A seasonal full stop ?

Dear All Saints and St Marys

The Church’s winter season is now over, although the weather outside may still be very wintry.

The season begins with Advent, is centred on Christmas and concludes with Epiphany

Yes, some say that it should be thought to extend to Candlemas (February 2nd), but with Easter eggs already on sale in the supermarkets, I think Epiphany provides an appropriate seasonal ‘full stop’.

But which of these three days is most significant?

Of course, each one is important.

Advent Sunday kicks it all off and is best symbolized by a candle in the darkness. I always listen to Handel’s Messiah on this and the following days. This famously begins with the aria: “Comfort my people”, the opening words from Isaiah 40. We need comfort, and we are also called to offer comfort.

Christmas day is the centre, around which so much happens: from Carol services, to mince pies and presents, to visits with family and neighbours. Just as a wide variety of people were drawn to Bethlehem at the birth of Jesus, so we also recognize the need to be with others, “bearing one another’s burdens, sharing one another’s joys”.

Yet, I could not do without Epiphany. There is so much in that story: the Magi have to travel far, and arrive late (just like many of us, I imagine, who only become aware of some deeper truths in our later years). The birth of Jesus is not merely a personal family affair – the Epiphany sets this birth in the context of world affairs, untrustworthy rulers and horrific killings (the massacre of the innocents, Matthew 2.16 – 18). The Epiphany reminds us that, though Jesus was born a Jew, he is given to all humankind – our faith can never be solely a matter of personal preferences, it requires us to look beyond.

But the saying I love most occurs in the second half of Matthew 2.12: “having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road”. The Magi had to go back home – but they were different and their route had to be different. Faith takes us onwards, even when our surroundings may be familiar. 2026 cannot merely be a replay of 2025. I may already have failed with my New Year Resolutions – but this verse encourages me to try afresh, to experiment, to seek out new paths and companions. All the Gospel readings for the Sundays of the Epiphany season (from now until the start of Lent) nudge us to look at what is familiar in fresh ways: how may God be revealing something now that we have not seen and tried before.

Rev'd Bob Cotton

This Sunday 18th January Services are:

10:00am	Sung Holy Communion	St Marys
10:30am	Holy Communion	All Saints
6:30pm	Epiphany Carols	St Marys

THE WEEK AHEAD

Mon 19th Jan	10:30am	Tiny Tots	All Saints
Tue 20th Jan	10:30am	Music for Toddlers	St Marys Parish Rooms
Wed 21st Jan	9:00am	Celtic Morning Prayer	All Saints
	2:00pm	Bible Book Club	St Marys
Thu 22nd Jan	10:00am	Holy Communion	St Marys
Sun 24th Jan	12:00noon	Saturday Lunches	St Marys
Sun 25th Jan	8:00am	Holy Communion	All Saints
	10:00am	Holy Communion	St Marys
	10:30am	Cafe Church	All Saints

Please find below the weekly sheets.

Blessings

Revd Lizzie

Vicar of All Saints and St Marys Churches, Fishponds

01179650856

07973917720

Please be advised that Monday is my day of rest so I do not respond to emails on that day of the week.

18th January 2026 Email.pdf

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R_WS 260118.pdf

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