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A letter from Fr Tim:
Dear friends,
By the time that you read this, we will have come to the end of the Season of Epiphany: that time when we think of the coming of the Wise Men to see Jesus, who in bodily form was and is the revelation of the glory of God to the whole world – to all peoples in all times and in all places. Though on Candlemas Sunday (29th January) we will have formally ended our celebration of Christmas, let us not forget that we are meant to live with the reality of it throughout the whole of this and every year.
The baby grew up, and became the man – as St John memorably put it, “the Word became flesh and lived among us, full of grace and truth”. It is so important that we allow Jesus to continue to live among us – to challenge and inspire us – through our fellowship together, and in the people we meet in our daily lives; through the Scriptures, through our worship, and through the Sacraments.
22nd February sees our observance of Ash Wednesday, when we remind ourselves of our mortality, our sins and our failures to love God and each other. We all need the grown-up Saviour who, Christmas tells us, has come to us. He is the one who will bring us forgiveness, hope and new life that will carry us through this earthly journey and into the future God has for each of us.
From Ash Wednesday, we enter once again that serious, sometimes austere time we call Lent. In it, we remember Jesus’ own 40 days of wilderness temptations, and his struggles to know and to choose the Father’s will. I hope that we will find in our increased focus on spiritual discipline and practical action a renewed understanding of, and strength to fulfil, God’s unique plan for each of us.
It will not be the last time I say this, but the word “Lent” has at its heart the sense of “Springtime”. This is a time of hidden life that leads to steady growth and fruitfulness.
I pray that in this special year of 2012 God will continue to bless and guide us all at St Peter’s as we offer of our best in worship and service within and outside our Church walls. That way the grace and truth shown in the whole of Jesus’ life will become more apparent in our community of Braintree and Bocking – a place of much good, yet also of need, unhappiness, and anxiety.
Fr. Tim.
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