THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - From Michael Sargent 27th November 2025

Certain dates stay fixed in my mind, and hopefully likewise in those of the readers, and certainly for me November 30th is one such date. For a start it is St Andrew’s Day, this year it happens to be the first Sunday of Advent and thus is the start of the Christian Year, when it might be good to resolve to make sure that our Christian witness, very often not said but certainly in many instances it is noticed, by the way our life is lived out that others copy the good that they see in others and that includes us!

I think back to 30/11/1969 when a pupil I taught was being confirmed on what turned out to be her 14th birthday. The service was held in Moor Monkton Church that, in those days was candle lit and led by the then Bishop of Selby, a namesake of mine Douglas Sargent. Some reading this will remember him as having a saintly presence and always an encouraging sermon meant for all, but specifically for those being confirmed!

I feel certain that there will be some who would have been a contemporary of this one being confirmed because our catchment area spread out to the surrounding villages from the Dringhouses area of York. If any were born between September 1955 and August 1956 think back to some of your contemporaries who went to Ashfield School and set your mind in motion. I hold this person in mind because, as she approaches her 70th Birthday, we are still in contact, and she is one who has retained her affiliation to her church and lived a simple life helping others, be they human or animal!

Which brings me to St Andrew; he was the first disciple chosen by Jesus who brought his brother Simon (Peter) along with him. With the rest who were Jesus’ followers he became known for ‘seizing an opportunity’ like the time when Jesus was wanting to feed the 5000 to whom he had preached and Andrew said, ‘there is a lad here with five loaves and two small fish but what is that among so many?’ It was a start and from a small offering came something great!

These two examples of bringing people to Christ are but a reminder of what many of us can, and possibly have done, not by something momentous but just by being ourselves or by speaking a word at the right moment or by doing a good turn. And we may never know!

His feast day happens to be the first day of Advent this year and there will be many who will start lighting an Advent Candle or opening the first door of and Advent calendar: it saddens me each year to read of those who buy mega expensive Advent calendars that have costly gifts behind each window – surely most know that this is the opposite of what our Lord would expect and has little or nothing to do with the important period of waiting for the arrival of the Prince of Peace.

The other point about Advent is that the church has fallen into the secular preparation for Christmas – as a child I recall not putting up decorations until Christmas Eve and having the Carol Service a few days after the festivities have properly started! Advent is an important season and though commercially it makes sense to celebrate before it happens, the church can (should) follow the pattern of preparation: the four main themes are Hope, Peace, Joy and Love – preparation for the coming of Christ into the world.

It seems appropriate that at the end of this first week of Advent comes the feast of St Nicholas, a day when the folk of Askham Bryan should give thanks for the worship that goes on there in a church that has him as their patron saint, but it also reminds us that it was Nicholas who started what has become the expected giving of presents to family and friends but, perhaps more importantly following Nicholas’ example, to those who have little and for whom a gift from us would indeed bring joy to them.

Michael Sargent

LLM at Acaster Malbis