Saturday 24 December 2011

Christmas Past, Christmas Present, Christmas Future

We would like to wish a very happy and blessed Christmas to all of our readers.  Thank you for your interest in the activities of our small Ordinariate group.

This time of year is one of great joy, hope and thanksgiving.  It is also a time when we all feel an unavoidable urge to look back, not just over the past year, but also to Christmases and New Year's Eves past.

For a blog about an Ordinariate Group, the obvious comparison to make is between Midnight Mass this year and last year.

Last year at St Mary's was perhaps my favourite ever (well, so far) : a packed church, the beauty of a darkened church before the service began, excellent music, the chance (for the author of this blogpost) to chant the Proclamation of the Nativity, the occasion to be amongst so many friends known for so many years on such a signficiant day.

This year, our little group will attend Midnight Mass being in full communion with the Holy Father.  Before long we will be sitting in St James's for carols at 11.30 and then our first Midnight Mass as Catholics.  We are with new friends, who have welcomed us with warmth and kindness.

We have left much behind, a huge amount, but what we have gained is beyond measure.  We send our very warmest wishes to our friends at St Mary's on this festive day, we pray that one day we shall all be united (the Newman quotation on the right hand sidebar of this blog rings in our hearts tonight).  Christian Unity is our hope for the future.

A most happy Christmas to you all.

Nativitas Domini Nostri Iesu Christi secundum carnem!

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