My dear Friends, As we prepare to celebrate Jesus' birth and then embark upon a new year, I have asked the One whose birth we celebrate to write to you instead of me. So, wishing you well and hoping to see you over the coming days.Blessings galore,Jeff***To the people of Twickenham,Soon you will be gathering in my churches, gathering around the memory of my birth 2,000 years ago. Some will gather because they were persuaded by friends; others because they always come; some will go for the first time, wondering what it's all about and how it can possibly relate to the lives they lead. Some have spent years getting to know me, speaking with me, confiding in me, asking me questions, favours of me..........Some have never dared to lift their eyes to me in prayer, not aware that I have looked at them, noticed them, cared for them, since they were in their mother's womb.If people did but know that it is not just at Christmas that they can celebrate my birth, I their creator am with them always, longing that they live their lives in connection, in communion with me. I long to make such a difference to their lives. As once I intervened in the lives of the poor, the sick, the friendless, the rejected, the despised, I long to speak into their souls now and fill their minds with the white hot flames of my spirit, to ignite there a vision, a willingness, a desire to change the world for good. To challenge injustice, to speak for those whose voices have been quenched, to protect those who are subject to other people`s desires, deprived of freedom and dignity.The thing which hurts me the most, the thing which pierces me with pain and scars my heart is when people think that I do not care, that I am not there, in the pain and suffering, chaos and confusion, injuries and injustices of life. Where else would I be? It is no accident that I chose the cross as the abiding image of who I am. I am with those in war zones, in the homes where loved ones have died, in hospital wards where people fight for their lives, with doctors and nurses who fight on their behalf. I am with politicians as they deliberate, decide on courses of action which will affect not just this generation, but generations to come. I am with women as they give birth, men as they breathe their last, children as they question whether they are loved or even lovable. Even if such people do not know that I am there and are not open to the influence and the inspiration of my love. And I am with you too, each one of you who reads these words. If I am not real to speak to you, then I am not real at all and have never spoken with anyone. But I am real, my love for you is real, my commitment to you is real and so is my presence in your life. Whether you believe in me or not, I believe in you, in your immeasurable worth, in your complex wonder, with your scars, sins and inconsistencies, with you in your doubting and your questioning and in your infinite possibilities.Christmas is a time for the giving of presents, is it not? Well, mine to you is this, the gift of myself, unconditionally. I offer you my forgiveness, my compassion, my understanding, my acceptance. I offer you my healing, my peace and my love. I ask for nothing in return but please know that I, who once turned a few loaves and fishes into a feast for thousands can take even the smallest offering you may make me, and transform it into wonders. Even the smallest gift of a part of yourselves will be precious to me and I will treasure it as though it were the most extravagant and exquisite gift in all creation.So may this Christmas be a turning point, for the world and for you and me. For I am your God, the one who caused you to be. I am your creator who longs for you to be creative in your living and in your loving, in your relating and in your serving, and I promise you this my friend: You and I shall walk into the new year together.With the blessings of my love,Emmanuel.***Image - Detail from Christ Icon, 6th Cemtury AD, Saint Catherine's Monastery, Sinai
ADVENT SUNDAY, 1st December 6pm Advent Carol Service with the Marble Hill Singers Sunday 8th December 4pm Christingle Service Sunday 15th December 9.30am Eucharist and Nativity Play featuring the children of St Mary`s Sunday 22nd December 6pm Christmas Carol Service CHRISTMAS EVE, Tuesday 24th December 3.30pm Crib Service 4.30pm Crib Service 11pm Midnight Mass CHRISTMAS DAY, Wednesday 25th December 10am Festival Eucharist
