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Reflection on Epiphany, the Baptism of Jesus and Prince Harry.

“This is my Son, the Beloved.” Matthew 3:13-17.

“She wanted Harry to be William’s wing man and not, as we have seen, his hit man.” Andrew Morton, of Princess Diana’s comments about her children, the heir and spare. 

Today’s Gospel refers to Jesus as the beloved son of God who was born in human form and drew a series of diverse characters together through his birth in Bethlehem. Innkeeper, angels, shepherds and Magi were brought to the stable by a wordless infant entrusted to a human family as the Word was revealed to the world. This Prince of Peace was nevertheless subjected to possible violence and forced to flee as a refugee to Egypt in his early days as the unstable King Herod sought to get rid of him by massacring all the boys under the age of two. That would probably have amounted to 12 or 15 babies and it must have been a disturbing and worrying time for his parents, although the family returned after the death of Herod and little else is known of Jesus’ early childhood. 

By contrast, in his memoir Prince Harry has revealed previously unknown details of his childhood, being born into wealth and privilege as part of the British Royal Family and second in line to the throne. It’s now clear that Harry did not always feel a sense of belonging or purpose about his role as the second beloved son and spare should anything happen to the heir. Similar issues were reflected in the life of Princess Margaret, the Queen’s sister who was also constrained by her position. However, the ‘spare’ child was needed when Edward VIII abdicated the throne for love of a divorced American and George VI became King, thus paving the way for Harry’s later position. Many would have sympathy for the young Princes when Princess Diana was killed in so violent a car crash when Harry was only 12 and it’s clear that the grief and anger he experienced in his childhood then continues greatly to affect him. However, in divulging so much now, it’s clear that Harry’s Spare has spared very little for his father and brother in particular – he who brought so many diverse characters together through the Invictus Games and being a Commonwealth youth ambassador has now chosen to distance himself from the Family and institution of his birth. That also applies to his time in the Army and security issues as Harry has broken with accepted practice by noting the 25 members of the Taliban that he claims to have killed and calling them just chess pieces rather than human beings. That perhaps relates to his training as an Apache helicopter pilot, but what will result from all this in whatever lies ahead?

By contrast, Jesus meets his second cousin John and consents to baptism by him, even though John suggests that it is not necessary. The Baptist is clearly surprised by what is being asked of him but agrees to it when Jesus says to him, “Let it be so now.” As a result, through John’s acceptance despite his reservations, the words confirming Jesus as the beloved Son of God are heard and his public ministry begins – many challenges have been overcome and also lie ahead.

Whatever our private or public thoughts and actions, we all have opportunities and constraints upon us for all sorts of reasons and there are times when this is bearable and when it isn’t. Perhaps there are current issues when we need to “Let it be so now”in the hope of future fulfilment or when we have to accept that there is little that can be done to change matters and events as we would wish. At such times of revelation, whether through an epiphany of some sort, the controversial memories and comments of others or the inner voice of conscience, decisions will follow about whether to be supportive or critical as Andrew Morton suggests. These decisions may be affected by whether we seek justice or revenge for the situations that trouble us and all this has its consequences. As the voice from heaven speaking of the beloved child goes on to proclaim that it is well pleased with Jesus, would it say the same of each one of us?

With my prayers; pob bendith,

Christine, Guardian.

Holy Eucharist will be held at noon on 5th, 12th – Service of Reflection, 19th and 26th January, followed by a shared lunch at the centre.

Services will be held in the church if the weather is mild or in the centre if it’s cold – please also be aware that wet, wintry or stormy weather can cause difficulties in getting down the lane here as well as accessing the broadband and phone.  

However, green shoots are appearing in the garden – Spring is also on its way! 

New Year Reflection at the Shrine Church of St Melangell.

