Vicar’s letter – June 2010	Archive
Jayne writes As I write we are between Ascension and Pentecost in our Church’s year and on Sundays we have been reflecting on Paul’s missionary journeys and how the gospel was spread from Asia and through into Europe. It is difficult for us now to imagine the scale of the achievement of those early apostles, not just in relation to their preaching, but also with regard to the distances covered on their travels. In these days of air travel we tend to measure distance by time and so for example we find that Athens (where Paul preached about the ‘Unknown God’) is just 4 hours away, Malta (where Paul was shipwrecked on the way to Rome) is even less at 3½ hours! Those of us who have been affected by the cloud of volcanic ash by having flights cancelled while on holiday or on business, were given a rather dramatic and sudden shift of perspective. While I was enjoying my peaceful holiday on Gozo, a small island off Malta, I was able to feel just half a day away from my family and friends back home; but when I arrived at the airport to find my flight home cancelled and with a very uncertain timetable for any rebooking, home suddenly felt very far away as I pictured the sea crossing to Italy and then an overland journey across Europe. We have all read stories of some of the amazing journeys that people had trying to get home, but none of us was stranded as long as Paul who stayed on the island of Malta for three months! The first weekend after the eruption and while I was still on Gozo, Pope Benedict visited Malta – flights to and from Rome still operating at that stage (my parents had wondered if I might be able to hitch a lift!) – and the people of Malta greeted him with that same ‘extraordinary hospitality’ that had been afforded to Paul 1950 years ago. I was moved by the coverage of the Pope’s visit on the Malta news channel. Many of you reading this will be aware of the strategic role played by the Maltese people during the second world war; the position of the Maltese islands in the Mediterranean was a major factor and the loyalty, courage and stoicism of the Maltese people was recognised by the award of the George Cross on 15th April 68 years ago, an anniversary celebrated in Valletta to this day. The Pope highlighted how Malta "has been at the crossroads of many of the great events and cultural exchanges in European and Mediterranean history, right up to our own times. ... To these shores, then, in the mysterious designs of God, the Gospel was brought by St. Paul and the early followers of Christ. Their missionary work has borne much fruit over the centuries” "St Paul's arrival in Malta was not planned. Sailors can map a journey, but God, in His wisdom and providence, charts a course of His own. Paul, who dramatically encountered the Risen Lord while on the road to Damascus, knew this well. The course of his life was suddenly changed" and "his every thought and action was directed to proclaiming the mystery of the Cross and its message of God's reconciling love.” "That same word, the word of the Gospel, still has the power to break into our lives and to change their course. Today the same Gospel which Paul preached continues to summon the people of these islands to conversion, new life and a future of hope". My own plans, and those of many others, were suddenly brought to nothing by the ash cloud – we learnt again that powerful as humanity has become, we are still mere creatures and subject to forces beyond our control. And yet, our God is a God of love who promises to be with us in all that we face, and so if we are stopped in our tracks by volcanic ash, by sickness, redundancy or by some other calamity we nevertheless have the assurance of God’s promise to us, given on that first Ascension Day – ‘I will be with you always to the very end of the age.’

Vicar’s letter – June 2010

Archive

Jayne writes

As I write we are between Ascension and Pentecost in our Church’s year and on Sundays we have been reflecting on Paul’s missionary journeys and how the gospel was spread from Asia and through into Europe. It is difficult for us now to imagine the scale of the achievement of those early apostles, not just in relation to their preaching, but also with regard to the distances covered on their travels. In these days of air travel we tend to measure distance by time and so for example we find that Athens (where Paul preached about the ‘Unknown God’) is just 4 hours away, Malta (where Paul was shipwrecked on the way to Rome) is even less at 3½ hours! Those of us who have been affected by the cloud of volcanic ash by having flights cancelled while on holiday or on business, were given a rather dramatic and sudden shift of perspective.

While I was enjoying my peaceful holiday on Gozo, a small island off Malta, I was able to feel just half a day away from my family and friends back home; but when I arrived at the airport to find my flight home cancelled and with a very uncertain timetable for any rebooking, home suddenly felt very far away as I pictured the sea crossing to Italy and then an overland journey across Europe. We have all read stories of some of the amazing journeys that people had trying to get home, but none of us was stranded as long as Paul who stayed on the island of Malta for three months!

The first weekend after the eruption and while I was still on Gozo, Pope Benedict visited Malta – flights to and from Rome still operating at that stage (my parents had wondered if I might be able to hitch a lift!) – and the people of Malta greeted him with that same ‘extraordinary hospitality’ that had been afforded to Paul 1950 years ago. I was moved by the coverage of the Pope’s visit on the Malta news channel. Many of you reading this will be aware of the strategic role played by the Maltese people during the second world war; the position of the Maltese islands in the Mediterranean was a major factor and the loyalty, courage and stoicism of the Maltese people was recognised by the award of the George Cross on 15th April 68 years ago, an anniversary celebrated in Valletta to this day.

The Pope highlighted how Malta "has been at the crossroads of many of the great events and cultural exchanges in European and Mediterranean history, right up to our own times. ... To these shores, then, in the mysterious designs of God, the Gospel was brought by St. Paul and the early followers of Christ. Their missionary work has borne much fruit over the centuries”
"St Paul's arrival in Malta was not planned. Sailors can map a journey, but God, in His wisdom and providence, charts a course of His own. Paul, who dramatically encountered the Risen Lord while on the road to Damascus, knew this well. The course of his life was suddenly changed" and "his every thought and action was directed to proclaiming the mystery of the Cross and its message of God's reconciling love.”
"That same word, the word of the Gospel, still has the power to break into our lives and to change their course. Today the same Gospel which Paul preached continues to summon the people of these islands to conversion, new life and a future of hope".

My own plans, and those of many others, were suddenly brought to nothing by the ash cloud – we learnt again that powerful as humanity has become, we are still mere creatures and subject to forces beyond our control. And yet, our God is a God of love who promises to be with us in all that we face, and so if we are stopped in our tracks by volcanic ash, by sickness, redundancy or by some other calamity we nevertheless have the assurance of God’s promise to us, given on that first Ascension Day – ‘I will be with you always to the very end of the age.’