MESSAGES FROM OUR CHURCH LEADERS
Canon Arthur Minion, Rector of Wexford and Kilscoran Union
AS I WRITE this year’s Christmas message, the churches of our towns and communities are in the midst of preparations for the Christmas season. Those preparations seem to get earlier and earlier each year among shops and businesses with their display of goods and wares for Christmas.
The 12 days of Christmas celebrations officially start on Christmas Eve. Christmas Carol services and Christmas liturgies of worship would not have begun before Christmas Eve. The season of Advent would have been such a great focus. The glorious Advent carols, quite different from those of Christmas, and the accompanying enlightening liturgy would have prepared us so finely for the advancing arrival of our Lord Christ Jesus.
The four Sundays of Advent proclaim profound enlightenment of God to us from the Holy Scriptures. First Sunday, the light perceived by Abraham in his culture and times, that God is one God and not many gods.
This faith was held by his descendants Isaac and Jacob and their descendants.
God set up a covenant with Abraham forming a special relationship with him and his descendants, that He would make them a special people of His very own if they followed Him in a faithful relationship.
Second Sunday, the light perceived by the prophets of God. God’s message through the prophets to the people of Israel. God spoke to them by the Holy Spirit, understood and described by them in the female gender as Wisdom. They were most often terrified by the message they were given, but spoke it boldly, often to the threat of their lives and death. Yet, their faithfulness to God compelled them to prophesy.
Third Sunday, the light perceived by John the Baptiser, that light which made him proclaim and hail Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, the one who was to come, the long awaited Saviour, the Divine Son of God. John had come from an affluent family but chose a life of humility and meekness. For this duty, this proclamation, John the Baptiser was beheaded.
Fourth Sunday, the light to the Virgin Mary, by the Archangel Gabriel, that she would become the mother of God’s Divine Son, Jesus Christ. God had established a covenant with His people through the Law and the Law was intended to guide people in an easy and free relationship where they would find delight and freedom with God. However, as is the case today, people are tempted to abuse the law and distort its meaning for selfish reasons.
God then sent His Son, on the desire of the Son, into our world to give people an example of exactly what it was to live in a right relationship with God, and therefore fulfil the Law and the prophets. This was achieved by Jesus becoming fully human while still being fully God (not half God and half human).
Not only did Jesus Christ teach us many wonderful and profound things but he, through His Divinity and humanity, and through his resistance with temptation by the devil, became a worthy victim for the failings of our human race whom he loved and desired for redemption. This may be a lot to take in but the governing principle is one of love.
We, as Chris- tians, fall short in many ways today simply because we have not or do not truly understand the principle of love as present in Christ Jesus. I pray for all of you that you have the Light of Faith as understood by Abraham and the Gospel of Love as found in Christ Jesus this Christmas season.
There are also so many preparations that are going on at this time of year in parish life. I am so grateful to Rev Margaret Sykes, assistant priest in Wexford and Kilscoran Union, for reaching on parts of pastoral ministry that I have not been able to do so well of late. Those familiar with St Iberius Church on the main street in Wexford will have seen the scaffolding on the front of the church during the Opera Festival and until recently. The lime plaster has been completed on the section south of the tower. This has cost just less than €40,000, of which a grant was received for €30,000 from the Structures At Risk Fund.
We extend our sincere appreciation to Wexford County Council, Wexford Municipal Borough District, the Heritage Council, the Diocesan Council and all who have given us support with this work. Further to the members of these supportive organisations we must also add a word of appreciation to TD Brendan Howlin (Labour Party Leader), Ciaran Kelly (CKRC Construction), Dermot Nolan (Dermot Nolan & Associates) and Sir David Davies (president, Irish Georgian Society; president, Wexford Festival Opera) who have taken much time and trouble to support us with particular attention to the development of our work at St Iberius.
The ‘Large Christmas Tree’, 28ft in height, is in place in St Iberius Church again this year. The tree is generously donated by an anonymous donor each year in support of the Four Day Fast. My very good friend Fr Aodhán Marken will be with me again this year for the St Iberius Four Day Fast on the steps of the church. This is a challenging undertaking each year but a worthy one. God gives us strength for the task.
The generosity of the people of Wexford, town and county, is such a very great encouragement. Last year saw €48,500 raised and divided among several Wexford charities.
The ‘Memorial Lights Tree’ is also in place outside St Iberius Church. This is a very special way of remembering loved ones, now in the care of our Lord, at Christmas. All proceeds, most people make a donation of €5 per light/card placed on the tree, go towards the Four Day Fast Charities and the proceeds usually make up about €1,500 each year. The names on all cards together with their loved ones will be remembered at a service in the church over the Christmas season.
I would also encourage people in following the excellent Wexford tradition of visiting the cribs at Christmas. All people together with grandparents and parents taking children on a walking tour of the Christmas cribs in the town. What a lovely way to spend a day taking time out to think about the real reason for the season. Blessings to all for a very happy Christmas and a joy filled 2018.