Christmas is now over for many, although we are still in the twelve days of Christmas until Epiphany on January 6th as far as the church is concerned. One thing that struck me this year, however, is the relevance of many of the traditional Christmas carols that were sung. There have been some calls for their rewriting and one Anglican church carol service included an updated version of ‘God rest ye, merry gentlemen’ with the lines ‘God rest you, queer and questioning’ and ‘God rest you also, women, who by men have been erased’. Whatever the views of those attending – and not! – the Christmas story has once again been proclaimed in many ways with its universal message of hope and love for all people. 

This winter is hard for many, bleak even, as some families, businesses and charities struggle to pay their way. Christina Rosetti wrote of another bleak midwinter in her carol of 1872, which mentions earth hard as iron and water like a stone. That may not be the case for us as we end what could turn out well the hottest year on record with primulas in bloom and blossom on some trees because it’s been so mild. But Rosetti’s carol speaks of the stable-place that sufficed for Jesus’ cradle – a place that was probably dirty and smelly from the animals and with shepherds from the hillsides rather than the family calling. However, it was enough to provide the milk and bedding that was needed and the basics were there. That first Christmas was very different and yet familiar too: a pregnant teenager, thought at first by her older fiancé to have mental health problems because she spoke of an angel visiting her; an uncertain journey to be counted at the census, with no room being found on arrival in a town full of their relatives – probably due to shame and embarrassment at the situation; the family fleeing as refugees and being homeless because Jesus was in danger……

But that’s why there’s something to celebrate as New Year begins – Jesus was entrusted to an ordinary human family, not into wealth or a palace befitting a king. The first to hear of his birth were those on the hills tending the sheep – it was the poor and marginalised who heard the song of the Angels which so many others did not and they were told the good news first, with Jesus spending his early life as a refugee and then growing up in obscurity. He experienced so many of the issues still being faced today as well as then – so little has changed and yet so much!

Rosetti asks what Jesus can be given, poor as I am, and suggests that giving her heart is what’s needed. That’s as true today as at the first Christmas and when she wrote her carol. Love, hope and human care were needed and were enough for God’s purposes then – and that can be so now, no matter how bleak things seem to be getting. The stripping back of the luxury and frivolity to which many seem to have become accustomed may enable the true and basic values at the heart of the Christmas story to emerge once more – and that could enable a hopeful New Year, no matter how uncertain and challenging things seem as it begins. May it be so!

With my prayers; pob bendith,

Christine.

Greetings from the Tanat Valley 

May Christmas bring its blessings as well as its challenges and the New Year be a time of fresh hope,

Christine, Peter, Karen and the Trustees at St. Melangell’s.

Today’s reflection is Neges Nadolig, the Bishop of St Asaph’s Christmas letter, in Welsh and English by following the links: 

https://dioceseofstasaph.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/221219-Christmas-message-Pastoral-Letter-ENG.pdf

https://dioceseofstasaph.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/221219-Neges-Nadolig-Llythyr-Bugeiliol-CYM.pdf

Reflection for the Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday.

”Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” John the Baptist in today’s gospel, Matthew 11:2-11.

“You know he’s saying something proper and sensible.” The commentator Jo Phillips, of Gareth Southgate as he comforted Harry Kane after missing a vital penalty in the English football team’s World Cup quarter final match. 

A while ago, before I owned a sat nav, I was driving along country lanes in Norfolk and got completely lost. Fortunately, I saw an elderly chap at a junction and asked him how to get to my destination. “Well now,” he said in a mellow country burr as he scratched his chin, “If I were ‘ee, I wouldn’t be startin’ from ‘ere!”

But I had to start from there because there I was! His words came to mind with today’s reading where John the Baptist, having had people flock to hear him in last week’s gospel, is now languishing in prison. There he was in Herod’s dungeon, having been jailed for criticising him for marrying his brother’s wife – John’s caught in a protracted situation which will lead to his beheading. Rather than asking Jesus for help, John seeks clarification from the darkness of his cell – and he doesn’t just ponder. John takes action and sends his disciples to Jesus to question him. 

