Author: stmelangell_l5nfea

Dear all,

“Who do people say the Son of Man is?”……Who do you say I am?” – Jesus in St Matthew 16:13-20. 

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” – Peter, as above.

“All I want is my Prince Charming.” – ‘Wife’ in Married At First Sight, Australia.

“I’m feeling real bad at the moments about not being her fairy tale.” – ‘Husband’, as above. 

My niece was married in Australia last year and so, being unable to go, I watched an episode of Married at First Sight, Australia to get an idea of what an Australian wedding was like. What I didn’t realise is that, although they make vows when they meet for the first time at the ceremony, the couples aren’t legally married so that they are free to move on later if the relationship doesn’t work out. They are matched by ‘experts’ for an ‘experiment’ to see whether science can be more successful than their own failed attempts to find partners for life. In the episode I watched, it was clear that some couples had unrealistic expectations, with the above couple in particular finding reality hard. Their comments made me think of the words of the Archbishop of Canterbury when Prince Charles and Lady Diana married and he suggested that this was the stuff of which fairy tales are made. Sadly, that proved not to be the case for them, as for others, and the painful reality of divorce resulted.

That’s been so this week with the turmoil over the exam results – what was the actual reality, given estimated grades, the disputed algorithm, the reversing of decisions and future dreams? Could there be a fairy tale ending or were hopes dashed? Outcomes varied tremendously – and yet another complication of the way the ongoing pandemic is affecting so many lives became clear. That’s so for my niece and her husband too, living near a hotspot and now expecting their first child at a time when, for many couples, the joys and hopes of pregnancy are tempered by the restrictions and realities of Covid-19. The ‘new normal’ is challenging.

The disciples found themselves wrestling with a ‘new normal’ in the Gospel reading today as Jesus takes them into Caesarea Philippi, two days’ walk away from their Galilean homes. Leaving the familiar behind, he asks them a question about who the Son of Man is and they give traditional answers such as John the Baptist, Elijah and Jeremiah. When Jesus asks who they think he is, Peter replies that he is the Christ, Son of the living God – he realises that the dreams and hopes of the Messiah, prophesied for so long, are being fulfilled in the reality of the person before him. A ‘new normal’ has come into being as the future hope becomes part of the present reality – no fairy tale, but a story of miracles, muddles, suffering and soul-searching that changes the lives of those who are willing to engage with this nuanced reality. It’s not until Easter Day that Jesus is called God by Thomas but, for now, Peter’s realisation is profound and Jesus gives him a new name for the role he will play in the different future that is coming into being, a present reality that is far more challenging than those disciples then could have realised. This reality will involve, not Prince Charming, but the Prince of Peace and a costly love for humanity which could last a lifetime – and beyond. 

Those disciples must have been in turmoil then as they grappled with all this and perhaps that’s so for us, too, as we face the lengthy challenges of a virus that is so hard to overcome, relationships that aren’t easy to sustain due to the restrictions and such difficult choices having to be made. Our present reality continues to be challenging and the consequences of the pandemic continues to cause such disruption to students, people having to quarantine at short notice, those who still have to seek isolation as the risk of infection continues, the economy…… Life and love may not be turning out as we expected, yet future hope can still shape the current reality and who we are capable of becoming, even when hearts are broken, relationships fail and plans are disrupted. If and when we seek it, there is hope that the costly love witnessed by those first disciples can also enable us, today, to find new beginnings and begin to transform our fairy tales into reality – life doesn’t have to be always Grimm! 

With my prayers and apologies for so awful a pun,

Christine

Diocesan prayer for the week

Bountiful God,
In your creation you gave us the freedom to make many choices so guard us from decisions which harm ourselves or others. May those whose privilege affords greater freedom be always mindful of the common good, so that all may enjoy the generosity of your provision and by our actions may we not deny good things of mind, body or spirit to others. Amen. 

Canon Carol Wardman

Dear all,

“Out of the heart come evil thoughts…… These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.” – Jesus, in today’s Gospel, Matt 15:10-28, NIV.

”Toilet paper was the most sought after item” – Edward Woodward, Royal Corps of Signals, speaking of supplies dropped by air in the Far East. 

