Autumn Glory - 23

For the final posting in this mini series we have a lovely photo of sheep and a shepherd outside the Waterfront Hall in Belfast. St Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, was at one time a shepherd boy in the hills of County Antrim. Our bishops are shepherds and carry croziers as a sign that they are leading and guiding us.



On this final day of the Church's Year we look back with thanksgiving for the year now ending, and look forward to the new year beginning tomorrow - the 1st Sunday of Advent. Two Church of Ireland bishops who spent much of their lives in Belfast have written a lovely hymn on the Church's Year (based on an original hymn by Katherine Hankey). The two bishops are Edward Darling and Harold Miller.

Advent tells us Christ is near;
Christmas tells us Christ is here;
Then we learn what life can be
In our Lord's Epiphany.

Forty days we keep in Lent,
Praying, fasting, penitent,
Give our lives to Christ anew
And to him be always true.

Holy Week begins with palms -
Crowds with branches singing psalms;
On Good Friday they will cry
'Nail him on a cross to die.'

We rejoice on Easter Day;
'Christ is risen indeed', we say;
In the Bread of Life he's shown,
And his risen power is known.

Christ ascends to heaven again,
Glorious now as King to reign;
And we give him special praise
Through those joyful fifty days.

Pentecost - it is the birth
Of the Church in all the earth,
When the Holy Spirit came
In sure signs of wind and flame.

So to God through all our days
We will gladly sing our praise:
'Glory to the One in Three,
God the Holy Trinity.'

Small wonder Edward has been elected President of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland!

On Monday I will start a new mini series - 'The Word of the Lord.'