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ST WILFRID’S CHURCH Rector’s ramblings Over the years I’ve been in the ministry I’ve come across a lot of people who are absolutely certain that they can’t change, and they tend to get quite depressed about being forever the way they are. But I don’t necessarily agree with them – I think people can change. When my daughter Nicola was younger she hated every kind of food you can imagine, with the exception of pancakes, McDonald’s and the standard Sunday dinner of meat and two veg. Her favourite was clearly McDonald’s and it was very odd to see her eating anything else when we went out. When we went out for meals – to the Italian restaurant, for example – we’d have to smuggle in the brown McDonald’s bag with the standard six chicken nuggets and BBQ sauce, large fries and vanilla shake. She was extremely fussy.
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Any occasion we had lunch or dinner at home, Yvonne or I would always have to prepare a different kind of meal for Nicola – one from her limited menu of likes. She was the kind of high priestess of the McDonald’s fraternity. And the rest of the fraternity, Nicola’s friends that is, were just as single-minded, and they regarded the consumption of other foods, which they frowned upon, as something abhorrent, often making us feel we should eat our food in dark corners, away from them, where our shameful apostasy could be hidden, as a shocking heresy.
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I can remember days when Nicola and her friends would gather in the kitchen like some loony sect fussing and muttering over their selection from the McMenu at the large prefabricated temple over the road with the symbolic yellow ‘M’ above it. They would discuss interminably the advantage of vanilla shakes over the standard cola, Fanta or Sprite, and they would rationalise why they had chosen the quarter-pounder with cheese rather than the Big Mac.
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Nicola went away to boarding school at the age of eleven and that proved to be a fixed point in her universe (and ours). It was a new reality for her. I remember when she came home for her first Christmas holidays. One day in the kitchen she asked what was for lunch. I replied, “Well, would you like some pancakes or should I nip over to McDonald’s for a takeaway?” “Oh no,” she replied, “but I’d love some scrambled egg on toast.” “But,” I replied, “you don’t like scrambled egg, or indeed toast for that matter. You hate scrambled egg, you eat only pancakes and McDonald’s and very little else.” And Nicola stared at me as though I was absolutely mad. And then – she was clearly exploring the long tunnels of her past – her faced cleared and she said, “Yeh! Well, I suppose I used to have the odd McDonald’s, but I’m not over keen on them now.” Nicola switching to eat other food amazed me as much as anything I’ve ever seen. And for those of us who really want to change – and there are lots of us – but have become resigned to the fact that we probably never will, take heart; let it give us just a little bit of hope! Blessings as always
John
Holy Communion at St Wilfrid’s, Monk Fryston Parish Communion at St Mary’s, South Milford Parish Communion at St Wilfrid’s, Monk Fryston Sunday Club in St Wilfrid’s Church Hall (ages 2-8)
2ND SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH 9.30am Parish Communion at St Mary’s, South Milford 11am Parish Communion at St Wilfrid’s, Monk Fryston 6pm Evensong at St Mary’s, South Milford
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Holy Communion at St Wilfrid’s, Monk Fryston Parish Communion at St Mary’s, South Milford Family Service at St Wilfrid’s, Monk Fryston Ignite at St Mary’s, South Milford
4TH SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH 9.30am Morning Prayer at St Mary’s, South Milford 11am Parish Communion at St Wilfrid’s, Monk Fryston 6pm Holy Communion at St Mary’s, South Milford
LENT AND EASTER 2013 Easter is early this year, with Easter Sunday on 31st March * * * * * Wednesday 13th February (Ash Wednesday) 9.45 AM – HOLY COMMUNION AT ST MARY’S IN S MILFORD (with Imposition of Ashes) * * * * * Sunday 10th March (Mothering Sunday) 11 AM – MOTHER’S DAY SERVICE AT ST WILFRID’S * * * * * Sunday 24th March (Palm Sunday) 11 AM – PARISH COMMUNION AT ST WILFRID’S (with Blessing and Distribution of Palm Crosses) * * * * * Thursday 28th March (Maundy Thursday) 7.30 PM – EVENING SERVICE AT ST MARY’S IN S MILFORD * * * * * Friday 29th March (Good Friday) 2 PM – DEVOTIONAL SERVICE AT ST MARY’S IN S MILFORD * * * * * Sunday 31st March 6 AM – DAWN COMMUNION SERVICE AT ST WILFRID’S (followed by Breakfast) 11 AM – EASTER DAY COMMUNION AND BAPTISM AT ST WILFRID’S BOOKINGS NOW BEING TAKEN FOR WEDDINGS AND BAPTISMS FOR 2013 AND BEYOND Enquiries to the Rector on 01977 680788 or email at
hetherington556@btinternet.com