St John the Baptist, Church of Ireland, Valentia Island

We celebrate the beginning of the story in Advent – but before we do, it is equally important to celebrate the final act of Coronation. The Gospel proclaims that Jesus is King.

In ways, the Christian Journey is like a race – a Marathon, not a sprint. The key is endurance, Jesus says. There will be mountains to climb, tears and heartache in the depths of your soul, and it will sometimes feel like it’s impossible to carry on. But the world will continue, and end only in God’s good time.

Every selfless act honours our Christ. In Him, we are one. Whoever we are. We are all His family, and violence against each other is violence against Him.

A Reflection for Sunday 2nd November 2025provided by Reverend Barbara Irrgang-BuckleyJesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.Hymn Put all your trust in God...

There are so many who have been alongside us in our Christian Journey, Paul only being one of them.

We live in comfort, in safety, in freedom, accepted in our community. I wonder how often we send a Thank you to the One who sets us free?

In community we can support each other in love and fellowship and build one another up. And plough on. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

I hope and pray that I shall leave the world in a better place than I entered it, otherwise I shall have wasted the opportunity to live in freedom of body and soul as a disciple of Christ.

‘…make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes…’

It didn’t matter what you had been, said or done – like Paul, you were given the chance to repent.