The Christian Faith
This section of the website provides more extended teaching on larger content areas, such as the Creed and the Sacraments. It begins with Introduction·to the Christian Faith. More content will be added in due course.
The section entitled Short Talks comprises stand-alone talks and articles on different aspects of the Christian Faith, including the teaching of Jesus, the seasons of the Church’s Year and Feasts and Festivals.·
Advent to Good Friday
Every year has a beginning and an end. It begins on January 1st but up to about 200 years ago New Year’s Day was on March 1st. The Church’s Year, however, begins on another day still – Advent Sunday.
Now, just as the year is divided into seasons – spring, summer, autumn and winter – so the Church’s Year has its own seasons. If we look carefully we shall see that they tell us about what we have been learning in the Creed.
Easter to Advent
Easter Day
On Good Friday Jesus was crucified and buried, but on Easter Day, the first day of the week, God raised him from the dead. During the day Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, Peter, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and, we may be sure, to Mary, his holy Mother. The same evening he appeared to the Apostles in the Upper Room, and gave them what is called their Apostolic Commission, that is, his authority to act on his behalf as his personal representatives. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you”. When Jesus had said this to the Apostles he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them…” (NRSV, John:20:21-23).
Harvest Thanksgiving: a healthy soul
A healthy body
There is one thing which you do not often forget to have at home, and that is your meals. And so, when you come in hungry from school or from play, one of the questions you often ask is, “When’s supper?” or “When’s tea?” or “When’s dinner?” And after you have had your supper or your tea or your dinner, you feel better. This is because food makes your bodies grow and keeps you healthy – or rather the proper food does, what we call a healthy diet. If you lived on nothing but sweets, you would get ill; though I remember one boy in Catechism who said that, when he grew up, he would like to work in a toffee factory as a toffee-taster, and when I said that would spoil his appetite for dinner, he replied, “I’d have toffee for dinner too!”