The End or the Beginning?

In a few days’ time our celebration of the incarnation draws to a close and the steel Nativity will be packed away until next Christmas.

We shall gather around the font at the end of Candlemas and pray together that we may be able to follow Christ, who through his incarnation, invites us to share in ministry and to join with the whole Church in making known his love and his light.

Although there may well be a sense of the seasons changing, there is also a very strong link between the themes of encounter and hope present in the incarnation; and those of commitment, resurrection and transformation which we move to think of during Lent, Holy Week and Easter. 

In many ways this journey and transition will be familiar to us. It happens in the same way every year. However, it may also be that on this occasion we are able to join afresh with others in our recommitment to our common vocation and ministry, and to seek to share in the wider life and ministry of the Church and of that we share in the Cathedral. 

As we gathered for the Epiphany Procession on Sunday, and as we share in the great liturgy of Candlemas on Thursday 2nd February, may we glimpse something of the connection between the seasons and find there an opportunity to take the familiar journey and to offer something new. 

Canon Christopher Burke
Vice Dean and Canon Precentor