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Last week I was very sad to hear of the fatal cycle accident of the young Oxford environmentalist campaigner Claudia Comberti on the Botley Road. Claudia was not only a passionate climate change researcher specialising in indigenous rights in the Amazon, but also a leading light and also a founder member of Broken Spokes, a community bike workshop which encourages more women to cycle, as well as training them in bike maintenance.
After Claudia’s tragic death, hundreds of cyclists in Oxford took part in a vigil to reclaim the roads for all those who cycle in this city – be it for work or for fun. Those who choose to cycle help the planet by travelling in a way that is less harmful to the environment, but still each day potentially put their own lives at risk. This vigil/protest reminded me of one of my favourite poems by Robert Frost, ‘The Road Not Taken’ (1916), as one can’t help but contemplate that if Claudia had taken a different route that day she might still be with us. However, Frost’s poem is slightly more complex than it appears at first glance.
With a choice of two roads, Frost takes one – “just as fair” as the other – but knows that when he looks back on that choice as an old man he will think to himself:
“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood and
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference”.
The road the speaker took was the one that was “grassy and wanted wear”. One day he will look back and say that it was this choice, in this moment, to take this particular road that made his life better, but in fact, both roads were not very different from one another. So Frost’s life might have been different if he had taken the other road, but it still might have yielded a different but wonderful life.
We have all had those moments where the “road diverged” and both roads ahead are equally fascinating and equally challenging. But you have to make a choice to take one or another.
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And why this is pertinent to St Mary’s is that last Sunday morning four wonderful Confirmation candidates – George, Roanne, James and Raymond – took an active choice to walk down a particular spiritual path. I would like to argue that the choice they made that day to walk down the particular road of commitment to Christ will make a huge difference in their lives (even though it is now sadly a “less travelled” path by so many in our society today). Being confirmed is taking another profound and important step along a faith journey. It’s a statement of a personal commitment to Christ, church and community. After our candidates had made their declarations, received the sign of the cross on their forehead and a blessing from Bishop Steven Croft, the Bishop commissioned all the candidates by giving them a candle and saying “God has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and has given us a place with the saints in light. You have received the light of Christ; walk in this light all the days of your life. Shine as a light in the world to the glory of God the Father”. So whichever path we choose to walk on, we are called to make sure we light it up, like Claudia, with our love, conviction and passion for life – and that is what will make all the difference.
The Revd Charlotte Bannister-Parker
Associate Priest
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| | Services
—Tuesdays & Thursdays at 12.15pm
Lunchtime Eucharist —
Sunday 21st May Easter 6
10.30am - Choral Eucharist
Preacher - Fr Richard Ounsworth OP, Lecturer and Tutor in Biblical Studies Mass setting: Victoria, Missa O Quam gloriosum est regnum
Anthem: Margaret Rizza, Ave Maria. |
| | RIP Barbara Keen
We are sad to announce that Barbara, a faithful and loved member of St Mary's congregation for many years, died on Tuesday morning. Our thoughts, prayers and condolences are with his family. Details of Barbara’s funeral will follow in the coming days.
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| | | Architecture and the Medieval Mind
A six-part series of talks on the important role that architecture – both physical and representational – played in the imaginative, artistic, and theological life of early medieval England.
24th May, 7.30pm Karl Kinsella - Reading the Church through 12th-Century Eyes
Taking the University Church itself as a model, Dr Karl Kinsella, medieval art historian, will use the work of the twelfth-century theologian Honorius Augustodunensis to unlock the symbolic meaning of ecclesiastical architecture. He will move through the church and discuss why the windows were like the doctors of the church and how the altar emulated the figure of Christ, amongst other things. |
| | Hugh Conway Morris: Launch of The Architecture of the Poetic Universe
3.30pm, Saturday 20th May, Old Library, with guest speaker Rev David Neaum. |
| | | Exhibition: ‘Of Things Not Seen- a year in the life of a London Priest’
An exhibition of Jim Grover’s photographs following the daily work of a London Priest will on display in the Chancel from 24th May-3rd June. There will be launch event with Jim Grover on Friday 26th May at 7.30pm in the Old Library.
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| | Ascension Day, Thursday 25th May
8.30am Eucharist in the chancel for Ascension Day
9.00am Beating of the Parish bounds - meet in the Nave.
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| | | A chance to think: an open study group for Pentecost
Following meetings in Lent, we will meet on Thursday May 25th, June 1st, 8th and 15th at 12.45-13.30 following on from the 12.15 Eucharist, This week’s focus will be the nature of the Holy Spirit using passages: Psalms 139 7-12, Matthew 12:25-32, Romans 8:9-11. We will use ‘The Holy Spirit in the World Today’ edited by Jane Williams to inform discussions, Extracts will be available for use. Bring your own sandwiches. Tea and coffee provided.
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| | | Poetry Corner
CALL FOR ACTORS
On 29th July a new reworking of seven of the key York Mystery Plays will be performed in Radcliffe Square and the University Church. These have been rewritten by local Oxford groups, including one play (The Crucifixion and Resurrection) by members of St Mary’s congregation. We are casting a wide range of roles, from the large (God) to the small (Demon 3!). If you are interested in a role, please contact Penny (penny.boxall@universitychurch.ox.ac.uk). All are very welcome to take part in what promises to be an exciting and novel community performance, and for those who are unsure, we prize enthusiasm as much as acting experience. Rehearsals will be held in June and July, before the two performances in the afternoon and evening of Saturday, July 29th.
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