From the December 2024 Parish Magazine
Dear friends,
Time flies when we are having fun!
Hopefully you will feel like this too; it only seems a few days since I was licensed as Vicar here and yet both Becky and I feel well settled into the church and wider community – if feels like we have been here much longer. Equally, I cannot believe we are already in the Season of Advent, watching and waiting together for the first time as we remember the incarnation, when God came down to earth in the form of a baby, and anticipating the time when Jesus will return again.
Advent is most known, I suspect, for Advent calendars, those things that help us to count down to the important event of Christmas, eagerly anticipating it and finding joy in the Christmas preparations. Well, that is how it was when I was a child; I think things are a little different now.
Indeed for some of us, Christmas can be a painful time, with difficult memories. It can be a really lonely time for those whose husband, wife or child is no longer with us.
As the body of Christ, I encourage all of us to be mindful of the various reasons for why Christmas may not be full of laughter, busyness and joy as we prepare for it. Let’s hold them in prayer as we collectively watch and wait this month.
I also encourage you to invite friends and neighbours to something that is happening over this Advent and Christmas season – there should be something for everyone!
As we remember the Christ-child who came for EVERYONE, let’s begin to think about how we can more warmly embrace our wider community and be a place of welcome for all, practicing the radical inclusion which Jesus so often modelled.
Most important though, amidst all of the preparations for Christmas, I encourage you to take time to prepare your hearts and minds to receive the Christ-child afresh. This was an amazing thing that God did, and whilst we retell the story often in our schools, on the television and in church, how does the fact that God wanted to renew a relationship with us so much that he came down to earth in human form change our personal relationships with God.
God loves us, God cares for us so much that God chose to become like us, and live amongst us…that is truly mind-blowing before we consider angels randomly showing up and frightening other characters in the story! It’s the biggest, most dramatic love story of our time! Let’s get more familiar with it, and go out and tell it to the masses!
Every blessing,
Morna
