Barnes in Common

the magazine of Churches Together in Barnes
January/February 2007

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Pastoral letter

Father Logan, St Osmund's Church

The Presentation in the Temple

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God saw everything he had made, and behold, it was very good. Genesis 1: 27 and 31.

The mystery of the Incarnation shows us how profound must be the value of human life in God's sight, in that now the order is reversed and the second person of the Trinity is revealed in human form. In some moment during the Christmas season it is right that we should find space to give thanks for the inspired word of God through which, especially in the texts of Matthew, Luke and John, we have wonderful subject matter for meditation, and that young children in their school Nativity tableaux can be spellbound as they enact their own account of the mystery. The cause of our celebration is that the Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us.

The season takes us through the unfolding of God's promise, that the appointed time had come. The Messiah is revealed to the shepherds and, at Epiphany, as bringing salvation for all mankind. Forty days after his birth Jesus is taken by Mary and Joseph, as the law prescribed, to the Temple at Jerusalem. There to greet them was Simeon with his prediction that many would reject God's grace when it was offered. And a sword of sorrow would pierce Mary's soul.

A product of more recent times is the feast in honour of the Holy Family that is now established in the calendar of the church. Part of the mystery of the Incarnation is the Son of God sharing in the reality of what family life involves - as an infant, a child and as a young working adult. As a family they made their escape to Egypt and later, after Jesus had been lost for three days, the three went home to Nazareth where he grew to maturity and advanced in wisdom.

The family cannot be replaced as the backbone of society. It is there that we learn love and trust, receiving and giving, security and fidelity, rights and duties, negotiation and compromise, independence and obedience, freedom and authority - all the skills of language and relationship. Christmas remains, thank God, a time when families are together, but we know that for many there will be sadness and worry.

The first enemy of the Divine Word was Herod who saw Jesus as a threat, and in jealousy and rage ordered the massacre of the Holy Innocents. There were other enemies who rejected the gospel message during the public life of Our Lord and plotted against him. Together with the family and the life that God saw to be very good, he surely needs defenders to speak up for him today. Recently, an executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service was reported as saying, in a call for easier abortion, that 'sex without repercussions is a right that should not be complicated by unwanted children'.

We live in a Christian country yet secular attitudes are promoted and allowed to prevail more and more. In the main this cannot be attributed to sincere members of other faiths with whom we share our space, but to others actively pushing the secularist line. There is no cause for us to cease proclaiming with the shepherds, as they did when they left the stable, that it is just as they had been told by the angels - a Saviour is born who is Christ the Lord. In his teaching the world can find all it needs for peace and harmony.

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