One ends and another begins!

Very strange Sunday today as I did not preside at the Eucharist. Strange to be back at the Cathedral having been elsewhere on cover for the last two weeks. Today we kept the Sunday Before Advent the wonders of Christ the King being too modern for us. Before the Post Communion we stirred the Christmas pudding as a practical reenactment of "Stir up Sunday". So the end of another liturgical year and once more returning to riches of Advent and a profound sense of expectation. Also had the rota and noticed that once again I am preaching on the First Sunday after Christmas and do not think I can get away with another sermon on New Years Resolutions!

Reflect to prepare

Felt the need for some time away on Saturday morning to prepare my sermon. Had a lift to Neath with Karen. Good to chill for a while in a coffee shop and put together my final ideas for my sermon for the Sunday Eucharist. Enjoyed too the train ride home. Presided twice at the Eucharist on Sunday in Merthyr. I could have done with a boat to get there rather than a car. Good to have a warm welcome from Fr Wayne the NSM Deacon and the Parishoners and good to go to churches that could articulate by their decoration and accessibility their mission and ministry. Oh if it were only the same everywhere!

1662 and all that!!

A very busy and varied day today to say the least. Attended the funeral of John Morris one of the parishoners who had been ill for a while. He and his wife Mary had been deeply devoted to the Church and to one another and very committed to running Quiet Days in the Ignatian tradition. From there it was on to the College Eucharist at St Michael's College with Karen my wife. As with many other things you are never sure what to expect in St Michael's and tonight was no exception. It was 1662 Holy Communion in surplice and black scarf. I went to dinner thinking how could anyone possibly want to retain it. It is so wordy and turgid! I sat there thinking to myself it was no wonder before the Parish Communion movement most people went to Matins! I suppose it was a good exercise in history but as an experience of worship it did nothing for me at all.
After St Michael's it was off to the a licensing at St Nicholas for the new Priest in Charge of the East Vale Team the Rev Rachael Lewis. I have helped out there for about the last two years in the small scattered rural community and it has been a good experience. It was very good to see the Church at St Nicholas so full and to enjoy the hospitality afterwards. After such a long vacancy I hope things work out well for the future!

All Saints & All Souls.

Both All Saints and All Souls have dominated the last week concluding yesterday with preaching at a Rememberance Service in the Church of the Resurrection Glan Ely. This was the first time they had done this and rather than the usual ten that turned up for a Requiem Mass on All Souls' Day there were over 150 people present for the service. All the families of those who had funeral services in the parish in the last year were invited. I took as my theme Hope and Healing. I must admit it was difficult to pitch it and make sure it was right. The naming of the departed and the candle lighting was a lengthy business but at the same time intensly moving.

The Two evening Eucharists at the Cathedral were well attended too with slightly more at All Souls than All Saints. Last year I read the book For All the Saints by Bishop Tom Wright and despite the fact I would place myself firmly on the Catholic wing of the Church I cannot help but agree with many of the points that he makes. Anyway more about that another time!

Back home

Last Sunday for the first time since I was ordained it was good to return to Briton Ferry to lead worship. I was glad it was in better circumstances than the closure of St Clements. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits it is just a shame there are not more people. Thought it may be the one Sunday as I was not in the cathedral that there would be no other clergy present. How wrong I was! We were joined by Fr Mike Gillingham a parish priest from Sheffield whose wife was from Briton Ferry, they were down for a few days on annual leave.

It was the most positive that I have felt on a Sunday for a long time and good to lead a community in prayer. I was also struck by the warmth of the community and the welcome that I recieved. It was good to see some of the work done on the Church and how the parish was developing. Hard to know what to preach on when you go back home so I opted for talking about how we all needed the humility of the tax collector in the Parable about the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. I had to hedge my bets because there were three options on the Lectionary that day. The rest of the week has just been playing catch up with all the things I have needed to do and some that I really should have done last week but didn't!