<strong>884</strong> <strong>FOCUS</strong> 2.qxp_Layout 1 30/12/2018 13:02 Page 18 18 South Woodham Focus Christmas in Perspective “Gaudete in Domino Semper, Iterum Dico Gaudete” Rejoice in the Lord Always, and Again I Say Rejoice! Christmas is our Christian festival when the birth of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace is celebrated. Recently, most parts of the world have experienced an explosion of great joy and intense preparation for this great event (Christmas). Christmas echoes peace, love, hope, salvation, etc., with Christ as the protagonist in the play. To receive the greatest gift (Jesus Christ), enough time has been set aside during Advent for Christians to prepare themselves spiritually and physically. Tens of thousands of people as part of their preparations travelled across the globe to meet their family, friends and loved ones to share the joy, peace and love with them. Nevertheless, in our spiritual preparations therefore, the Word of God (Jer 33:14-16, 1Thes 3:12-4:2, Lk 21:25-28, 34-36, Bar 5:1-9, Phil 1: 4-6, 8-11, Lk 3:1-6, Zep 3:14-18, Phil 4:4-7, Lk 3:10-18, Mi 5:1-4, Heb 1:1-6, Jn 1:1-18, etc) did give Christians worldwide an orientation and the methodology in our spiritual preparation and reception of Jesus Christ at Christmas; as the Messiah, Son of God, Son of David, Redeemer, Liberator, Saviour, Prophet, Priest, Servant and of course as King of the Universe. With regards to physical preparations, people flocked our shops and supermarkets worldwide. In our case here in South Woodham Ferrers, our renowned supermarkets such as ASDA, Co-Op, George etc., also did play a vital role in our material preparation and reception of Christ. Having prepared, received and celebrated Christ as the Prince of Peace and King of the Universe, we Christians and all other people of goodwill need to be reminded that Christ’s Kingdom is not of this world. Unlike other earthly rulers, Christ is not swayed by politics and greed nor by power and the ability to control and dominate others. Rather, the “Son of Man” (a title which refers to the kingship of Jesus) came as a liberator to free us from slavery and the bondage of sin and death. Christ himself is the greatest gift among all our Christmas gifts received at this favourable time and he is in the centre of our lives. Having received Him, it is appropriate to reflect deeply with acknowledgement what great marvels God has done in our lives since our birth. Christmas should not just be a time of merry making only, but also a time of thanksgiving. The Prince of Peace has come to renew and transform us, changing our hearts of stone to those of flesh. As beneficiaries of Christmas, we are to take off our clothing of; sorrow, hatred, anger, greed, bitterness, gossip, hypocrisy, envy, etc., and put on an amour of love, peace, hope, faith, joy, forgiveness, sincerity, gentleness, hospitality, humility, simplicity and mutual support of one another as pilgrims on this earth. May the new born baby fill us with the grace to be renewed and transformed. Shallom! Fr Moo K. Gervase CSSp SW Christian Council IRResPONsIbLe PLANNINg Drive through and take away restaurant at Shaw farm roundabout I went to the council planning meeting on 18th December to make my objections to the drive through restaurant intended on the Shaw Farm roundabout site. I was disappointed to see there were only 6 people voicing an opinion about this, me included. Basically the developers and Chelmsford Council by default seem to be happy to put a traffic light controlled pedestrian crossing around a close to the Shaw Farm roundabout, this will without doubt create a problematic situation for traffic flow in both directions especially as this is a two lane piece of road with a slip road to the petrol station accidents will happen. Still traffic jams are ok so long as we can have our fried chicken. I don’t suppose it matters too much to the developers that children on bikes will try to cross the dual carriageway, after all, what’s the life of child when compared to the money to be made by them and Chelmsford council. Our council can only offer their opinion based on what we the residents say. The only way we can influence Chelmsford is by direct contact. Strange to say, the web portal access is down so we can’t make a representation direct, yet again. If you really want to do something to influence Chelmsford in to listening is to write to our town council who, I am assured will pass the information on. On another note and just in case you missed it. On Wednesday January 9th at 7.30 pm there is a meeting at William De Ferrers School to discuss the future our medical services. It may be worthwhile finding out just how it is planned that we get from the residential areas across the Burnham Road safely if you are of limited mobility and don’t own a car. Bill Bliss We live in a rural town with a very picturesque approach. I find the ugly white block with the glaring BP sign a complete let down and now we are going to have a treetop high neon sign glowing for miles totally wrecking the entrance to our rural town. That area really needs landscaping but as usual, no money in that. It is much better to have a totally nonessential drive through fast food place with a nice regular tax bill. SOUTH WOODHAM <strong>FOCUS</strong>
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