This month’s letter comes from Charles Hill:
This is being written early in the second period of lockdown this year when nothing in December can look certain and in this season of Advent our preparations for Christmas will be getting underway. Christmas is a season of hospitality and for many this involves the giving and receiving of food and drink and the sharing of time with friends and family.
Mary and Joseph must have been extremely grateful for the hospitality shown to them by the Innkeeper and although perhaps not meriting many stars the accommodation was no doubt a huge improvement over any alternative. In turn, Mary and Joseph were able to offer simple hospitality to the shepherds and wise men and possibly others not recorded.
The birth of Jesus was also a sign of God’s hospitality towards each one of us as a reminder that he invites us to be part of his family. In the Eucharist (a celebration of Jesus hospitality to his disciples and their successors) the following words are sometimes said in a prayer after Communion ‘Father of all, we give you thanks and praise that when we were still far off you met us in your Son and brought us home’.
At the heart of hospitality is love. Love which seeks to recognise the needs of others and meet those needs either through own actions or by supporting others. Such hospitality can be shown in so many ways; through the offering and receiving of food and drink, through personal presence and presents! but also through a kind word by phone or other means, through the carrying out of a simple errand or just a smile (face masks permitting) at the appropriate time and other possibilities may well come to mind. Through our own acts of hospitality our own love for others and that of a loving heavenly Father can become manifest.
I wish you a blessed and peaceful Christmas Season.
Charles Hill
PS each week on Friday or Saturday an email is sent out to about 200 email addresses with details of what is happening on the Sunday and coming week. If you think you should be receiving this please check your Spam folder as attachments on the email could be routing the email here. If you are not receiving such updates and wish to do so, please get in touch.
National Christingle Service
Sunday 13th December with other details to be announced
Please see https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/preparing-advent-christmas-2020-comfort-and-joy
Mission Community Carol Service
This will be a short service (5 carols) on 23rd December at 5pm via Zoom (incl telephone) and hopefully facebook too, aimed at the whole community
