News and reflections

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Sunday reflection

Reflection for the Third Sunday of Epiphany 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to tell the poor the good news. “ From the Gospel for today, Luke 4:14-21.
“If I die, I die but I won’t be controlled.” The words of Meat Loaf, who has allegedly died of Covid, having refused the vaccine. 
Today marks the Third Sunday of Epiphany, the season which ends the twelve days of Christmas and reveals the glory of God in human form in the world. It begins in a manger, outside the town and amidst animals, with the good news being told to poor shepherds. The visit of the Magi, who were Zoroastrians and Gentiles – people of a different faith – reveals that the Christ-child is not for the Jews alone. The voice heard at the baptism of Jesus reveals him to be God’s beloved Son, in whom he is well pleased, and the turning of water into wine at a wedding in Cana is a further sign of God present amongst humanity.
The Gospel today has a revelation from Jesus himself. He has returned from the wilderness and has already begun to travel around and teach in the synagogues, now appearing in the synagogue in Nazareth, where he was brought up and nurtured in the faith. He is handed the scroll of Isaiah, from which the words, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to tell the poor the good news,” then receive a different resonance as Jesus reads what has been called the manifesto for his ministry. The passage refers to the Messiah and Jesus tells his hearers that the scripture has been fulfilled that day – a revelation of his own choice and timing. This later leads to them trying to throw him off a cliff, so incensed are they to hear what this local lad is claiming. As one of the recent temptations he had faced was about him allowing angels to catch him if this happened, this is an early test of Jesus’ resolve and the way he sees himself and his ministry. 
Jesus’ manifesto is also the blueprint for those who follow in his footsteps and one of the temptations for his followers today is to assume that our own priorities and preferences are God’s, too, and that those who disagree with us are wrong rather than different. It has been said that many Christians are willing to serve God – but in an advisory capacity!  In this incidence, Jesus is not so much being controlled by the word of God as discerning who and what he is about if he is truly to be his Father’s Son.
By contrast, it seems that Meat Loaf’s father was a violent alcoholic who could not cope after the early death of his wife and whose actions caused his son to distance himself from him. His father’s influence apparently affected Meat Loaf throughout his life and it seems that his desire not to be controlled may have actually contributed to his death – though he survived longer than others who followed the same rock and roll lifestyle! Perhaps the pandemic and Meat’s death amongst so many may enable us to realise that we are not as in control of our destiny and circumstances as we sometimes think – or that we’re looking in the wrong places to find what we seek in life.
Jesus’ reading in the Temple takes place in Galilee, well away from the religious centre of Jerusalem, as does most of his ministry – his death, resurrection and ascension will also take place outside the city. To glimpse God in our world today, we will also find the light in unexpected places and discern how to reflect the light as its growing reality dawns upon us. In this week of prayer for Christian Unity – taking place in the midst of the separation and the loss of control that some perceive is being created by the pandemic – that can mean a change of approach and vision as well as intent:
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” Antoine de St. Exupery.J

