Pastoral Letter
Dear Friends,
May is always an optimistic and happy month of the year for me. Everything in the countryside seems to be growing and flourishing. During May the Church celebrates Rogation Sunday. This year it falls on the 16th May. Rogation time in the Church has always been regarded as a time of prayer and fasting for a good Harvest, and the Anglesey benefice will be marking Rogation Sunday by taking its worship out to the farms, as an acknowledgement that agriculture and the countryside are very vital indeed to the lives of everyone who lives and works in our lovely villages.
Farming has never been easy, and it is no less easy in these times of mounting EEC regulation and the cutthroat competition amongst the supermarkets. We need, therefore, more than ever to support and encourage our farmers Ðnot only in their difficult task of bringing in the harvest whilst making ends meet Ðbut also in taking care of our wonderful countryside.
Ultimately stewarding the land is all about fruitfulness - making the very best of the resources that God blesses us with. There is a wonderful example of fruitfulness in the Great Vine that grows in its huge conservatory in Hampton Court Palace. It was planted by Capability Brown in 1768 - so it is very nearly 250 years old! When Pauline and I visited the Palace a few years ago I was amazed to see that the stem of the vine was over half a metre thick and there were literally masses of bunches of grapes hanging from its branches trailing across the roof of the conservatory, some of which are over 60 metres long. Apparently it produces between 500-700 pounds of grapes each year. Outside the conservatory is a patch of carefully tilled soil where the gardeners dig in all the nutrients that the Great Vine needs in order to be so fruitful. Man and nature working together in harmony to produce a wonderful harvest. Ultimately, that is what we shall be praying for on Rogation Sunday.
Another aspect of Rogation Sunday is that it is the final Sunday before Ascension Day, when the Church celebrates our Lord Jesus Christ's ascension into heaven. We believe that since that day 2000 years ago Christ reigns supreme in heaven, having achieved all that he set out to do on earth, and subsequently interceding with his Father on our behalf. As he left his disciples he encouraged them to be fruitful in their lives, and he left behind his Spirit to help them in that great task. He described himself as the vine and his followers as the branches, and he called all who follow him to be fruitful in their lives, and his greatest commandment is for us to love each other as he has loved us. I believe if we start to live our lives according to that great commandment we shall truly be fruitful in many wonderful ways, and make this world a much better place.
May God bless you all.