Fr Nicholas King
One hundred and twenty people gathered to hear Fr Nicholas King SJ, internationally known as a Scripture scholar and Bible translator, who spoke about ‘the Scriptures in Advent’ at the church of Christ the Eternal High Priest in Gidea Park on Saturday 23 November. This was the second event of the Year of the God who Speaks, which is being promoted by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales at www.godwhospeaks.uk , and once again it was held in the church due to the large number wishing to attend.
Fr Nicholas stressed the need to listen to the God who speaks to us. He provided a list of all the Scripture readings to be read in Advent 2019.
He went on to explain the prominence of the book of Isaiah in Advent, pointing to its dominance in the first two weeks of the season. He particularly stressed the importance of the psalms. Psalm 72, for example, which occurs frequently in Advent and Christmas, presents the true, God-given values to be practised by the Messiah.
The final days leading to the Christmas feast offer a variety of Old Testament readings, which are matched with excerpts from the infancy stories of Matthew and Luke.
Fr Adrian Graffy, parish priest of Gidea Park and organiser for Brentwood Diocese of the Year of the God who Speaks, said: “This was a rich kaleidoscope of readings which prompted timely engagement with the Scriptures to be proclaimed as we prepare for the feast of Christmas. I am sure people went home itching to read more from their Bibles. I would like to thank all who attended, and especially our generous helpers who made the day run smoothly.”
Video of the first study day, when Fr Adrian spoke about the book of Genesis, is already available on www.whatgoodnews.org
Video of Fr Nicholas’s day will be available shortly on the same website.
These are the next events of the Year at Gidea Park: on 15 and 29 January 2020 at 7 pm, Fr Adrian Graffy will speak about the Gospel of Matthew (the Sunday lectionary gospel for 2020), and on Saturday 29 February from 10.30 am Fr Victor Darlington, lecturer at St John’s Seminary, Wonersh, will take as his theme ‘John among the Gospels’. Please book for these events by email to [email protected]
