South Cardiff Ministry Area

The measure of love

Saturday 29 April, 2023 | St Catherine of Sienna |Readings: 1 John 1:5-2:2; Psalm 102(103):1-4,8-9,13-14,17-18; Matthew 11:25-30 (You can find these in full on the Universalis website – Click here)

In many areas of work, employees are used to undertaking a Performance Management Review to evaluate the productivity of their work. Even if this doesn’t happen on a regular basis, everyone will be measured according to their performance, and employers will want to know if their workers are efficient, if targets have been reached, and basically asking the question, “Are you worth the money you’re paid?” But it’s not just in the workplace that this happens. Each of us is often evaluated and judged by others according to so many different measures.

Whilst this also happens in the Christian workplace, the perspective for matters of faith and our own Christian discipleship is very different. St Catherine of Sienna, whose feast day we celebrate today, said, “You are rewarded not according to your work or your time, but according to the measure of your love.” St Catherine lived an extraordinary life and achieved so much. Her influence moved far and wide. She brought peace to warring cities, influenced the decisions of Pope Gregory XI and urged him to reform the clergy and the Papal states. She helped to renew the Religious Life, and left us writings filled with sound teaching and spiritual inspiration which continues to nurture and influence the lives of so many Christians in our own day. Above all, her life was characterised by love of God and her neighbour.

Her Religious Life began when she was just a teenager, and her mystical experiences throughout her life reveal a total abandonment to God. In the gospel reading today, Jesus blesses God for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom to children and hiding them from the learned and clever. St Catherine’s life reveals the rewards of a life which has been characterised by love and a childlike trust in and abandonment to God. Whatever we are called to do today, whatever tasks or opportunities come our way, may we be rewarded not according to our work or our time, but according to the measure of our love.

MAKING CONNECTIONS

These posts are part of our endeavour each day to provide a short homily or reflection from the celebration of the Mass of the day. Links are posted on Twitter and Facebook, and you can also sign up for daily emails in your inbox by registering your email below:

MINISTRY AREA MASS

Mass today (Saturday 29 April, 2023) is celebrated at St Mary’s Church, Butetown at 11.30am | If you would like to send a prayer request then click on the ‘REQUEST PRAYER’ Button

Praying for preachers

Friday 28 April, 2023 | Friday of the Third Week of Easter |Readings: Acts 9:1-20; Psalm 116(117); John 6:52-59 (You can find these in full on the Universalis website – Click here)

In 1857, Anthony Trollope wrote in Barchester Chronicles, “There is, perhaps, no greater hardship at present inflicted on mankind in civilized and free countries than the necessity of listening to sermons.”

In the gospel reading, as Jesus continues his teaching which follows from his feeding of the five thousand, his listeners begin to turn against his use of language. His teaching is viewed as intolerable, and they argue amongst each other. His words and teaching have certainly caused a reaction and stirred them to debate. Religious debate was part of the currency of the day, and Jesus participated effortlessly in that culture.

Preachers today, as in the time of Trollope, have a challenging role in expressing and exploring the Christian faith. We live in a society with so many means of communication, and simply using words can often be challenging when so many people are more used to short soundbites and scrolling quickly through their social media feed. In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, St Paul’s moment of conversion has followed a fiery time of persecution as he travelled far and wide. Disturbed by the growth of followers of Christ, he set out to disrupt them. Once he recovered from his experience on the Road to Damascus, he began preaching in the synagogues, and his teaching was simple, ‘Jesus is the Son of God.’ In years to come Paul’s significance in the church grew. He flooded the church with his teaching, as he journeyed far and wide, preaching and building relationships, and establishing churches. He continued to teach and encourage them from afar through his many letters, many of which have formed part of our Holy Scriptures, and so speak to us today.

Whilst Christian preachers have a great responsibility and a challenging ministry, those of us who listen to their words can pray for them and support them, encourage them in their ministry and pray that, through them, God will speak to us.

