Sunday 14th December
Third Sunday of Advent
Sunday 14th December
9:15 am Family Worship at St Lawrence, Towcester
9:15 am Holy Communion at St Michael's, Bradden
10:15 am Benefice Sunday Worship via Zoom
4:00 pm Christingle at St Bartholomew's, Greens Norton
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Dear all,
I do like to travel! After covid and wanting to get back to more adventurous destinations I booked a tour of Lebanon. When letting people know the location of my holiday there was always a pause, and I imagine people were thinking, ‘why on earth would you want to go there!’. Civil war, terrorists, bombings and perhaps poor government tend to come to mind when thinking about Lebanon. There have been financial crises, people have lost their savings, rampant inflation, and so we were told to take dollars. The people of Lebanon have gone through so much and yet keep going. When Queen Rania of Jordan, asked the pope while having photographs taken together in the Vatican, ‘Is it safe’, he replied firmly, ‘Well, we are going’. And many ecstatic crowds turned out a week or so ago, despite much rain, to meet Pope Leo and welcome him. The people felt uplifted and honoured that the pope should visit them on his first apostolic journey.
What I had not realised, until visiting, was how Christian the country still is with many churches, both ancient and modern, across its landscape. The pope was welcomed by a president who is a Christian. The governing arrangement means that the President has to be a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim, the Speaker of the Parliament a Shi'a Muslim, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Deputy Speaker of Parliament Eastern Orthodox. It is intended to put off sectarian conflict. The pope noted that the country continues to be “a mosaic of coexistence” and he said, “ I met people who proclaim the gospel by welcoming the displaced, visiting prisoners, and sharing bread with those in need”. He said he was heartened to see so many people in the streets greeting him and that he was deeply moved by meeting the relatives of the victims of the explosion at the port of Beirut.
There is much that is of interest in the country; thousands of years of history as so many civilisations have left their mark, a Mediterranean coast and hills and valleys inland, including the wine producing Bekaa valley. We spent a night in Byblos where people still consider themselves Phoenicians, the ancient seafaring people who invented the first verifiable alphabet to facilitate trade between Egypt, Greece and Mesopotamia. Some consider the majority of the world's writing systems to have been derived from the Phoenician alphabet. Today it’s a pleasant beach destination with Crusader Castle, medieval walls, Roman theatre, churches and remains of early temples. We visited places familiar to us from Bible readings, the cities of Sidon and Tyre. It was in Tyre that Jesus healed the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman who persisted in her request despite an initial rebuttal. Sidon is now a busy seaside city with a crusader castle and a small church, entered from the souk, where according to tradition Saints Peter and Paul met around 58 AD. We travelled through the Qadisha valley, a valley of Christian villages and towns, and spent a night at St Anthony’s monastery. The language Jesus spoke, Aramaic, still forms part of the liturgy.
When considering Lebanon and its Biblical History it is perhaps the cedars of Lebanon that come to mind. Some are said to be over 3000 years old. I’ve included a couple of photographs below. Over the centuries, cedar wood was exploited by the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Israelites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Romans, Arabs, and Turks. The Phoenicians used the cedars for their ships. The Egyptians used cedar resin for the mummification process. And Solomon procured cedar timber to build the Temple in Jerusalem.
In his parting comments Pope Leo said he was deeply moved by the encounters he had at the port. “I pray for all the victims, and I carry with me the pain and the thirst for truth and justice of so many families, of an entire country", he said. And a relative of a victim said of his encounter with the Pope, “he is truly a man of God. We saw Jesus and the messenger of peace”.
As me move closer to the day when we celebrate the birth of the one known as the Prince of Peace details of our services can be found in the flyers below and in the links above to our various calendars.
It was very good indeed to experience the first ‘Hogs Hits and Hallelujahs’, the follow on to God and Chips. In one carol, In the bleak midwinter, we sang,
What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring Him a lamb
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part
Yet what I can I give Him, give my heart
I saw many people doing their part, bringing what they could and doing what they could. I real image of community coming together and celebrating.
And to close, some information about the times when we come together to remember and give thanks for life.
We have received the news that Lyn Linney has died. She was an active church member, warden at Moorfields, sung in Choral society, patron of Studio Band and lady Mayor for David 3 times. The family are looking to have a celebration of life service following a cremation at St Lawrence’s church at 3 pm on Saturday 10th January.
Peter Allen’s family are planning a private funeral service and then a Service of Thanksgiving in January.
With every blessing
Greg
Forthcoming Events
Worship for this coming week
Lectionary Readings : (these links will take you to Bible Gateway from the NRSV):
Isaiah 35: 1 – 10 James 5: 7 - 10 Matthew 11: 2 – 11
In Church Worship: details for this weekend and next weekend services are in the weekly news - which is at the top of this mailing or can be picked up in church.
This weeks reflection by Jane Jakes is entitled "John the Baptist Questions Jesus"
Zoom Services:
The meeting rooms are opened approx. 15mins before the service is due to start. All the liturgy for the service will be displayed on the screen.
- Sunday 10:15 am Benefice Sunday Worship
- Monday to Saturday 9:00 am Morning Prayer (except on the first Tuesday of each month)
Benefice Office Hours
Monday to Friday
9:30 am to 1:00 pm
01327 350459
tovebeneficeoffice@gmail.com
Key Ministry Team Contacts
The Rev'd Paula Challen (Rector) rector.tovebenefice@gmail.com
The Rev'd Greg Roberts (Associate Priest) TheRevdGregRoberts@
The Rev'd Nigel Clent (Assistant Curate) tovecurate@gmail.com
Sarah Barnett (Children and Families Leader) tovefamilies@gmail.com