Today’s Gospel may have an ironic ring to it as the Covid-19 restrictions ease but emphasis remains on hand washing and the keeping of a social distance. Hand washing is used by the Pharisees to provoke Jesus by asking why his disciples don’t wash their hands before they eat, as is customary for observant Jews. He calls them hypocrites and tells the crowd that what comes out of people’s mouths when they speak matters more than hand washing, before he crosses another traditional boundary by going into the region of Tyre and Sidon. 

In this area, the Canaanites and Jews had been enemies since Canaan had been cursed by Noah’s son (Gen.9:25-27) – yet a Canaanite woman beseeches him for help. At first, Jesus honours the traditions of his day by ignoring her as she’s both female and regarded as a pagan enemy of the Jews. But the woman perseveres, asking Jesus to have pity on her and telling him that her daughter is tormented by a devil, which would indicate mental illness today. His disciples urge him to send her away and Jesus makes it clear that his ministry is to the Jews only – but she persists, approaches him despite the distance that should be observed between them and shows humility and respect by kneeling before him as she asks again for his help. In calling her a dog, Jesus then belittles her – yet she replies that even dogs will eat the scraps they are given. Her perseverance overcomes the barriers between them, Jesus praises her for her great faith and her daughter is healed. 

The astonishing thing about this encounter is that the woman’s courage and determination seem to change Jesus’ mind – he begins to realise that his ministry is to gentiles as well as Jews. This happens soon after Peter’s lack of faith during the storm, the demands of the crowd and the challenging questions of the Pharisees, so perhaps Jesus found the unnamed woman’s faith heartening. She is unclean in terms of the traditions of his day – yet, as those who would normally avoid one another overcome boundaries and engage in conversation, Jesus finds greater understanding and the woman’s daughter is healed, as she hoped. Through the unexpected encounter, Jesus changes his mind and both meet each other’s needs – and that is the hope for us today as the pandemic rolls on. We are now having to find new ways of still relating to each other and as church through the media while social distancing and hand washing are still essential. As the battle with Covid-19 is also creating a rise in mental health issues, this incident in Canaan reminds us that there is no need for distance, cleansing or well being before Jesus is contactable today – prayer is the direct means anywhere, any time, with no need for hand sanitiser first!

All this coincides with the VJ commemorations this week as the Forgotten Army is remembered and the awful conditions of fighting in the Far East, the treatment of prisoners of war and the terrible death toll are honoured. Many nations combined in the fighting with more than 12,000 prisoners of war dying in captivity and an estimated 71,000 British and Commonwealth casualties. At the time, those soldiers overcame the distance and differing languages, religions, customs and conventions of their day as they united In the cause of freedom and peace – as Prince Charles said at the National Memorial Arboretum, “Let us affirm that they and the surviving veterans are not forgotten…. Your service and your sacrifice will echo through the years.”  Yet, amidst the horror of it all, a soldier is filmed operating a machine gun whilst smoking a pipe, toilet rolls were still valued and the last Japanese soldier only surrendered in 1974. They, and their families, sacrificed so much and yet it’s sometimes tempting to think that this is a long time ago and all happened far away. As the Burma Star on one of the local gravestones in St Melangell’s churchyard reminds us, though, this is all much closer at hand than we sometimes realise. Today, we also have great challenges to face as our mindset, expectations and way of life have to change so significantly while the battle to contain Covid-19 and find a vaccine continues. It’s costly, unsettling – and vital:

Ours is a ‘today’ dearly ransomed in blood 

That freely flowed ‘yesterday’.

A sacrifice, the whole

This tennis court was too poor to contain. 

Gallantly they laid their lives down.

What price, what price a soul…?

From In Grateful Dedication by Easterine Kire

With my prayers,

Christine

Diocesan prayer for the week

Merciful God;
Your compassion for all in distress is boundless.
Sustain, we pray, those stricken by disaster and unrest, in the midst of the pandemic crisis.
Give humility and wisdom to leaders and discernment to the peoples,
that righteousness may prevail,
and that in your time and your way, good may come out of their troubles.
In the healing name of Jesus: Amen.

Canon Carol Wardman

Stormy weather, then and now.

“Jesus….went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came he was there alone.” – from St Matthew 14:22-33, NIV.

“She’s become very self-sufficient in lockdown – she’s even doing her own nails!” – reporter Ross King, of Michelle Obama.

