Parish of Llandudno North Wales, Rector's letter

January 2015

Imagine for a moment that you have travelled back in time nearly 2000 years and are standing on the banks of the River Jordan watching the crowds flocking to John the Baptist to be baptized. It's a busy and exciting scene.A seemingly endless queue of people stands along the bank, each person patiently waiting their turn to enter the river. Time after time we hear the sound of splashing as John dips someone under the water or maybe pours water over their head as they stand waist high in the river. Then there's the procession of happy folk leaving the scene full of joy following this moment of renewal in their relationship with God.

If you look closely at the line of people waiting to be baptized you might notice a young man of around 30 quietly waiting his turn. He doesn't really stand out from any of the others in the queue although if you look closely at him you'll see a quiet determination in his eyes. When he gets to the front we expect him to enter the water just like everyone else. But it doesn't happen. John won't let him into the river - what's going on? What's wrong with this guy that John won't baptize him? Everyone is looking aghast - silence descends on the scene. In the silence John's voice booms out 'What are you doing here Jesus, I need to be baptized by you, yet you are coming to me, I can't baptize you: But Jesus doesn't move. He begins to speak, but so quietly we can hardly hear what he's saying: 'No you must baptize me - it's what God wants.' There's a long silence neither of the men wants to give in. Eventually John motions for Jesus to go into the water - but you can tell that he really doesn't want to do this. Then as Jesus enters the water something amazing happens, it's as if God himself has descended on this young man, he goes away full of the Spirit, and instead of heading back into town like everyone else, he strides off into the desert with John standing on the riverbank shaking his head in wonderment.

Now please return to the present moment in 2015! On Sunday 11th January we will be celebrating the Feast of the Baptism of Christ and I hope that my imaginary account of this event has helped to bring it alive for you. But why did Jesus believe that baptism was God's will for Him? John was quite right to be reluctant to allow him into the water. He knew that his cousin was the one person on earth who didn't need to be baptized! We can never know for certain all that baptism meant for Our Lord. But we are pretty safe to assume that he saw it as the best way to mark the beginning of his ministry and as the way of identifying himself with the sinfulness of those he had come to save.This was the path God his Father had marked out for him. ln going down into the water the Lord showed us that he was prepared to stand alongside us in our sinfulness - to, as it were, take on that sinfulness. It was no less than a foreshadowing of what he would do for us on the Cross several years later. And, as the Gospels report, at that moment God declared that this was indeed his Son.

So, on the Feast of Christ's Baptism we commemorate both the beginning of his ministry and the pattern that his ministry would take. But we also celebrate our own baptism, the beginnings of our life in Christ. In contrast to Our Lord we do need to be baptized. We need God's grace of forgiveness and true life. Through his baptism Christ sanctified water as the outward sign of the new life offered to us in baptism.And on this day we are offered the chance to renew our commitment to Him.

And in 2015 the feast of Christ's Baptism is also an ideal moment to begin a very special year in the life of our parish. 2015 is of course the 150th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of Holy Trinity Church.You will see elsewhere in this magazine a list of the events we have planned to celebrate this anniversary.At the beginning of the year we have an opportunity to renew our commitment to Christ our Cornerstone and to ask his help as we look forward to the events in the months ahead; to become living stones in his true Church the Body of Christ into which we were drawn at the moment of our own baptism.

Please join us for our Sung Eucharist on Sunday January 11th when Archdeacon Paul will join us to inaugurate the year of celebration (please note that this month the Eucharist will replace the usual 2nd Sunday Choral Matins). During this service we will also bless water and will be sprinkled with it as a sign of our renewed commitment to the Christ who in his baptism first committed himself to us.

Fr. John

top of page

Previous letters:

January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 - no letter June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014
January 2013 February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013	January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 - no letter September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012	January 2011 February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011	January 2010 February / March 2010 February / March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010 August 2010 September 2010 October 2010 November 2010 December 2010	January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 Aug 2009 Sept 2009 Oct 2009 Nov 2009 Dec 2009	January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June / July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008	January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 Debember 2007