Dear brothers and sisters,
Here we are, on the very brink of celebrating the Lord’s Nativity, having heard the genealogy of the Lord herald the feast, with the generations of righteous forebears from whom the Lord received His humanity, when God was scandalously clothed in human flesh, born in a cave and laid in a manger.
The scandal of the Incarnation exalts Christianity as a Faith based upon perfect, limitless, divine love, through which God would do the unspeakable and the seemingly impossible in becoming Man to save mankind.
This is why the Nativity must be a supreme beacon of hope, proclaiming that nothing is too much for God in His relationship with humanity, no matter how broken, sinful and rebellious we are.
I was very happy to celebrate Sunday Liturgy in the parish for the first time since October, and it was a joy to welcome five new faces and to be able to share our Liturgy and hospitality with our visitors. We send our greetings to those who are away, celebrating Nativity with family.
As announced, our Nativity celebrations be in both St Philip’s and the Oratory, due to building availability.
Our Nativity Vigil will be celebrated in ST PHILIP’S tomorrow, Tuesday 6th January, at 19:00. Confessions will be heard from 18:00 and after the service, as needed.
On Wednesday 7th January, the Nativity Liturgy will be celebrated at 11:00, in ST ALBAN’S CHURCH (CARDIFF ORATORY) in Swinton Street. I will hear confessions from the end of mass around 10:00, but will not continue hearing confessions during the festal Liturgy. So… please come in good time if you need to confess.
Those who have confessed within the last week are blessed to commune.
Help setting up and putting away will be crucial, particularly to ensure a prompt Liturgy start (at what is already a late hour!) so please assist as much as possible.
The service will be followed by our usual Christmas meal in the church hall.
As you know, building work is pretty imminent in St Philip’s, and we will be removing what is left in the vestry after tomorrow’s vigil. Our worship-setting is admittedly rather minimal at the moment, but we look forward not only to a return to normality, but also to the blessing of a real kitchen, with cooking facilities and space to move!
This prompts us to the necessity of FINGER FOOD, as there will be no kitchen and possibility of washing up. So far, the message is not being heeded, but within the next week or so there will be no choice. If food can’t be picked up, it will not be suitable.
Looking forward to Theophany, we will bless water after the Liturgy on the eve of the feast (Sunday 18 January), as is the Church’s tradition, and hope that a group of us may be able to be in the cathedral the next day, due to the building work in St Philip’s.
Wishing you all a blessed and happy year ahead.
In Christ – Hieromonk Mark