Dear Friends,
I’m wondering if the uncertainty around us is ‘the new normal.’
These certainly are ‘interesting times.’ The apparent certainty of the lives of so many
around us now appears much less certain. Our wealthy, western, ‘rules-based’ world
order has been shaken by a relatively small conflict in the Middle East.
Throughout recorded history war in the Middle East has sadly been normal. What’s
different this time is the second and third order effects. Who would have conceived of
a relatively small war shaking the very foundations of NATO and our relationship
with the US and the cost and availability of fuel and fertilizer in Australia?
For those who have always trusted in, ‘the rules’ (whatever the rules actually were); or
trusted in post WWII security alliances or in the availability and security of
international trade and travel; these times threaten what they have believed in.
For Christians, the current situation, whilst not what we might have hoped for, is what
our God has told us to expect. Everything that we are hearing and seeing and
experiencing (and even feeling) is what Jesus said would happen.
I appreciate and am grateful for the many, many blessings that I have in this world.
Each of these blessings is God made and is in themselves good; I don’t want to lose
any of them. Yet Jesus came to show us that none of these blessings matter nearly as
much as our relationship with God. God alone is the source and giver of the things
that matter, that abide (last forever) and are life giving.
Jesus lived and died without possessions, family, home or even worldly honour. Jesus
shows us a life giving, loving, relationship with God the Father that sustains us in this
life and through death and resurrection into heaven forever.
In our time after Easter, God is once again shaking the world in which we live; God is
calling us to let go of loving the things which will pass away and to seek the things
which last and are life giving forever.
As our world shakes, may you know God’s grace and peace and hope and life forever.
Hope to see you in church,
ROB
Rob
ROB
ROB
Dear Friends,
Sadly, very sadly, we have seen warfighting in our world before. In Australia and places like Western Europe and Asia we don’t have the direct effects of bombs, missiles, artillery and now armed drones and for this I thank God. We are again experiencing the indirect impacts of world conflicts; I expect to see our fuel prices going up and inflation and mortgage rates increasing and other economic effects. It might look much the same on the news but this time it’s different; this time countries are deliberately destroying each other’s ability to produce drinking water; so many countries, which have nothing to do with the main issue, are being deliberately targeted and drawn in.
This Sunday we have before us God’s words for confronting times. In each reading God announces a shaking up of the supposedly secure world order and in each God assures us of his presence, strength, light and hope in darkness.
Last Sunday, the children reminded us that God doesn’t always give us what we want but God knows what we need. Jesus again is showing us what really matters.
Like the blind man to whom Jesus gave sight then faith then courage to live his faith amidst opposition, we too are called to live a life that reflects God’s light into the world around us. Things people around us have believed in are being shaken but nothing should shake our faith in God’s promised eternal life with him.
When your world is threatened do you first check your bank balance, superannuation balance, car’s petrol tank, electricity connection (or generator) or your relationship with God? We of course check on children and family but before we even attempt to save others we need to know on whom we are relying to save us.
It’s time to let people know and see that you are relying upon the Good Shepherd.
This week in the UK is Dementia Prayer week and although in Australia Dementia Awareness week occurs in September, I have included a prayer within this GNT.
This week’s bulletin includes details of Holy Week and Easter Services plus Palm Cross making and our Working Bee.
Grace and peace and hope and life,
ROB
Dear Friends,
In a world of turmoil, sudden outbursts of warfighting and destruction, fear and global uncertainty, I take great comfort that our God warned us, prepared us for this to happen.
Jesus was actually looking at the temple in Jerusalem when he told his disciples that in the coming years there would be wars and rumours of wars. Jesus told them that the temple that they were looking at, the things that they had believed were the most important would be torn down as signs and warnings that our future, our heaven, our eternal life are not on earth. Jesus showed that though this world is temporary and will pass away, God and our relationship with God through Jesus are eternal. In each generation some things that humankind strives for, trusts and hopes in will be shaken or shattered as a warning to us all.
I am saddened, but not surprised, that powerful people use weapons of war to attack other powerful people. I am saddened by the suffering this causes people involved. My hope and my prayer is that in the darkness people will find God’s light and hope and eternal life. Let us remember that often we can only see Gods’ light in the darkness and that our God loves us so much that he is prepared to take us into darkness so that we can find his true life.
Portia’s confirmation last Sunday came about as a result of her family coming back into a deeper relationship with God as a result of a great family sadness. In the valley of the shadow of death God is with us.
This Sunday we welcome Bishop John Roundhill and his wife Frances. Bishop John will lead our worship and will preach and he also says that he has come to listen to us. After Morning Tea, he will have a meeting with the new Parish Council as part of that listening.
Next week I will provide the full schedule of our Holy Week and Easter Services.
Grace and peace and hope and life,
ROB
Dear Friends,
It’s hard to believe this Sunday we will be in March; already!
I am grateful to everyone who participated in our Parish Annual General Meeting and for such positive outcomes. I welcome the newly elected Helen Donovan and Richard Ponsonby and Bronwen Thomas (who is continuing) as our Church Wardens this year.
The other newly elected member of Parish Council is Nigel Jones. I thank last year’s Parish Council for their positive and constructive approach to business and look forward to working with the new PC.
As I mentioned in my report (and a corrected version is attached to this GNT) we continue to have considerable challenges in maintenance, administration and finance ahead of us, BUT we have begun growing as a church.
Please let me again thank all involved in making St Michael’s truly a place where God is faithfully worshipped, where God’s people are nourished and from whence God’s love, life and hope are shared into our community.
Your feedback on our ‘positive’ approach to Lent this year has been helpful. Jesus’s time in the wilderness, upon which our Lent tradition is based, was time for Jesus to take his relationship with God the Father to a new and stronger level, a time of preparation for what was ahead. Jesus gave up some things for a while so that he could take up other things. Jesus in the wilderness, away from the normal routine of the world, had time to pray, time to reflect upon the Word of the Lord, and time to be tested and to prepare for his life and ministry ahead.
Like Jesus, this Lent is our opportunity to strengthen our relationship with God the Father. I encourage you to find some time, to give up whatever you need to, so that you too can listen to God and learn to let God’s Holy Spirit produce love, hope, peace and even joy in your relationship and life with God. Remember the mobile phone God gave you for Christmas – it’s time to start using it to talk to and listen to God.
