22^nd December

4^th Sunday of Advent

Collect

God our redeemer, who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the Mother of your Son, grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour, so we may be ready to greet him when he comes again as our judge; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Readings

Old Testament                        Micah 5. ^2-5a.

New Testament                      Hebrews 10. ^5-10.

Gospel                                      Luke 1. ^39-45.

ELBOWS AND SHOEHORNS

Christmas:  The most attractive festival of the year.  Parties, cards, family, eating, drinking, gifts and only a tenuous religious content.  How did it come about?

In the early years of the Christian faith there was no Christmas.  Beyond the Roman Empire the important festival at this time of year was Epiphany.  In many places Epiphany came to include the Nativity and still does, so “Christmas” is on 6th January and celebrated alongside Epiphany, eg the Armenian Church.

In the west however it took the gradual crumbling of the Roman Empire to bring about a separate celebration of the Nativity of Jesus.  There is no Christmas in the Bible.  There are accounts in Matthew and Luke of the Nativity but no time of year is given.  To celebrate the Nativity required deciding on a date.  By the end of the 4th Century AD it came about that 25th December would be a good date for celebrating the Nativity.  This date had previously been occupied by a celebration of the god Saturn, a time characterised by feasting, drinking, family reunions and merriment, a bright oasis in the deep midwinter.  It was a simple swap – Saturn was elbowed out, the Nativity was shoehorned in.  In most other respects the character of the occasion remained the same, feasting and merriment and a family dimension.  The transition was smooth and seamless.  As Christianity had grown the pagan gods had diminished so few tears were shed for Saturn.  Some pagan features have actually been added:  Prince Albert introduced the Christmas tree in the 19th Century from ancient German pagan practice:  it fitted in just fine.  Even atheists find they can embrace most features of the occasion without too much compromise.

That’s all well and good.  However, it is important for Christians not to loose sight of the occasion’s content for them.  God is translating himself into human terms for the benefit of our understanding:  A cause for celebration and merriment indeed!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!                             ROBIN NOBLE

Services for Christmas Eve

Services for Christmas Day

Services next Sunday – 29^th December – 1^st Sunday of Christmas

Forthcoming Services & Events

WESTON: Bible study at Tony & Mary Pitt’s, 2^nd & 4^th Thursday of each month, Penyard Rise Weston under Penyard HR9 7PH Phone: 768181

UPTON BISHOP have a BCP communion Service at 9.30 am on the first Wednesday of each month. A quiet midweek service. All welcome”

Please be aware that if you have any events you would like to advertise here, do please contact Debs

directly (details below) and she will be pleased to include them.                                                 

Please pray for all who are sick, Margaret Minnet (AI)

Please pray for all who have died, Rose Holmes (WuP)

Rev David Howell 01989 568736    email:   revdavidhowell@btinternet.com

If you would like to receive this pew sheet via email¸ please email Debs debsparishsecretary@outlook.com