Letter from The Priest
February 2012
Dear Friends,
A VERY HAPPY AND BLESSED NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR READERS
Already one month of the Year of Our Lord 2012 has passed but the wonderful celebration of Christmas is still, I hope, fresh in your mind. For some of you, I know Christmas was a time of illness and changed plans, and those of you about whom I was informed featured very much in my prayers. Those who were fit and able enough to attend our Christmas Services, know what a wonderful time Christmas was at St Stephen’s . The church was beautifully decorated, numbers were well up on previous years in spite of the ‘bug’ that seemed to have affected so many people, and the double celebrations of Eucharist and party afterwards made the Holy Season a truly family occasion.
Family occasions – yes, brothers and sisters in Christ coming together in worship, praise, thanksgiving and celebration- bind us together in that family unity which Christ prayed for. Families come together to celebrate anniversaries, birthdays, achievements, successes and special family events; they come together to talk about their family history, to learn from one another about the family’s experiences and to make plans for the future. Our Christian family should be no different, for what a past and what a tradition we have to build on, and what a future we have to look forward to.
Each year we remind ourselves of the milestones in our Christian Family pilgrimage, celebrating with joy, and mourning in sorrow . Having reminded ourselves of the joyous season of Christmas and Epiphany we move on this month to the beauty of Candlemas but soon afterwards the mood changes as we prepare for and enter the season of Lent. But the sorrow and repentance associated with Lent lead us towards that great promise of Resurrection, a promise made to us by none other than the Son of God himself.
Belonging to a Christian Family must not be a closed shop. Like any normal family, it can and must expand and it is the vocation of all of us to do what the Apostle Philip did to his friend Nathaniel –he invited him to ‘Come and See’ and in so doing, drew Nathaniel into the family which we love so dearly and in which we are loved so dearly, the family of all those who profess the faith of Christ crucified, the risen and ascended Son of God.
I wish you all every blessing in 2012 and close as is my New Year tradition, with the words of Minnie Louise Hoskins, born in 1875, who wrote:
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,
Give me light that I may tread safely into the unknown.
And he replied,
Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way.
Fr Brian
ABSENT FRIENDS
Visits were made by myself and our team of pastoral visitors to members of the congregation currently in Care Homes or confined to their own home for various reasons.
Barbara and Francis Wall were in good form over Christmas and received their Christmas Communion together. Molly and Syd are coping satisfactorily, and Molly is as cheerful and chatty as ever. Although they find it difficult to get out without help, they like to keep in touch with church activities, and Molly made several items for sale at our Advent Fair. Anyone who is passing is welcome to pop in for a short while, and a phone call always brightens up their day. They too were most grateful for their Christmas present from St Stephen’s. Freda Stanbridge is still experiencing a lot of pain and discomfort and although she receives her Communion each Sunday, she is longing to be able to return to her usual place in Church on Sundays. I spent a good hour or more with Audrey Schuster on the afternoon before Christmas Eve and she was very ‘with it’ concerning local and national matters of concern both in Government and in the Church. She has good memory of times past in Cheltenham and always keeps me interested with her reminiscences. Margaret Whitehead too was visited at Faithful House by Jill , and Roma Richards at Barrington Lodge by Ralph and Mary, just days before she died. Connie Greenslade is visited each week by Mary J often accompanied by June Burrows and she receives her Communion at home every Sunday. On 15th January she was delighted that the day coincided with her 99th birthday.
Everyone whom I have mentioned always speaks so fondly of St Stephen’s and made me promise to pass on their Christmas Greetings to anyone who remembers them. Mention must also be made of the lovely morning spent at Hatherley Grange Nursing Home where as usual we were made so welcome. There was lots of carol singing, lots of mince pies, lots of chat and presents were distributed to every resident. Mary Wilkins and Margaret Webb have built up an excellent, warm and almost motherly relationship with the residents and staff and it was obvious how much their input every Wednesday is appreciated.
Fr Brian