Portia’s confirmation by Bishop Rob this Sunday, is affirmation of her call to ‘live as a disciple of Christ’. This is God’s call to each of us so, please join us for this celebration of life and hope in our church.
Grace and peace and hope and life,
ROB
ROB
ROB
Dear Friends,
There is lots of excitement all around us!
Australia Day is an opportunity for us as a nation to think about who we are and who we should be. Sadly, in my view, we waste the opportunity and instead ‘selectively’ celebrate the past. As a church we have a similar opportunity; this Sunday we look at the beginning of Jesus’s ministry and at what he calls his disciples to be. Christmas was important; it happened; it was miraculous and wonderful but it’s the past; more important for us now is who Jesus is calling us to be.
This Sunday, Jesus again calls his first disciples. Matthew’s Gospel tells the story slightly differently from St John’s account last week but again we have readings which allow us to consider what we have been called by Jesus to be and to do.
I know that school doesn’t recommence until after Australia Day, but our church year is racing ahead. This year Easter is in early April with Maundy Thursday on 2 Apr and Easter Sunday 5 April. Lent will therefore start with Ash Wednesday on 18 February. I’m thinking about what Lenten study might be helpful for us; if anyone has thoughts or suggestions, I’d be happy to hear them.
I’m grateful to Bronwen Thomas for putting together a DRAFT Parish Roster running from 31 Jan. There are copies at the back of the church, but we can also forward electronically to any who want it – please just ask. We have always been a highly participative church and I welcome as much involvement as possible but please don’t feel pressured to continue doing what you may have in the past. If there are some gaps we can usually cover these within the sanctuary but they also provide opportunities for new members to take a more active role.
Please note the details in the Notices and on the Notice Boards of, Ladies’ and Men’s breakfasts, Ash Wednesday, Parish Annual General Meeting and our Bishop’s visit.
It is also time to recommence our prayer list. Please let me know (email is the most useful) if you would like someone added to our published Parish Prayer List. Please also always feel free to ask me to pray for people whose names or conditions you don’t wish publicised.
Hope to see you in church on Sunday.
Grace and peace and hope and life,
ROB
ROB
The Baptism of Jesus –11 January 2026
Dear Friends,
We as a family have had a lovely week away at the beach and it is nice to now be back here and home; time to get fully into our year.
My thanks to Rev’d Angela for leading whilst I was away.
This Sunday we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. My first reaction to this (which is only recorded in Matthew’s Gospel) is like John the Baptist, to question why Jesus, the only sinless human being, why Jesus needed to be baptised. That’s a point for me to ponder in my sermon.
We shall also use this opportunity to reaffirm our own baptism commitments. As part of this reaffirmation, if any have symbols that were given at your own baptism or confirmation, please feel free to bring them along on Sunday.
We, as a parish, remain in ‘holiday mode’ and won’t recommence our mid-week services for another couple of weeks. I have a few projects from our Archbishop and Bishop to keep me occupied in my spare time. This coming Sunday we also have our first Parish Council meeting of the year.
It is also time to ‘recommence’ our prayer list. Please let me know (email is the most useful) if you would like someone added to our published Parish Prayer List. Please also always feel free to ask me to pray for people whose names or conditions you don’t wish publicised.
Hope to see you in church on Sunday.
Grace and peace and hope and life,
ROB
Dear Friends,
Blessed New Year! I hope and pray that 2026, the year ahead, is ‘God breathed’ for you, that you and all of us may know God’s love, joy, peace and hope in our lives. This is plenty of darkness and sadness, too many without hope in this world – may you know in your hearts and minds and souls, God’s light which shines in the darkness and which no darkness has ever overcome.
This brief ‘holiday edition’ of GNT comes from a table which, although in the shade, has a wonderful sea breeze. I shall be back to work as usual next week but am very much enjoying a few days away. Rev’d Angela will be leading worship on Sunday 4 Jan 2026.
This Sunday we celebrate the Epiphany or revelation of Jesus to the gentiles. This event, which is only recorded in Matthew’s Gospel, has its conclusion in the final words of Jesus according to Matthew, when Jesus commands his followers to go and to make disciples of all nations. The ‘good news’ of Christmas, Immanuel – God with us – is for the whole world!
This sending the good news beyond just Judaism to the whole world is the reason we know of God’s salvation. Like God bringing the shepherds – outsiders – to Bethlehem to worship Jesus, bringing the Magi – foreigners to worship was similarly symbolic and prophetic and future focused.
Grace and peace and hope and life,
ROB
Dear Friends,
What a wonderful celebration of the Birth of the Lord we have had!
It was a joy to share with so many people; we had about 70 on Christmas Eve and about 55 on Christmas Morning – some of us were there more than once.
My hope, my wish and my prayer is that we will indeed celebrate the reality of God’s love for us, will know that Immanuel, God is with us and will let the reality of God’s presence both flourish in our lives now and lead us to heaven (to live with him there).
Thank you to all who came to worship – there were so many that we nearly ran out of chocolate.
Special thanks to all (particularly parents and grandparents) who worked to make the Nativity Play such a success. It was a joy to see the uncomplicated faith of young people. I hope this different presentation of the Gospel gives you a chance to think more deeply about the meaning for you of the Birth of our Lord.
This Sunday after Christmas we encounter Jesus as a refugee fleeing with Mary and Joseph to Egypt to escape Herod’s persecution; we will consider a little more the question, ‘what do we find when we look in the manger?’
Please don’t let Christ-mas – which should really be translated in English as ‘Hope-mas’ or ‘Salvation-mas’ – please don’t let Christmas end now that dinner is over and the wrapping paper is in the recycling bin. Please let God’s gift of personal love to you, like a book that needs to be read or a toy that needs to be played with, (or in my case a coffee cup that needs to be used), please let Christmas live in your life.
As Isaiah prophesied and as the angel said to Joseph, the child will be called Immanuel for God is with us.
Grace and peace and hope and life,
ROB
If anyone ever tried to suggest that following our God is boring then this Sunday’s readings (and I hope worship) should show how wrong that is. OK; perhaps I too find some parts of the Old Testament underwhelming – the genealogies and the rules for temple worship aren’t exactly ‘action packed’ but John the Baptist is about as ‘un-boring’ as you can imagine. John fits in the category of fascinating and amazing character like Sampson the superstrong, Elijah the warrior prophet and David the shepherd boy who brought down the mighty warrior Goliath. Even the ‘establishment figures’ the Sadducees and the Pharisees from Jerusalem went out into the wilderness to see and hear and to even be baptized by John the Baptist.
