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SUMMARY:Family Communion
DTSTART:20241229T100000Z
DTEND:20241229T111500Z
DTSTAMP:20260419T112549Z
UID:10866412024-12-29 10:00:00+00:00achurchnearyou
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DESCRIPTION:Family Communion for the first Sunday of Christmas: celebrant 
 Revd Tola Badejo.\n\nFirst reading: Colossians 3. 12 - 17\nGospel: Luke 2.
   41 – 52\n\nAlthough we are still in the season of Christmas\, the read
 ings today shift forward in time. The Gospel provides the only canonical e
 xample there is of an event in Christ's earthly life between infancy and t
 he start of his ministry\, while the first reading from Colossians outline
 s way believers should respond to that ministry\, by that time fulfilled i
 n Christ's death and resurrection. \n\nIn the Catholic world\, Christmas 1
  is observed as the Feast of the Holy Family\, and\, although the Church o
 f England does not follow this practice\, our  own readings usually reflec
 t some aspect of Jesus's life with Joseph and Mary. Luke's account of Chri
 st's Passover visit to Jerusalem effectively works as two (or more) storie
 s in one: there is an everyday story of 'losing' a child\, which  brings h
 ome the responsibility borne by his earthly parents and the sacrifices the
 y had to make\, and a parallel religious story which places Jesus firmly i
 n the Jewish tradition (because his family make the long journey to Jerusa
 lem for the Passover every year)\, reflects his awareness of his divinity 
 (because he contrasts the Father whose business he must perform with his e
 arthly father Joseph) and foreshadows his death and resurrection (because 
 he is 'lost' for three days).    \n\nPaintings of this episode often misre
 present the Gospel narrative\, which describes Christ's behaviour towards 
 the older scholars at the Temple as respectful and humble (he was 'listeni
 ng to them and asking them questions'). The anonymous painting above is an
  example: nothing in the Gospel suggests that Jesus acted otherwise than a
 s a responsive and intelligent pupil. The picture attached separately belo
 w is perhaps more perceptive: it is by the fourteenth century Sienese arti
 st Simone Martini\, and it captures the main characters' emotions in subtl
 e detail. Joseph and Mary are clearly distressed and angry\; Jesus\, quiet
 ly dignified yet also determined. The human situation is one any of us can
  understand\, but that very recognition underlines the truth the artist an
 d onlooker already know\, that Christ's redemptive purpose requires his ea
 rthly family to let him go.
GEO:0.037423;51.469833
LOCATION:Kidbrooke\, St Nicholas
URL:https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/671/service-and-events/events/10
 86641/
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