Today’s Gospel continues from last week’s, where Jesus first sought solitude following the news of the terrible death of John the Baptist but then attended to the needs of the large crowds awaiting him instead. Now, he makes the disciples go ahead of him by boat and dismisses the crowds so that he can be alone to pray. Matthew writes that the weather is windy and, despite being buoyed up with the day’s miracle of sharing five small fish and loaves to feed so many, the disciples are now caught in a storm. Many of them were fishermen, familiar with weather predictions, so why did they set sail? Had a gale arisen without warning? Were they doing what Jesus told them? If so, why would he put them in danger? There are so many questions about what’s actually going on as these followers do what their leader tells them.

Amidst all this, Jesus comes to his disciples by walking over the water and, despite the miraculous events of the day, they are very frightened when they see him. The fourth watch of the night is 3-6am and also known as the witching hour – darkness is thought to be at its greatest just before dawn so, with the mindset of their day, the disciples are terrified by what they think is a ghost. Only Peter finds the courage to speak and try to walk on water himself. Matthew tells us that, at first, he does – but his fears eventually get the better of him and he begins to sink. Jesus then reaches out and catches him with the well-known, and still often-used, phrase, “O ye of little faith,” (KJV) and, as both get into the safety of the boat, the wind dies down and all aboard land safely.

Perhaps, after the events of the day, Peter had thought that, by the sheer force of his own will, he could tap into the power of Jesus to do miraculous things. As his fear overcomes him, Peter is only saved by reaching out for Jesus’s hand – a reminder to us all that Christianity is a relationship with a saviour, not a system of achieving miraculous results. Prayer, worship and care for self and others are at the heart of it – and that is needed more than ever as the storm-clouds around the Covid-19 pandemic continue to gather. It seems that gales of criticism and variations of policy are causing confusion as further outbreaks develop – choppy waters are still ahead, anxiety is resurfacing for many as winter draws near and we may be as understandably fearful as those first disciples. Like them, we are today expected to follow faithfully what we’re being told to do by leaders as the turbulence of anxiety, restriction, treatment and criticism created by the pandemic continues to whirl around. There may be many questions for us about what’s actually going on as followers begin to query what their leaders are now telling them. Yet we’re all in the same boat, trying to outrace the unknown consequences of a new virus as we face an uncertain forecast about the future – even if it’s in a dinghy, trying to cross the channel.

Like Michelle Obama, the prospect of this has caused many to become self-sufficient and do for themselves in lockdown what they would normally expect to receive, whilst offering encouragement to others through podcasts, phone calls or remote contact. Yet, after the terrible explosion in Beirut, and despite the risk of Covid-19 in such chaos, surgeons nevertheless stitch wounds by the light of mobile phones in the car park, a nurse rescues three premature babies by holding them closely in the darkness and an aged woman plays her piano in the debris of her ruined home. Death, suffering and destruction are everywhere – but so are hope, love and new beginnings, brought through hands reaching out to help those in need. In the face of such uncertainty, adversity and turbulence perhaps our watchword today should be the other words of Jesus to his followers facing the terrifying storms then and today, as he brings God’s love and hope of the miraculous into the everyday and at the darkest of hours: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

With my prayers,

Christine

Diocesan prayer for the week

God of peace, you draw close to us, breathing tranquility into the storms of our fears. In your calming presence may we step forward courageously, knowing that your grace and strength will sustain us in every situation, so that our faith may not be for us alone, but bring peace to others amidst the turbulence of the world. Amen. (Canon Carol Wardman)

Our next Sunday service will be on 23rd August. Please contact us if you wish to attend as spaces are limited due to physical distancing requirements.

This will be a short and simple service to ensure we keep everyone as safe as possible.  At this time we are unable to meet for refreshments before or after the service. We will keep you updated with any changes or developments.

Dear all,

“When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” 

Dear all,

On Sunday 2nd August 2020, we will be opening for a simple Sunday service at 3pm.

This service will be somewhat different from usual, as additional safety measures are needed to allow us to resume. These will include physical distancing and hygiene procedures. The service will be shorter than usual and at this time we will not be able to sing together.

We have recruited a group of volunteer stewards to help keep everyone as safe as possible. Please follow their instructions if you are able to join us.

Due to all these measures, numbers will be limited as we need to allow two metres between each household. 

We hope that this will allow us to develop safe ways to regularly come together for worship. 

Thank you for your continued patience and support.

Dear all,

“When, therefore, a teacher of the law has become a learner in the kingdom of heaven, he is like a householder who can produce from his store both the new and the old.“ Jesus, in St Matthew 13:31-33,44-52, NEB.