This Sunday we have the chance to think about John, his amazing life and God’s purpose for him in the whole history of God’s plan to save people from going to hell.
I continue to receive wonderful feedback from many people in our community for our Arts & Crafts Exhibition. People enjoyed coming to visit us and to get to know us. My thanks of course again to the wonderful hard-working, passionate, effective organizing committee AND also to everyone who played a role in making this a success. We have raised some money towards maintaining our church and hall AND we have engaged wonderfully with our community.
I hope and pray that your Advent, your time of preparation for God’s personal coming into the world is progressing. Our Bible readings are leading us to do the work of preparation; John the Baptist tells us some of why Jesus came into the world as God’s Saviour. Isaiah the Prophet of God, about 700 years before John the Baptist, similarly started to tell people that God would send a saviour and that they should be prepared for him. Our music is also helping us to prepare. This week ‘On Jordan’s bank’ the Baptist will announce that the Lord is nigh and we will start to prepare all ye faithful to come and adore God’s saviour. Next Sunday, Joy to the World will remind us that every heart needs to prepare room for Jesus to come into our lives, room to be loved and adored by us.
Advent is a time for us to get rid of anything that does not fit into the life that Jesus is calling us to live. What hopes, dreams, careers, expectations of others or just ‘stuff’ is God calling each of us to leave behind, to clean out this Advent?
Please note we will not be having Morning Prayer on Wednesdays from Christmas Eve until we resume on 21 Jan 2026.
Hope to see you ‘back in church’ on Sunday.
Grace and peace and hope and life,
ROB
ROB
ROB
ROB
ROB
ROB
ROB
Dear Friends,
It has been for me a week of letting go and saying goodbye; not personally and not just to our wonderful Queensland winter but to those who have been much loved. This Sunday we will commemorate St Matthew and celebrate much that we have received through him but also remember that God let him be killed, martyred, for his work as a faithful evangelist in Ethiopia.
During the funeral for Joan Morgan on Thursday, her son Peter gave a beautiful eulogy. He noted the many tough times in his mother’s life but also shared the joy of growing up in a house filled with her singing. Joan was 88 and needed much care, which Peter had lovingly given for years, but Peter shared, without directly quoting from Ecclesiastes 3, that there is a time to be born, a time to do things and a time to die.
I preached about the eternity of God’s love and hope – love is the essence of the nature of God’s relationships within Godself and the essence of the relationship that God both offers and hopes for from us. I spoke of Jesus telling and leading his disciples to heaven through his own death. Our Christian hope is to live perfectly loved by God forever.
How do we, both as a church and personally as followers of Jesus, how do we show leadership in this matter, in our personal courage, our faith, to follow Jesus through death to heaven? This I have discussed over the past week with our Archbishop and with a bishop and with a surgeon and with parishioners and others.
Why are we, we who say that we believe in God’s love and eternal life and salvation and heaven, why are we so reluctant to let go when God says, ‘It’s time to come home.’? Just because modern medicine offers to extend our lives and modern care in nursing homes stops us from dying of accidents and infections, should we accept these offers of life extension?
This week I will visit my father in Melbourne. He has over the years accepted medical age extensions; he now lives with excellent, death preventing care but, in his dementia, he wishes his life was over and asks why God won’t bring him home.
In the Gospels and New Testament, many of Jesus’s most faithful followers God allows to be killed as young men. Why do we, as God’s followers, hope to live a long life on earth?
These issues are deep and personal and complex; I’m not suggesting this is simple. My hope is not for a long life but for a long eternity surrounded by God’s love. Grace and peace and hope and love,
ROB
ROB
ROB
Rob
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Rob
1 June 2025
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Palm Sunday
Maundy Thursday
Reading John 13:1-17 & 31-35 (you can read also John Chapters 13, 14, 15, 16 & 17 which all happen at the Last Supper)
Good Friday
Rob
6 April 2025
Rob
30 March 2025
Rob
23 March 2025
Rob
16 March 2025
Rob
Rob
Rob
16 Feb 25
Rob
9 Feb 25
Rob
2 Feb 25
Rob
26 Jan 25
Rob
Rob
12 January 2025
Rob
8 December 24
Rob
1 December 2024
Rob
24 November 24
Rob
10 November 24
Dear Friends,
This is one of those tough times to be God’s people, God’s church. In the midst of life we are surrounded by death. With the tragedies around us both close to home and far away, I have again had people asking, ‘Why did your God let such bad things happen?’ It’s a good, a very good question when people are seeing images of the Middle East, images of a car running over a fence at a school in Hawthorne killing an 11 year old student.
The sadness of the reality of death and its impact on families is not lost on God. In John 10, we read that ‘Jesus wept’ when he encountered Mary and Martha grieving the death of their brother Lazarus. Jesus himself didn’t avoid death; Jesus rather points our God’s particular blessings and comfort for those who mourn.
I have, and we all should have, words of hope for those who are facing death and for those who mourn. There is a time for words but first, we should do as Jesus did, first we should allow the emotion of our human condition to be real. I try to offer understanding, empathy and love before words of comfort. We, like every human being, we will all die, only the time and method are unknown.
We need to have words to justify our position and our Christian hope of resurrection to eternal life with God in heaven, but more than that, our lives need to show those around us that we believe our words, that we believe Jesus’s words, believe God’s promises.
Jesus showed that death is the natural process at the end of our earthly lives. Jesus could have extended his life on earth, his followers offered to fight for him, and of course he could have summoned the powers of heaven. Instead, Jesus accepted death, a very painful, ignominious death, a crucifixion. Jesus died and then God raised him to life and then he ascended into heaven. Jesus through death shows us God’s plan; he has led the way for us to follow.
Does the world around us, do our families and friends see us accepting death or fighting against it? If people see us personally fighting too hard against death they can question our faith in God and in his eternal life.
