{"id":23912,"date":"2020-12-23T09:33:10","date_gmt":"2020-12-23T14:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/?p=23912"},"modified":"2020-12-24T09:39:59","modified_gmt":"2020-12-24T14:39:59","slug":"all-we-need-is-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/all-we-need-is-love\/","title":{"rendered":"All we need is love!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wednesday in the Fourth Week of Advent, Year B<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

23 December 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All we need is love!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading:<\/strong> <\/strong>Romans 16: 25-27<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scripture: \u201c<\/strong>Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ\u2026the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.\u201d (Romans 15: 25, 27)<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflection<\/strong>: Christmas is upon us and, ready or not, tomorrow night, we will be celebrating the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who comes to us as a child. As the last Advent candle was lit on Sunday, we prayed we would continue to meet Him as He comes to us in so many different ways and at various times, and that over the next few days, we would complete our preparations and be ready for what God is going to do in our lives.  And so, as we prepare to celebrate Christmas, and as we meditate on the true meaning of Christmas, it should not escape us that the very first Christmas is  living testimony of God\u2019s love for mankind as Christ Incarnate is the fulfillment of God\u2019s promise to humanity.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Advent ends, we wonder what God has in store for us. What are His plans for us? We too have plans for our lives and our families and our future. And, of course, we have plans for how we will celebrate Christmas. But this year, as we remember the lives lost, livelihoods disrupted and economies shattered by the ongoing corona virus pandemic, we wonder what Christmas will look like. No churches filled with members and their families visiting from overseas? Empty chairs at many tables? Little money to spend on presents and food? So many people feeling depressed? All this, a stark reminder that while our own plans may not be flawed, God has His own plans for us and that His business is not business as usual. He is in charge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what do we do? As believers we are charged with the responsibility to carry the torch of God\u2019s love and kindness, and more importantly to share the good news with our neighbours. Despite the many challenges, we must let them know that God has kept His promise; that He has come to His world and to each of us. None of us is perfect and our ambitions often get in the way of our intentions but, God calls us and uses us as we are. However, when we commit to Him, and accept what He has in store for us, we are transformed. Let us, therefore, be mindful that this is the season to more intentionally join with all creation to share God’s love, especially as the season provides so many opportunities to do so.  This is the season when we can make that special effort (COVID notwithstanding) to share His gift of love with the homeless, the orphans, those abandoned and alone, the hungry, those on the fringes of society who are often overlooked and ignored.  A helping hand, a kind word, and a simple telephone call can make such a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hymn-writer Isaac Watts reminds us in the words of the popular Christmas Hymn, \u2018Joy to the world\u2019, that, \u201cthe Lord is come\u201d and therefore, \u201clet every heart prepare Him room\u201d, before ending with: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe rules the world in truth and grace,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

and makes the nations prove<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

the glories of His righteousness<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

and wonders of His love\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, God loves us and He remains in charge. We have all the evidence of that truth, thanks to COVID-19. Let us seek the grace to hear and to respond and the faith to persevere and find new ways to meaningfully share God\u2019s love this Christmas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meditation: <\/strong>God\u2019s Love and boundless mercy are meant to be shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prayer:  <\/strong>Lord, I thank You for loving me. Help me to so live that others might be drawn to You by the love I show, the love which comes from You. Amen.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. Jude\u2019s Church<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stony Hill<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anglican Diocese of Jamaica and The Cayman Islands<\/p>\n\n\n\n

23 December 2020<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wednesday in the Fourth Week of Advent, Year B 23 December 2020 All we need is love! Reading: Romans 16: 25-27 Scripture: \u201cNow to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ\u2026the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.\u201d (Romans 15:…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":23735,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","ctfw-has-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/610"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23912"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23913,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23912\/revisions\/23913"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}