Sir, —
At the end of the month of September, the Church celebrates the Festival of St Michael and All Angels. I grew up in a village called Sunninghill, on the edge of Windsor Great Park. Our local parish church was dedicated to St Michael and all angels. To get to the church it was necessary to cross the London Road, quite dangerous for a small child, but I loved to visit the church, which was always open, and to sit alone savouring the presence of God and contemplating the stained glass windows. I was very close to my grandmother, Nan (my mother’s mother), and always looked forward to her visits. On the day I was born she gave me a Book of Common Prayer and a King James Bible, both inscribed ‘With Nan’s blessing’ and both treasured to this day. When I was a child, Nan also taught me to know, love, and trust Our Lord Jesus Christ. On one occasion, I asked my mother if I could go to meet Nan at the bus stop, which was next to the crossroads where the village street crossed the London Road, and which was where the Green Line buses coming from London stopped.
I waited for a very long time and a number of buses came and went, but no sign of Nan. Eventually my very anxious mother appeared to tell me that Nan had already arrived. She had come by train.
That vivid memory from my childhood reminds me that, as a Church, we are waiting for the Second Coming of our Lord, and it seems a long wait! So it’s easy to forget that he has already arrived and lives amongst us — ‘the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us’ (John 1:14). The role of the Church as we await the coming of Christ in glory is to cultivate a Christocentric identity, as so beautifully described by The Reverend Conor O’Reilly in the July edition of the Gazette, and to proclaim to the world by word, deed, and example that Christ is already here and active, at unexpected times, in unexpected ways and in unexpected people. Like in Mary Sumner, a grandmother, who 150 years ago started a support group for mothers in her village which like the mustard seed has grown into the worldwide Mothers’ Union with four million members, as so edifyingly described by Kay Clarke in the July edition of the Gazette. What a wonderful example of the Lord Jesus present and active in the world today — ‘and, lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world’ (Matthew 28:20).
So, as we await ‘the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory’ (Matthew 24:30) let us rejoice in his humble abiding presence with us, but pray ‘maranatha’ (an Aramaic expression meaning ‘Come, Lord’ or ‘the Lord has come’). ‘Come, Lord Jesus’ (Revelation 22.20).
Yours, etc.,
The Reverend Paul Symonds
(Belfast)
