Sunday 4th January: 11am Sung Mass and Children’s Sunday School
At Epiphany we celebrate the unexpected arrival of strangers at the crib, come to worship Jesus from miles away. We are using this feast as an opportunity to think this year about how St Benet’s might grow in number over the next year, and about how we might see more unexpected strangers arrive at St Benet’s, come to worship Jesus.
As we give thanks for the increased numbers of people who worshiped with us at St Benet’s over the Christmas period, we reflect on what we did differently this year which helped God give us that growth. One element which made a big difference was undoubtedly the working together of a large number of people, each exercising a different role: leaflet distributing; church cleaning; preparing refreshments, welcoming newcomers; preparing music and liturgy; decorating our church.
How St Benet’s is to grow is a crucial thing we should be regularly thinking about. Churches, however, do not grow over night. They grow slowly and gradually in a way that is often difficult to notice, unshowy, almost unglamorous. It is the result of lots of hard work, some of it dreary and unexciting, but all of it because Jesus calls us to do it and promises to help us. If the increase in church attendance over Christmas is something to be proud of, it is a pride not in any of our own power, but a pride in the power of God working within us. This is not something we achieved on our own. It may have been us who planted a few of the seeds but God who gave the growth.
Join us this Sunday as we contemplate the mystery of the Epiphany, share in the joy of the Wise Men, and think about how we can make the example of the Magi a reality in our life together as a parish.