THE FOURTH SUNDAY BEFORE ADVENT
(ALL SAINTS' SUNDAY)
1ST November 2025
Greetings,
November is, I suspect, a month dear to the hearts of very few. The long hours of darkness and the damp conditions are something few of us look forward to. But I am perhaps doing the month a disservice. It could just as easily be dry, crisp and frosty with some glorious night skies. At present however there is little sign of that, and with the remnants of tropical storm Melissa barrelling across the Atlantic it might be timely to batten down the hatches.
However bleak the conditions, mirroring sadly the state of the world, the month begins and ends with celebrations of warmth, joy and hope. Today is All Saints' Day, one of my favourite festivals not least because it reminds us of the triumph of light and grace in countless lives across the centuries. Long before bonfires were lit to commemorate gunpowder, treason and plot, they were a seasonal reminder of the inextinguishable light of grace, All Saints' being effectively the first of several Christian festivals of light going through the Winter to Candlemas on 2nd February. At the end of the month we celebrate Christ the King, reigning at God's right hand in glory. Again, it is a reminder of a destiny and calling that we share as his disciples and it is an encouragement to live in hope whatever the darkness of this world. And should we need any further reminders of the world's darkness the calendar gives us Remembrance Sunday and All Souls', the former rooted in the tragedy of human conflict, the latter in the sober recognition of our mortal nature. Yet, as Christian observances they are occasions of hope and not despair. For whatever the sorrows we bear and see others endure, light will triumph over darkness, goodness over evil. That is the promise of the Cross and Resurrection, the source of limitless grace through which, whatever our doubts, we can both share in, and radiate, light, life and hope.
Every blessing,
Charles Booth
The Pew Sheet with notices and readings is attached. At 8.00 and 10.00 tomorrow morning we celebrate All Saints' which is of course our parish's patronal festival. In the afternoon there is the Commemoration of All Souls at St. Mark's at 4pm. It is a poignant occasion for many and an important one in calendar of this parish. I commend it to you as also the forthcoming services of Remembrancetide.
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