February 2009

Carpe diem - Sieze the moment - Kairos - a moment of time.

There are opportunities which may be taken or missed. They usually come quickly and we have the discernment to accept them and act or we miss the time and it is gone.

It was such a Kairos moment when Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus into the temple and Simeon and Anna were there, who greeted them and recognised in that moment the Christ child. It was this occasion which gave us the wonderful words of the Nunc Dimittis, when Simeon took the baby Jesus in his arms and said "Lord now let your servant go in peace: your word has been fulfilled. My own eyes have seen the salvation: which you have prepared in the sight of every people; a light to reveal you to the nations: and the glory of your people Israel." There was also the prophecy that Jesus would be rejected and that a sword would pierce Mary's soul too. Simeon and Anna recognised Jesus in that moment and seized it. They were able to do so because of a lifetime of worship, prayer and waiting. It was this that gave them the gift of discernment when Mary and Joseph came into the temple with Jesus.

This occasion has become what we know as Candlemas when the celebration of Jesus being born of Mary comes to an end and we begin to look forward to Lent, Holy Week and Easter. This is brought out powerfully for us in the liturgy of the day, when we light candles celebrating Christ's birth as we look back over the last forty days, and then blowing them out, a poignant moment which points us to Jesus' passion, death and resurrection. It is like a hinge moment in the Church's year as we look back and look forward.

Such a time has also come to me personally because I have announced my intention to resign as Bishop and Archdeacon of Ludlow. The 31st May will be my last Sunday and I shall not be able to accept any invitations after that date. I am most fortunate in being able to look back over 44 years of life as a Deacon, Priest and Bishop in this Diocese and now look forward to the future. I am most grateful to all the people who have given me so much in this Diocese with whom I have worked over many years. However it is a good moment to leave as I am so involved with you all in the 2015 Consultation which enables us to look forward to a vibrant, thriving church carrying on God's mission in a fast changing world.

Please join with me in Dag Hammarskjold's prayer, which I have said daily for many years.