However, Jesus does not directly answer John – he simply replies that his disciples must relate to him what they hear and see. The blind, the lame, lepers and the deaf are being healed, the dead are being raised and the poor are receiving good news. These are signs of God’s kingdom being fulfilled but Jesus does not declare it openly and it could also antagonise the insecure King Herod further. John had called for repentance and spoke of the axe cutting down dead wood and fire to come whereas Jesus’ words are of mercy, healing and good news. The messages of the two men are very different as Jesus speaks of John’s greatness but declares that the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater. The work of the messenger is done but the waiting goes on as Jesus continues his journey towards his own imprisonment and a terrible death – but, also, resurrection and fresh hope. 

Today is also called Gaudete (rejoice) Sunday, because of the antiphon for the day:“Rejoice in the Lord alway and, again, I say rejoice!” ( Philippians 4:4) The darkness is lifting as the light of Christmas draws nearer – Advent is about hope and joy to come as well as the present reality. Today, many people are asking searching questions in light of the huge challenges currently being faced, just as difficult questions are already being asked about the future of Gareth Southgate who showed such grace and compassion as he tried to comfort Harry Kane.  At times of great pressure, do we also show the same grace and compassion – would proper, sensible words be on our lips?

John endured disappointment and pressure in his cell but continued to ask probing and reflective questions. In finding courage to do the same in our own time, Advent reminds us that we must wait hopefully and actively rather than passively, taking action to make a difference as did John. May his example enable us not only to continue to ask questions and take action but to see more clearly how and where the Kingdom is already being fulfilled so that we can continue joyfully to await its coming – no matter where we’re starting from.

With my prayers; pob bendith,

Christine, Guardian.

Reflection for the Second Sunday of Advent  – John the Baptist.

“Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’, for I tell you God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham…..one who is more powerful than I am is coming after me.” John the Baptist in Matthew 3:1-12.

“Where do you really come from, where do your people come from?” Lady Susan Hussey to Ngozi Falani.

The voice of John the Baptist is heard in today’s Gospel, proclaiming that one is coming without saying who the one is or where he’s coming from. Nothing has been heard of John since Luke’s account of his birth to aged parents Zechariah and Elizabeth but he is the second cousin of Jesus as Elizabeth and Mary were cousins. The older woman had greatly helped Mary, with Luke writing that she stayed with the pregnant Elizabeth for about three months as both came to terms with what was unfolding. Zechariah and Elizabeth are to be blessed with a child in very late life and Luke tells us that her child, John, leapt in Elizabeth’s womb and she was filled with the Holy Spirit as Mary arrived. At first Zechariah was struck dumb as he understandably struggled to accept this when told by the archangel Gabriel (whose name means God is my strength) what would happen. Eventually he was obedient to what God was asking of them both, the child was unexpectedly called John rather a family name and speech returned to this faithful old priest who was so surprised by God’s plans and then filled with the Holy Spirit as he praised God. Perhaps we too struggle to accept some of what God asks of us and can be forgetful of the Holy Spirit inspiring trust in God’s strength and not just our own? 

Zechariah was told that the child would have the spirit and power of Elijah and that he would turn many to God. When he appears in Matthew’s gospel, John is wearing camel hide with a leather belt and eating locusts and wild honey – as did Elijah. He speaks of the patriarch Abraham and is in the desert, reminiscent of the wandering of the people of Israel after the exodus from Egypt, as people travel to hear him and be baptised. Even some of the Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious leaders who focus on ritual and tradition, are coming to John – presumably to find out more about him – and John calls them a brood of vipers as he speaks openly of the need to repent. But John points to the one who is coming after him as he tells them, “I am not worthy”. Despite his own stature and role, John defines himself in relation to the one who will be coming but is not here yet – and Jesus does later appear as John prepares the way for him. 

The last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, mentions an oracle from God prophesying that, “I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.” This prophecy was made a long time after Elijah but four hundred years before John and so his appearance would create much speculation for those hearing his words. As the bridge between the Old and New Testaments, John is key to the traditional role of the prophets in preaching the need for repentance and change and in speaking of the one who is to come. But this is the arrival of his second cousin – isn’t it?