MAKING CONNECTIONS

MINISTRY AREA MASS

Mass today (Friday 28 April, 2023) is celebrated at St Mary’s Church, Butetown at 10am | If you would like to send a prayer request then click on the ‘REQUEST PRAYER’ Button

Miracle Food?

Thursday 27 April, 2023 | Thursday of the Third Week of Easter |Readings: Acts 8:26-40; Psalm 65(66):8-9,16-17,20; John 6:44-51 (You can find these in full on the Universalis website – Click here)

We all know the importance of eating a healthy and balanced diet. However, food which has been branded ‘miracle foods’can come with bold claims for life changing and life-saving effects. Professor Duan Mellor from the University of Nottingham and a spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association said, “There is no scientific evidence to suggest that if you top up your diet with any ‘miracle’ or special food that you’ll get any of the promised effects. The idea is almost entirely a marketing vehicle, but when people start reading claims online, they start to think differently and can start believing it.”

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus is speaking to the people who have sought him out simply because he fed them on the hillside and where they experienced the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. They wanted more of this miracle food, and more of this man and what he appeared to offer. However, he recognised their motives and knew it was only the food they were interested in. In conversation, he began to lead them from here to eternity. He used an image which was familiar to them: when God fed the people in the desert with manna from Heaven, a miracle food which enabled them to survive in the desert, and a sign to them of God’s providential care.

‘I am the Bread which has come down from Heaven,’ said Jesus. The gospel of John is full of Eucharistic language, and here our minds are turned to the Bread which Jesus gives. Whenever we celebrate the Eucharist, Jesus offers us the gift of himself. Sometimes, we may take this gift for granted or be so disposed that we fail to experience it as a loving encounter with Jesus, the Bread of Life. We become a little like those people fed on the hillside, compelled to come to Jesus, but missing the point of who he is and what he provides. “I am the living bread which has come down from heaven,” said Jesus. “Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.” It is a bold claim indeed, but one in which we have been compelled to believe. He has given himself for the life of the world. The Eucharist then is our miracle food. It is the means through which we receive all the benefits of Christ’s saving death, and at which we come to Jesus recognising our need of him, and only him.

MAKING CONNECTIONS

MINISTRY AREA MASS

Mass today (Thursday 27 April, 2023) is celebrated at SS Dyfrig and Samson at 9.30am, Mary’s Church, Butetown at 10am and S Saviour’s Church, Splott at 5.45pm | If you would like to send a prayer request then click on the ‘REQUEST PRAYER’ Button

St Mark the Evangelist

Tuesday 25 April, 2023 | St Mark the Evangelist |Readings: 1 Peter 5:5-14; Psalm 88(89):2-3,6-7,16-17; Mark 16:15-20 (You can find these in full on the Universalis website – Click here)

There are many sayings ascribed to St Francis, often with little evidence that he ever said them. One such saying is his alleged instruction to “Preach the good news and sometimes use words.” Whether or not St Francis actually spoke these words, the saying is powerful for we often think that sharing the good news of Jesus is about preaching and so something reserved for preachers and pastors. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

At the end of the gospel according to Mark, whose life and witness we celebrate today, we hear again the Divine commission from Jesus, to ‘Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation.” Mark accompanied Peter on many of journeys as his companion and scribe, eventually committing the good news of Jesus he had seen and heard to writing, and so making them present to each and every generations – our own included.

For us, there are many ways in which we can proclaim the good news of Jesus – sometimes with words, but more often by actions, by small gestures and service, through worship and witness, through our friendships and encounters, by our way of life and how we love, by how we speak and relate to others, or simply being faithful and committed in our Christian life. The gospel according to Mark draws us deeper into the life of Christ, and the words he spoke to the Apostles are words we can hear said to us today. We too are called to ‘go out’ – for we have good news not just for a few people but for the whole of creation – and that can’t possibly be left to a few preachers and pastors.

