Just a reminder for our congregation that the only service at S. John’s on New Year’s Day, also the Naming and Circumcision of Jesus, is at 10am. There is an 8am Book of Common Prayer Service at S. Mary’s Caterham on the Hill.
Today is the feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist, and the patron saint of our Church. Six at the mass this morning – more, of course, would be nice, but we all enjoyed it.
Merciful Lord,
cast your bright beams of light upon the Church:
that, being enlightened by the teaching
of your blessed apostle and evangelist Saint John,
we may so walk in the light of your truth
that we may at last attain to the light of everlasting life;
through Jesus Christ your incarnate Son our Lord.Common Worship
Well, the Christmas services are now all over. Here’s the sermon I preached at Midnight Mass this year. As always at the Midnight Mass, the gospel reading was the prologue from Saint John’s Gospel.
Scene from the crib at S. John's, Caterham Valley
John 1.1-14
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5)
God had been very busy creating things. And God said: Wow! I’m worn out. I’ve just created a 24-hour period of alternating light and darkness on Earth. The angel said: What are you going to do now? And God said: I think I’ll call it a day!
One of our most basic fears is fear of the dark. Today, with electric lighting inside and out – unless you live in Woldingham, of course, where the residents don’t want street lights – we rarely have to face the dark unless it is our own choice. At the time of Jesus, as night fell, the only protection against the dark was a candle or an oil lamp. Continue reading
Today is that day that Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen. Or, as I used to think as a child when the family sat round the piano as we sang carols, the day that Good King Wenslas last looked out, as if he were in the habit of looking out on a regular basis. It is, of course, the feast of Saint Stephen the first martyr. A day after we have celebrated the birth of the Prince of Peace we celebrate the death of a young man brutally murdered because some people didn’t like what he believed. Perhaps it seems odd to think about such things during this season of goodwill, but it’s a reminder that following Jesus isn’t an easy option. And we have been reminded of that fact by the news this morning that yesterday, Christmas Day, saw the bombing of churches in Nigeria. As we pray at our mass later this morning at St John’s for the victims and their families we pray also for Christians around the world who continue to suffer and die for their faith and for a greater understanding between those of different faiths.
O Emmanuel, our King and our lawgiver,
the hope of the nations and their Saviour:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.
– Common Worship Times and Seasons
O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.
– Common Worship Times and Seasons
O Morning Star,
splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
– Common Worship Times and Seasons
O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;
you open and no one can shut;
you shut and no one can open:
Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,
those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
– Common Worship Times and Seasons
Oops – forgot to post yestersday’s Advent antiphon
O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no lonmger.
– Common Worship Times and Seasons
I posted this last year and as it is so good I’m repeating it. I’m always interested when people come up with new ways of presenting the gospel story. I was particularly intrigued, therefore, when I came across this ‘Digital Nativity’, which someone has put together for an age when so many people rely upon the internet for their communication. I thought it was rather good, though it might not be to everyone’s taste. I’d be interested to know what people think. It’s best watched full screen.
View from the Valley 