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When came in flesh the incarnate Word, The heedless world slept on". The opening words of the lovely hymn spell it all out as we start the Church's year with the brief season of Advent and prepare to celebrate the 2000th anniversary of Christ's birth. God comes to us in the person of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word; he does not wait for us to reach out to him. When God came into the world, he took steps to prepare for the birth of his Christ, and we think especially of Mary, Joseph and John the Baptist. We use Advent to prepare ourselves for the renewal of his birth in our hearts and lives at Christmas, and we look forward to the time when he comes again according to his promise, when time will end, history will be finished and God will establish his kingdom for ever. "Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness and to put on the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility; that on the last day when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal..." (Collect for Advent). At Christmas we marvel that the maker of all things and source of all life came into the world in human flesh and lived a life like ours in everything except sin. The human birth of God is the beginning of our salvation from sin and death. It is the start of our new life which through our baptism and our sharing in Christ's resurrection we are raised to fullness of life.
How lovely is the statue of Our Lady and Child in St George's! Have you ever taken care to look at it closely? Mary is holding out her Son towards us and at the same time she tramples under her feet the serpent together with that apple, which was the cause of temptation and sin. How we love apples and... how much we love sin! Christmas is the time to be thankful for the gift and mystery of life, and to remember that all life is sacred, a gift to us to be shared with others as God shared his life with us. The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph remind us also, that family life is precious too, it gives us the first experience of human life, of trust, love and joy. It is the ground upon which all our personal relationships are built. May I wish you and your families every joy and blessing this Christmass as we celebrate the 2000th anniversary of Christ's birth. Your priest and friend. Malcolm Ferrier. |
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page last updated 1 DECEMBER 2000 |