Every blessing/Pob Bendith

Christine

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Sunday reflection

Reflection for What-if-ity and Epiphanytide

”The people were filled with expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah…… When Jesus also had been baptised and was praying, the heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him.” From Luke 3:15-17, 21,22.
What if Mary or Joseph had said no, the shepherds had stayed put, the wise men had not gone back by a different route and the soldiers had found the child in the manger? From The What-if-ity, Christian Aid.
The what-ifs of the Nativity stories are many, as are the connections between those mentioned in the accounts in Luke’s Gospel. Zeccariah and Elizabeth, John the Baptist’s parents, understandably struggle to accept what is being asked of them in their old age while Joseph and Mary also have much to contend with. Elizabeth and Mary are cousins and so John and Jesus are also related. Those resonances appear at the later baptism of Jesus whilst the feast of the Epiphany also celebrates the wider links of God’s purposes. The revelation of the Christ child to the Gentiles, and not only the Jews, was shown by the Magi from the East bringing symbolic gifts to the baby – but what if they hadn’t noticed the star or been willing to set out on their journey following it, without knowing where it would lead them? 
I set out on a long journey recently and noticed that the car was not pulling well up hill but it wasn’t until I couldn’t stop at the lights that I realised there was a problem. It was booked it in for a check but, although I’d had confirmation of that, the garage couldn’t fit it in. I was told to bring it back next day so, trusting their judgement, I did. When I returned, the work still could not be done quickly so I found another garage to look at it and was shocked when they confirmed that a part had failed and that the brakes were in a dangerous condition. I had been in greater danger than I had realised it and was so grateful that the repairs could also be done that day. Later, the what-ifs came to mind – what if there had been other traffic at the lights when I couldn’t stop quickly? What if the brakes had got to the point of complete failure? What if the second garage had also said no? 
It’s so easy to make assumptions about the situations we are in and the journeys we undertake. When John the Baptist came out of his journey into the wilderness, the effect it had on him made the crowd think he could be the Messiah. He wasn’t, and said so – but what if that had been a temptation for him that he couldn’t resist? The crowds were expectant and questioning – perhaps we should be too, as the challenges of the year ahead begin to unfold. As he was baptised by his relative, Luke tells us that Jesus was praying, that the Holy Spirit came to him and the words from heaven revealed him as God’s beloved son, with whom he was well pleased. In the light of Omicron and the what-ifs of life we all face in varying ways, what is being revealed to us, what might we need to question and what encouraging words do we hear as we travel on our way?
With my prayers; pob bendith,

Christine, Guardian.

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Sunday reflection

Reflection for the fourth Sunday of Advent.

“My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.” Mary, in today’s Gospel Luke 1:39-56.

In the bleak midwinter frosty wind made moan – Christmas carol.
Peak midwinter – Daily Mirror headline today regarding rising Omicron statistics.
The storm clouds are gathering as many churches prepare to hold carol services today in light of dire warnings about the spread of Omicron. This year, as beautiful carols such as In the bleak midwinter are sung once more, new resonances come into being with puns in the newspaper headlines and the irony of it being Lord Frost whose resignation has caused the latest worry for Boris Johnson. As we now face a crisis that has been called the nightmare before Christmas, Mary’s quiet insistence that her soul rejoices even amidst the uncertainty she then faced speaks to us across the ages. 
Mary’s proclamation in the Magnificat is a song of hope at a time when there was Roman occupation, much political unrest as well as suspicion and a census requiring travel which can’t have been easy when heavily pregnant. In one so young, Mary’s words could seem naive until the reality became clear as she and Joseph together answered God’s call and gave human care to Jesus in a place where there was only room for him with the animals. In doing so, an innkeeper, working shepherds on a chilly hillside, wandering scholars and King Herod became aware of his birth and the seeds were sown for Jesus’ first two years to be spent on the run in Egypt as a refugee. Not the best of starts for the Holy Family, it would seem, and yet all part of God’s transformative purposes. 
Today, there are still so many refugees, political unrest as well as violence and travel is again an issue due to the pandemic. Many are sick at heart due to the losses, changes and weariness the pandemic has brought and the way the world is. Others are sick of the political posturing going on and many are sick with Covid and its effects, causing yet more concern about the strain on the NHS. Whatever challenges we face this Christmas, once more the story of the mingling of divine and human love can bring us hope if we allow it too and Mary’s words can inspire us to rejoice too despite the perplexing circumstances ahead. 
Two thousand years ago, a young woman and her perplexed fiancé persevered despite all the complexities they faced as they looked for and enabled the good within it all. Today, where and how can we persevere by looking for and enabling the good within it all – despite the growing complexities we now face – so that the Good News of love and hope reborn will still be proclaimed at a time when the world so much needs to hear it?
With my prayers; pob bendith,
Christine.

