Friends,
Last Sunday we heard from St. Luke's gospel how Jesus read from the book of the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazareth at the beginning of his public ministry.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, and to let the oppressed go free".
(Isaiah 61: 1-2)
‘The Imitation of Christ’ by Thomas à Kempis, is regarded as a spiritual classic. Recently a friend drew attention to the section of the book which highlights the importance/significance of the sacrament of bread and wine. In his chapter on ‘That Holy Communion is not to be Lightly Foregone’, à Kempis wrote: “For your old Enemy knows well the abundant fruit and powerful remedy contained in Holy Communion, and tries by every means in his power to discourage and prevent the faithful and devout from receiving it.”
Friends,
It was a pleasure to welcome our friend and neighbour Bishop James Curry to St. Columba's last week when he spoke to us of the Baptism of the Lord and our shared baptism. This week we read the story of Jesus' first miracle which he performed at the Wedding at Cana (St. John 2:1-11). While Jesus and his mother Mary were at a wedding party the wine ran out; imagine the embarrassment of the newly married couple - their reputation as hosts would be forever tarnished! Jesus was encouraged by Mary to solve the problem and he instructed the staff to fill six jugs with water. Each jug contained twenty to thirty gallons. Much to everyone's astonishment, as the liquid was poured out of the jugs, what emerged was the very best quality wine and we are told "his disciples believed in him" (2:11).
Friends,
To those of you I have not already seen, may I wish you a very Happy New Year.
Later this month we will mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, 18-25 January. This Octave of Prayer for Unity was first held in 1908 and reflects Jesus' own prayer for his followers “that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (St. John 17: 21). So the world may believe that you have sent me... The call to unity and the missionary imperative are one. Someone once put it in much more earthy terms when they said that "for a divided church to preach unity to the world is as effective as a bald man selling hair restorer!". It is no coincidence that the modern ecumenical movement grew out of the World Missionary Conference held in Edinburgh in 1910, leading to the eventual creation of the World Council of Churches, of which the Church of Scotland was a founder member.
Friends,
A Very Happy New Year to you. May 2025 be a year of many blessings for all who know and are connected to St Columba’s. To start, or summon us to all that lies ahead, A New Year's Poem, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892)
Friends,
A popular interpretation of the 4 Sundays of Advent runs thus -
1) The people of God waiting for the Messiah
2) The Prophets foretell his coming
3) John the Baptist prepares the way
4) The Virgin Mary
Now it seems to me that in our Reformed tradition Mary of Nazareth, the mother of Christ, is rarely given the place she deserves. This may be an understandable reaction to the excesses of the medieval church which ascribed to her a place to which she never aspired, but the fact remains that without her simple "Yes" to God, the incarnation would not have been possible. Nazareth was a backwater in a remote province of the Roman Empire; the Jewish people said, "Can any good come out of Nazareth?" and the people there lived in caves on the hillside. And yet, it was to a young girl in Nazareth that the Angel Gabriel appeared and foretold the birth of Jesus. Think how scared and confused she must have been! An unmarried mother might well be the object of gossip and scandal in the village but despite everything Mary said, "let it be with me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). So, Mary became the first Christian, the first to accept Christ into her heart and into her life.
The office is open from
9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m,
Monday to Friday.
There is a 24-hour answering machine service.
St Columba’s is located on Pont Street in Knightsbridge in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The Church is within easy reach of three London Underground stations – Knightsbridge (Piccadilly Line), South Kensington (Piccadilly, Circle and District Lines) and Sloane Square (Circle and District Lines).
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St. Columba's
Pont Street London SW1X 0BD |
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+44 (0)20-7584-2321
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office@stcolumbas.org.uk
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Take the Harrods exit if open (front car if coming from the East, rear car if coming from the West). Come up the stairs to street level, carry on keeping Harrods on your right. Turn right into Basil Street. Carry straight on into Walton Place with St Saviour’s Church on your left. At the traffic lights, St Columba’s is to your left across the street. If the Harrods exit is closed, take the Sloane Street exit, turn right into Basil Street. Carry straight on past Harrods with the shop on your right, into Walton Place as before.
Come up the stairs out of the station and turn left into the shopping arcade. Turn left again into Pelham Street. At the traffic lights at the end of Pelham Street cross Brompton Road, turn left then immediately right into the narrow street of Draycott Avenue. After just a few yards turn left into Walton Street. Carry on walking up Walton Street until the traffic lights at the corner of Pont Street. Turn right and after a few steps you will be at St Columba’s!
Cross over the square into Sloane Street. Walk along Sloane Street until the traffic lights at the corner of Pont Street. Turn left into Pont Street. St Columba’s will then be in sight.