In the final of these Christmas reflections I think about Thomas of Canterbury, the only of these saints to have actually died on the day we remember him.
But he too witnesses to us of the newborn King and his perfect rule and reign in the face of a despotic and ruthless earthly king.
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Christmas these days seems to be all about family, and particularly about children. Does that first Christmas, and the reality behind it have anything to say to those who are childless or single?
In this reflection I ponder the horror of the massacre of the innocents and what it might say to those who cannot have children, or whose children have died.
In the second of these reflections I think about John and the prologue to the Gospel which bears his name and how it, and his life, reveals to us the paradox of Christmas.
Today marks the first of the Christmas season Saint's days, Stephen, the first martyr of the church. In this video reflection I explore how his death witnesses to the preciousness of what we have received in Jesus.
Firstly may I wish you a very happy Christmas and blessed Christmas. That, whatever your plans, you would know Christ's presence with you in this season.
Over the next few days I'll be releasing a series of reflections. Immediately after Christmas there are a series of Saints days and these aren't there by coincidence, they've been put there deliberately. But normally we don't mark them, we're usually in a bit of a turkey and mince pie haze by that point and aren't feeling like doing anything at all. But if we think about Christmas and the birth of Jesus as a gemstone, each of these days helps us to turn this stone around to look at it from different angles to better understand what Christmas and the birth of Jesus means for us. It's probably worth noting at this point that I'm cheating slightly and counting this as Day 1, just so you're not searching for it. I hope you'll join me as we explore these lesser thought about days and use them to pivot Christmas around to better understand what it means for us today. |
AuthorI was raised in an Anglican Church, went to a Youth Club run by an Evangelical Church and attended a Baptist Church while at Uni and as such my faith has been influenced by these traditions into what I hope is a more rounded viewpoint. Categories
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