We have kept All Saints and the Bishop of Rochester has been and gone. He shared with us a very good homily on holiness in daily life which I hope we shall remember.
We also kept All Souls and prayed for the dead and went outside the church to bless the resting place of many parishioners. A person saw us outside; in the afternoon he made a bee line to me and told me how moved he was that we care for the dead. What a good way to express the Communion of Saints in terms of care!
The splendid exhibition that Marigold and Carol prepared has come and gone too and so have the many who came to see it. I believe it was a generous offering to our local community as we enable them and empower them to appreciate their roots and look with confidence to the future. I trust many have benefitted. And for all this we have to be thankful as we take a few days to take stock in prayerful silence.
In fact it is in silence that I wish to approach our big day on the 16 November; silence to seek God’s will or to find out where He is pointing to or just to accept the beauty of His silence. On the 16th, as we celebrate the sesquicentenary of the consecration of the church, I trust our Lord will refresh our own baptismal consecration and bond each member of St John’s tighter to himself.
And then a journey will start. The first few miles of it can be traced, priorities are set, plans and structures are in place but the journey needs to be mystery as we need to let the Spirit blow where He wills and draw the map for us…what better time to embark on this then during the impending Advent.
We also kept All Souls and prayed for the dead and went outside the church to bless the resting place of many parishioners. A person saw us outside; in the afternoon he made a bee line to me and told me how moved he was that we care for the dead. What a good way to express the Communion of Saints in terms of care!
The splendid exhibition that Marigold and Carol prepared has come and gone too and so have the many who came to see it. I believe it was a generous offering to our local community as we enable them and empower them to appreciate their roots and look with confidence to the future. I trust many have benefitted. And for all this we have to be thankful as we take a few days to take stock in prayerful silence.
In fact it is in silence that I wish to approach our big day on the 16 November; silence to seek God’s will or to find out where He is pointing to or just to accept the beauty of His silence. On the 16th, as we celebrate the sesquicentenary of the consecration of the church, I trust our Lord will refresh our own baptismal consecration and bond each member of St John’s tighter to himself.
And then a journey will start. The first few miles of it can be traced, priorities are set, plans and structures are in place but the journey needs to be mystery as we need to let the Spirit blow where He wills and draw the map for us…what better time to embark on this then during the impending Advent.
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