TV: your ultimate guide to staying in.
Potentially existential – Sadiq Kahn, London Mayor.
Peak midwinter – mirror

In the bleak midwinter – Lord Frost.What some have called The nightmare before Christmas 

The pill will be worse than the ill – Dr Chris Smith. Response worse than problem – Not enough yet known about Omicron.

a healthy Christmas and a hopeful New Year. 
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Sunday reflection

Reflection for the Third Sunday of Advent.
John the Baptist was not a diplomat! In this week’s Gospel, he calls the crowds coming to him for baptism a brood of vipers, poisonous snakes, and urges them to repent. Rather than claim favoured spiritual ancestry because of their links to Abraham, John tells them that they can’t avoid their own accountability for their relationship with God and must bear good fruit before it is too late. When asked how they should do this, John speaks of practical responses and urges the crowds around him to share their possessions of clothing and food with those who have none. The tax collectors also present are warned to be honest in their financial dealings and collect no more than they should. The same applies to the soldiers – probably Herod’s troops rather than Roman soldiers – who are told not to be violent or lie and to be content with their wages rather than use this as an excuse to abuse others. John tells his hearers that they should remain where they are rather than leave their homes or work but change their ways to show that they are serious about responding to God’s call in their lives and caring for their neighbour.
Luke states that multitudes are coming to John for baptism and many people are beginning to wonder if he is the Christ. Rather than be flattered by this, John insists that he is just a voice crying in the wilderness, doing what he can to prepare the way for the one who is to come. His call to the crowds then is still echoed today as we also face ongoing questions of leadership, officialdom and the abuse of power by officials, scammers, the military – or ourselves.
Perhaps, like the crowds then, we have also made excuses about our religious heritage, used it judgementally in a pluralistic world or become complacent about the spiritual fruit of our lives. For all of us, there are places in our lives where spiritual mountains and valleys, peaks and troughs need attention as we consider what has become blocked or emptied during our way through life. If we really are to get things straightened out, Advent is a good time to consider the things we sometimes prefer to avoid and the demands made of us. It’s hard: John’s ministry led to his own imprisonment and death for exposing the sins of Herod the tetrarch but his call to repentance still echoes to those who will heed it. His words remind us that we, too, will be held accountable for how we live out our faith, care for our neighbour and prepare the way for God’s purposes, now as then. That can be both daunting and wonder-full! 
With my prayers; pob bendith,
Christine, Guardian.
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Sunday reflection

Reflection for the second Sunday of Advent.

Driving in the dark recently, I was struck by how many Christmas lights and decorations are up and shining brightly when it’s the early days of Advent and Christmas Day is still three weeks away. Advent is a time of preparation and waiting but, understandably after so miserable a time, many people seem to want to begin the festive celebrations early. Uncertainty still prevails as Omicron gets into circulation but, due to the disruption previously caused  by the pandemic, many people are hopeful of having a much better Christmas with their families and loved ones this year.

For some, Christmas will not be the same with so many painful losses and situations that may have changed their lives and expectations permanently. For others, the hope is that the usual Christmas tree, decorations, meal and gifts will be possible once more as families and friends gather to celebrate the day. However, sensible precautions are also being urged with the arrival of Omicron and each family or individual will need to make their own response to their particular circumstances, 

However, the difficulties arising with the supply chain mean that there has been concern that there may not be enough stocks of food, toys and gifts to meet the demand. As a result, Christmas shopping has started earlier than ever – although not everyone is disappointed to learn that, due to difficulties in finding seasonal workers, there may be a shortage of sprouts!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas says the song – but what does Christmas look like? The first Christmas was very different, with a child being born to parents away from home and shunned by family members because of the shame brought on them. Nowadays, Mary becoming pregnant before marriage would not be the issue it was then but Joseph was clearly concerned about Mary’s mental health too, with her talk of angels and messages from God. His dismay is understandable – but human help was needed to bring fresh hope to birth and Joseph also had to rethink his own priorities for this to happen. He changed his mind about Mary and, together, they made a positive difference. So, Jesus was born into human care in a place where animals were fed, quickly becoming a refugee when the family had to flee their homeland. That still happens today, with so many people displaced in the world, hungry, in need of help or with mental health issues. Perhaps, together, we too can make a positive difference to similar situations in our own families and 

communities or through charitable donations and support? 

