Dear FriendsLast Sunday was Advent Sunday which begins a period of reflection and thought beforethe celebration of the Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Each Sunday, we light another AdventCandle as we hear the ancient prophecies speaking of God’s special person who wouldcome with salvation and blessing.It’s important to keep Advent so that we can appreciate the full meaning of Christmas asbeing God’s final utterance to the world in the Word made Flesh. In their own way, thePatriarchs, the Prophets, John The Baptist and the Virgin Mary, all prepared the world forJesus Christ. Hearing about their diverse witness to God’s purposes, we can all the betterappreciate God’s final word to us in his Son, born in Bethlehem. So please don’t skipAdvent, but stay with the unfolding drama week by week.During this time we welcome the Shipley Scouts at their annual Christingle service, joinedthis year by pupils from Shipley Primary School, on Friday 8th December at 6pm. This is agreat parish occasion and once again it will be wonderful to have a full church.Sunday 17th December sees our annual Parish Carol Service at 7pm. The Choir havealready been practising for some weeks for this service which again reviews, in words andmusic, the expectations surrounding the birth of the long- expected and hoped forMessiah. This service is one of the highlights of our year and not one to miss!As the weather gets colder, please make an extra effort to contribute to the foodbank. Thisis something practical we can do to love our neighbour and to mirror God’s own love andgenerosity to us.Christmas will come this year with added urgency to our prayers for peace, in particular, inthe land of Christ’s birth. Christmas services are timed as last year, with the Crib Service at5pm on Christmas Eve, and Midnight Mass at 11pm. Christmas Morning sees a SungEucharist at the usual time of 10am. These services are our celebration of the Birth of ourSaviour and we look forward to seeing many of you on these occasions.Preparations will soon be in full swing. The sheep are already being trained for theirappearance at the stable during the Crib Service, while others will be setting up theChristmas tree and decorating it.The world around us has a tendency to start Christmas too early and finish it too early.This can lead to a sense of an anticlimax and a feeling of being fed up, in January,leading to the so called Blue Monday. The remedy is to stick to the Church calendar whichhas a Christmas season extending into January with the Naming Of Jesus on 1st Januaryand the Epiphany a few days later. In this way we continue to contemplate the fullmeaning of “The Word was made flesh” well into the New Year.Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and a New Year full of peace for you and thewhole world.Your friend and parish priest,Chris