 Reflection for the sixth Sunday after Trinity

A PASTORAL LETTER FROM BISHOP GREGORY

for Thursday, 16th July, 2020

LLYTHYR BUGEILIOL ODDI WRTH ESGOB GREGORY

ar gyfer dydd Iau, 16 Gorffennaf 2020

One of the gifts of the Spirit acknowledged in Scripture, and very active in the life of the both the Old and New Testaments, is the gift of Prophecy. One of the prophets, Joel, told us to expect a lot more of it. He wrote: “In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your youth will see visions, your elderly will dream dreams.”, and when Pentecost came, the apostles told us that in the life of the Church, we were to see this scripture being fulfilled. So where is prophecy today?

Un o roddion yr Ysbryd, sy’n cael ei gydnabod yn yr Ysgrythur, ac sy’n rhan amlwg iawn ym mywyd yr Hen Destament a’r Testament newydd, yw’r rhodd o Broffwydoliaeth. Dywedodd un o’r Proffwydi, Joel, y dylen ni ddisgwyl llawer mwy ohono. Ysgrifennodd: “Ar ôl hyn” meddai Duw, “tywalltaf fy ysbryd ar bob dyn. Bydd eich meibion a’ch merched yn proffwydo, bydd eich hynafgwyr yn gweld breuddwydion a’ch gwŷr ifanc yn cael gweledigaethau”, a phan ddaeth y Sulgwyn, dywedodd yr apostolion wrthym ni y byddwn ni, ym mywyd yr Eglwys, yn gweld yr ysgrythurau’n cael eu gwireddu. Felly, ble mae proffwydoliaeth heddiw?

I think that there are two things to help us to recognise prophecy in its biblical understanding. First, is that it is less to do with predicting the future, and more about speaking about the consequences of what God is saying to the world now. I’ve seen shelves of bookshops filled with “the Prophecies of Nostradamus” which are nothing to do with true prophecy, which is designed to bring home to us the truths that God is summoning us to obey. It is, as someone put it, “reading the signs of the times”.

Rwy’n meddwl fod yna ddau beth allai’n helpu i sylweddoli beth yw proffwydoliaeth yn ôl dealltwriaeth feiblaidd. Yn gyntaf, nid yw gymaint ynghylch proffwydo’r dyfodol ag yw ynghylch dangos canlyniadau’r hyn y mae Duw’n ei ddweud wrth y byd sydd ohoni. Rwy wedi gweld silffoedd mewn siopau llyfrau’n gwegian o dan ‘Broffwydoliaethau Nostradamus” nad oes â wnelon nhw ddim â gwir broffwydoliaeth, sef y gwirioneddau y mae Duw’n ein gwysio ni i’w hufuddhau. Hynny yw, fel y dywedodd rhywun “darllen arwyddion yr amserau”.

Second, it is highly political. So many people get prickly when Church leaders speak into political situations, and tell us to mind our own business, when in truth I think they mean that they’d like religion to be locked away from grubby realities, separated from truths they’d prefer not to have to face. The Prophets in the Bible – all of them, including Jesus – spoke the truth to the rich and powerful of the day, and often provoked just that negative response: how dare you? It’s why so many of them were killed.

Yn ail, mae’n hynod wleidyddol. Mae cymaint o bobl yn mynd yn bigog pan fydd arweinwyr yr Eglwys yn trafod sefyllfaoedd gwleidyddol, yn dweud wrthym ni am fendio’n busnes, sef, mewn gwirionedd, rwy’n meddwl eu bod eisiau gweld crefydd yn cael ei neillto oddi wrth realiti brwnt, oddi wrth y gwirioneddau y byddai’n well ganddyn nhw beidio â’u hwynebu. Roedd y Proffwydi yn y Beibl – pob un, gan gynnwys Iesu – yn dweud y gwir wrth bobl gyfoethog a phobl rymus y cyfnod, ac yn aml yn cael yr union ymateb negyddol hwnnw: paid â meiddio. Dyna pam y cafodd cymaint ohonyn nhw eu lladd.

