I went to London recently and on arrival at Waterloo Station it is impossible to miss the giant Ferris wheel on South Bank. It dominates the historic skyline of Central London with its 60 gondolas, one for each hour's minutes and the minute's seconds. Only a mile or so downstream is historic Greenwich, where I went to school as a boy, with the famous Observatory and the Meridian Line with its zero longitude governing world time. My old birthplace will certainly take on a significant role as we come to the end of the second millennium and begin the third on 1st January.
For Christians though, our celebrations begin on Christmas Day as we thank God again for the incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and will continue through the year until Christmas 2000. At St George's we shall be lighting a large candle at the Midnight Mass which will burn throughout the year. All through the year 2000 there will be a number of special events and services as we celebrate this great Year of Jubilee, but our main celebration will be at Pentecost, the birthday of the Church.
The Millennium celebration is a wonderful opportunity for us to share our Christian Faith in Jesus Christ, and to show to others the real significance of this special year. There is no need for us to apologise to people of other faiths or none; what we proclaim is a Saviour who came down from Heaven to bring to all people redemption. As I said in last month's St George's News, we are empowered for MISSION! That has got to be our priority for the year 2000 and the rest of the Third Millennium.
We have to look forward and make a renewed commitment to serve Our Lord Jesus Christ in the future. On the first Sunday in the new Millennium we shall be celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany of our Lord (2nd January), at the Eucharist there will be an opportunity to re-dedicate ourselves in his service and I would ask you all to make every effort to be present at the Eucharist on that day without fail. The following Sunday (9th) is the Feast of the Baptism of Christ when we shall re-new our Baptismal Vows at the Eucharist.
When we wake up on the morning of January 1st, 2000 we shall all be from a previous century, a previous millennium, it ought to give us the impetus to put the past behind us and look forward to the future with hope. How important it is to prepare ourselves in these last few weeks of the old age for that future. To take the opportunity to examine ourselves and seek repentance for past sins and failings as we seek the forgiveness that only God can give. I remind you that Jesus gave authority to His Church to forgive sins and to His priests to absolve in His name. Here is your opportunity to do something positive about it as we enter into the new age.
The new Millennium is something to celebrate and something to share when it is centered upon our Lord Jesus Christ, who came into this world 2000 years ago, to give his life for us on the cross, who rose again from the dead to give us new life through the Resurrection, and sent His Holy Spirit to empower the Holy Catholic Church for His service in every age. Archbishop William Temple of Canterbury once said, "The Church is the only society which exists for the benefit of it's non-members" and the great mystic St Teresa of Avila said, "The Church exists by mission as fire exists by burning". Unless we have this sense of MISSION there may not be a Christian Church at the end of the next millennium or the next century! Let us Fan the Flame.
God bless you all in the future years and increase your love of Him who was born for us.
Your friend and priest.
Fr Malcolm Ferrier
Putting Jesus Christ at the Centre of the Millennium
The New Millennium Challenge to the Churches
The pledge to the local community is:
We will make you welcome
We will be family
friendly
We will make sure you can hear clearly
We will be
practical and relevant
We will help you explore answers to your
deepest questions
We will offer you time to stop and think in a busy
life
We will help you make sense of the bible and who Jesus
is
We will make sure your visit will be helpful and
challenging
We will help you discover for yourself God's love,
acceptance and forgiveness
We will offer you the chance to make a new
start
An initiative supported by The Archbishop of Canterbury
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page last updated 5 DECEMBER 1999