Llandudno -
Our Lady Star of
the Sea
Parish
Priest: Fr Antony Jones STL - Telephone: 01492 860546 [Email]
The Feast of the
Epiphany 2007
Dear Parishioner,
On Christmas Day after the 9:30am Mass
I travelled home to see my family over in saltney, near Chester.
As I drove along the ASS I was amazed at how quiet everything was. Not
another car on the road for miles and miles, everywhere was clear and
still and apart from obseroing people walking along the prom here in
Llandudno I don't think I saw another pedestrian until I drove into the
village of Broughton just off the A55.
I felt a great sense of peace, of calm and of happiness, a great sense
of the fact that on that day a Saviour had been born to us, who is
Christ the Lord. It felt to me as though the world had come to a stand
still to pay homage to the Saviour.
And during my week away I felt a great sense of peace. The liturgy of
the Church for that particular week I find very powerful, with the
celebration of the feasts of St Stephen, St John and St Thomas
ofCanterbury, the patron saint of the British Clergy contrasting the
moving and reflective memorial of the Holy Innocents.
And then following on from those celebrations the Church moved into the
feast of the Holy Family which gave us a chance to step back from the
madness of post Christmas sales and preparations for New Years Eve and
enabled us to look in a very special way at the Crib scene, the family
portrait, if you will, of Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds, Lowly Cattle and
of course at the centre of it all without a care in the world almost,
the Baby Jesus, the little child who carries the hopes and fears of all
of us in his heart.
And this weekend we have another great feast in the Church's year as we
celebrate the feast of the Epiphany.
The three wise men were very generous and they were willing to put all
their energy and time into travelling and visiting Jesus despite the
best efforts of King Herod to put them off.
The example of the three wise men is a reminder to us as well that we
to need to be generous and giving especially to Christ. We should ask
ourselves, do we give as much time and energy to Jesus as we can ? And
if we don't then the feast of the Epiphany is a nice place to begin.
The three wise men were in many ways very lucky, they had a star to
follow that led them to Christ. In the darkness of this world let us
pray that we will look to other forms of stars for guidance such as the
beauty of the Mass, the word of God in Sacred Scripture, the faith of
others and of course our own faith in Christ.
Lord in our moments of darkness help us not to give up but to keep
hoping, searching and praying for the strength to remain steadfast when
there is no guiding star.
May God bless us always,
Fr Andrew.