So where is prophecy today? Some Christians look for something thrilling to come out of ecstatic worship, but I think that prophecy occurs when faith and wisdom go hand in hand: the wisdom to perceive how God is challenging us now. And there are many prophets among us – one such is John Bell, of the Iona Community. A couple of weeks ago he spoke during BBC Radio 4 Sunday Worship, and I felt that in what he said then he was being prophetic, asking what were the consequences of our Christian belief, and demonstrating how they must impact on the way we build our world. Here is some of what he had to say:

“If we believe, as Jesus says, ‘you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free’, do we want children in the future to be as ignorant of the past as many or most of us adults have been? I mean, I had to wait until I was fifty to discover that Scotland had owned a third of the slave plantations in Jamaica, and that the Victorian opulence of Glasgow and other British cities was the result of the trans-Atlantic transport of enslaved Africans, tacitly condoned by Christian churches. Do we have to wait for statues to be toppled before we own our past?

“If we believe that Jesus declared there is good news for the poor, and if we know that poverty has grown in our nation, and that people living in poor neighbourhoods are far more likely to die from Covid 19 than the wealthy, are we prepared to identify the root causes, and to treat those who are economically disadvantaged with dignity in the future? Or do we have to pray for another sporting personality or stage celebrity to name an injustice before it is rectified?

“If we believe that God loves the world, and we know that, in the world God loves, everything from the Australian coral reef to the Amazon rain forest to the Arctic Pole and even the humble bumble bee are all threatened by human failure to respect the integrity of creation, are we going to continue living so irresponsibly that the children of tomorrow will have to go to museums to see what we regard as commonplace today?

“If we believe that Jesus has mandated his disciples to heal the sick, are we going to live in the expectation that huge pharmaceutical companies and better medical technology will come up with the solutions? Or should we at least consider personal responsibility and preventative rather than responsive medicine?

“If we believe that Jesus cares that prisoners be released, and we know that the causes of crime are very often rooted in childhood trauma or deprivation, are we just going to build more prisons, or look at what can be done to prevent vulnerable people becoming potential offenders?

“And if we believe from the evidence of the gospels, that Jesus spent a hundred times more of his life on issues of healing, teaching, evangelism, and engaging face to face with people, than he ever did on bricks and mortar, are we going to going to shape the future of the church according to his priorities or remain obsessed by the upkeep of buildings and structures some of which have long been obsolete?”

Felly, lle mae proffwydoliaeth heddiw? Mae rhai Cristnogion yn gobeithio gweld rhywbeth cyffrous yn codi o addoli llesmeiriol, ond rwy i’n meddwl fod proffwydoliaeth yn digwydd pan fydd ffydd a doethineb yn cyd-fynd â’i gilydd: y doethineb i allu dirnad sut y mae Duw’n ein herio ni ar hyn o bryd. Ac mae yna lawer o broffwydi yn ein plith – ac un ohonyn nhw yw John Bell o Gymuned Iona. Wythnos neu ddwy yn ôl, roedd yn siarad ar ‘Sunday Worship’ BBC Radio 4 ac roeddwn i’n cael y teimlad fod yr hyn yr oedd yn ei ddweud yn broffwydol, roedd yn gofyn beth oedd canlyniadau ein cred Gristnogol ac yn dangos sut yr oedd yn rhaid iddyn nhw effeithio ar sut ydyn ni’n adeiladu ein byd. Dyma ychydig o’r hyn oedd ganddo i’w ddweud:

“Os ydyn ni’n credu, fel y dywedodd Iesu, ‘cewch wybod y gwirionedd a bydd y gwirionedd yn eich rhyddhau’, ydyn ni eisiau i blant fod mor anwybodus yn y dyfodol ag y mae rhai, os nad y rhan fwyaf ohonon ni, oedolion, wedi bod? Wyddoch chi, roedd yn rhaid i mi ddisgwyl nes fy mod i’n hanner cant cyn darganfod fod yr Alban yn berchen traean o’r ystadau caethweision yn Jamaica, ac mai ffrwyth caethgludo Affricanwyr ar draws yr Atlantig, oedd yn cael ei oddef gan eglwysi Cristnogol, yw ysblander Fictorianaidd Glasgow a dinasoedd eraill Prydain. Oes raid i ni ddisgwyl i gofgolofnau gael eu dymchwel cyn i ni dderbyn cyfrifoldeb am ein gorffennol?