For me the two sadnesses of death are the impact on those left behind and the great sadness of those who choose not to follow Jesus. I believe that heaven is real and so is hell. God invites all into his kingdom but only those who don’t reject God’s invitation will have God’s eternal life. This motivates me to live my life showing confidence in God’s eternal life. Living a good life is nice but living as a child of God, living as a confident inheritor of eternal life is a more important witness.
This Sunday, we remember All Saints and All Souls. We are right to mourn; it’s OK to be sad, to weep. It’s vital in our sadness to know and to show God’s comfort; important to know and to show that we are firm in our faith and our hope and God’s love.
I look forward to this opportunity in our church to remember, to cherish, to grieve and to celebrate the love of those whose love and lives we have shared and to be thankful for God’s eternal love.
Grace and peace and hope,
Rob
3 November 24
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27 October 24
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20 October 24
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13 October 24
Rob
6 October 24
Rob
29 Sep 24
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22 Sep 24
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15 Sep 24
Rob
8 Sep 2024
Rob
1 Sep 24
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25 August 2024
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18 August 2024
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11 August 2024
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4 August 2024
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28 July 2024
Rob
21 July 24
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14 July 2024
Pentecost VI Sunday – 30 June 2024
Rob
30 June 2024
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23 June 2024
Rob
16 June 2024
Pentecost III Sunday – 9 June 2024
Rob
9 June 2024
Pentecost II Sunday – 2 June 2024
Dear Friends,
Welcome to the second half of the church’s year. Since Advent, last December, we have been focussing on the special ‘life of Jesus’ events. We have celebrated the prophesies of and then the reality of the Saviour’s birth at Christmas; we then worked through Jesus’s baptism and ministry and then his suffering, crucifixion, death, burial and then the joyous demonstration of God’s power and love in the resurrection of Jesus at Easter. Our ‘life of Jesus’ journey culminates with the Ascension into heaven and then the handover, the coming of the Holy Spirit.
After all these Christian events, we now move into the time of thinking, and doing and being God’s church, God’s people, God’s witnesses living and working, in the world. These ‘Ordinary Sundays’ are our opportunities to think of the real issues in our world, for our families, and in our lives.
Jesus has said that he will not leave us alone, without help, without comfort.
The purpose of the dramatic events of Pentecost with the Holy Spirit coming upon the disciples with the sound of a rushing wind and with flames of fire appearing on their heads was to show them that the same God whom they had known in Jesus, was with them in the Holy Spirit.
Our task is now to be and to go and to do what Jesus did. This is much harder than being faithful observers or passengers in Jesus’s journey. We are to be God’s own hands and arms and voices for those around us in God’s world. The good news is that we are to have the same power that was in Jesus, the power of God, of God’s Holy Spirit.
Jesus’s final words to his disciples “… but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in [the world].’
May the power of God come upon us and our church in God’s world.
Grace and peace and hope
Rob
2 June 2024
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26 May 2024
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19 May 2024
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12 May 2024
Rob
5 May 2024
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25 April 2024
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21 April 2024
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14 April 2024
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7 April 2024
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31 March 2024
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24 March 2024
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17 March 2024
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10 March 2024
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3 March 2024
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25 Feb 2024
FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT 18th FEBRUARY 2024.
Rob
18 Feb 2024
Rob
11 Feb 2024
Dear Friends,
We are living in ‘interesting times’; the weather around us, in its extent and spread, is unlike anything I can remember. We have had cyclones and floods before and bushfires and heatwaves, but I can’t remember so many spread over such a vast part of our nation.
I have been in touch with various clergy colleagues affected. Two of my chaplains one in Townsville and one on Brisbane’s northside have been affected; they and their families are fine and their houses will recover but it is very unsettling. Throwing out the contents of fridges and freezers because the power has been off for too long, tearing up carpet that stinks and piling thing up on the footpath is dispiriting. I encourage you all to check in on any you know in affected areas. We may be able to do no more than listen; this may be all that is needed.
This month is our reporting and Annual General Meeting, month. I’ve been looking at out attendance figures and, thanks to all of you who come to church so regularly, they are encouraging; if nothing else, we have stopped our decline in numbers. The rest will have to wait for the AGM.
Sunday’s Gospel passage from Mark 1 has Jesus visiting Peter’s home. Once again, the lessons are in Jesus’s actions, and we will look at what Jesus did when he made a ‘home visit’. Here in Peter’s house, we see Jesus being involved in and bringing God’s love into the realities of our normal lives.
My thanks to everyone involved in the Moggill Markets on Saturday. It certainly was warm and humid enough! So nice to have the church grounds looking lovely after the working bee last weekend.
May you know the love of God in the reality of your normal lives.
Grace and peace and hope
Rob
4 February 2024
Dear Friends,
Writing this first letter of the year at the end of January feels a bit like Mark’s Gospel – in both cases we are at the beginning of a year but are already in the midst of the action.
So, THANK YOU (that’s a very, big thankyou) to everyone who turned up yesterday to help in our working bee outside and inside the church. It was very hot but very successful with over 20 people involved. Thanks also to those who turned up a day early to get a start on the mowing; thanks for the breakfast.
It was great, last Sunday, to see so many back from everywhere and there’s some excitement (and a lot more traffic) now that schools are also back.
The month ahead of us is already busy:
· next weekend is Moggill Markets – our first opportunity to engage with our local community at ‘our place’;
· 14 February is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent;
· Our Annual General Meeting will be held after church on Sunday 25 February
This Sunday we continue following Jesus in Mark Chapter 1; again it’s about what we see Jesus doing rather than any profound words. 2000 years ago and today, people may have tried to avoid Jesus’s words but it’s almost impossible to ignore what Jesus does.
St Mark is inviting us to judge Jesus as we would a book or a pudding or a house or rally anything, not by the cover but by the content. It was the reality of Jesus rather than His words which challenged 2000 years ago; it should be the reality of God at work in our lives which challenges the world around us today.
Do people see God at work in our lives?
Grace and peace and hope
Rob
28th January 2024.
Rob
24 December 2023
Dear Friends,
Christmas may not be quite here but holidays certainly are. Yes, it’s more stressful for parents juggling everything but there is a youthful energy and excitement all around us. Whilst I love the brightness that I see all around in shopping centers and even decorated houses and trees along the roadside; it is hard to find much that speaks of Jesus; hard to see anyone putting their hope in God.
