A message from the Rev’d Amanda Collinson

Posted by Admin on 22 February 2017, 12:42 am

Amanda Collinson

Priest-in-Charge

St John the Baptist Church

Northwood.

Tel: 01983 294913

Hello there!

Well we have made it through another Winter – and it certainly has been a wet and cold one! Meteorologically speaking Spring starts on the first of the month, and at the end of the month we move into British Summer Time. At last we can start to see life returning to our gardens and parks, chicks, lambs and kids arriving in the farms; the sun gaining in strength and warmth – all is well…. well it feels as though it is certainly better than it was during the dark winter days!
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March is also a significantly Saintly month – with St David’s day at the beginning and St Patrick’s in the middle. Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, became renowned as a teacher and preacher, founding monastic settlements and churches in Wales and ended up being a Welsh bishop of Mynyw during the 6th century. He allegedly died on 1st March, when we celebrate St David’s Day. Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was not an active believer despite his father being a Deacon and his grandfather a Priest. The story goes that Patrick, at the age of just sixteen, was captured by a group of Irish pirates who brought him to Ireland where he was enslaved and held captive for six years. It was during this time that his faith developed – he was one of those people that in their darkest hour found the light and hope of God! Two very diverse lives of men who both ended up becoming Saints, but they are not the only ones with unusual stories; there are many others including St Margaret of Cortona who started out as a reckless teenager and ran away at the age of 17 to live with her lover. She stayed with him for ten years until he was murdered. Her illegitimate son became a friar! So, in sum, there is still time for all of us to become saints….
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There have only been two new saints in the 17 years of this century – Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul…. but the thing is you don’t have to be this super-saintly to affect the world. You don’t have to perform huge miracles – just something significant which could be small. Reflect for a moment – what do we want from our 21st Century saints? Is it kindness, compassion, selflessness, humility? Is it passion and fight for those with no voice? Is it great wisdom and vision? Is it a person, miles away, caring about you when you know they are struggling with their own worries and illness…? If you think about it for a moment I am sure every one of us knows someone in our lives that does have these attributes and characteristics, that is this caring, that has been a real saint to us when we have felt low, when we have needed that extra help.
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And we all can be a saint for someone else – for a family member, a neighbour, a friend. We don’t have to perform miracles like Mother Teresa or John Paul have performed, we just have to be selfless, to give up some of our time, to care for others deeply and not just superficially. Not huge tasks and yet the difference you can make to someone’s life could be life-changing and momentous. As Dr Seuss once said, ‘To the world you may be one person but to one person you may be the world.’
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So, following on from my letter last month, find time to be a Saint – it probably won’t cost you too much time or effort, but the rewards and effects could last a lifetime. Don’t let it just be the daffodils in our gardens that brighten up our day, let it be all the Saints around us that shine with their love and care…. the days may be getting longer and lighter but the world still definitely could do with some more positivity and care at the moment. Do your bit, and together we can make our community a great place to live in.
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Wishing you a blessed and saintly month
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Rev’d Amanda.

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