Dear All Saints and St Mary’s
This week, we celebrate the Feast of the Manifestation of Jesus to the Gentiles, commonly known as Epiphany. This is when we think about the way Jesus was revealed to the Magi through the sign of a star. Throughout the season of Epiphany, we retell the stories of how who Jesus is became known to different people. Next week we hear about John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus. The week after, we hear about the call of the first disciples, Peter, Andrew, James and John Then we finish the season with the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, with the witness of Simeon and Anna. All these stories reveal something of who Jesus is through the words and actions of others.
Yet, when we talk about having “an epiphany”, we mean that we suddenly realise something that we never properly understood before. In that sense, it was the Magi, John the Baptist, those first disciples and Simeon and Anna who had an epiphany. Suddenly, they got it. God opened their eyes, and they could see clearly. The child of Bethlehem is the king, the anointed one of God. The one on whom the Spirit descended is the Lamb of God. The man from Nazareth is the one to follow. The baby in the temple is God’s messiah. It is through those epiphanies, those revelations of the deeper truth beneath the surface of ordinary events, that God changed their lives forever.
Sometimes, the same thing happens to us. Whether it is a big thing or a small, God reveals to us something that we never managed to see before. Suddenly, we just get it. We are never too young or too old, too experienced or too inexperienced, too educated or too uneducated. There may still be new epiphanies that God has in store for us. Let us pray that we may be open to the everything that God has prepared for us.
This Sunday we are following our usual second Sunday pattern, with communion at 8.00 am at All Saints and 10.00 am at St Mary’s. The 10.30 service at All Saints will be our all age Messy/Muddy Church. This gives the following services for this Sunday:
08:00am | Holy Communion (said) | All Saints |
10:00am | Holy Communion | St Mary's |
10:30am | Messy Muddy Church | All Saints |
This week most groups and activities are back to normal after the Christmas break. We have Celtic morning prayer at All Saints at 9.00 am on Wednesday and Holy Communion on Thursday at 10.00 am at St Mary’s. Next Sunday there is a baptism at 10.00 am at St Mary’s and Holy Communion at 10.30 am at All Saints. Next Sunday evening is the Epiphany carol service at St Mary’s at 6.30 pm. This gives the services for the coming week as follow:
Weds 11th Jan | 09:00am | Celtic Morning Prayer | All Saints |
Thurs 12th Jan | 10:00am | Holy Communion | St Marys |
Sun 15th Jan | 10:00am | Baptism | St Marys |
| 10:30am | Holy Communion | All Saints |
| 6:30pm | Epiphany Carols | St Marys |
So, as we get back into the normal routines of life after the Christmas break, let us follow the advice of the prophet Isaiah in the reading for Epiphany.
He told the people of Israel to lift their eyes and look around to see all the things that God was doing for them. Let us do the same so we can see all that God is doing for us and all that he is calling us to do in his world.
Mark
Mark Simms Licensed Lay Minister Benefice of All Saints and St Mary, Fishponds
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