Dear Friends,
Welcome to you all today, as we gather to offer God our thanks and praise, on our own behalf and also for all the world which God has made and loves so much, if only it knew it. At Mass we continue to read the special stories from Luke’s Gospel. I am very conscious of the pains that this Gospel writer took to show that the good news of Jesus Christ is for absolutely everyone. If anyone is excluded from the promise of the Gospel, then it cannot be good news at all. God’s acceptance and love are unconditional, despite the tendency among some Christians in our time to proclaim it in a very conditional way.
Tomorrow is the Feast of S. Luke. We shall have our usual morning Mass, and in the evening join the people of S. Luke’s Church for their celebration. This will be at the Rose Historic Chapel, 866 Colombo Street. The Mass will be followed by refreshments at the S. Luke’s Centre by the church. I hope that a good number of us will be able to show solidarity with them as they celebrate their festival outside their accustomed holy place.
On Thursday evening the City’s Beca Heritage Week begins. This will be specially poignant this year, as much of our built heritage has been so damaged by the earthquake. Its theme is ‘On the Horizon: rediscover the settlement of our City’. S. Michael’s is registered as a heritage site for the week, containing as it does the first Parish Church and School, and with four heritage buildings, four heritage trees, and the swale (gully), a remnant of a tributary stream of the Avon. We hope to be open for most of the week (Thursday to Friday of the following week) and especially over Labour weekend when people may have time to explore the city. Are you willing to spend an hour or two keeping the church open? The Solemn Mass next Sunday will be a Heritage Mass at which we shall thank God for what we have been given, and commit ourselves to pass on a worthwhile community and city to those who will follow us.
Labour Weekend of course is always associated with gardening by Christchurch people, the earliest date on which you can safely plant your potatoes, the appearance of the very first rose blooms, trips to busy nurseries and thundering trade at garden centres. But above all, the wonderful spring smells of newly turned soil, freshly mown grass, and lilac blossom. As all this happens around us, I hope that we can marvel again at the cycle of the seasons, the dying and rising of the natural world, the restoration of the greenness and colour after the austerity of winter. The arrival of summer seems more promising now that we have enjoyed some very warm days; and a glance at the shops makes it clear that Christmas is alarmingly near. I have to remind myself at this time, when life seems to speed up so much, to look up from my work and take time to enjoy the miracles happening at every moment in our gardens and parks.
If you came to morning tea after Mass last week, you probably had a piece of the marvellous fruit-cake sent to us by the Smithsons, from Runanga, near Greymouth. This was a gift to show support for us as we continue to cope with the earthquakes. We are very grateful to them for this practical sign of their thoughts and prayers for us.
May God bless you all.
Fr Peter Williams
