"HAPPY NEW YEAR" that wish will be on many lips as 31st December becomes 1st January as Big Ben strikes midnight and A.D. 2004 becomes A.D. 2005.   Those who are followers of Christ have already celebrated the dawning of a new year, for the Christian year began on Advent Sunday (28th November MMIV).   The Christian year goes round and round, and where it ends, there it begins.   It is a circle, representing eternity, for our Faith speaks of eternal things, beyond the straight line of history.

But the calendar year goes on and on in one long straight line.   It is a good thing, when history seems too much for us, to remember that it is all taking place within the vast circle and stillness of eternity.   There is something besides the on and on, one damned thing after another.  There is a meaning and there is a love pervading and watching over all.   And yet time does matter to God.   And that is the message of Christmas, of the Incarnation.  God hasn't stayed in his eternity, outside one damned thing after another, outside our troubled history.   God came down to earth, down into history, in order to assure us that he takes our time seriously and he is with us in it all.

When Jesus was born in the manger at Bethlehem God showed his commitment to us.   The dawning of a new year gives us all the great opportunity to show our commitment to God.   So my great hope, my yearning, my longing for 2005 is that we may use this new year to show our commitment to God.   The very best way to show how committed we are to God is through worship.   Worship for the committed Christian is not an optional extra but is of the very essence, through which we express our deep and unending love for our Heavenly Father who gave His Son Jesus to this world "for us and for our salvation".   Our first Family Eucharist on January 2nd has as its theme 'GOOD RESOLUTIONS' the very best resolution is to be committed to Christ through worship.   Every Sunday that we are absent from church is a missed and lost opportunity to praise God and to express our love for the Lord.   So let us make 2005 truly the year of our Lord 'ANNO DOMINI' and let us make worship our top priority.

Every Blessing,

FATHER DAVID