Next Sunday (21st) we will be celebrating our annual Carol Service in the church at 18.00 where we will have the opportunity to join together singing our most loved seasonal carols. Afterwards there will be a Parish Social in the Parish Centre serving mulled wine and mince pies.

After baptizing the crowds who came out to hear him preach in the wilderness, John the Baptist was thrown into jail by Herod. Herod was offended when John called out his adultery with his brother’s wife and “all the evil things Herod had done” (Lk 3:19). The age-old practice of the powerful imprisoning the righteous played out again. We may be puzzled why John is uncertain in this gospel passage about Jesus’ identity. Weren’t they cousins? Didn’t John tell the crowds that Jesus was the Lamb of God when he baptized him? Didn’t he tell them that Jesus was the one for whom he was preparing the way? Why the uncertainty now? John’s uncertainty about Jesus mirrored the questions that many Jews had about him. They were expecting a Messiah who would overthrow the Roman occupiers of their day. They were expecting a king who would rule their nation with great power and subdue all their enemies. They expected a king-military hero. Jesus’ way of acting in the world and the company he kept wasn’t what the Jews were expecting in a Saviour. Yes, he was doing deeds of amazing power, but he was also hanging out with sinners, eating with tax collectors, and talking with women in public (gasp!). He also wasn’t treating the rich and the powerful with special respect. In short, he was a mystery to many. So it’s not surprising then that John is unsure just who this Jesus was turning out to be.  By telling John’s disciples that John could decide for himself who Jesus was by his actions, Jesus trusted John would “get it.” After all, John certainly knew the Old Testament scriptures well and would have recognized the parallels between what Jesus was doing - giving sight to the blind, healing the deaf and the lame, and proclaiming good news to the poor - and the promise from the prophet Isaiah of the wonders God would do.? Questions of the week . . . .  What are some other examples from history of powerful people imprisoning the truth-tellers?  When have you met someone who didn’t conform to certain cultural or religious expectations but did wonderful, life-giving things?

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Things are beginning to get busier around the Parish as we get ever deeper into the Advent Season . . . . . Last weekend the Parish community joined together for our annual Christmas Bazaar. On Friday afternoon the ‘site set-up’ team moved into the hall after the morning hirers had vacated and sorted all the heavy lifting, placing of red tablecloths, and distribution of the items kindly donated by many parishioners to the stalls. Once the site team were finished the stall-holders moved in to arrange the goods for their individual stalls such that by 17.00 all was ready for Saturday morning. Stall-holders gathered from about 09.00 to make last minute adjustments to their tables before, after a short prayer, the doors were opened at 10.00 to the crowd that had gathered outside the Parish Centre. Throughout the morning there was a steady stream of visitors but not uncomfortable so. The ‘buzz’ in the hall was very pleasant and Fr D was pleased with the way in which parishioners were all working together to make the event a success. The various draws were begun at 12.40 and ended with the Grand Draw at 13.00. The financial gnomes ’did their thing’ afterwards and inside the newsletter you can see the results of everyone’s efforts before and on the day. Sunday afternoon there was the usual devotion of Advent Evening Prayer and Benediction in the church. Needless to say that Fr D was more than ready for a rest in the late afternoon! After Morning Prayer, Mass and Exposition on Monday Fr D picked up Canon Tony Churchill before setting off to St Anne’s, Banstead, where this month’s Deanery Meeting was taking place. A lot of the discussion was connected to the progress of the Diocesan Pastoral Plan in our area. Whilst the Deanery Meeting was taking place in Banstead the final pieces of insulation (under the flat roof) on the Presbytery were completed and the TV ariel cables re-instated. Having celebrated Morning Prayer and Mass Fr D started work on the newsletter before going off for his monthly lunch with Fr Ruslan (Walton-on-Thames). Fr Ruslan was able to recount details of the celebration of the opening of the new Weybridge Parish! In the evening our singers and musicians continued their practice for our Advent Carol Service (21 st December 18.00).  Fr D did not go down to the Diocesan offices on Thursday as he received a message from his secretary that she was off with flu . . . . . .