MAKING CONNECTIONS

MINISTRY AREA MASS

Mass today (Tuesday 24 April, 2023) is celebrated at S Mary’s Church, Butetown at 7pm and S Saviour’s Church, Splott at 10am | If you would like to send a prayer request then click on the ‘REQUEST PRAYER’ Button

Q and A

Monday 24 April, 2023 | Monday of the Third Week of Easter |Readings: Acts 6:8-15; Psalm 118(119):23-24,26-27,29-30; John 6:22-29 (You can find these in full on the Universalis website – Click here)

Richard Dawkins, the British evolutionary biologist and author of the book, ‘The Selfish Gene ‘is a well-known and vocal atheist. In 2006, he published The God Delusion, contending that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that religious faith is a delusion. He wrote, “In a way, I think religion is to be admired for asking the right questions. I just think it’s got the wrong answers.”

In the gospel reading today, the people are searching for Jesus, and they are armed with questions. They have had their fill of the bread he gave them on the hillside and have now pushed out in boats and crossed to Capernaum on the other side of the lake to look for him. When they find him, they ask, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ Jesus, in often characteristic style, does not answer the question they think they are asking. He suggests that their motives for wanting to know such a thing come not from a deep and profound seeking for truth but because they have been well fed by him. Their stomachs are full but they have missed the point. Jesus turns the conversation from food to eternity. “This is working for God: you must believe in the one he has sent.”

For thousands of years, human beings seem to have been asking the same questions about life. Who are we? How did we come to be here? What is our purpose? What is our hope? And we remain divided by the answers at which we arrive. Some people may indeed think we are deluded for believing in God. Part of the journey of faith is asking questions, doubting at times, challenging and being challenged, and grappling with new and developing ways of looking at the world and of life. We do not do this alone but as part of a community of faith which has grown over many years, and which looks for signs of God in the world, and what he is trying to say to us. For us, Jesus is God’s revelation in the flesh. Like those who sought him out across the lake, sometimes, we may be asking the wrong questions, and be surprised by the answers we are given.

MAKING CONNECTIONS

MINISTRY AREA MASS

Mass today (Monday 24 April, 2023) is celebrated at S Mary’s Church, Butetown at 6pm and Ss Dyfrig and |Samson at 7pm If you would like to send a prayer request then click on the ‘REQUEST PRAYER’ Button

Just a name?

As we launch our new pilgrimage programme to Flat Holm in the tradition of the Celtic Saints of Wales, we begin to look at some of the Saints who have walked our land. Many of our saints are remembered just as names. Here Fr Dean begins to reflect on some of those Celtic saints and their connection with St Cadoc – and with us.

A view of the Rhondda Fawr from Penrhys, overlooking Llwynypia and Ynyscynon including its football field and pub!

I am eight or nine or ten, dragged out to Evensong, my breath still smelling of tinned salmon sandwiches and ice cream from Sunday Tea. Cassocked and surpliced and sat in the choir stalls, waiting. On this occasion, we are joined by others as we celebrate our Patronal Festival which, each year, drags out a guest preacher from across the Deanery and beyond. Squeezed between the dirge of the Litany and the final hymn, the preacher climbs the polished pulpit. We know what is coming.

Each year, each preacher was stirred with the same confession. After some research, they told us, they could find next to nothing about St Cynon. Just his name.

Cynon is a name which clings to the valley which lies to the east of the Rhondda, and to various of its huddled villages like Abercynon and Trecynon. In the Rhondda and the home of St Cynon’s Church, his name is scraped into Ynyscynon, a name meaning ‘Cynon Island.’

It’s not and has never been an island. The name is a simple indication of a stretch of land near the river. Here water flows, growing browner by the mile as it makes its way to Cardiff, flirting with the Taff and spilling out at Cardiff Bay to fill the Bristol Channel and carry us across to Flat Holm.

But it was there at St Cynon’s Church that I was nurtured in the Christian Faith and where I first mouthed the name of an ancient Celtic Saint, now lost deep to the past. For us, he was always just a name.

