our lives for God.   

Jeremiah’s hope was for a world transformed by the love of God who would make a new covenant or promise with his people.

Jesus is that new covenant, the new promise for the world, for you and me. And he is asking us what it is that we hope for this Christmas?

Happy New Year!

I love the liturgical or church year. The journey we take together year after year exploring the story of our salvation. Each season, with their different colours and focus, revealing something more of God’s love for us.

The pilgrimage through the seasons teaches us different aspects of our life in Christ. Advent encourages to expect the coming of God’s Kingdom. At Christmas we celebrate new life and knowing that God is with us. In Lent we take time to reflect on our journeys, personal and corporately, with God in preparation for Easter. In the Triduum we remember the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus -  the cornerstone of our salvation. In the Easter session we rejoice in the new life we have in Christ. Pentecost brings the celebration of the gift of the Spirit and the birth of the church. Ordinary time (literally counted time not unspecial time) is full of festivals and saints days which bring something new to the pilgrimage of our faith.

The liturgical year begins on Advent Sunday. Just as in the calendar year any new beginning is a good time for a rethink and even resolutions so this liturgical year I find myself Called to Be reflecting on this wonderful pilgrimage and blogging it a bit more.

Happy New Year!

Originally posted here

Advent is here!

The Diocese of London is challenging us all to live our faith with the three C's- confidence compassion and creatively. Tonight marking the beginning of Advent we at St. John and St Matthias are being treated to the first of four evenings of music. Tonight the Arch orchestra is performing Mozart.
In the beauty and space of a church we sit quietly and allow our minds to rest a while on the music as it soars through the church, filling our hearts with its joy and peace.
There are still three more concerts to enjoy this Advent -see the events page-come rest awhile in this blessed season of preparation for the joy and hope that is Christmas.
Thank you to Konstantin for this Creative approach to Advent!

Happy St Andrew's Day!

St Andrew, one of the twelve Apostles, is patron of Scotland, Ukraine, Russia, Sicily, Greece, Cyprus and Romania. People with backgrounds in all of these countries live in this part of London. Have a good one!

Lord God,

  you called Saint Andrew, your apostle,

  to preach the gospel and to guide your Church.

We humbly pray

  that he may always plead for us in your presence.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

  who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

  one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.