Dear Saints,

We thank God for the positive and joyful note we are able to end this Church year, with the Baptisms of Nelly and Mali here at St Mary’s and the Confirmations of Nelly and Henny in Rotterdam at the end of November.

In the Gospel reading on the Feast of Christ our Sovereign, Christ the King, among other things, Jesus has the following to say about his Realm;

“My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this, I was born, and for this, I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

So where is this kingdom? How do we know we are part of it? St Paul reminds us in the letter to Romans 14:17 that “Christ’s kingdom is unlike any on this earth: “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”. In Peter's first letter, we are taught that God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.

Jesus' kingdom, located where he is, is characterised not by oppression or warfare but by a call to truth and redemption. Jesus invites all of us to partake in this transformative truth He embodies: “I am the way, the truth, and the life Jesus says.” It is, therefore, this truth that Jesus’ followers hear and become in this world.

On Sunday, Advent Sunday, we start our new Church year, anticipating Christ's return as he has promised and preparing for our celebration of the birth of the Christ Child, God with us, at Christmas. These are very active times in the life of our Chaplaincy.

We celebrate the four Advent Sundays (1 December, 8 December, 15 December, and 22 December), with Sunday, 15 December, being our Annual Advent Carol Service and the opening of our Advent/Christmas market. On Sunday, 22 December, we have a Children’s Christmas Service in the afternoon; on Tuesday,24 December, our Midnight Mass; and on Wednesday, 25 December, the feast of Christ’s birth itself: Christmas Day.

We do all this as those who embody the truth of God’s purpose with Christ. Our lives in Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, bear witness to God’s Kingdom of truth and redemption. We invite the world to share in this life that anticipates the fullness of our joy in God’s redeeming power present in the world.
The Sunday after Christmas, we remember the Holy Innocents, the children who were killed by the authorities who wanted to ensure that the newborn Christ, who was prophesied to be the new “king”, had no chance of survival. Amid our joy for the coming of Christ, we think of the children who die today at the hands of modern “kings” through their acts of violence, warfare and greed for power.

I will be on leave from 27 December until 24 January 2025. During my absence, our Sunday Services will be led by our Reader and visiting clergy.
The new year 2025 marks the 1,700th

anniversary of the construction of the Nicene Creed. Every week, we affirm our faith by reciting one of the creeds during our Sunday Worship. To celebrate the anniversary of the Nicene Creed, we will punctuate a section of the Creed each month of the year and make it part of our Lenten programme.

In the daily prayer that Christ taught us, we praise God by saying God’s name is holy and ask that God’s kingdom come. We ask that we may be part of the Kingdom of truth and redemption, of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, as we are called to abide in God by abiding in love for ourselves and our neighbours as ourselves.

I am wishing you a blessed Advent and Christmas season.

Yours in Christ as always,

Revd Jacque