Rev Chris’s Weekly Update 20/11
Dear all,
This coming Sunday is the Feast of Christ the King and was instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI and serves as the last Sunday of the church ‘liturgical’ year before the start of the new one on the first Sunday of Advent. The Pope instituted the feast day as a reminder of the rule of Christ over the world.
In 1953 Queen Elizabeth II was crowned and as part of her coronation ceremony she would have been presented with the Coronation Orb, as will King Charles III at his ceremony next year. It was originally made for Charles II’s coronation in 1661.
The orb is presented to the Sovereign after they have put on the Imperial Robe and is placed in their right hand by the Archbishop of Canterbury who then says; “Receive this orb set under the cross and remember that the whole world is subject to the Power and Empire of Christ our redeemer.”
At Christmas, many churches hold a Christingle service. This has become something of a national tradition where ‘Christingles’ are made using an orange (the world), four cocktail sticks (the four seasons) and sweets or raisins (the fruits of the earth) a red ribbon (the blood of Christ shed for the world) and a candle placed on top (Christ).
Both the orb and the Christingle present a wonderful image of how important we, as Christians, believe Christ to be, not just for us, but for all of humanity from the beginning of all things to the end, and beyond.
As the bible says (from The Message version with contemporary language – COLOSSIANS chapter 1);
We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so expansive, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.
Have a blessed Feast of Christ the King
Rev Chris
ADVENT TAIZE SERVICE
Join us in St Nicholas Church on Sunday 27th November, at 5pm, for this meditative service of songs, readings and prayer as we start the countdown to the Christmas season.