It was nearby on Ynyscynon Football Field that one year we lingered with heads lowered and learned the art of defeat at the Rhondda Primary Schools Cup Final. Years before, above us on the hill, I had attended Ynysyncon Nursery, the first Nursery School ever to be opened in Wales, where I learned to sleep my way through the afternoon. Meanwhile, years later, at the Ynyscynon Hotel, a kick away from the goalposts of Cynon’s football field, I was provided with a place to down pints of gassy lager as I grew into adulthood.

Already I have veered away from Cynon, taken more delight in his name than anything he did – for we know nothing of what he did. He is just a name written into the landscape, thrown to a piece of land near the river, to a watering hole of lager topped proportions, a name associated with my own experience of defeat and sleep and growing up.

Cynon stands among the names of so many Celtic Saints whose names have been pinned to places. Some of his contemporaries have had their lives embellished, imagined by legend echoed through five centuries after their death. But most remain as landmarked labels, lost to the past. Just a name.

The gouged-out land of the Rhondda is green again, and the pebble-dashed walls of St Cynon’s Church in Ynyscynon sit sadly at the crossroads.

At one time, the whole of the Rhondda formed the ancient Parish of Ystradyfodwg which extended across the Rhigos to Neath in one direction and to Llantrisant in the other. Llantrisant’s own name refers to ‘the place of three saints,’ of Illtud and Gwynno and Dyfodwg, although there is no evidence of any church dedicated to Dyfodwg in the old Rhondda parish of his name.

St Illtud, though, was the founder of the earliest school of learning in the country, Llanilltud Fawr (Llantwit Major) which at its height had over a thousand pupils and schooled so many great saints of the age including St David.

Illtud himself had been a disciple of St Cadoc at the settlement he himself established at Llancarfan, near Cowbridge. There are so many connections to be made between those saints and us, as faith flows like water.

I remember the defeat on Cynon’s field, like it was a battle lost in legend, our green shirts suggesting a new springtime, but all we could feel was disappointment. We had thought then that our names would go down in history. We were only eleven. But we’d have been in good company if the only thing that had gone down in history was just our names.

To find out more about our Flat Holm pilgrimages check out our Flat Holm page here

Annual Report 2022

The Annual Vestry Meeting of SOUTH CARDIFF MINISTRY AREA takes place on Wednesday April 26th at Ss Dyfrig and Samson, Grangetown at 7pm. Here is a brief overview of 2022

Churches: St Mary’s Church, Butetown, Ss Dyfrig and Samson, Grangetown, St Paul the Apostle, Grangetown, St Saviour’s Church, Splott

In the Beginning…

January 1, 2002 marked the formal beginning of South Cardiff Ministry Area as part of the Diocesan restructuring. The Ministry Area Transition Team, consisting of membership across the four churches, MA (Liz Norman and Rachel Williams) along with Subwardens for each of the parishes, whilst Glyn Perryman continued as the appointed Lay Chair. Julian Jordan was appointed as MA Treasurer and Iris Musa as MAC secretary. Each parish continues to hold its own Bank accounts. However, we have also established a central Bank Account into which each parish pays a contribution for MA expense including payments for the Parish Share.

Moving On

From the outset, the MAC were concerned that we move gently through the year and onwards in our life together, as we explored ways of working together. There was a need to allow the Ministry Area to grow naturally and gradually, showing patience and discernment. The shortness of this report can by no means witness to the amount of work that has been accomplished. Rather, it is offered as a brief oversight, and comes with gratitude to all who have helped us achieve so much.

Many people within each of the Churches may have noticed very little difference to life within their own congregation as we were concerned to have a smooth transition. In 2022, each church/congregation had been given the freedom to continue with its own rhythm of life, whilst we explored and discerned ways of working and growing together.

Since the latter half of 2021, the MA has been without a third member of the clergy team and, in 2023, we also said farewell to Fr Chris Lee who retired as part time and non-stipendiary minister. We are also indebted to the ministry of our retired clergy, Fr Martin Williams and Fr Jeff Williams, and also Fr Colin Sutton, all of whom have been so helpful. Despite being understaffed for the whole year, we have managed to both maintain the pattern of ministry and enrich and develop it.

