3 January 2010

Welcome to  St Alban’s Anglican Church      

Today's Scripture: Jeremiah 31:7-14                 Ephesians 1: 3-14                     S. John 1: 10-18

Today: 9.00 a.m. Matins; 9.30 a.m. Holy Eucharist; 6.00 p.m. EP;

This Week: Tues, Thurs - Fri: 12.30 pm Midday Prayers.  Wed (THE EPIPHANY) 12.30 p.m. HC; Next Sunday 8.35 a.m. Matins; 9.00 a.m. Church School; 9.30 a.m. Holy Eucharist

Second Sunday After Christmas

Almighty God, who madest thy blessed Son to be circumcised, and obedient to the law for man; Grant us the true Circumcision of the Spirit; that, our hearts, and all our members, being mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts, we may in all things obey thy blessed will; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

FAITH IN FOCUS: NOT OVER YET

All that preparation for Christmas and only ten days later it seems so far away.

But the Church recognises Christmas as a season, not just a bank holiday. And we have two echoes of the Christmas event that keep it alive in our hearts and minds: Epiphany (6 Jan) and the Presentation of the Lord (in about a month’s time).

The word epiphany is a most uncommon one. What it actually means is manifestation or showing. It recalls the day when the glory of God was made visible and accessible through the birth of the child Jesus. The wise men, coming from virtually the edges of the then-known world, represent the fact that the glory of God has been revealed to every corner of the globe: from the Great River to earth’s bounds, as a great psalm tells us.

Epiphany is about universalism. No one has a monopoly on God and Christ did not come for some sort of elite group but for every single human being of all time. The three wise men came to do homage to Jesus because they felt he was special to them and to their people. Even people who have no evident outward religious expression often indicate that the simple message of Christmas is one that still appeals to the human heart. In fact, St Leo the Great was fond of saying that there can be no strangers at Christmas because God has graced us all, saints and sinners, with the gift of his own Son.

But like every eucharist, Epiphany does not leave us simply looking at the past. It coaxes us to change and renewal in our daily life of faith and to make a difference to the future. If we celebrate Epiphany as the making visible of God’s gift of true humanity in the person of his Son, then we are also agreeing to be “epiphanies” ourselves, to be thankful people who never cease praising God for his many gifts and who show God’s graceful presence in our world by the way we ourselves live. Christmas has come, and Epiphany reminds us that it’s not over yet. We’ve a lot of showing to do.

 

WORD OF GOD FOR EPIPHANY

Above you the Lord now rises and above you his glory appears. The nations come to your light and kings to your dawning brightness. (Isaiah 60:2-3)

 

CHRIST HAS BEEN BORN AMONG US and now lives through us. We are called to be individual epiphanies or manifestations of God’s presence in our world. A Christian can be a privileged sign of God’s glory, a light to those in darkness.

 

A WISE MAN will make more opportunities than he finds. (Francis Bacon)

THE IDYLLIC SCENE of the wise men coming from the ends of the earth to worship the child is a sign of the universal nature of Epiphany’s revelation from God. But it is also a fact that the Lord Jesus loves to reveal himself to those who dare to take the bleak side of the hill with him. Epiphany, tranquil though it may be, points the way to Calvary. (Elizabeth Fuller)

 

THIS WEEK’S BIBLE READINGS

Mon: Ruth 3, Colossians 3: 12 – 4:1, John 2: 1-12

Tues: Ruth 4: 1-17, Colossians 4: 2–end, John  4:7–26

Wed (THE EPIPHANY): Isaiah 60: 1-6, Ephesians 3: 1-12, Matthew 2: 1-12

Thurs: Baruch 1:15 – 2:10, Matt 20: 1–16, 1 John 3

Fri : Baruch 2: 11–end, Matt 20: 17-28, 1 John 4: 7-end

Sat: Baruch 3: 1-8, Matt 20: 28-end, 1 John 5: 1-12

NEXT SUNDAY : Isaiah 43: 1-7, Acts 8: 14-17,  S. Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22