It was into a world such as this that the Son of God broke or smashed his way in from heaven. Jesus comes personally to bring and to be God’s hope. Israel and Judah were occupied by the Romans; power rested with the Army who supported a Roman Governor. Ordinary people were struggling financially under the Roman tax burden and burdens imposed by the Jewish religious authorities.
There were many offers of hope. The Romans offered the Pax Romana, the absence of war within the Empire. The religious authorities offered peace with God if you could pay your temple tax and could provide the appropriate animals to be sacrificed. Armed gangs offered freedom if you joined their armed rebellion.
Today, we (or our children or grandchildren) are similarly stressed and pressured; there are many offers of hope apparent. I don’t need any more offers of Christmas joy sent to me from unsolicited text messages or emails, no more Christmas sales, no more movies trying to convince me that a perfect Christmas is a happy family in a snow-covered house with a large roast turkey dinner. Perhaps in this heat a snow-covered house for Christmas has some appeal but, let’s not go there.
This Advent, as you prepare for Christmas, please think about from whence you are hoping that your love, joy and peace will come.
God is sending, Jesus is personally bringing and being, God’s joy into our world; joy breaks in at Christmas but only those who are looking for it, whose hearts long for it and whose lives have time for God’s joy will find it.
Let every heart (and life) prepare him room and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.
Grace and peace and hope and life
Rob
17 December 2023
Rob
19 Nov 2023
Rob
12 November 2023
Dear Friends,
Welcome to our Sunday when we celebrate ‘All Saints’ which in ancient times was called ‘All Hallows’. For me this is a celebration of our relationship with God (and if people can hand out chocolate the night before All Hallows Day on ‘All Hallows E’en’ then we certainly should be able to celebrate our relationship with God with chocolate.)
I’m not a great fan of the official list of saints. I don’t doubt that those who are so recognised deserve it but I think God has a much, much, much bigger list than the various churches have come up with.
If saints are people who love and follow Jesus then what does that mean for each of us?
This Sunday we will celebrate the relationships that saints have with God; we will sing and give thanks to God for the lives of, ‘.. all the saints, who from their labours rest.’ We will check to see if our hopes are reflected in the lives of those who we regard as saints.
I would rather call this Sunday, ‘All Hopes’!
May we all learn from the lives and witness of the Christian saints who have gone before us and celebrate those who live around us.
Grace and peace and hope and love and joy
Rob
5 Nov 2023
Dear Friends,
What daunting times these are; the world that we thought we knew and in which we thought we could trust seems to be collapsing in around us. I find the things happening in our world, and in our nation and in our community, our diocese and even our own families and lives very challenging – so challenging that it can be hard to see where God is in all of this.
We had a helpful Bible Study discussion as part of Morning Prayer last Wednesday looking at Joshua as a focus on the Israel and Gaza but also on Matthew 24 looking at world events.
The disciples were shocked and probably dismayed when Jesus told them that the temple, Solomon’s temple, in which they trusted would be destroyed. Jesus warned them of wars to come and of natural disasters and of course they Jesus was about to show that even he was going to suffer and die to open the way to heaven.
I suspect that God shakes the world around us, our church, even into our own families and our own lives so that we learn not to hope or trust the love of anything or anyone in this world ahead of God. God shows us again and again and again that his light shines in the darkness (even the deepest darkness or the valley of the shadow of death) and no darkness has or will overcome God’s light if we look for it.
Part of me wishes that I could offer everyone God’s richest blessings of good times and great love in this world; the Bible only lets me do so if I also point to a God who shows his love to the outcasts and the sick and the lame and those who have suffered in this world.
Matthew West sings of a ‘broken and beautiful gone mad and magical, awfully wonderful life,’ in God.
I am so very grateful for the love and the blessings that I have; I have much and many; but these should point me to God and show me the nature of God (for God is love and God longs to bless us in the heavenly places) not suffice in place of God.
All my hope on God is founded; he is my eternal source of hope; his light shines in the darkness – no matter how dark.
Grace and peace and hope and joy,
Rob
22 Oct 23
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15 October 2023
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1 October 2023
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24 Sep 2023
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17 Sep 2023
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3 September 2023
Dear Friends,
Spring has certainly sprung early with all around us seemingly bursting back to life. I have to add lawn mowing into my schedule but God has lovingly given me more daylight into which to fit this walking around my garden.
In our liturgical year we also are at a turning point. Our Gospel passage Matthew 16 in which the seemingly fearless Simon declares Jesus to be the Messiah is the pivotal point of this Gospel; everything has been leading up to Peter’s declaration that Jesus is the Messiah. Similarly in our Epistle, Romans 12 is the point where Paul gets to the point where he says, ‘Therefore my beloved brethren …’ This Sunday we shall explore who, after 16 chapters of Jesus’s actions, we say Jesus is and what, after 11 chapters of background, Paul would have us do.
We have a busy week ahead with Moggill Markets again on Saturday; thank you to all involved. I hope that we can continue to build on the opportunities that we have with local children who come during the markets to our Church Children’s Craft. I know it’s hard for parents to get to church with young families on Sunday morinings, so we now make sure we have the ‘Sunday activities’ for children when families come to the markets.
I had the opportunity this past week to spend a few days at the Southern Region clergy conference. It would have been nice to stay longer but I did find time for a short walk (and a really nice ice cream) on the beach. I’m not a huge fan of such conferences but the time spent with other clergy sharing meals and chatting about common interests and issues was helpful for one who is still a ‘new boy’. There was much goodwill and willingness to share ideas and resources.
My final point is to pass on to you just some of the gratitude that has been shared with me for the charitable contributions we have made to ministries around us. The amounts we were able to share are not huge but the impact of our love has been amazing – thank you all.
Grace and peace and hope and life
Rob
27 August 2023
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20 August 2023
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13 Aug 2023
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6 August 2023
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30 July 2023
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23 July 2023
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9 July 2023
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2 July 2023
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25 June 2023
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18 June 2023
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11 June 2023
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14 May 2023
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7 May 2023
Dear Friends,
Christ is risen indeed!
This Sunday we will commemorate our past and present ANZACs within our worship. There will be other
opportunities to remember those who have served, those who have died, those who have been wounded,
injured or become ill as a result of their service in our name and to remember their families. There will be
dawn services and marches on ANZAC Day and I commend them to you but this Sunday is our occasion to
think and to pray as Christians.
