Weekly Newsletter

We remember in our prayers all who work at the airport who are involved in emergency planning and dealing with emergency incidents.

“‘Of course there must be lots of magic in the world,’ he said wisely one day. ‘But people don’t know what it is like or how to make it happen. Perhaps the beginning is just to say nice things are going to happen until you make them happen.’” In The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, this statement is made by Colin, a sickly child, whose recovery and increasing physical strength coincide with his discovery of the secret life in the secret garden. Through his experience he discovers his own inner life, which has the potential for spontaneity, joy and creativity that is unique to him.

Because of his illness Colin had been overprotected and he had never been able to experience the joys of childhood adventure and discovery. He had never learned to communicate his feelings. Helped by his lively friends to find the secret garden, Colin finds a lost part of himself and he exclaims, “The sun is shining, the sun is shining. That is the magic. Being alive is magic, being strong is magic. The magic is in me, it’s in me. It’s in every one of us.”

As we enter the second week of Lent we read the story of Jesus’ glorious transfiguration at our Sunday services. It comes not long after Jesus has been telling the disciples that he is going to suffer and die, and that those who wish to be his disciples must let go of their own needs, take up their cross and follow him. The disciples are alarmed. It cannot have been easy to hear what their friend was telling them. Peter is quick to protest (after all, Peter probably wasn’t too keen about the idea of dying on a cross). He tells Jesus that this cannot happen. Jesus rebukes him strongly.

Like Colin, Peter has seen the light. Jesus does not change into someone else on the mountain. In his transfiguration he reflects the glory of God that radiates from within him. For the disciples it is a moment of awe and wonder – an occasion that they don’t want to let go, even though they cannot physically hold on to it.

Maybe we have experienced such a moment in our lives: perhaps when we fell in love for the first time, or when our first child was born, or when we found ourselves surrounded by stunning countryside. These moments of awe and wonder are the consolation experiences that, though momentary, stay with us and help us when life gets tough. Peter’s experience on the mountain may appear to be short-lived, but it is such a momentous experience that it becomes a part of him, so that when his life later becomes very difficult he is able to remain faithful to his discipleship, knowing that he has experienced the majesty of God.

For Colin, in the book, discovering the secret garden leads to his “transfiguration experience” – the discovery of his own inner beauty and strength. It so excites him that he wants to share it with everyone else, while at the same time it frees him to recognise the magic that is in everyone. Colin is right. Often, because of life’s trials and difficulties, we can lose sight of the light within us. At our baptism we were given the light of Christ to share with the world, a world that really needs that light. Perhaps this Lent is a time for us to reflect on our own inner beauty and to ask God to heal those areas that overshadow us and might prevent us from reflecting our light and Christ’s light to the world.

The Chaplains hope that your Lenten discipline is going well.

Newsletter 3rd March 2010
This week we have celebrated St. David’s day.

He is one Saint that we can say these things we know of him and are true
· He really existed
· He was at the heart of the Welsh church in the 6th century
· He came from an aristocratic family in West Wales
· His mother was a saint, Saint Non
· His teacher was also a saint, St Paulinus
· He founded a large monastery in West Wales
· He was one of the early saints who helped to spread Christianity among the pagan Celtic tribes of Western Britain
· He became Archbishop of Wales, but remained in his community at Menevia (now called St Davids)
· He was active in suppressing the Pelagian heresy
· His shrine became a great place of pilgrimage; four visits to the shrine at St David's were considered the equivalent of two to Rome, and one to Jerusalem!
Even with our budget airlines its still cheaper to go to Wales 4 times than fly to the others.
David was a great faith leader, but not in the sense of a present day bishop or archbishop.
He was a prophet and a teacher, a man of prayer.
He was the heart of the community he founded in what is now St Davids, and through his direct teaching, and the work of the monks he influenced, he shaped the spirituality of his time and place.
Not saying that the Chaplains are saints but that is very much the way the Chaplaincy team works here within the people. They are there for them when ever they are needed and meet people where they are to help support and guide.
So as we give thanks for St. David his life and teaching and we remember the people of Wales.


So we pray for those in governmental authority. May they have wisdom and discernment, strength and flexibility, honesty and integrity to govern for the benefit of all

We pray for all who work in or with the media: TV, radio, press and online. Praying particularly for all those involved in this work with in MAG. May they work wisely and with integrity.

May the God who calls you to seek him
Lead you into his presence
Where love and grace
will strengthen you for your daily life


Newsletter 12th March

This Sunday is Mothering Sunday
Sue was glad when the phone rang and the number it showed was her eldest son’s mobile. She hadn’t spoken to him for a week or so, and was always glad to have a chat. She asked him how the sale of his house was going, and was a bit surprised to discover that he had already moved. She would have liked to know all the details, to have a look at the new house before work on it started, maybe to help with the clearing and packing. But she knew that he and his wife liked to do things their own way, and they would have managed it all perfectly well. After she put the phone down, for a moment she wondered whether she was a neglectful mother, missing whole areas of her son’s life. But really she knew that it had been right to let him go, to let him manage his own life and involve her as much or as little as he wanted or needed.

Motherhood has changed a lot since the time when Mothering Sunday began as the day when live-in servants who were little more than children were allowed a home visit.

Often there are huge expectations placed on mothers and on their relationships with their children. With increased equality in the workplace for women and men, similar demands are beginning to be loaded onto fathers as well. Parents’ lives are expected to revolve around their children. It is a very challenging role, yet those who decide against taking it on are seen as odd, or even selfish.

The Bible is, on the whole, fairly unsentimental about motherhood. At the time it was written, producing a child who lived to adulthood was a challenge in itself. The Old Testament regards children as a blessing from God to be welcomed and celebrated, and assumes that in the extended family each generation will look after the other in turn.
But it also recognises the demanding nature of motherhood. Eve is warned of the trauma, both physical and emotional, that becoming a mother entails.
And then there’s Mary the mother of Jesus, having to watch as her boy grows away from her, creates for himself a new family of followers, wilfully puts himself in danger, and finally dies at just 33 years of age.

We pray for mothers and fathers in places where their children are at risk as a result of war, famine, disease or natural disaster. In their anxiety and grief, may they find help, comfort and justice.

We pray for parents in our communities as they experience the challenge of caring for their children, guiding them, and letting them go. We pray especially for parents who are anxious about their children’s lifestyles or who are estranged from their children.

We give thanks for our own families, and pray for them. May we have wisdom and strength to be grateful for the ways in which our parents helped us, and to forgive them any wrongs they did us.

We remember members of our families who are no longer with us, praying that they may find rest in the arms of our heavenly Father.