John seems to be a mystery to those questioning him as he dismisses the attention to himself, but clearly he knew who he was in relation to what Jesus was to him. The one who is coming is much more than his second cousin and it seems that the Holy Spirit has enabled John – in the womb and since – to realise who Jesus really is and where he comes from. All of us are much more than we may seem to be and it can take a lifetime to realise the many layers of identity that make us who we are. That surfaced in the recent exchange at Buckingham Palace where a guest was repeatedly questioned about her origins and when offence was taken at a time of great change that can be a challenge for some.

John challenged many and still does today as his words are a focus once more. In pointing to Jesus rather than himself, John is a reminder of those who have influenced our faith development and pointed us in the right direction to discern where God is at work in our lives just as we have opportunities to do the same for them. This Advent, John’s message of repentance and faith rings out once more – may the Holy Spirit enable us to hear and respond to his message amongst the voices warning of doom and the distractions which may divert us as we face the call in our own time to prepare for the coming again of the One who is both judge and love incarnate.

With my prayers; pob bendith,

Christine, Guardian.

Advent Message

Advent Message

As the Guardian has Covid, this reflection is written by Christopher Belk who kindly took today’s service with his wife Ruth. Thanks to them as Advent and Year A begin – may both bring their blessings as well as their challenges.

Comment for ADVENT Sunday

Part 1 (Isaiah 2, 2-5)

The first purple candle is associated with the prophets, and there cannot be many greater than Isaiah. He is one of many whose prophecies would have been taken at that time (and probably still are by the Jews) to refer to the geographical city of Jerusalem, and to the restoration of Israel to that place after their captivity by Nebuchadnezzar. However they clearly extend far further than Jewish history alone can explain. It is true that many Jews still desire to go up to mount Zion (when the Arabs let them which largely they don’t) and that it is not unknown, though pretty rare, for Israel to mediate in disputes between nations, but certainly the nuclear missiles have not yet become plowshares or pruning hooks and Israel itself has plenty of disputes of its own to deal with. Indeed, Jews would agree that these prophecies will only be fulfilled when the Messiah comes.

Jesus knew these prophecies well, and continually identified himself with their fulfilment. That was the main reason why the Jewish authorities put him to death – they could not accept the possibility that the long expected Messiah might just have arrived.

This prophecy of Isaiah is an “in and out” prophecy – the nations will come in to seek the Word of the Lord and then the Word will go out. There is that rather strange moment recorded in Chap 12 of John’s gospel when some Greeks asked Jesus disciple Philip if they could see Jesus. Jesus reaction was not just to say “how nice to see you”, but it was to recognise this as the moment when Isaiah’s prophecy was going to start happening – other nations were beginning to seek the true Word of God, that is Jesus himself. He said “Now is the Son of Man glorified”, and that his hour had come, and that it was necessary for a seed to die in order to produce much fruit.

Another similar prophecy is in Ezekiel chap 47, where after very detailed visions of the design of a new temple (which was never physically built to that design) Ezekiel was shown a river coming out from that city which got deeper and deeper as it flowed through the lands and was lined with trees for the healing of the nations. Cut to John 7.37 where Jesus says “whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him”. So the company of believers, that includes you and me, have become the new temple from which the healing streams of the Spirit should flow to solve all the problems of the nations. Indeed I can see no solution to the Israeli/Palestinian problem, or the Russia/Ukraine problem, or the Irish problem, or American politics, except Jesus.

The temptation, in Advent, is to remember the history of Jesus coming birth and the visions leading up to it, with all the trimmings from wreaths to Christmas cards, while forgetting His presence right now amid the rush of secular Christmas, poverty and world problems.

