Fr. Edwards Jottings for January 2026

By the time you read this Christmas Day will be behind you and possibly Epiphany too.  The days are lengthening, and daylight is returning. One of the joys of this coming season is the emergence of snowdrops which are also known as Candlemas bells. They appear around the feast of Candlemas which the church celebrates on Sunday 1 February this year.   Their fascinating biology, includes ‘anti-freeze’ proteins that help inhibit ice crystals forming and protecting cells from damage.  When cold causes them to flop they seemingly ‘resurrect’ themselves when the temperature rises.
Snowdrops traditionally mark the hope that Spring will come after the hardness of winter.  An old folk rhyme goes along the lines:

‘If Candlemas Day be fair and bright, Winter will have another fight.
If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain, Winter won’t come again.’

As Christians we always think of the deeper hope.  Candlemas again praises the light that has come into the world, Jesus.  Candles were often blessed for the year ahead. Candlemas also marks the presentation of Jesus in the temple 40 days after his birth.  Now at Epiphany, the Magi - perhaps Zoroastrian astrologers from Persia - followed the star to find the baby Jesus in Bethlehem.  They reveal that Jesus is the long-awaited King.  In the reading in Luke’s Gospel for Candlemas, Simeon reveals what sort of King Jesus is.  Simeon sees salvation and a light for revelation to all.  Anna in the temple then proclaims this hope.
Candlemas marks the actual end of the Christmas season, a turning point in the year when we move from Jesus’s birth and turn towards Easter.  The cross and His resurrection which bring the salvation that removes that separation from God caused when we fail to treat our neighbours as ourselves. Our world is badly in need of hope and reducing separation, the failure to appreciate each other as God does, that breeds fear and distrust.  I don’t know what New Year resolutions you made, but perhaps as a first step we can all take a little more time to listen to others and to give them the hospitality that Jesus gives to us when we pray.                                                                                                                                                          Fr. Edward Westrip

 

Reflection for January 2026

 O Morning Star 
This is the darkest time of the year. The sun is out of sight for many hours each day. Since time immemorial, darkness has been synonymous with the unknown, with fear, with uncertainty and doubt.
 
Our world is benighted and dark in so many other ways. Too many nations are at war; too many people are trapped in abuse; too many cities are in a cycle of despair. Sometimes it seems that the cycle cannot be broken, the darkness will never end, that fear will last for ever for so many people.
 
Emmanuel the Morning Star tells us that is not true. As Psalm 27 tells us “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?”
 
The Morning Star brings the truth that dawn will come, that wrongs will be put right, that pain will end, that the fallen will stand. The Morning Star tells us that justice, mercy and peace will prevail.
 
For just as the Son of God came to earth two thousand years ago, the sun will rise, the day will dawn. And the light of God will rise as the Morning Star to claim his world and to redeem it for ever.
 
As Malachi the prophet says “But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.”
 
Prayer
Sovereign Lord,
Of old you spoke through the prophets,
but in our days you speak through your Son.
Grant us, your people, to walk in his light.
That the light of God’s coming may dawn
on all who live in darkness;
that in Christ you may bind up the broken-hearted,
restore the sick
and raise up all who have fallen.
By your coming, raise us up to share in the joy of your kingdom
so that we may shine as lights for the world.
Amen.                                                                                                                            Rev Chris Shore