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52 Phonebox Magazine | December 2025NEWPORT PAGNELLThese days the greatest spiritual problem we face during the Christmas season is the domestication of Christmas. When Christmas is mainly seen as a nice sentimental family day then something is being missed. Christmas is actually a subversive feast from a Christian standpoint. Luke%u2019s Gospel pictures the birth of Christ in a very confrontational way. It begins by invoking Quirinius, a local Roman governor, and Caesar Augustus who was then king of the known world. At the time there was a population census which is something that dictators orchestrated since tyrants want to know who you are, to mark your card, control you and then tax you to the hilt.Luke then swiftly dismisses Quirinius and Caesar Augustus as %u2018hasbeens%u2019 and starts to talk about a new king who has just arrived %u2013 the real true emperor of the whole world. This is dangerous and seditious talk.This new king emperor was born in a cave or outhouse and not a glittering palace where Roman emperors lived. The new king is vulnerable and not in a well protected palace on Palatine Hill in Rome. The real king is a baby wrapped in old cloths and not dressed in expensive trendy costumes like Caesar. The best fed fi gure in the Roman world was Caesar but Jesus is placed in a manger - an animal feeding trough.The true king rules through sacrifi cial love and vulnerability and not through the military might of a worldly empire. In Luke%u2019s account an angel is the fi rst evangelist of the good news of the true king%u2019s birth. The angel tells the shepherds that the %u2018anointed%u2019 one is here and this is a code phrase for a king. The angel is saying %u201ccome and see where the real king is and never mind that lot in Rome%u201d.Then a whole host of angels appeared before the shepherds. The Greek word used for host is %u2018stratias%u2019 which literally means an army. Caesar Augustus was supposed to have the biggest army in the world, which is why he was powerful, wealthy and could do what he wanted.Luke is subversively saying that Caesar%u2019s army is nothing compared to this baby%u2019s army of angels. The baby%u2019s army has the weapons of heaven and not the worldly weapons of Caesar%u2019s army. The baby king%u2019s weapons are love, justice, forgiveness and non violence and compassion %u2013 which is the power that created and sustains the universe. Caesar%u2019s army is nothing compared to the army which this baby commands.OLNEYI%u2019m about to begin my fi rst countdown to Christmas at St Peter and St Paul Olney as their Priest in Charge. I%u2019m really looking forward to all their traditions which will become mine - Christingle on Advent Sunday, Dickens of a Christmas & our Christmas Tree Festival, Nine Lessons and Carols, Crib service on Christmas eve, Midnight Mass and the Christmas Day Mass. I hope I%u2019m able to say hello to you at one of these.Every context I%u2019ve led ministry from has had diff erent Christian traditions and yet the message is the same: God moved into our neighbourhood, our world, in the form of a fragile helpless baby, born into poverty and refugee status, delivered in a stable. It is a story of impossible risks and of enduring hope. The Holy Family were not visited by the great and the good, but by shepherds, the zero-hours-contract workers of the day, and they worshipped him. Later they were visited by foreign outsiders from the East, bearing gifts that revealed his identity! Gold for a king, but a king bringing a kingdom like no other; Frankincense for he would be a high priest, the go-between for God and His people; Myrrh, a tree gum used for pain-relief and embalming. He would one day lay his life down, upon a tree made into a cross, for love of us and for our salvation.This Christmas, look again at Jesus, the babe of Bethlehem. Every time I do, I want to know him more. Join us as we worship him, for he is the greatest gift God gives to you and to me. May you be blessed this Christmas.Every Blessing,Fr Ben Lewis, Priest in Charge for St Peter and St Paul Olney Our Lady Help of Christians and St Lawrence, OlneyOn Saturday 25th October, the Catholic church of Our Lady Help of Christians and St Lawrence on West Street celebrated the induction of Father Daniel Rooke as its new Parish Priest.The packed congregation included members of Fr Dan%u2019s family as well as representatives of the other churches in Olney. It was a joyful occasion, in which Fr Dan was presented with symbols of his new responsibilities %u2013 a lectionary of readings for Mass, the keys to the church and the oils for anointing the newly-baptised and the sick.The service was led by the Rev Canon Francis Higgins, Dean of the Northampton Diocese, to which Our Lady%u2019s belongs, assisted by several other priests and our Deacon, Rev Peter Griffi n. The ceremony was followed by a wine and cheese buff et where members of the congregation congratulated Fr Dan and welcomed him to our community, wishing him a happy and fulfi lling time as our shepherd.Monica GradyPresentation of the oils of anointment at the baptismal font. D e a c o n P e t e r Griffi n (L), Fr Daniel Rooke and Canon Francis Higgins (R).So Christmas is a subversive event and it is not surprising that Herod sought to kill Jesus, and the holy family had to fl ee to Egypt.In the Christmas story St Luke is asking %u2018which army are you with and which king will you follow? Are you going to follow Caesar and all of his successors down to the present day %u2013 or will you follow the baby king?%u2019 Most people say yes to modern versions of Caesar because they want to be well fed, live in a mansion, be well protected, powerful and wear nice expensive clothes like Caesar. They want the %u2018good life%u2019. Many choose this - but the choice that God wants us to make is to follow the baby Jesus and his army of the heavenly host. This is the way of love, compassion, and of sacrifi ce for others. Happy Christmas everyone!Rev Nick Evans, Rector of Newport Pagnell Churches TogetherChristmas service times in December: Our Lady Help Of Christians and St Lawrence, OlneyChristmas Eve 5pm and 9pm (30 minutes of carols from 8.30pm)Christmas Day 8am and 10.30am.We also have a Christingle service on 6th December at 3pm.