Newsletter 29th November 2020 – 1st Sunday of Advent
Dear All,
At last! Public worship can be made available next Wednesday but, unfortunately, I am in quarantine until Wednesday evening because I have been in contact with a parishioner who has been admitted to hospital suffering from the Covid-9 virus. Please, keep him and all the sick of the parish in your prayers.
My being in quarantine means that I have had to cancel all my appointments until Thursday 3rd December. I think that I have managed to contact all who were coming to see me but my sincere apologies to anybody I have failed to contact. Please telephone me and we can rearrange a time.
Your prayers are asked …
The repose of the soul of Terry Sibbons of Fulbeck who died on the 23rd November and for his wife and family in their time of loss. Terry’s funeral will take place on Friday 11th December.
And, as we come to the end of November, we also remember all the deceased of our parish, all those contained in our November Dead List, and, all our family and friends who have gone before us to meet the Lord in his glory.
Advent:
It would appear that this year, the 12 Days of Christmas might be reduced to 5 as far as social gathering and family get-togethers are concerned but that is no reason why we cannot make the most of this Christmas in a spiritual sense. (I suspect that I’ll be seeing my family closer to the New Year!)
It is a time when we can remember the love of God for us and why we celebrate the great event of the Nativity.
Whilst we will not be having any communal singing this year, we will, no doubt, hear many Carols (many of which we know by heart) and come to a better appreciation of why we are celebrating: the real meaning of Christmas.
Do you wear a Wedding Ring? Who gave it to you? What is it a reminder of?
The five gold rings of the Carol are the gifts given to somebody who needs a lot of reminding.
The five books of the Law are also written as reminders. They remind us that we are made in the image of God; that we have fallen; that God aims to save us; and, that we often work at cross-purposes with Him even when He wills our good since we are a “stiff-necked and rebellious people.” … This is why the Christ Child came to us and why Jesus, God made man, died on the cross and rose from the dead.
They remind us that despite this unpleasant diagnosis, God still wills our good and is determined that we shall have it. The whole point of the command given by Joshua (18) is for Israel to remember. The paradox of the command is that Israel will discover through long centuries of attempts the deepest reminder of the book of the Law: namely, that it cannot be kept.
It was to teach this all-important lesson that the law was given, so that when Christ came He would find those who recognized that the law could not save, but could only point us to our need of salvation and ready us for the coming of the Saviour
2020 29th November – 1st Sunday of Advent – Download
St Marys School Open Evening Poster – Download