Sunday 5 April 2015

An Easter to rejoice in

Yesterday evening I walked across Llandaff Fields and joined the congregation at the Cathedral for the Easter Vigil, presided over by Archbishop Barry. The fire was kindled and the Paschal candle lit just outside the west door, as daylight faded, and the first part of the liturgy of the Word, as darkness descended was done by candle light, just as it should be whenever possible. 

The service included confirmation of one teenager and thirteen adults, mostly people of mature years. One of the younger adults was also baptized. I was seated near the font, and was much moved by the gentle inward smile of the candidate as she lifted her head after the water of baptism had been poured over her. It's a look I've seen before when I've baptized adults - there's nothing it can be compared with. It's great to see a group of grown-ups making a commitment of faith, in a ritual that has unintentionally become associated with being an adolescent church graduation and leaving ritual. 

For the most part, the baby boomer generation and those who followed after disengaged from the mainstream church struggling to re-engage pastorally and spiritual as secularism began to overwhelm every aspect of contemporary life. Even a modest return to faith by the older generation will prove influential in the longer term, as dialogue across the age gap is made less awkward by the advent of social media and other boundary changing means to exchange ideas. Much necessary time has been spend engaging with disaffected youth. Equally vital for the future is re- engaging with disaffected older people that have much to offer to the life of the church from their experience.

I appreciated the recent modest changes made to the Vigil and Initiation rites. It's a lengthy service at the best of times, and more complex than a normal Eucharist to execute. The quiet self effacing discipline of the team of servers and officiating ministers made something elaborate feel simple, unfussy, relaxed. It's a great model of teamwork - what you get when everyone believes in and loves what they are doing. A good example for the wider church. I was so glad that I made the effort to go at the end of a busy day.

This morning was bright and sunny, just a little warmer than earlier in the week, blossom in the trees just that bit more advanced than last Sunday, fitting for an Easter Day. I was on duty again with Eucharists at St Michael's Tongwynlais and St James' Taff's Well. There were about seventy at the former and thirty at the latter, and good cheer abounded, a fitting conclusion to my recent spell of locum assignments with the parish. I'll be in Spain when their new priest arrives.

Owain was gigging in Cardiff last night and stopped over for the weekend. He cooked lunch for us, swordfish steaks, spinach, roasted artichokes, spuds and beetroot, with raspberries and cream or yoghourt to follow, washed down with a decent Rioja Joven. We finished in time for me to walk again across the fields to the Cathedral for Solemn Evensong with Handel's Hallelujah Chorus and a Te Deum to conclude. A most enjoyable conclusion to the Easter Triduum.
 

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