From the Rev Richard Washington December 2024

Rev Richard Washington
Team Vicar, Great Yarmouth Parish

As always, Advent Sunday (1 December) will mark the start of what is an extraordinary spiritual journey. This journey lasts through the four Sundays of Advent, then through Christmastide, followed by Epiphanytide and ending with the celebration of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple (Candlemas) on 2 February next year. That’s two months of spiritual preparation for, celebration of and contemplation of what Jesus’ birth among us means for us! It’s a tremendous gift. But it’s also a marathon spiritual journey that we will need to pace ourselves through
 
Of course this same period is also one of intense secular preparation and celebration too. In the weeks of Advent many people are busy planning events, enjoying parties, buying gifts and organizing family. For many, Christmas day and the days immediately after, are full of activity, feasting, visiting, and excitement. And of course, the New Year swiftly follows on with its round of feasts and parties. Another marathon journey to pace oneself through!
 
Of course, one big difference between these two journeys is that the second, though joyful and wonderful for so many, is in fact restricted to those who have the means to go on it: financial, emotional, familial and so on. By contrast, the first is a journey that all may go on, no matter what their status
 
So, even if we find ourselves - as so many will - living with grief, illness, fear, and pain, or alone and lonely, or in financial distress or in poverty, Jesus has come to us too and we are invited to find hope and comfort in the fact of his birth among us, as one of us. Whoever we are, we can all make our way closer to God and the embodiment of his love and forgiveness that is his Son Jesus Christ

                                            Revd Richard

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