In Focus

Following a number of Focus Groups (on areas of work such as Worship and Prayer, Children and Young People, Community and Social Justice, Christian Nurture, etc) the MAC began working on a Vision Document setting out our aims and objectives for the next five years, and this is still a working document, although many things within that document have already begun. The final version of this document will be shared with the MA in 2023.

Worship

Worship is at the heart of our life together, and the integrity and traditions of each church were retained during the year. We experimented with various shared celebrations and opportunities (including a Lent group) which began to inform the direction we would take in 2023 but Sundays very much continued as normal.

South Cardiff Ministry Area’s Easter Vigil 2022

Community

Our work with and for the wider community is extensive and continued to grow during 2022. We mention such work as our involvement with Citizens Cymru of which we became subscribed members (the first – and at present, only – MA in the Diocese to do so). Our participation in Community Organising means that we have been involved in such important projects as the Youth Endowment Fund (preventing youth violence and helping young people to flourish in Grangetown and Butetown) and Croeso Butetown (the Community Sponsorship Scheme for Refugee families) and several other important campaigns and activities. We continued to support and contribute to Cardiff Foodbank and we run two sessions in Splott. An amazing Refugee Week began a new initiative in the MA, and the Faithful Butetown project was trialled in the Autumn. Various Community Coffee Mornings across the MA provided both a means for social gathering and community cohesion whilst also, on many occasions, helping to fundraise for many concerns both local and global. There are so many other things that we could mention, whether that’s Bingo and Lunches, our involvement in Interfaith Work, repairing and maintaining our buildings, the creation of our MA website and the use of social media and livestreaming, concern for environmental issues and caring for our outdoor spaces, or utilising our buildings for so many community groups.

Challenges

We are mindful that during 2022 we began the recovery from the COVID pandemic, and there are many issues from this period which continue to affect society and our churches. We are also experiencing the cost-of-living crisis which has both financial implications and so many other concerns and anxieties associated with it.

Life Together

However, we believe that South Cardiff Ministry Area has made a great start to our new life together, and there is so much to look forward to, and many opportunities for ministry and service, growth and action, so that we can be a creative, caring, welcoming and resourceful community of faith which makes a difference in the communities of South Cardiff.

The Financial Report is available in a separate document.

Report of Diocesan and Deanery Conferences will be given verbally at the meeting, along with other information.

Ministry Area Leader: Fr Dean Atkins; Vicar: Fr Edward Owen; Lay Chair: Glyn Perryman; Vicar’s Warden: Liz Norman; People’s Warden: Rachel Williams; MAC Treasurer: Julian Jordan; MAC Secretary: Iris Musa

Agenda for the Annual Vestry Meeting 2023

Opening prayers
Chairman’s introduction
Apologies for absence
Acceptance of Minutes of the Last Meeting
Annual accounts
Elections and appointments
	- Churchwardens
	- Sub wardens
	- MAC members
Appointment of an External Examiner
Reports from Deanery and Diocesan Conferences
Any Other Business – notification to be given beforehand
Closing prayers

Big Questions

Saturday 22 April, 2023 | Saturday of the Second Week of Easter |Readings: Acts 6:1-7; Psalm 32 (33):1-2,4-5,18-19; John 6:16-21 (You can find these in full on the Universalis website – Click here)

In his little book about the Northern saints of England, Basil Hume wrote, “In every age there are stumbling blocks to receiving the gospel, but I still believe that there are people who are searching. They realise this when they are in crisis… the moments when you find yourself suddenly asking questions: “Well, what is life all about? What are we here for? Where is it all leading What happens after death?” Many of the saints whom Basil Hume wrote about had settled in secluded places such as the the Farne islands, the most famous being Lindisfarne, off the Northumbrian coast. They set out in faith, trusting in God, and riding the waves which carried them to safety.

In the gospel reading, the disciples have sailed for three or four miles on Galilee’s waters, as they set out for Capernaum. A storm rises and threatens their safety, made all the worse by the absence of Jesus who had still not re-joined them. On the midst of the storm, the vision of Jesus walking through the waves fills them with fear at first, but through the storm, his voice is heard, bringing words of comfort., “It is I. Do not be afraid.”

