Dear Friends,

Another year begins with many of us making New Year resolutions which will be broken by the end of this month. The newspapers give us the gloomy news of convictions for drink-driving over the festive period and reports of youthful binge-drinkers degrading the season of goodwill. Even so, the New Year is a time for new hope that perhaps this time we may find our own silver lining amid the clouds of bad news.

In terms of the local church the good news is that there should soon be a new parish priest for our neighbouring parishes of Lilley, Offley and Kings Walden. At the time of writing this I cannot give his name because all the formalities have not yet been completed. If, however, the diocese is able to work with smooth efficiency there should be an announcement quite soon which will enable the priest-designate to take office before Easter 2006.

The New Year almost coincides with the Feast of the Epiphany on 6 January. This date, of course, follows the twelve days of Christmas by which time our Christmas trees and decorations should be taken down. We celebrate and give thanks for the visit of the three wise men to the infant Jesus. In recent times there have been objections raised to the designation ‘Wise men’ on the grounds that it might imply that women are not wise ! There is no such implication in the gospels.

The word Epiphany means manifestation and it refers to Jesus’ messiahship as something not confined to the Jewish religion or nation. The three kings came, we are told, from distant lands with different religious systems, different cultures and in possession of wisdom as it was understood at that time. We are told that they were led by a star to come and worship at the manger. In the Epiphany story, therefore, we have an account of all the wisdom and learning of humanity being laid at the feet of Him who made its acquisition possible. This worship and acknowledgement of the kingship of Jesus is symbolised by