PRIEST's LETTER

Anointed for service
How many of us remember the coronation of the late Queen
Elizabeth II on the second of June 1953? If you can remember
it you can probably tell me where you were and what you were
doing. Gathered around a television set with family members,
friends and neighbours or listening to it on the wireless?
Perhaps in the same way you will remember what you will have
done on the sixth of May 2023 and in the future tell your
descendants about it in just the same way. Perhaps not though,
as so much has changed, and they will simply be able to find
videos of it on the internet and watch it themselves? Perhaps
we will remember something else.
The most private moment in the coronation is the moment of
anointing with oil, "in the midst of this glorious spectacle is
a moment of stillness and simplicity," writes our Archbishop,
Justin Welby. "A private moment between the new King and the
King of Kings”, when “the King is set apart for service: service
of the people of this country and service of God. This is why
at this moment he will exchange robes of status and honour for a
simple white shirt.”
The King is presented to God as a servant, “in the full
knowledge that even as King he is one of the people, and even if
he has a particular role to fulfil, he shares in our human
frailties and vulnerabilities. In its simplicity, the
anointing is the only route towards bearing power and
responsibility well: asking for God’s help in the task and
accepting its responsibility.”
In the same way all Christians are anointed at baptism for
service, with our frailties and our vulnerabilities. We too
ask for God’s help in the tasks and responsibilities that we
bear.
May King Charles’ coronation be a wonderful joyful celebration
and renewal of a common commitment to service for all. May
this be what we remember.
God bless
Love
Peter
Canon Peter Greenwood
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