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As I write this “Annual Message”, I sit looking at the wonderful, harshly beautiful, Australian bush.  I know that the Eucalypt, Wattles, Banksia, Grevilleas and other native plants that surround these Blue Mountains are quite the opposite of what Christmas is like in the colder northern parts of this place we call Earth.  Yet the event that we celebrate at this time of the year extends beyond location.  Extends beyond nationalistic, human made barriers, extends to parts of creation that we cannot see, let alone experience.

In a world that is becoming increasingly secular, if not anti faith, Christmas stands as a beacon.  As a lamp which brings people to focus, if only briefly, on the needs of others.  Yes it is true the retailers would have us believe that the monetary value, or the “newness” of the gift is the most important thing, but the reality remains that the purpose of the purchase, is still the giving of the gift.

Have a read of the striking, five opening verses of St John’s Gospel (John 1:1-5).

Here lies the purpose of Christmas.  Not the biggest, the latest, the most expensive gift, but the arrival of the illumination of the darkness.  The illumination of life as had never been known, or experienced before.  A brilliant, illuminating, Light that can never be extinguished.

Yes, there are those who will try, (and over the years many have, and many will continue to try) to mask, to hide, to change or to deny the Light.  Yet every time a person turns to their neighbour, helps a person in need, soothes the frightened, walks with the ill, welcomes the marginalised and the unwanted - the Light shines brighter.

So let us look beyond the crib, beyond the star, beyond the angels, beyond the wise men, beyond the shepherds, beyond the carols, beyond the tinsel, beyond the cards, beyond the food, beyond the retailers, beyond the gifts, beyond our human traditions. 

Let us look for the Love that gave the gift of the Light to the world. Let us then embrace this Love.  Let us circle this fragile, damaged globe we live on, with caring, compassionate, loving deeds that give expression, that give witness to the Light.

Amen.

The Gospel reading (set by the Revised Common Lectionary - RCL) for today is this passage from Luke.  It tells of Jesus healing 10 lepers and only 1 of the 10, returns to Jesus to give thanks for the miracle.

Jesus's comment, along the lines of the returned leper's faith making him well, leaves us to speculate as to wether the other 9 were similarly healed, or wether they were just cured.  There is a difference between the two.  Luke makes a point of telling his readers (and us) that the returned leper is a Samaritan.  Someone who perhaps should not have been healed in the first place.

The fourth of October is the day that the church marks the life of St Francis.  In 'church speak', it is usually referred to as his "feast day".  Through the centuries a tradition has developed of blessing pets, or animals, on or near to Francis' feast day. These have become very popular liturgical events.  Why? Perhaps because Franciscan history has many tales of him conversing with animals!  The there are tales of him preaching to them, of saving them (like the rabbit, the fish and the wolf) and also of him gently castigating them when they were too noisy.  While these are important, it is re-miss for us to limit Francis to the animals, not matter how "nice" that is.

The Gospel reading set by the Roman Catholic Church for Francis (4th October) is Matthew 11:25-30. In this passage Jesus tells us to lay our burdens at his cross.  Francis did this.  He laid his burden down at the cross, and then went onto live a life of simplicity, poverty, dedication, service, and above all, of love.  How did he achieve this?

Well as simplistic as it may seem, I think it was by moving his faith, his love of, and for, God, from his head to his heart.  He took the words of Christ and he enmeshed them into the fabric of his being.  They dwelt in his core, so that they became synonymous with the heartbeat of his life.  Could this perhaps be a practical example of St Pauls' assertion to “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)?

In our technically advanced, consumer driven, highly individualistic world, we have little time for things of the heart.  Our possession clad lives have us living in our heads.  We must be first, have the biggest house/car, we must have the latest, most expensive, gadgets.  We are conditioned to believe that we have not succeeded unless we are “better” than our neighbours.  In this type of existence, there is no space for compassion, understanding, tolerance, – no space for love of our neighbours.

I wonder what would happen if we were to try to move from our heads to our hearts?  I wonder what would happen if just once or twice a day, we thought what sort of day, week, month, year, life, the person sitting alongside us had, had?  What would happen if we silently prayed for that person?  What would happen if we smiled and said to the next person who served us “you have a nice day”?  What would happen if the next time we had some coins in our pocket we gave them to a charity?  I wonder, what would happen?

Well it is Easter.

It has been said many times, that there is no Christmas without Easter.  But really it is more fundamental than that.  Simply put - there is no Christianity without Easter.  Sound trite, or like stating the obivious? Perhaps, but think about this.  What does Easter mean to you?  The death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, the birth of the Christian church or chocolate, lots and lots of chocolate easter eggs.  Now tell the truth how many of you picked "lots and lots of chocolate easter eggs"?

In most churches around the country, and for that matter - the world, there was a reading from either the Gospel of John (John 20: 1-18) or the Gospel of Luke (Luke 24:1-12).  Both readings tell of the Disciples & Mary Magdelene finding the empty tomb.

Imagine what it must have been like. Having spent years following Jesus around Israel, seen him die a horrible death, then going to his tomb to grieve, only to find the tomb open - and worse still - empty.  So the news that he had risen would seem even more amazing or unbelieveable.  Yet the people of the time saw Jesus after his death on the cross, they saw him alive, they touched him and they watched him eat.  Say, and think, what you like about the faith today, the early witnesses still speak loudly through the centuries.

So what does that mean for us in 2007?  Well I think that we all need to be reminded that the mystery that lies at the centre of the Christain faith is accesible to all people.  Some will find that they get close to the mystery through orgainsed religion, others in home groups, others in religious communities, some as hermits, some as charismatics or pentecostals, some as ...... well I think you get the picture.  For me it is not where you find the mystery of Christianity, it is more that you find it.

I pray you all have/had a blessed Easter. 

Last night, I watched "St Francis" a film by Michele Soavi.  It was in Italian with English subtitles.  I think it was orginally shown as a two part program on Italian television.  It was made in 2002.

If I've read the little booklet inside the DVD cover correctly, then this film is the latest of nine films about Francis.  The others are (with the name of the director and year of production in brackets) : San Franceso. Il Provello d'Assisi (Enrico Guazzoni - 1911), The Passion of St Francis (Giulio Antamoro - 1926), San Francisco de Asis (Alberto Gout - 1944), The Flowers of St Francis (Roberto Rossellini - 1950), Francis of Assisi (Michael Curtiz - 1961), Francis of Assisi (Liliana Cavani- 1966), Brother Sun, Sister Moon (Franco Zeffirelli - 1972), Francesco (Liliana Cacvani - 1989).  Seems he is as popular in film as he is in books.

In case anyone would like to know the answer to the question "Did I enjoy the film?" By and large yes.  It would be interesting to see all 9!  Altough I suspect with some of them, being as old as they are, it is highly unlikely that there would be copies still around. Oh well.......