Bishop's Blog

Bishop's Letter - November

Tuesday 25th October 2011 6:42 PM

Dear Friends

It has been a great joy to welcome new colleagues in ministry during September and October, and to hear great reports of their new ministry from the parishes. Most of their predecessors have retired; however, the Reverend Ian Davies, who retires on 20 November from Marown, Baldwin and Foxdale, is moving to the adjacent Island.

We will greatly miss Ian and Sheila and want to thank them for their ministry in the parishes and in the world of education on the Island. We will remember them in our prayers with thanksgiving, praying for a long and joyful retirement.

November is a sad month: the dark days and long nights are not yet relieved with the promise of Christmas, and we are painfully reminded of those who lost (and continue to lose) their lives as combatants and civilian victims of war. That's part of the reality of the world into which the gospel announces hope. This is not some kind of "sweetener" in a sad world because the source of hope is anything but "sweet": the Son of God suffering a gruesome death on a cross, rejected and apparently defeated. This Man we affirm to be the conqueror of death, the bringer of hope.

Hope through apparent defeat is at the heart of what we proclaim. That's why the commercialism of the pre-Christmas period comes across as so futile because it doesn't come to terms with the real sadnesses of the world and it can't bring real hope.

God grant you his gift of hope to light your way through the shadows.

+Robert Sodor as Mannin

Posted 6:42 PM | Permalink