Sharing some thoughts

  Today we begin a new year in the life of the Church. Advent marks not only the countdown to Christmas but also a season of reflection and anticipation. Like any new year, it invites us to look back, but more importantly, we are encouraged to look forward. For some, that might mean looking forward to Christmas shopping, family gatherings, or even the relief of New Year, and the challenge of making resolutions! But Advent points us beyond those short-term hopes. It directs us to look to the promised return of Christ. And on this first Sunday of Advent, the theme is hope. We live in uncertain days. We wait to see the effect of the budget this week - People hope to keep their jobs, hope for prices to fall, hope for loved ones to be safe. In Wales and across the country, many are feeling the pinch of rising costs, the strain on public services, and the anxiety of global instability.  Farmers hope for fair prices for their produce; young people hope for opportunities that will all...

  This past week the headlines have again been filled with stories of conflict, division, and uncertainty. Nations are at odds, communities are fractured, politicans are arguing! It is into this very climate that Christ the King Sunday speaks. Today we proclaim that Jesus is not just a figure of history, not just a moral teacher, but the living King who reigns today. And the question before us is not simply whether Christ is King in some abstract sense, but whether Christ is King of our lives . This Sunday is the last of the church year. Next week, Advent begins—a season of waiting and preparation, a season of looking both to the celebration of Christ’s birth and to his promised return. But before we turn to Advent, the church gives us this day: Christ the King Sunday. A day to reflect on our relationship with God, to ask whether Christ truly reigns in our hearts, our homes, our communities. Our first reading, from Jeremiah 23:1–6, speaks of shepherds. Shepherds in the ancient worl...

  I like lots of sports and one of the inevitabilities of watching sport with a favourite team is that occasionally you will get cross with a referee! I support Liverpool football club and last week they played Manchester City - Manchester City were leading 1-0 when Liverpool scored what was obviously a perfectly good goal, but it was disallowed!  Now that made a big difference because instead of going on to win the game 3-1 as they would have done, they ended up losing 3-0! Well that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! Decisions make a difference!  Sometimes, a word we speak, a path we take, a moment missed or embraced, can seem really small, but we probably recognise that even the smallest decisions can shape the biggest outcomes.  Today our readings encourage us to pause, to reflect, to ask about something far bigger than football…   About what story our life is telling and who’s writing the next chapter? About what kind of future we are shaping with the choic...