St Mary Redcliffe Parish Magazine February/March 2020

Vicar's letter
THE LECTIONARY IS THE CYCLE OF
READINGS set for day-by-day use
throughout the year. It takes account
of the various seasons of the Christian
calendar and, over three years, strives to
arrive at a cohesive pattern of reading much
of the Bible over the lectionary’s span.
FEBRUARY–MARCH
LIVING THE CHRISTIAN YEAR
— REVD ANTHONY EVERITT
ASSOCIATE MINISTER
The lectionary splits the Christian year into
three blocks. The first looks forward to, and
is focussed on, Jesus’ incarnation. Therefore it
starts with Advent and runs through Christmas and the season of Epiphany.
The second is that of the Crucifixion and Resurrection. Starting a little
before Ash Wednesday, it continues through Lent, Holy Week, and Easter,
ending just after Pentecost. The final block is known as “Ordinary Time”
and is split into a couple of periods. The first is short and goes from
Candlemas (2nd February) to the second Sunday before Lent. The second
is much longer and runs from the day after Pentecost to just before Advent
Sunday. The very name “Ordinary Time” reminds us that God is God of all
time and is found not only in the big festivals and dramatic seasons of the
church but also in the everyday, the usual, the ordinary run of life.
February is the one month when we encounter all three sections of the
lectionary. Candlemas ends the sharp focus on the Incarnation and
Revelation; the second Sunday before Lent falls in February (16th February
this year) and so our gaze turns towards the preparation of Lent, the
agony of the Cross, and the joy of the Resurrection. In between the two is
the first period of “ordinary time”. In a way, then, the month reminds us
that it does not do to compartmentalise the Christian year too much.
The blocks within the lectionary are not firmly demarcated by hard borders
but lightly defined by permeable frontiers. The Incarnation does not wholly
make sense without the Cross and Resurrection neither of which, of course,
could have happened without the Incarnation. Meantime our ordinary lives
can only be made complete in the context of the truth of God incarnate,
the agony of the Cross and the joy of the Resurrection.
The apparent blurring of the frontiers’ edges is seen Sunday by Sunday
when in the Eucharist we ordinary people remember Jesus on the Cross,
celebrate His Resurrection and declare that He is God incarnate, redeemer
for all. In February and March we turn our faces towards Jerusalem,
follow Jesus along the way of His ministry and teaching, and prepare for
the rigours of Holy Week. As we do so let us remember that the life, death
and resurrection of Christ together are God’s gift to us, through which we
encounter God’s love, and in the light of which we are called to live.
— Revd Anthony Everitt
Associate Minister
A message from Kat, our Associate Vicar, on the
eve of her Extended Ministry Development Leave
(EMDL), who writes:
“My development leave begins today and later in the
week the whole Campion-Spall family will set off for New
Zealand where we will immerse ourselves in a different
context and culture, including for me, a different church
culture as I base myself at Auckland Cathedral and St
John’s Theological College. Thank you so much to everyone who has wished us well
on our adventure, but particular thanks to those who have made it possible for me
to go by taking on extra work. We will miss you, and will see you in May!” — Kat.
Cover image: “St Mary Redcliffe at 7am on a Winter Morning”; photo ©
John Davies. Thank you to John Davies for this wonderfully evocative
photograph, taken from the offices of Smith & Williamson, that seems
to resonate with the work of the church at the start of the new decade.
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