“Os ydyn ni’n credu, fel y dywedodd Iesu, fod yna newyddion da i’r tlodion, ac os ydyn ni’n gwybod fod tlodi ar gynnydd yn ein gwlad, a bod pobl mewn ardaloedd tlawd yn llawer mwy tebyg na rhai o ardaloedd cefnog farw o Covid-19, ydyn ni’n barod i gyfaddef y gwir resymau dros hynny a bod yn barod i drin y tlodion yn ein plith gyda pharch yn y dyfodol? Neu a yw’n well gennyn ni ddisgwyl i bersonoliaeth chwaraeon neu seleb y llwyfan enwi anghyfiawnder cyn y bydd yn cael ei unioni?

“Os ydyn ni’n credu fod Duw’n caru’r byd, ac yn gwybod, yn y byd y mae Duw’n ei garu, bod popeth o riffiau coral Awstralia i fforestydd glaw’r Amazon i Begwn y Gogledd a hyd yn oed y wenynen ddisylw, yn cael eu bygwth gan fethiant pobl i barchu cyfanrwydd y cread, ydyn ni’n mynd i ddal ati i fyw mor anghyfrifol fel y bydd yn rhaid i blant yfory fynd i amgueddfeydd i weld yr hyn rydyn ni’n ei gymryd yn ganiataol heddiw?

“Os ydyn ni’n credu fod Iesu wedi rhoi hawl i’w ddisgyblion iachau’r cleifion, ydyn ni’n mynd i fyw gan ddisgwyl mai gan y cwmnïau ffarmacolegol enfawr a thrwy dechnoleg feddygol well y daw’r atebion? Neu a ddylen ni o leiaf ystyried cyfrifoldeb personol a meddygaeth ataliol yn hytrach nag ymatebol?

“Os ydyn ni’n credu fod ots gan Iesu am ryddhau carcharorion, a’n ninnau’n gwybod yn iawn fod gwreiddiau troseddu yn aml mewn trawma ac amddifadedd plentyndod, ydyn ni’n mynd i fodloni ar adeiladu mwy o garchardai neu a ydyn ni’n mynd i chwilio i weld beth ellir ei wneud i atal pobl fregus rhag dod yn droseddwyr?

“Ac os ydyn ni’n credu tystiolaeth yr efengylau, fod Iesu wedi treulio canwaith mwy o’i fywyd yn iachau, dysgu, efengylu a thrafod wyneb yn wyneb â phobl nag a dreuliodd erioed ar frics a mortar, ydyn ni’n mynd i ffurfio dyfodol ein heglwys yn ol ei flaenoriaethau neu ddal i rygnu am gynnal a chadw adeiladau a strwythurau, rhai y mae wedi eu hoes wedi hen ddod i ben?

This is the stuff of prophecy for me, because John takes fundamental truths that we recognise about God, and applies them quite directly to our responsibility for things that are going on in the world. Some of them, if not all of them, may make us quite uncomfortable – but that is what God does, he wants to move us from where we are, to building, under his guidance and with his grace, the Kingdom of God. The challenge is – what happens next? Jesus often finished his parables with “Let the one who has ears to hear, listen!”, “and”, we might add, “take action.”

Dyma beth yw hanfod proffwydoliaeth i mi, mae John yn gafael yn y gwirioneddau sylfaenol rydyn ni’n eu gwybod am Dduw ac yn eu cymhwyso’n uniongyrchol i ddangos beth yw ein cyfrifoldeb ni ynghylch yr hyn sy’n digwydd yn y byd. Efallai bod rhai, os nad y cyfan, o’r rhain, yn gwneud i ni deimlo’n eithaf anghyfforddus – ond dyna mae Duw’n ei wneud – mae eisiau i ni symud o ble rydyn ni, i adeiladu, o dan ei arweiniad a chyda’i ras, Deyrnas Dduw. Yr her yw – beth sy’n digwydd nesaf? Roedd Iesu’n gorffen ei ddamhegion yn aml gyda “Yr hwn sydd ganddo glustiau i wrando, gwrandawed!, a, gallen ni ychwanegu “a gweithredu”.

I’ve said before that coming out of lockdown would be the time when the lessons of lockdown need to be learned. That moment is now, and how shall we respond to God’s prompting and to the prophecy happening in our midst?

Rwyf wedi dweud o’r blaen mai wrth ddod allan o’r cyfnod clo yw’r adeg i ddysgu gwersi’r cyfnod clo. Yr adeg hynny yw nawr, a sut y byddwn ni’n ymateb i anogaeth Duw ac i’r broffwydoliaeth sy’n digwydd yn ein plith?