Parish Bulletin

20th December, 2009 – Fourth Sunday of Advent

GIVE ME JOY IN MY HEART !

I don’t know whether we’re going to have a white Christmas or not, but we sure have been given a little taste of what it would be like. Despite the sunshine, walks in the park have been short and sweet, and very fast! But despite all that, and the usual hassle with Christmas cards, it has been a very positive week in St. Joseph’s. The week began last Sunday with the living crib event from Pond Square down to the Church. Oh, how the world has changed! Joseph, being the gentleman he was, did his bit and had his donkey there for Mary to ride on. But life isn’t that simple any more. If Mary was going to ride a donkey from Pond Square to St. Joseph’s Church, health and safety demands that she wear a helmet! “Be it done unto me according to thy word”, said Mary, as she adjusted her blue veil over the helmet and proceeded down the street with as much dignity as she could muster. I’m happy to say that all arrived safely – as they did every other year without helmets – to the Church, singing merrily (through the chattering teeth!) on the way. After a few more carols, and a simple little tableau presented beautifully by the children from the junior liturgy group, all retired happily to the Lady Chapel for Ralph’s special mulled wine and mince pies. Nobody was in a hurry to return to the icy wastes outside, and rightly so!

Some people thought we were in trouble on Thursday evening for our special carol service, when word went round earlier in the day that we were going to be snowed under. People who never heard of Michael Fish took it seriously and stayed away, but many more knew that the Lord would look after his special ones in Holy Joe’s, and so we had quite an impressive turn-out after all. And what a treat we had in store – I kind of feel sorry for those who missed out! The children were absolutely magnificent, and I could see many a tearful eye – joyful tears of course - among the congregation as heart and soul was put into presenting the Christmas story and singing the praises of the new-born babe. The final rendition of “O Come all ye Faithful” by the massed ranks of all the children present was a sight and sound to behold! Well done to all who prepared for, and took part in, a very memorable evening. And thanks to all who braved the elements to get here and who got home afterwards before the snow. It was so rewarding just to see all the smiling faces – that’s what Christmas is supposed to be all about!

And our gospel today is about another story of happiness linked to Christmas – the visit of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. One can only imagine the joy of Elizabeth when she discovered she was going to have a baby. But her joy in seeing Mary coming to visit her was so great that even her yet-to-be-born baby joined in – leaping for joy in her womb. It’s all about joy, joy, joy! And so should Christmas be. There may be moments during the coming week when the stress of shopping, or cooking, (or receiving cards from people to whom you haven’t sent any, and now it’s too late!), may be starting to become too much to cope with – remember then the joy of the visitation; the joy of Christmas morning; or, if you were one of the lucky ones, the joy of last Thursday evening here!