Choices, choices! One of the assumptions about life today is that we should have choice in almost every aspect of our lives – who we get our gas or electricity from, which schools we send our children to etc. etc. If there is no opportunity to choose between different providers of almost any service or item people get quite indignant. I must admit that I look back with some nostalgia for the time when, for example, gas and electricity were provided by just one company and life did not seem to consist of having to make one choice after another often without fully understanding most of the differences between the various offers!
However sometimes the need to choose is really important. This month we will be invited to decide which candidates/political party we would like to represent us on the Welsh Assembly. It seems to me that as Christians it is vital that we take a full a part in the democratic process and that we bring the values of our faith to bear when we choose which candidates to support.
And then next month we will be asked to choose whether we want our country to remain part of the European Union or not – a vital decision which will affect not just ourselves but also our descendants for generations to come. As you will be aware, I never discuss my own political viewpoint directly in the parish – I feel that to do so would be an abuse of my position as parish priest. But when it comes to my opinion on the European matter I have no such inhibitions – my strongly held view is that the good things we get from being members of the EU outweigh the negatives and that there is a strength which comes from being part of something larger than our own country – and so I will vote to stay in. I am sure many of you will disagree with me and of course I respect that – but what I do ask is that everyone considers as many of the implications of either staying in or leaving as is possible, and that, as with normal elections, we bring the insights of the Christian faith to bear on the decision we make.
There is one choice which none of us can evade: to respond to Christ’s call to follow Him or to reject Him and ignore that call. Hopefully almost everyone who is reading this letter has made the choice to follow Him. At our baptism or confirmation we made that choice publicly. We said in the hearing of the whole congregation that we had resolved to turn to Christ, repent of our sins and reject evil. This decision, if we have followed it up properly, will have made a profound difference to the way we live.
This month, on the Feast of the Holy Trinity, two ladies – Hannah and Sue – will take the decision to follow Christ when they offer themselves for the sacrament of Confirmation. During the Confirmation service they will first confirm their willingness to be faithful to Christ and then – more importantly – God Himself will confirm them in His service. Through the laying on of the Bishop’s hands they will be strengthened in the Holy Spirit to enable them to remain faithful for the whole of their lives. Please pray for them and make sure you are in church on Trinity Sunday to support them. It will be an opportunity for those of us who also once made that commitment to reflect on what difference it has made to our lives. If that decision is still to be made – well now might be the time to consider making it.
Fr. John
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