Julie's Jottings for December

 Christmas Greetings
As Christmas approaches, it is important to reflect on the profound impact Christianity has had on our nation's history. The arrival of Augustine in 597AD, sent by Pope Gregory, marked a significant turning point. Augustine established a meaningful friendship with King Ethelbert, which led to the founding of Canterbury Cathedral, establishing Christianity’s deep roots here. Christian presence existed before Augustine, with early communities influenced by Roman soldiers; and there is evidence of an ancient church at Butt Road, Colchester, dating to around 330AD.  For centuries, Christianity has shaped British culture and traditions. Like the breath we breathe, vitality is given to us, our values and traditions without us thinking about it.  This is perhaps more visible during Christmas.

For more than a thousand years, Christians in Britain have prepared for the Nativity of Christ through the recitation or singing of the ‘Advent Antiphons’. These ancient verses set out eight different titles or names of Jesus, each drawing from imagery in the Old Testament, helping to deepen our understanding of who Christ is. Each Antiphon serves as an invitation to encounter Jesus anew at Christmas.

This year, we extend a warm invitation to all to join us for three special Wednesday evenings of reflection in church around these eight nativity antiphons.  You are invited to join us on the 3rd, 10th, and 17th of December, at St Mary’s Church for Compline with Advent Antiphons at 7:30pm.  This is a chance to step away from the busyness of the season and find a measure of calm, helping you approach the complexity of Christmas with a sense of peace as we enjoy the Advent Antiphons afresh. The stories and traditions from the past serve to remind us that, just as generations before us made ready for Christ’s coming, we are also invited to prepare ourselves—body, mind, and spirit—for the joy of Christmas.       Rev Julie Norris. 
    
Merry Christmas from Rev Julie Norris and Rev Chris Shore, Rev Sarah West, Father Edward Westrip and the St Mary’s Ministry Team
 
 

Reflection for December

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The timeless seasonal greeting re-awakens memories of times past, and kindles our expectations of pleasures to come. Living as we do in the Earth’s Northern Hemisphere the weather reflects our bleak mid-wintery hymns, ‘’Snow had fallen snow on snow’ and all the other chilly scenes we set for Bethlehem two thousand years ago when Christ our Saviour was born.

At this point I have to admit that capturing the Christmas spirit in the Southern Hemisphere is a little more difficult. I have stood on an Australian beach in the blazing sun, and with the temperature over 30 degrees singing ‘In the bleak mid-winter’ but despite that the jolly greetings between friends - and strangers- were every bit as sincere as they are here. Christmas everywhere should rightly be a time of love, of sharing of hope, and of happiness and joy.

Christmas Day for us, December 25th, roughly coincides with the winter solstice, when the nights grow shorter and the days longer, the sun begins to declare that spring is surely on its way. Long before that first Christmas the ancient peoples kept festivals to celebrate the return of the sun and the promise of new life in the spring, a time of joy after the hardship of surviving the winter.  We can be even more joyful than they were, now that the light of Christ has dawned on us. In His name we share the love of God and sow the seeds of his mercy and justice for all. 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!