As Christians, we believe that Jesus taught that “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for
one’s friends.” And then Jesus did lay down his life for his friends, for us. We approach our commemoration
as people who believe that soldiers, sailors and aviators suffer not for their own sins but for the evil of others
in our world. Also, we believe that eternal life with our God is possible after death for all who have faith in
God; it is important that we include these in our ANZAC Commemoration.
Jesus victory over sin and death, eternal life in all its fullness, healing of moral and spiritual wounds are the
critical difference that our God and we his church offer those who have served in our nation’s and other
armed forces.
Because Jesus is risen, not only will we remember them, we also offer healing and hope.
We have a high concentration (4 times the national average) of current and former serving members and
families in our parish area. This Sunday we will thank God for the work of many to help our veterans and
families but it is not enough. With our local RSL subbranch and with DVA and with others we will explore
what we can do as a church to bring God’s healing and love, of which Jesus spoke and then showed us
personally, to our veterans and their families.
Grace and peace and hope and love
Rob
23 April 2023
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16 April 2023
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26 March 2023
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12 March 2023
FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT – 26th FEBRUARY 2023.
Dear Friends,
It seems anachronistic to say “Welcome to Lent,” but I value the opportunity that this season of preparation affords us. We will use this time of preparation for Easter to look at our relationship with God and also with those people and things that God has put into our lives. Having unwrapped God’s Christmas present to us, what are we doing with it?
This morning we have our Annual general Meeting after church. As I said last week, if you are able to be part of this that would be helpful. I hope that the meeting will be light on reports, which are the past, and strong on the future. I have asked that reports be printed for pre-reading and that those presenting reports limit themselves to a maximum of three points. I want the hard work that so many have done this past year to be recognised; it is a great foundation for our coming year.
Next Sunday we have Bishop John Roundhill, our Regional Bishop joining us. He has volunteered to give the children’s talk and to preach do the other normal things bishops do when they visit. This is our opportunity for us to listen to him but also for him, representing our dioces, to listen to us. He wants to meet as many as possible particularly over morning tea. Bishop John will also meet with our new Parish Council.
This Sunday has led to the traditions of fasting and abstinence for which Lent is unfortunately known. Although there is benefit in a period of time without things that distract us from God, this is not going to be my focus in Lent. And, even purists acknowledge that every Sunday in Lent remains a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection and love for us. (Yes, we can still have morning tea and cake after church on Sundays).
This week we commence our Lenten studies; please talk to Angela if you would like to join her Friday evening group or to me if you would like to join me on Wednesday morning. Details of how to access the study book are again in the notices
I’ve repeated the notice with details of how to support the people of Syria and Turkey through ABM. Although we know we must all die some time, this is a desperately sad time for millions of our fellow human beings.
Grace and peace and hope
Rob
26 Feb 2023
THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD 8th JANUARY.
EPIPHANY ONE
Reflection
THE EPIPHANY
or The Manifestation of Christ in the Gentiles
The long search for God and His truth has not been limited to any one people. To those who seek, God reveals Himself. In that most Jewish of documents – Matthew's Gospel – we find the universality of Christ revealed in this birth story. Jesus comes to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. Christians now see Him as the Saviour of all, but, as with all the Gospel messages, it is all much more personal than that.
The offerings of the Eastern Kings of old. Unto our Lord were incense, myrrh and gold; Incense because a God; gold as a King; And myrrh as to a dying man they bring. Instead of Incense, Blessed Lord, if we Can send a sigh or fervent prayer to thee, Instead of myrrh if we can but provide Tears that from penitential eyes do slide, And though we have no gold, if for our part We can present thee with a broken heart Thou wilt accept; and say those Eastern kings Did not present thee with more precious things.
(Nathan Wanley)
You may observe that the three Wise Men have appeared in the Christmas crib, noting the arrival of the season of Epiphany when we come to terms with the Christ Child in the incarnation.
Sunday’s in Epiphany last until Ash Wednesday. Blessings John.
Reflection I January 2023
THE NAMING AND CIRCUMCISION OF
OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
The first day of the civil year
It belongs to the specific character of Christianity that is in an historical religion (C.H. Dodd). There is perhaps no more certain historical moment in Christianity than this moment, when a Jewish family does what all Jewish families must do for their sons. From the earliest moments of Luke’s Gospel the expected child is surrounded by omens and mystery, but here God’s Son meets us at His most human and vulnerable, in an ancient rite linking Him with Abraham and his descendants, in a domestic ceremony separating Him from the unbelief of the Gentile world. We now look back across the centuries, in which the Church has been conscious of the effective presence of Christ, and we see this circumcision as the consecration of Salvation’s history in Israel, enjoining us to sanctify our births, families, customs and times – including this new calendar year. He shared a name that was common amongst Jewish boys – Jesus – Joshua – The Lord helps, or saves. Though we shall never minimise the transcendent mystery of God, Jesus, in His name, reminds us that God acts and loves.
Saints in the Lectionary this week.
SAINT THOMAS
Apostle and martyr.
Thomas the Doubter was the first to confess the Divinity of Christ! (John 20,28) ‘Thomas answered him, “My lord and my God”. It is impossible to estimate the millions who were brought to the same confession because of Thomas, but the churches which Thomas founded in India have kept Christianity alive, and extended the faith which survives there to the present time. At first Thomas was an impulsive believer: ‘Let us all go with the Teacher, so that we may die with him!’ (John 11,16) When the crucifixion took place the darkness closed around him and we can understand his doubt when he was confronted with the impossible! ‘Unless I see......I will not believe’ (John 20,24). The doubt of Thomas stands in the record so that we may be able to face our doubt. Even the most radical doubt is not a cause to despair. ‘Doubt indeed has its time and place. In the present period no one, not even the theologian, can escape it. But the theologian should not despair, because this age has a boundary beyond which again and again he may obtain a glimpse when he begs God, “Thy kingdom come”. Doubt is to be endured. The words of Lady Julian are also relevant here:
‘ Christ did not say ‘Thou shall not be tempted, thou shall not be travailed, thou shall not be afflicted’ but He say ‘Thou shall not be overcome”. The final confession of Thomas remains an encouragement to faith even at the point where everything is slipping away from us.