The experiences we’ve all been through may be making us change our minds about Christmas and what is important to us. Now, as then, fresh hope can be born in difficult circumstances and Love can still find a home when human hearts are open to the challenge. That’s why the Christmas lights and decorations can be a sign of hope at the darkest time of year, despite the gloom and challenges that are ahead. There may be shortages of festive items this year – but, when you think of the love, hope and new beginning at the heart of the first Christmas and still around today, are they actually essential?

With my prayers; pob bendith,Christine, Guardian.

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Bishop Gregory’s advent message

Today is Advent Sunday, so we are sending a message from Bishop Gregory, which you can find on the Church in Wales website via the following link: 

https://dioceseofstasaph.org.uk/bishopgregory/advent-message/

. This year, the message is available in video form; and as an audio message in both Welsh and English; as well as the usual letter.

Following the storms on Friday night, the St. Melangell Centre, lost power for 24 hours and still has no internet access. Sorry if you have been trying to telephone or email during this time. We are told it should be back to normal within 48 hours.
Today’s service will be running as usual at 3pm.
With prayers from all at St. Melangell’s.
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Sunday reflection

Reflection for Stir Up Sunday.

“My kingdom is not from this world.” Jesus, in today’s Gospel John 18:33-37.
Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Collect, 1549 Book of Common Prayer.
It’s Stir Up Sunday today, the last Sunday before Advent and the end of Year B in the lectionary of readings before Year C begins next week. The day takes its title from the original collect and its opening words in preparation for Advent meant that it also became the traditional time for the making of Christmas puddings and for a silent wish to be made by those stirring the mixture. 
As it’s approaching the penitential season of Advent at a wintry time of endings as well as beginnings, this Sunday can stir up many mixed emotions in us and we may find our wishes and hopes negated despite good intent. More recently, this Sunday has also become the feast of Christ the King who, in appearing before Pilate after his arrest, said that his kingdom is not of this world. Nevertheless, Jesus subjected himself to the worldly demands being made of him as he was enthroned on the wood of the cross with a crown of thorns. The servant king confronted earthly power and called his followers to  serve others too – two thousand years later, the struggle between power and authority, peace and service continues. 
Brochwel, Prince of Powys, was very much part of a kingly family when he encountered Melangell as she gave shelter to a hare being chased by his hounds. In refusing to hand over the scared creature, Melangell was clearly unwilling to accept his authority as was customary in those days and put herself in a position of possible danger when she refused. Brochwel, however, did not exercise his customary rights and power and, generously, gave her part of the valley for an abbey to be built, of which she became abbess. Their encounter enabled them both to bring out the best in each other and, as we continue to face the many consequences being stirred up by confrontations and power struggles in so many places, may their example hearten us. 
Wesley’s hymn, O thou who camest from above, asks Jesus to ‘still stir up the gift in me’  and this Stir Up Sunday, if we’re feeling a bit mixed up about the way the world is, that may be appropriate. In following the footsteps of the Servant King, if we truly are to stir up the fruits of the Spirit as well as the pudding this Stir Up Sunday, what would your silent but prayerful wish be today?
With my prayers; pob bendith,
Christine, Guardian.
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Remembrance Sunday reflection

Reflection on Remembrance

“When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed… for nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom….” Jesus, in Mark 13:1-8.