Part 2 (Matthew 24 36-44)

Of course, if we remember advent properly, we may take a momentary glance away from the Christmas cards to look forward to the second coming. The same prophets also look far ahead to “the last days”, and people have been trying ever since either to put a timetable on the subject or conveniently to forget it. I can’t remember seeing many greeting cards illustrating that event, and anyone who parades a placard announcing the end of the world is usually written off as a fool. Even

my dear mother, who was no fool, used to say she was sure Jesus would come back in her lifetime, which ended on earth in 1994 though she can now go on waiting in heaven.

So Matthew’s gospel leaves us in the tension of being sure that day will come (and it could be today which at least would save Wales from possible relegation in the world cup) but also being forbidden to put timings on it. The only option is to say correctly that the end of the world is at hand and to behave as though it may indeed be today, though remembering that “at hand” in God’s planning and timing can be millennia or moments.. Jesus’ picture of the sudden separation of friends and colleagues is unnerving to say the least, and should be a wake up call to make sure friends and colleagues know Jesus, as well as to ensure we know him well enough ourselves, which will ultimately be proved by what we do and how we live. And we shouldn’t wait for Christmas as the dating of that is a human invention anyway.

One thing we can do perhaps, particularly at this time of year, is to make sure we mean what we sing. I am as guilty as anyone in churning out the much loved Christmas carols largely because they have nice tunes. It has done me good to have to learn carols and other hymns in Welsh, giving me new opportunities to think what the words are saying. Many hymns are directly addressed to God, and we should remember whom we are addressing, how unworthy we are to address Him at all, and how amazing is His grace in inviting us to do so in reliance on the sacrifice of His Son.

Reflection for Stir up Sunday.

“Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people.” The Collect or prayer for Stir up Sunday, which gives the day its name. 

The only dish the Chancellor was serving up was vast ladles of pain and misery, seasoned with generous sprinklings of doom and gloom.” Sketch writer Henry Deedes, of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement.

Today is Stir Up Sunday, the start of the week before Advent, which later led to puddings being made in time to mature for Christmas with each family member stirring the mixture and making a wish. Various customs began to develop, such as the pud having thirteen ingredients to represent Jesus with his disciples and then being stirred from east to west in honour of the Wise Men who travelled in that direction to find the Christchild. It became part of the preparations for the Christmas celebration at a bleak and dark time of year. 

Originally the pudding was frumenty, a savoury type of pottage with grain, meat, dried fruit and spices. Later, it became more of a plum pudding and was banned as being too rich by the Puritans in England when they tried to do away with Christmas itself although this was reinstated by Charles II on his restoration in 1660. George I was said to have eaten a pudding at his first Christmas meal in England, becoming known as the ‘Pudding King’, and then Prince Albert made it fashionable in the Victorian additions which are so much part of Christmas today, with charms or coins being added to the mixture as tokens of good luck to come.  It was also served with a sprig of holly on top, originating from pagan times as a sign of fertility but later representing Jesus’ crown of thorns with flaming brandy marking the Passion. 

Nowadays, much of this has been forgotten and Christmas puddings are often bought rather than made at home, after which they would have been wrapped in a cloth and boiled for hours before being left to mature. This year, Stir Up Sunday may have a different significance with so much being stirred up by what’s happened since the new Prime Minister took office. Internationally and nationally, there was already disruption due to the war in Ukraine, the cost of living crisis, the increase in Covid cases and the loss of the late Queen. On top of all this, the severe fiscal policies announced since have been controversial and have stirred up further uncertainty and turmoil. What now lies ahead?

In the midst of it all, the collect for Stir Up Sunday this month reminds us that it originally asked for wills to be stirred up rather than puddings. If this present confusion leads to the will to make a difference for good when faced with such turmoil or shakes up what may have been taken for granted, then feeling mixed up about the situation may be part of this beginning to happen. So take heart from what evolved historically and remember as preparations are made at a bleak time of year for whatever lies ahead that at least Christmas hasn’t been banned. Yet!!

With my prayers; pob bendith,

Christine, Guardian.