We are here to help people love and worship God. We aim to be, and encourage others to become, committed and active disciples of Jesus,
who love God and worship him, who know the power of the Holy Spirit and who show God’s love in every part of their lives.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
This time of year is so busy that we scarcely have time to think about what we are doing, let alone to find the space to reflect on the past year. And yet, as one year draws to its close and we look ahead to the coming year, it is a good time to recall and to think about what the past year has brought, and to look ahead to the year that is about to dawn.
We will all have things to celebrate, things to be thankful for - friends and family, a holiday or a big family event. And we will all have regrets, things that if we could change we would.
I try, at this time of year to offer all of these things to God, thanking God from whom all good things come for the good things of the past year, and asking forgiveness for my failings and for healing for the hurts.
As I look ahead to 2025, I try to remember St Ignatius’ call to find God in all things and in all people.
Life is a gift, not simply the fact of life, but everything in life comes to us as a gift, and we can find God in all things. I believe that God laughs and God weeps with His children, that we are never alone. I try to remember this as I look behind me at the year past and as I look ahead to the coming year. In all things God is with me. I pray that I will have the grace to see the face of Christ in every person that I have any dealings with in the coming year.
At the heart of the Christmas story is God with us; with us in the joy and the vulnerability of a tiny child; God with us in our flesh and blood. And with the Christ comes the promise that the God who made us, the God whose face we see in the face Jesus will never leave us or forsake us wherever our path may lead.
May Christ fill your hearts with His love and your homes with His joy, this Christmas and ever. Amen.
St Mary's Church, Priory Road, Ecclesfield, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S35 9XZ, United Kingdom
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The Parochial Church Council of The Ecclesiastical Parish St Marys Ecclesfield - Charity Commission Reg. No. 1144309
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