Dear Friends,"War has a way of distinguishing the things which matter and the things which don't." It was a line I heard recently in a drama about the First World War, spoken by a soldier, but it is something in which we can probably all recognise the sting of truth.This coming weekend our thoughts will be drawn back to the trauma, chaos, bravery and pain of those who endured the First and Second World Wars, in whose memory we wear the blood red poppies of Remembrance Sunday. In the face of what they experienced we are reduced to silence, a silence because all words are futile in the face of such heartache, a silence which reminds us of the silence of death, a silence that allows reflection and a silence which allows us not just to look back but look forward to the part you and I can play in the unfolding story of these islands.Inspired by the example of those we honour this weekend perhaps we can all reconsider or even consider afresh, how we are contributing to world peace or even peace in our own communities and homes, how we are confronting untruth and exploitation, speaking up for those who are weak and vulnerable and ensuring the dignity and rights of all those in the human family, regardless of race, language, gender, creed or social position.In the Christian tradition remembering is not merely to look back but to bring into the present the experiences of the past, to learn from them, the better to be inspired, equipped and energised to look forward.You and I were bequeathed a peace at a great cost, let us renew our commitment this weekend to using the opportunities before us to influence things in a more positive direction, through speaking words of forgiveness and reconciliation to others, through recognising our own self serving and choosing to serve others, by reaching out into others' lives with encouragement and healing and by consciously deciding on what is the more loving thing to do or say in any given situation.May the souls of the war dead be bathed in peace, find healing and know the gift of eternal life.With blessings and best wishesJeffPlease join us this Sunday 10 November for our worship as we remember with gratitude those who fought and died for our country in war, especially those from this community and the communities from which we come.REQUIEM EUCHARISTS will be celebrated at 8 am and 9.30 am, including the Act of Remembrance.10.45 am please join Jeff in his capacity as Mayor's Chaplain, at Radnor Gardens for the Borough Act of Remembrance.6 pm There will be a time of reflection accompanied by music supplied by the Howells Singers, especially for Remembrance Sunday.
My dear Friends,"Think all a mother should be, she was that." As I mentioned to those of you who were at church last Sunday, this is what is written on one of the grave stones at Oak Lane Cemetery, a photo of which is included here. For those of you who wish to see it for yourselves, it is in the north west section of the Cemetery, on the far right hand side as you go in through the gate, just near the blackberries!"Think all a mother should be, she was that." Motherhood offers us a potent image of nurturing love, compassionate care, someone from whom we learn the first lessons of how to behave. Many of us, myself included, have an overwhelmingly positive experience of motherhood, others are not so fortunate. But what Christians have been offered for centuries is Mary, patron saint of our church, mother of Jesus, as a positive example of motherhood and also the assurance of her continuing presence and prayer as part of how God chooses to use us in this life and the next.For some years, many congregants of St Mary`s have been making pilgrimage to Walsingham during the month of September. At a time when the Church was hugely bureaucratic and concerned with doctrinal formulae, Mary appeared to a young woman named Richeldis in Walsingham and instructed her to have constructed a simple building, of roughly the same dimensions as her house at Nazareth in which the young Jesus was brought up, stripping through all the rules and regulations of religion, and inviting the people of God to come to a simple building where they were assured of God`s listening love and experience for themselves the embrace of God`s acceptance, understanding and compassionate care.And we at St Mary`s have similarly been called to be a womb-like space at the heart of our community, where the presence of Christ can be experienced. We too are asked of God to bring forth His presence and to celebrate the power of His love through attentive listening to the scriptures; through receiving the touch of the sacraments upon our bodies and our souls; through our encouragement, support and friendship with one another and through the welcome we offer to all who find their way to us.We are called to called to be a nurturing, accepting, forgiving, empowering, creative, compassionate and believing force at the heart of Twickenham. This coming weekend at our Patronal Festival, as we recall the example and presence of Mary, we will remind ourselves of our calling by Christ to allow our church to be filled with His life-giving Spirit, His unconditional gift of love, His transforming message of a truth that sets people free. And you and I are called not just to celebrate and give thanks for that, but to offer ourselves to be part of that "making real of Christ." We, like Mary, are required to allow the Word to become flesh through our living out of the faith we hold dear. May be do exactly that, though our encouragements and support of one another, through our faithfulness to prayer and praise, and with the intercession of Mary and the influence and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.With blessings and best wishesJeff
