January OUTLOOK
Merry Christmas and Happy New calendar Year, everyone!
Why am I late in wishing you all this? You’ve all heard of the twelve days of Christmas, correct? Well, don’t forget that twelve days from 25 December is 6 January, which is celebrated as Epiphany in many churches around the world. So, Christmas-tide lasts twelve days, officially ending when the 3 wise men arrive at the stable in Bethlehem to worship the new born king. For the rest of January, we are in the season of Epiphany-tide.
I see your eyebrows rise and say, “So?” Well, precisely. Christ was born, as the baby Jesus of Nazareth, and we celebrate His birth at Christmas. Then, just so that we don’t miss the importance, three wise sages from foreign countries arrive by the 6th of January paying homage and worshipping this new born baby, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. How entirely strange and completely out-of-place, it must have been for such a thing to occur to the youngsters, Mary & Joseph. But, remember what Mary’s response to God’s call was, ‘So be it!’
So, we enter the New calendar Year with great joy and happiness, still riding a wave of merriment and great mirth from Christmastide and Epiphany, as we travel through January. I pray that you never lose the joy of Christmas from your hearts; I pray that you never forget the weight of the importance of the sages’ visit. The joy of giving to others is not something we put back in a box, to pull out again next year just after Halloween. We give because we love. We love as a response and as worship to the One who created us.
All of us at All Saints’ Church wish you a great and blessed 2008! May God grant you all good health, much joy & happiness, and a desire to want to share your love with others. In 2008, as we do each week, we will be praying for any and all who are unwell in body, mind, or spirit or who otherwise are in any kind of need. So, if you know someone who you would love us to pray for, please let us know and we will add them to our prayer list.
God bless you all, this coming year, and may He bless the work of our local churches.
Your vicar,
Mark-Aaron +