NICHOLAS OF MYRA
Bishop and philanthropist
Santa Claus is a corruption of Saint Nicholas for Nicholas as Myra is Father Christmas. In the iconography of the Church his symbol is sometimes three bags of gold; the dowry he gave to three daughters of a poor man so that they might marry. Children wait on Santa not for gold but for a present they would love to receive. As we approach the crass materialism and superficiality of the modern Christmas we will recall that the giving of gifts began when ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.’ (John 3.16) Nicholas is also the patron of Russia and of sailors.
AMBROSE OF MILAN
Bishop and teacher
Born c.339 died 397
Ambrose was an unbaptised catachumen and a provisional Governor when he was chosen Bishop of Milan. The administrative problems in the Diocese were exhaustive but Ambrose kept his head above water. He boldly affirmed the freedom of the Church. ‘The emperor is within the church; he is not above it.’ He might have been surprised to see that the Church has not yet resolved the problem of it’s relation to secular authorities. Ambrose baptised Augustine of Hippo. In the confessions Augustine left us many beautiful cameos of his mentor.
When Ambrose read, his eyes scanned the page and his heart explored the meaning, but his voice was silent and his tongue was still. All could approach him freely and it was not usual for visitors to be announced.
Every Sunday I listened to him preach the word of truth to the people, and I grew more and more certain that it was possible to unravel the tangle woven by those who deserved me.
During the struggle with the heretical Empress the devoted people stayed day and night in the church ready to die with their Bishop.
Ambrose is the author of the first great Latin hymns of the Church.
O may no sin our hands defile.
Or cause our minds to rove;
Upon our lips be simple truth,
And in our hearts be love!
Reflection from Reverend John Cuffe
SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST
The museum Unter den Linden in Colmar houses the triptych of Matthias Grunewald originally painted as the altarpiece for the abbot’s chapel in the monastery of Issenheim. The dying Christ is portrayed ‘with an unsparing horror of pain, despair, and putrefaction; the mother of Jesus supported by the beloved disciple; Mary Magdalen kneeling in frenzied prayer to Christ; and on the other side, John the Baptist’. John has the Old Testament open in his left hand and with his right hand he points to the crucified Lord. It is symbolic of John’s place between the old dispensation and the new. His dress and diet, his preaching and political commitment, are all reminiscent of the Old Testament prophets but he also discerns the extraordinary character of Christ’s mission. Ecce Agnus Dei. Behold the Sacrifice offered by God. As the Fore-runner of Christ he occupies an important place in Jewish tradition. Josephus writes: ‘John was a good man who commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both in doing right towards one another and in piety towards God, and so to come to baptism.’ In our time Karl Barth fastened upon the image of John as a living parable of the duty of every preacher and theologian, to point steadfastly in one direction and in one only – to Jesus Christ.
Reflection from Reverend John Cuffe
We have already discussed the origin of this season as the first part of the Christmas season. Indeed, the First Sunday in Advent is the day on which the liturgically year begins. Advent is a season during which the Church recalls and liturgically re-lives the Old Testament expectation of the coming of the Messiah, together with some of the events which immediately preceded his first advent (a word which means ‘coming’). The Tree Year Series revives the old Spanish and Milanese custom of observing a festival of the Annunciation just before Christmas by centring the readings on the Fourth Sunday in Advent on this event. The Advent season also reminds us of other ‘comings’ of the Lord: his coming to just in our daily lives, in the breaking of the bread, in his little ones (see Matthew 25.40, and wherever two or three are gathered together in his name; and in his final coming as King to rule the world at the End of time.
The making of an Advent Crown or Wreath is one custom which helps to capture the sense of expectation for the coming of the Messiah as the Advent season brings us closer to Christmas. On Christmas day the central candle is lit to signify that at last the light of the world has come to his own. The Advent Wreath reminds us that we have to prepare ourselves to receive Christ our King and asks us to examine ourselves to ask just what sort of a crown we are preparing for him. Traditionally, Advent is a penitential season during which purple vestments are worn and symbols of festivities such as flowers etc. are discouraged in view of our Lord’s own words about fasting and penitence as we prepare ourselves to receive the Christ Child on Christmas Day.
I hope you all have a fruitful Advent.
John .
FESTIVAL OF CHRIST THE KING
Why has the Feast of Christ the King, which apparently originated as recently as 1925, risen to such prominence? Was it devised (partly) in order to rehabilitate the idea and the institution of monarchy after the cataclysm of the First World War?
Only a few years after the Bolshevik October Revolution, and at a time in Europe after the First World War when fascism and dictatorships posed a serious threat, Pope Pius XI in 1925 did indeed inaugurate a new festival in honour of the Kingship of Christ. This was primarily intended to counter the claims of secularism by holding up the model of Christ, as King of the Creation, whose just and gentle rule is supreme.
In 1970, the RC Church moved the festival from its late-October date to the last Sunday in the church year: not only was its importance in the calendar increased, but it came to be adopted by non-Roman churches, not least in the Anglican Communion. In the Church of England, after a tentative appearance in The Promise of His Glory, it was made a mandatory celebration in Common Worship, on the Sunday next before Advent.
Several theological and liturgical considerations account for the prominence of its observance. It concludes the Christian year with a climactic celebration that focuses on Christ as glorified Lord and King - a powerful reminder that praise of his Kingship is always the theme of the calendar. Many times it has been pointed out that every Sunday by its name, dominica, kyriake, is really designated as a day of Christ the King. In addition, this festival also deepens awareness of the final end of all things in the triumph of Christ: it brings the cycle of the liturgical year to an end, but looks forward to its turning again on Advent Sunday. Worship of Christ on his throne leads on to the message of Christ as Judge.
The spirituality of this festival must never be forgotten or understated. No one recognised this more than Henri Nouwen in his Sabbatical Journey: "on the last Sunday of the liturgical year, Christ is presented to us as the mocked King on the Cross as well of the King of the universe. The greatest humiliation and the greatest victory are both shown to us in today's liturgy. It is important to look at this humiliated and victorious Christ before we start the new liturgical year with the celebration of Advent. All through the year we have to stay close to the humiliation as well as to the victory of Christ, because we are called to live both in our own daily lives."
From the Church Times England. Thank you.
