Page 53 - Phonebox Magazine December 2007

The Catholic Church of Our Lady, Help of Christians and St Lawrence
WEST STREET, OLNEY
Do you have a child currently in school Year 2 or aged 7 or older who would like to prepare for the Sacraments?
Or would you like to speak to someone at the Church about this or any similar matter concerning your child’s instruction?
PLEASE RING FR MALCOLM BULL OR SR RITA ON 01234 711267
E. FENNEMORE & SON
YOUR LOCAL FUNERAL DIRECTOR EST OVER 107 YEARS
76 DINGLEDERRY, OLNEY TEL 01234 713648
A family business offering a caring reverent service throughout Olney and surrounding villages
Traditional and green funerals undertaken Memorials supplied and erected Catering available on request
vOLUNTEERS NEEDED
In order for an ecumencial service to take place in the Chapel at Milton Keynes Hospital at 10.30am on Sundays there is an urgent need for volunteers to collect patients in wheel chairs. If you can help please ring the Rev Carole Hough on 019080 243700.
YMCA ASKS FOR MORE
This year's Christmas Appeal by the YMCA is bigger than ever. The organisation is asking for help in a variety of ways. The appeal is focused on helping the homeless residents of the emergency accommodation and its High Support Housing units in Milton Keynes. So far the YMCA has helped more than 400 young people with accommodation and support. More beds have been made available and there has been a move towards 24 hour opening. But this has put a strain on resources and facilities.The main kitchen needs replacing at a cost of more than £5,000 and the main hall needs refurbishment.
If you would like to make a donation, volunteer over Christmas or have new clothing or food to give please call Liz Sabey on 01908 295600.
ECUMENISM IN THE CITY
The Mission Partnership is holding an Orientation Day on Wednesday, December 12 at the United Reformed Church, Newport Pagnell, from 10am to 3pm. This is an opportunity to learn more about mission and ecumenism in and around the city and there will be a presentation by the Ecumenical Moderator, the Rev Dr Mary Cotes. Please telephone the Mission Partnership offices 01908 311310 to book a place.
Phonebox Magazine 53
Ecumenical Moderator’s Letter
Christmas is a time for giving
Christmas will soon be upon us again, and I hope you are enjoying all the preparations. A catalogue for a local store dropped through my letterbox recently. The cover is adorned with enticing pictures of sludge-free crispy white snow and sweet Christmas trees on a background of glorious Christmassy red, with a few sparkles thrown in for good measure.
On nearly every page I discover there's a selection of products which are listed as ‘must-haves’. According to the advertiser I just ‘must have’ the stainless steel big bore performance muffler and the drinks fountain, not to mention the illuminated hair straightener!
I am struck by the kind of demanding, imperative language that the advertisers have used. Must I really have these things? If we were to ask ourselves what anyone ‘must have’ at Christmas – or for that matter, at any other time of the year – we would probably come up with the answer that we ‘must have’ the things we need for our survival, such as shelter and warmth, clean water and sanitation, food and clothing, peace and security, and someone to love and take care of us.
Not to have these things has serious consequences. But what will become of us if we don’t have the spy video car or the hot pink chair pictured in the catalogue? I doubt if without these items the safety and quality of our lives will be severely threatened!
I am also struck by the perspective of the advertisement, which puts the reader in the position of the recipient, rather than of the giver. According to this catalogue, Christmas is about what you get, about your right to
acquire, with the implication that if you don’t get what you ‘must have’, your life will in some way be inadequate.
The Biblical perspective is of course entirely different. According to our scriptures, Christmas is not about having; it's about giving. The Christmas story is about the merciful and gracious God who loves us so much that in Christ he gives himself to us – not because he has to, not because we 'must have' what he offers as our right, but because he freely chooses to give himself, such is the generosity of his love.
It's about shepherds who hear of Jesus’ birth while they are at work, and come to the stable where Jesus has been born to offer gifts. And after Christmas, the festival of Epiphany tells another story of giving: of the wise men who travel from afar and offer gold, frankincense and myrrh. God, in love for us, freely gives. And we, in response, offer of ourselves to God. 'Must-having' doesn't come in to it. As St. Paul puts it: “Think of God's mercy, and worship him, I beg you... by offering yourselves as a living sacrifice, truly pleasing to God. Do not model yourselves on the behaviour of the world around you.” (Rom.12:1-2)
Another couple of catalogues have fallen through my letterbox. One invites me to Send a Cow to a community in Africa. Another suggests that this Christmas I might give to one of my friends things like a number of school dinners, or proper toilets, or chickens, to be used in parts of the world and in communities whose ‘must-haves’ are genuine and urgent. These catalogues seem to me at least to speak more faithfully of Christmas, and challenge us to think again about how desperately our world ‘must have’ peace and justice if we are all to live the abundant life which Christ, born in a stable, came to bring.
I wish you a very happy Christmas! q Mary Cotes
REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY – Hundreds of people lined the route as members of the Royal British Legion, cadets and uniformed organisations marched to the Parish Church for a Remembrance Sunday service on November 11. Led by the Milton Keynes Brass they lined up as Mike Barry, Mayor of
Milton Keynes, read out the names of the Newport Pagnell members of the Armed Forces who died in the 1914-18 and the 1939-45 wars.
Last Post and Reveille were sounded and afterwards the Church was packed for a service conducted by Mervyn Evans, a retired
Squadron Leader RAF, who also preached. Lessons were read by the Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, Sir Henry Aubrey-FLetcher, and the Mayor of Newport Pagnell, Councillor Simon Baines.
There was a retiring collection for the Poppy Appeal. q