Dear friends,
So, we begin the month that commemorates the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, when all of the shops will be filled with tinsel, crackers, fairy lights and trees, all eager to entice you in and buy presents for the family. Each year I hear people say: ‘too soon, far too soon for Christmas lights and windows with snowmen’. Well, I used to have a similar view, though now changed a little, but not for the reasons you might expect!
The ‘Cinderella period’ that is eclipsed by early Christmas bargains, is the rather beautiful four weeks of Advent. Advent is seemingly pushed aside in the rush for the great day on the 25th, but that is a shame. I feel that the four weeks of Advent, which begins on Sunday 3rd December this year, is very important to all Christians throughout the world.
‘Advent’, is derived from the Greek word, parousia and means ‘coming’, anticipating the arrival, or ‘advent’, of Jesus of Nazareth, the long-awaited Messiah and King, written about in the Old Testament. Like many churches, in this country and elsewhere, St Hilda’s adopts the tradition of the Advent Ring. The ring, as the name implies, is a circular shape and symbolises God’s infinite love for us – it is never-ending, just like the true Light of the World, Jesus, who leads us into eternal life with him. The materials of the Advent wreath similarly lead us to reflect on the everlasting nature of God; traditionally, Advent wreaths have been made of evergreen leaves, such as pine or fir, which maintain their green colour beyond the season in which they are collected.
The Ring has four candles placed in it, three are purple and the other pink and there is a centre candle that is white and is lit at Christmas. The candles are lit progressively each Sunday and these represent Hope (week 1); Prophecy (week 2); Joy (week 3) and Peace (week 4). Advent, like Lent is a penitential season and both help us to prepare for the great feasts of Easter and Christmas.
There is enough in the world to be sorry about, not least the continuing battle grounds of the Ukraine, Gaza, and Israel but each of us have things in our own lives for which we are sorry and perhaps need to say so to almighty God and seek his forgiveness.
Christmas will come soon enough but do come to St Hilda’s and share in, not only Christmas Day but in Advent too.
Like others, I look forward to Christmas Day, to celebrating the joy of Christ’s incarnation, manifest in a stable at Bethlehem, to the joy of the shepherds, and to see the faces of children and hearing about what presents they have received.
God bless you all, and may you have a happy and prayerful Advent and Joyous Christmas.
The Reverend Fr Ronald Croft
Dear friends,
Each year I look forward to the month of November filled as it is of reminders of our faith and the challenges we face in our daily lives.
My prayers of late have been focussed on the Palestinian and Israeli people whose continual conflict has escalated to such a level where so many lives are lost each and every day through mass attacks by missiles or aircraft strikes, or from subversive action on the ground, all with devastating consequences. It’s hard to see where all of this might end and if it is possible for people to sit around a table and find a common, and mutually beneficial solution. Yet, other wars still rage and people suffer and so our prayers are still needed as the conflict between Russian and Ukrainian troops continues.
Many politicians exchange words of hope and yet have incessant arguments about the right way forward, but arms are still supplied with the sole purpose of making one side stronger than the other. I find it hard to take sides, rather I prefer to commit all such matters to our Lord and pray that his calming self, might encourage discussion rather than dissention, positivity instead of procrastination, and love instead of loathing. God’s people, whether we call him Almighty God, or Allah or Elohim or any other name, do not seek war but long for peace, and peace is what we should pray for as we live each day as a pilgrim people, and as God’s children.
As each year passes, I cannot ignore, as none of us can, that age changes us. We ache that little bit more than we did last week or last year, we forget people’s names or what we went into a room to do, or what it was that we meant to do this morning. Things that were once very familiar are no longer so. At the beginning of this month I shall be 93 years of age and I thank God that I have been able to serve as a priest in the church for the majority of my life; I thank him for the people that I have met on my journey of faith and for the parishes in which I have served; I thank him for the friends I have made for the joys brought by kindness and for the privilege of living. Age, they say, is nothing more than a number and I hope to serve this parish and the people of St Hilda’s for many more years to come.
The 1st November is the feast of All Saints, a day when the church gives thanks for the lives of the many saints who have gone before us and share in that great Communion of all who live in God’s presence. The 2ndis the feast of All souls, a time to pray for loved ones whose lives on earth have ended and who have begun their journey in Paradise. As always, we shall pray for individuals at our mass on that day so do come to St Hilda’s, or pass the names of those who have died in your family to me or to the PCC Secretary, Mrs Carole East.
Time may well be passing and wars continue to rage, but God is with us and his love will sustain us through any trial.
Every blessing.
The Reverend Fr Ronald Croft