“I remember going in the first night we ever went to the trenches, and one fellow…said to another chap, “Good God, the MO’s come up with us – that makes you feel better, chum, doesn’t it?” Then I realised I was doing some good by being there. Medically, I felt I was doing no good at all.” Captain M. Esler, Royal Army Medical Corps, 1915.
Jesus’s words in today’s Gospel seem rather fatalistic, foretelling terrible things to come at what may seem like the end of the world but which may actually refer to the fall of Jerusalem, as would happen when the Temple was destroyed in AD 70. So many years later, Captain Esler found himself in the midst of terrible destruction but realised that some good happened simply by being there although his medical skills could be of little use in the trenches. 106 years on, warfare is ongoing and many battles are still being waged, with casualties and devastation arising as a result. Being there and part of it may bring about some good, but may also mean that our usual skills and gifts can’t be utilised, as Esler found in World War One.
During the same war, another MO, the Canadian Gunner John McCrae, experienced warfare as a nightmare. Fighting in the second battle of Ypres, he wrote in a letter to his mother that, “For seventeen days and nights none of us have had our clothes off, nor our boots even, except occasionally. In all that time while I was awake, gunfire and rifle fire never ceased for sixty seconds…. Behind it all was the constant background of the sights of the dead, the wounded, the maimed, and a terrible anxiety lest the line should give way.” When his friend Alexis Helmer was killed during the battle on May 2nd 1915, McCrae took his funeral service himself and noticed how quickly poppies had regrown around nearby graves. As a result, he penned the poem In Flanders Fields whilst sitting in the back of an ambulance near the dressing station, writing words he sensed from the dead and their urge to the living to press on. 
McCrae himself was dead by the end of January 1918, succumbing to pneumonia and meningitis whilst still in command of No. 3 Canadian General Hospital in France, and his final poem The anxious dead refers to his own situation: “These fought their fight in time of bitter fear, And died not knowing how the day had gone.” In this poem, the living answer the dead: “Tell them, O dead, that we have heard their call, that we have sworn, and will not turn aside, That we will onward till we win or fall, That we will keep the faith for which they died.” McCrae writes that, eventually, the dead, “shall feel earth enwrapt in silence deep…. And in content may turn them to their sleep.” 
The hope is that peace will eventually prevail but, meanwhile, the reality of the turmoil of which Jesus spoke over two thousand years ago continues and the challenge in McCrae’s previous poem is to us as well as his generation as we continue the struggles facing us in our day:

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields, the poppies growBetween the crosses, row on row,     That mark our place; and in the sky    The larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,    Loved and were loved, and now we lie,        In Flanders fields.Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throw    The torch; be yours to hold it high.    If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow        In Flanders fields.

With my prayers; pob bendith,

Christine, Guardian.
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Sunday reflection

Reflection on racism

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” Mark 1:16-20

“It’s been a shambles.” Phil Walker, editor of Wisden’s cricket magazine.
How appropriate it was that Phil Walker used the word shambles to describe the handling of the row about racism at Headingley, the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club in Leeds. Shambles is one of the most famous streets in York, originally an open-air slaughterhouse where animals were butchered and waste, blood and bones were thrown into a channel running down the middle of the street. Nowadays, Shambles is a much more pleasant place with shops and buildings overhanging the cobbled street but the hooks and shelves of its history can still be seen and the word has now come to mean anything messy, chaotic or destructive. How appropriate, then, that it should be used of the unaddressed racism row that has now caused such chaos in its county cricket and led to the withdrawal of both matches and sponsors from the club.
Nor is this specific to Yorkshire as other clubs are also facing similar allegations and the England and Wales Cricket Board itself faces criticism of being too slow to take action. It also involves the women’s game and appropriate language with Salma Bi saying, “I was twelfth man in so many games.” As the first British Muslim woman to play at county level cricket, the irony of her still being described as male reminded me of my days as one of the first women to be ordained when I was called Fr. Christopher by those who struggled to come to terms with change in the Church of England!
Change can be hard to accept or promote, which is why the words of Jesus have such astounding consequences in the Gospel today. When he tells Simon and Andrew to follow him, they leave their nets ‘at once’ (v18) and so do James and John, who even abandon their father Zebedee in a boat with hired men to follow Jesus. Perhaps they had all got to know one another beforehand but all four fishermen immediately leave their nets, families and livelihoods although Jesus tells them that they will now fish for
people. Their experience will be useful – but what did their relatives make of them dropping everything to follow him? Was this a surprise or agreed? How did they manage without them? Mark doesn’t tell his readers but it’s clear that the ministry of Jesus is not something he chooses to do on his own and for which he needs the involvement of others. ”Follow me,” he says to the disciples then and to us today. 
Amidst the complexity of life today, there are many other voices also calling us to follow their example, leadership or actions. In situations that become shambolic, chaos may seem to prevail and it can be a bloody business, wounding hearts and minds as well as bodies. But if change is to be effective, hopeful and not just tokenistic, the challenge and call is to respond together and as individuals to make a difference for good where we can. Whose voice will we hear and follow?
With my prayers; pob bendith,
Christine, Guardian.