Christmas

I participated in the following, with my church Saint Columba’s as a base, as preparation for the 100th anniversary of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Friday 18 to Friday 25 January 2008).

• Sunday 16 December 2007: carol service at New Road Baptist Church.
• Friday 21 and Tuesday 25 December: carol singing at the Oxford railway station and Christmas lunch with Saint Michael-at-the-Northgate.
• Monday 24 December: vigil and Mass at Blackfriars, Oxford. This ended up with me being served hot chocolate and mince pie by the Dominican brothers after midnight.
• Friday 28 December (Holy Innocents): Mass at Saint Thomas (Becket) the Martyr, Oxford, under the care of the flying bishop of Ebbsfleet. Blackfriars is lower-church than this one! The Anglo-Catholics are at risk of becoming a caricature of a ‘Romish’ past of a church which has moved on since Vatican II.
• Sunday 30 December: Temple Cowley United Reformed Church, which suffered an arson attack on Christmas Day.
• Sunday 6 January (eve of the Nativity of Christ in the Old Style (Julian) Calendar): Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, Oxford, under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Sourozh, Patriarchate of Moscow.

In this nativity scene, a very old Joseph holds a lantern.

My grandparents bought this olive wood nativity scene in the Holy Land, back in the day. Joseph has a walking stick. There’s one shepherd, in the background, holding a sheep. No shepherd’s crooks.

The sheep on the left side of this beautiful nativity scene seems to be standing on its front legs, trying to kick Joseph in the knee.

The dove on Joseph’s crook is a nice touch. It’s only in the last three days that I’ve realized that Joseph is often depicted in nativity scenes holding a shepherd’s crook. Is this supposed to be some piece of gear he found lying around the barn?

M Iafrate has a nice version of the Christmas carol “Hardrock, Coco, and Joe” (mp3).

My mom “got this at the Goodwill” for $1. It was missing almost all of the figurines. In the spirit of Joseph himself, a king has stepped into the father role.

More than 200 people of the three Abrahamic faiths made their way on Thursday evening to the Asian Cultural Centre in Manzil Way, east Oxford, for the celebration of Hanukkah, Christmas, and Eid ul-Adha. There were informative displays on Judaism and Islam; menorah and Christmas tree shared the stage. We heard songs in Hebrew and Arabic flanking Christmas carols. The stories of the festivals were told – the Nativity of Jesus explained with the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ – we also learnt about the route of the Hajj. Read the rest of this entry »

A happy Christmas to all readers and contributors.

Here is a small collection of homilies and messages from our brothers and sisters.

• Urbi et orbi
• Christmas message to the Commonwealth
• Sermon in Canterbury Cathedral
• Address from the Moderator of the General Assembly

Let’s eat

Thanksgiving is one day when America not only makes a point of feeding the hungry, but feeding them in style.

There was a big crowd at St. John’s Free Meal for Thanksgiving Breakfast. Lots of hugs and smiles.

The St. John’s High School football team stopped by with a donation. (Later that day, they beat St. Peter-Marian 28-7.)

The breakfast conversation was sparkling, as always.

Mike: Why are they showing “Night of the Living Dead” on Thanksgiving?

Bruce: The dead gotta eat too, Mike!
Read the rest of this entry »