DEFENCE SUNDAY
Today (13 November 2022) is Defence Sunday, when we remember and pray for our Armed Forces and particularly for the Chaplains and their work. Also this week in the Lectionary we had an important day on Tuesday where we remembered to give thanks for –
The Saints, Martyrs, Missionaries and Teachers of the world wide Anglican Communion.
THE SAINTS, MARTYRS, MISSIONARIES AND TEACHERS OF THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION.
From every continent, of every colour and many tongues, they have been pleased to call themselves Church of England, Episcopalian and Anglican. It is often tortuous Middle Way with conservative evangelical Protestants, and all the shade in between, struggling at times for the ascendancy. Many find the tensions too great but others remain because they hope for a Church which can hold Rome, Canterbury, Geneva and Moscow in creative tension but full communion. There is no shame in being an Anglican and so long as our comprehensiveness is a Christian comprehensiveness then it is a glorious thing. Our apostolic ministry is a responsibility and a call to humility not pride.
Augustine, Anselm, Cranmer, Donne, Wesley, Keble, Temple, Bell, they were all Anglicans and with them we remember the great company of Anglican witnesses. But we are not Anglicans because of them. We must find for ourselves that this Church is Christ’s Church, the stock and root of His planting. This Church mediates Christ. Anglican sacraments are His sacraments making Christ present among His people. Anglican teaching presents the footprints of His ways and the outline of His face. We cannot profess belief in the great Papal error. We were not born in Greece or Russia. But we thank God that he has brought us into this Fellowship where we can be loyal Christians. We are a Communion of churches. There is only one Church, as there is only one Christ. We hope that we shall come one day to the Church’s centre, not in Canterbury but in Heaven.
SAINT LUKE THE EVANGELIST
Luke was a medical man (Colossians 4,14). He is widely regarded as the patron of physicians and surgeons. One strong and ancient tradition suggests that Luke was also a painter. For centuries he has been regarded as the patron of artists. It is as the author of a Gospel and of the Acts of the Apostles that he is best remembered. As the only Gentile evangelist he portrays Jesus in his international context, as Jewish Messiah but also Saviour of the world. Luke’s magnificent two volume history had, it it’s time, the feeling of vastness and space as it related the whole course of God’s saving acts, from the birth of John the Baptist right through to the proclamation of the Good News of salvation in the capital city of the World. We would be very much poorer without the material which is peculiar to Luke and which elicited from Dante the description of Luke’s first volume as the gospel of Christ’s meekness. Luke was deeply sensitive to the role of women: He alone tells us about Elizabeth (1,5-66), the woman who as a sinner (7,35-50), the widow of Nain (7,11-17), and the woman who blessed Christ’s mother (11,27). Mary also plays a most important role in Luke’s work.
Luke records eight vital instances of prayer in our Lord’s life which are not in the other gospels. Many of Luke’s unique passages show the Lord as one who is kind and deeply humane. Zacchaeus, the repentant thief at Calvary, the women of Jerusalem, and Dives and Lazarus are find examples of this element in Luke’s thought. Luke is also the New Testament theologian of the Holy Spirit, ‘For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say’ (Luke 12,12). An early writer tells us that Luke died in Greece at the age of eighty four. ‘He served the Lord constantly, wrote the gospel in Greek and died full of the Holy Spirit’. His symbol in iconography is a winged ox.
On the Sixteenth of October Fifteen-Fifty-five Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London, and Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, were burnt at the stake in Oxford for refusing to accept the medieval doctrines of Transubstantiation and the Sacrifice of the Mass. Latimer, standing in the flames, cried out one of the immortal phrases of the Reformation, ‘Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace England, as I trust, shall never be put out.’ There were many martyrs in these times and in retrospect we feel an overwhelming gratitude to them because they clarify the Reformation issue. The English Reformation was not a political matter surrounding the marital relations of a grotesque tyrant. The issue was: Shall England be Medieval and Papal Catholic or shall she be Catholic and Reformed. Latimer and Ridley died for the Reformed Faith which was a rediscovery of the Gospel.
SAINT MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS
‘Michael row the boat ashore, Alleluia’ recalls the tradition of Michael the Archangel as the receiver of the souls of the dead. But he is best remembered and honoured as the captain of the hosts of heaven. When there was war in heaven he cried out “Micha-El’, ‘Who is like God?’, and rallied the forces of light to throw the usurper Lucifer into the darkness and cold. ‘Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. The huge dragon was thrown out – that ancient serpent, called the Devil or Satan, that deceived the whole world.’ (Revelation 12,7-9). (Two other angels are mentioned by name in the Bible: Gabriel, ‘Hero of God’, the angel of the Annunciation and Raphael, ‘God has healed’, who in an Apocryphal book heals Tobit’s blindness.) Satan is cold blooded, God is light and warmth. The spiritual strength of this is brought out by Seraphim of Sarov: ‘God is fire which warms and kindles our hearts. If we feel in our hearts the cold which comes from the devil – for the devil is cold – Let us pray to the Lord and he will come and warm our hearts with love for Him and for our neighbour, and before the warmth of his face, the cold of the enemy will be put to flight.’
FRANCIS OF ASSISI
Italian Friar, Preacher and Founder of
The Franciscan Order
Born 1181 died 1226
Francis Bernadone was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. For the first twenty years of his life he experienced and then pursued pleasure, comfort and self-glorification in the chivalry of the times. He remained unsatisfied until three experiences called him into another path. A leper on a bridle path called Francis to embrace the suffering and ugliness of the world. Francis kissed the leper and the leper was Christ for him. En route to war a voice called to Francis to leave the service of a temporal lord to serve the Lord of lords. In the ruins of Saint Damiano’s church the crucified Christ called Francis to rebuild the church. Francis led a revolution which was terrifying and complete; terrifying in its literal obedience to the poverty and emptiness of Christ in the world and complete because it led to the gift of the Stigmata when the five wounds of Christ were impressed upon his body.
The brotherhood of Francis is one of the glories of the Christian Church. Francis wanted all men to live in peace and brotherhood; to be friars, little brothers of Christ and of all men. There can be no barrier of race, colour or creed because there is only one Father of all. All centres and sources of life are witness to the Father: Brother Sun and Sister Moon, Brother Wolf and Sister Swallow, Brother Fire and Sister Water are all ikons of the Father. Francis did not shrink from death – Sister Death took him by the hand and led him into the Presence of God in whom all things are united and transfigured.