May is turning out to be a very busy month indeed. The Bishop of Bolton is with us to tell his vocation story, the Archdeacon’s visitation is followed in the same week by the ‘Four Nations’ Dinner at the Golf Club; the wedding season gets into full stride; the Confirmation candidates get even closer to their special day; and there are a steady number of baptisms taking place. The Mirfield Prayer Group meets again and it is hoped that a new study period will be considered to follow on from a most enjoyable exploration into the Lord’s Prayer that ran through Lent. All of these provide wonderful opportunities to invite people to Church, or to take part in Church life.
It is so important to remember that we are a fellowship that needs to look after its people. In all of our business we need to be attentive to those around us. It is so easy to neglect those who are closest to us, or those who are out of sight. We need to remember to pray and to spend a little time with God each day, so that we don’t forget what Church is all about. It is so many things – a worshipping community, a missionary body, a place of comfort and healing, an organisation characterised by love and acceptance, of tolerance and inclusivity.
It may be that we can use all of the busy-ness of May as a focus to our prayers. Each day we could take the Church calendar and remember what is going on and offering a prayer to God – for our young people, for vocations, for peace, for gentleness, for the work of the Church in its life as a light in the world.
We don’t need to be too clever either in how we do that. But in simple and straightforward ways we can begin to build in that interior spiritual castle into something that is able to stand firm and is also able to give out as much as it receives. The Archdeacon’s Visitation is an annual reminder of the corporate nature of the Church and the responsibility that we all have in supporting its ongoing life. So say your prayers and lend a hand.
The Vicar