I think the people of Barnack are called to a special understanding of Advent – as it all begins with St John the Baptist to whom our church is dedicated. So, before you all go plunging into the wrappings of Christmas, will you just pause for a moment or two and think about what St John might lead us to today?
Only in St Luke’s Gospel are we given a few nuggets about the birth of John, mostly as a frame for the birth of Jesus. The story of John, son of Zechariah, a priest active in the temple, and, Elizabeth, elderly and living under what, in those times, was the stigma of childlessness, is set from the beginning to be a strange one. Like Jesus, his birth is foretold by an angel, Gabriel, and like Jesus, he will die a violent death, an innocent victim. And what of the place where he was born and where there was that famous encounter between Elizabeth and her cousin Mary?

John is thought to have been born at Ein Kerem, ‘the gracious spring’’, below Mount Orah, a village four kilometers west of Jerusalem. In 1106 the birthplace was discovered to be in a cave, now within the Franciscan Church of St John. This tranquil village has in the recent past experienced a troubled history. The UN Partition Plan for the new State of Israel in 1947 placed Ein Kerem in the Jerusalem enclave intended for international control. But after the April 1948 massacre in a nearby village, most of the women and children of Ein Karem were evacuated. In July of the same year the village was attacked by Israeli forces and the remaining inhabitants fled. During its last days the people there suffered from very severe food shortages. Israel later incorporated Ein Karem into the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. Strangely its buildings survived the attacks and soon Jewish settlers, mostly from the Yemen moved in and its rural setting has attracted a population of Jewish artisans and craftsmen. The Sisters of Zion have made Ein Karem the centre for their work of Jewish-Christian relations. The point being that this was the place where Mary sang her song, which we now call the Magnificat that was a longing for peace and reconciliation. And, however, hard people seem to want to destroy and spoil, there seem to be places where hope springs and Ein Karen is one of those places. The worship which is offered there in St John’s Church is more heavenly than one can find anywhere.

That, too, is the message of St John the Baptist, as the child born just before Jesus, he points to hope for the world.

I hope and pray that you each will find time to pause in this time leading to Christmas, that you will find real hope and joy.

A blessed Christmas to you all
Margaret.
Flick says that I should tell you that sadly Barni was recently put to sleep after a very short illness. We miss him, but Flick says that she will write in his place next month.

Mulberry Cottage, Main Street,
Witham on the Hill, Bourne, PE10 0JH
01778 590877

During the interregnum, the church wardens are your first point of contact for all church matters. Please feel free to contact them

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