“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” (Luke 2:11).

The Christmas story while we have been telling it from generation to generation for over 2000 years, in all its beauty and wonder with the angel chorus, the babe in the manger, the shepherds in the fields, wise men coming from afar…. It never ceases to amaze and capture the hearts not only of the faithful, but those who hear it for the first time the world over. God in Christ Jesus, had come down from heaven to be with us, that is the amazing thing about all of this, not that a baby was born, not that his mother Mary wrapped him in a swaddling cloth, not even that he was laid in a manger for his bed, for babies are born every day and taken care of by their mothers, and the world over many children have far worst places to lay their heads then the animals feeding trough Jesus was laid in. The wonderful news of Christmas is that this baby, born of a human mother,  was God incarnate, “Emmanuel, God with us”. God in the humblest estate of human life and the most ordinary of circumstances made his way into our world, not that we might have a holiday to celebrate as so many in the world are claiming it for themselves, “leave Christ out of Christmas” they say, we just want the Merry making and gift exchange. We can give all the material gifts we want, and host all the festivities, but nothing can do for us what only God could do through the gift of his son, as in the words of a Carol we sing from the old hymnal, “ Jesus came – the heavens adoring- Came with peace from realms on high; Jesus came for our redemption, Lowly came on earth to die: Alleluia! Alleluia! Came in deep humility.”

May you and yours have a most blessed and Holy Christmas,

Rev. Hannah+

The Confident Hope of Mary...

“you will conceive and bear a son, you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High.” (Luke 1: 31)

In this passage from Luke’s gospel we hear the story of Mary, and the angels visitation announcing she would have a child, not just any child, but the Son of the Most High, God’s own son was to be born to her.  Perhaps we can’t imagine the magnitude of what that announcement must have been to Mary.  A young unwed Jewish girl at that time to be found with child would have been trouble enough for her; Not only would it have meant great shame and disgrace for her family, but to claim that she was carrying the Son of God, would have been sure disaster for Mary, with the likely charges of heresy brought against her and probably a sentence of death by stoning. However when we read this passage in Luke’s gospel we don’t hear anything about the fear that Mary must have felt or the predicament she could possibly find herself in, only the pondering question of Mary asking “how can this be?” and then when the angel replies with  “nothing is impossible with God”, Mary’s response is “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Mary’s response while it may astonish us when we think of her being so young and the possible outcomes from what was being asked of her, we know however Mary’s response was not one taken lightly it was one made with a sure confidence and hope in a God she trusted. Mary’s story invites us to be more attentive to the message of Christmas, to listen for the angel voices, and hear what it is God is seeking to do among us not only at Christmas but all through the year.  Mary’s yes, changed the world for ever. In this final week of Advent, leading us  into Christmas, if we were to prepare for Christ’s coming as Mary did, with that same confident hope and trust that God still acts among his people, might we perhaps be a little more attentive to what God might be speaking to us and our response be a more confident 'yes' to making a way for it to happen in our world. Might we perhaps be a bit more attentive to the needs of the world around us, instead of being so involved with the consumerism of the day. And might we perhaps be a bit more effective in our efforts to spread the Christmas message of ‘peace and good will to all’, as the line from the Christmas Carol goes, “Let there be Peace on earth, and let it begin with me.”

Blessings and Peace, 

Rev. Hannah+

"Well done, good and trustworthy servant.....enter into the joy of your master"(Matt 25:23)

These words come to us from St. Matthew's gospel in the passage we refer to as 'the parable of the talents (Matt 25:14-30).."And while we often take talents to mean here our gifts, what God has entrusted to us, I think here it is meant to mean something more. As the parable goes, the master leaving to go on a journey entrusted to his slaves  his property, to one he gave five talents, to the other two and to the third one, according to their ability. This tells us the master knew something about those to whom he had entrusted his property, perhaps more then they realized. The first two slaves immediately went and traded their talents and they not only increased their value but they doubled it. When the master returned some time later to collect what was his, he was overly delighted they had done so well, saying, "well done good and trustworthy slaves; you have been trustworthy in a few things I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master." The third slave however, didn't fare out so well, instead of investing the talent entrusted to him as the other two, he had hidden, or buried the talent in the ground. The master of course when he returned to collect from this slave what was owed him, he was you might say a bit perturbed, saying, "you wicked and lazy slave you knew did you that I reaped where I did not sow and gathered where I did not scatter, then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers." Well if the parable were to end there we could interpret it as God wanting us to use our God given gifts, all that we have been entrusted with more efficiently, or wisely. The parable doesn't end here however, it goes on with the master saying, "take the talent from this slave and give it to the one with the ten talents, for to all those who have, more will be given and from those who have nothing even what they have will be taken away." Now perhaps we are a little perturbed, for that doesn't sound like the message Jesus normally speaks through the gospel, now does it!..In fact it seems quite opposite to what Jesus might say, "the first shall be last, and the last shall be"(matt 20:16). And we know this gospel is really not about money, finances or material wealth or even our talents, but rather it is about  God and what He was doing through Christ Jesus. Through out His life, death and resurrection, Jesus had proclaimed the truth of the kingdom. A truth, as the invitation speaks, invites us to "enter into the joy of your master." If we receive it as the free and life-giving gift it is,  like the two slaves who invested the talents entrusted to them, we too can have life and have it abundantly; or if we so choose, we can like the third slave, reluctant to take a chance, out of fear of what might or might not be, dismiss God's invitation, or bury it in some back closet for some future day, and miss out on God's gracious offer to new life now.


Will this is just my effort to add some "Light on the Word" and perhaps shed a little light into the world. A little longer getting back here then I had hoped. I do love to reflect and share my thoughts on the 'Word' so hopefully it won't be so long next time, before I get back. Blessings to you as you sojourn here and may God's peace be with you always.  Rev. Hannah+

Love of God, Love of Neighbour

“You shall Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, this is the greatest and first commandment and the second is like it Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt 22:37-39 )

Jesus in the gospel of Matthew gives us the greatest commandment, and while that commandment seemingly has two parts to it, Love God and Love Neighbour. Jesus institutes it as one and the same, the second is like it, or like the first. In saying this Jesus is telling us that our love for God is revealed in our love for neighbor, to say we love God and to show no love toward neighbor is in essence a love with little or no merit, or no breadth you might say, an unrequited love.  The love Jesus speaks about in the great commandment, is more than the emotion or feeling we think about when we say we love someone, or something. It is more than the immediate gratification we feel in our need to respond in a time of crisis, while all that do elicit the feeling of love,  the biblical love Jesus is referring to is something more, it is internal or spiritual. It is a love that calls us to respond, to act out of commitment toward the God we are to love with all our heart, soul, and mind. That response is revealed in our love toward neighbor, mainly in our action to create change in the life, the circumstances of another. It is revealed in our own willingness to give up something, to deny self that another may benefit from our generosity,  our kindness, our compassion, our care whatever it might be to make a situation better for the other. This love, while it is more often revealed in our response at a time of crisis, or when a need presents itself, this love, the love for God and neighbour that Jesus speaks about however, is ungoing, it never ends. It persists in doing good even when we feel that our efforts may sometimes go unrequited or unrecognized, or even when we feel it may be undeserved, we keep giving, doing good, knowing that what we do, we do not for our own benefit,  but for the benefit of all that God created and said was good (Genesis 1) and so in response we make effort to love all that God loves, loving neighbour as ourselves.  May you have a blessed week and in it find or make room to share the Love of God through the action you take in your Love toward neighbour in what you say, do, or give that makes life not only better for the other, but for yourselves as well,  “for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:8). "  

Blessings and Peace,

Rev. Hannah