Perhaps we can relate to Basil Hume’s observations and think of a time of crisis or difficulty which has caused us to ask questions, to seek more meaning to our lives, to search for God when all around us seems stormy, chaotic or confusing. Likewise, too, we can create a space where others can ask those questions, accompany them along their journey, allowing them to express their fears, and share the big questions which have emerged in their life. Within the community of the church we can nurture a culture of seeking and searching, providing a space where people can grapple with the obstacles to faith, and begin to identify the presence of Jesus who is alongside us, speaking words of comfort, and leading us on through the difficulties of life.

MAKING CONNECTIONS

MINISTRY AREA MASS

Mass today (Saturday 22 April, 2023) is celebrated at S Mary’s Church, Butetown at 11.30am preceded by Morning Prayer and Rosary at 11am. If you would like to send a prayer request then click on the ‘REQUEST PRAYER’ Button

Hope v Hopelessness

Friday 21 April, 2023 | Friday of the Second Week of Easter |Readings: Acts 5:35-42; Psalm 26(27):1,4,13-14; John 6:1-15 (You can find these in full on the Universalis website – Click here)

The world has known many great inventors who have created solutions to everyday problems but how do we respond to a problem or challenge? Some people, when faced with a challenge or crisis, may panic or simply complain about the situation in which they find themselves, cursing the darkness, rather than lighting one small candle. Others will be more creative and positive and look for solutions and perhaps engage in a little problem solving. Which one are you?

In the gospel reading, it is Andrew who seems to offer some hope as he looks to the bright side of a problem. Perhaps he can see a way forward to the situation they face. They are in an isolated place with thousands of people, and everyone is getting hungry, and there is no source of food. “There is a small boy here with five barley loaves and two fish,” he says. It seems quite an optimistic way forward. He has, at least, found some food. Perhaps he has ideas of his own or can see the possibilities. However, he soon undoes any signs of hopefulness with a rather hopeless appendix: “But what is that between so many?” He gives in to the crisis which lies ahead.

Meanwhile, the narrative gives us an important insight, for Jesus knows exactly what he is going to do. He receives the smallness of that boy’s contribution. He takes the bread and the fish, gives thanks, and then distributes them so that all are fed. There is more than enough food. Sometimes, we may fail to see the opportunities and possibilities which God provides, we overlook the gifts he gives because they seem so small or so insignificant. Nothing went to waste that day on the hillside. Twelve hampers of scraps were collected. Everything was valued. May we see with the eyes of faith, cherish what we have been given, and try to bring hope to hopeless situations through our faith in the Risen Lord.

MAKING CONNECTIONS

MINISTRY AREA MASS

Mass today (Friday 21 April, 2023) is celebrated at S Mary’s Church, Butetown at 10am. If you would like to send a prayer request then click on the ‘REQUEST PRAYER’ Button

Hiraeth

Thursday 20 April, 2023 | Thursday of the Second Week of Easter |Readings: Acts 55:27-33; Psalm 33(34):2,9,17-20; John 3:31-36 (You can find these in full on the Universalis website – Click here)

There has been some debate and controversy recently when the Brecon Beacons National Park decided to rebrand itself with the Welsh name, “Bannau Brycheiniog.” Comments came from far and wide with much opinion coming from the English Press. Even the Prime minister was drawn into the row. The name will remain, however, as will so many other Welsh place names! Whilst some of us may not be fluent in the language, there are many Welsh words and phrases which mean so much to us, and some words which have no direct English translation. Just think of the Welsh word ‘Hiraeth’ for example, which is loaded with meaning. It is a word we know and use to express a deep longing or yearning for our homeland.

For us, as Christians, our homeland is in heaven, although, of course, we have never been there. We believe that we have been made for Heaven. That is our hope and destiny. So for all Christians, Welsh or otherwise, our lives are characterised by this Hiraeth, this longing for our Heavenly Homeland. In the gospel reading today, John the Baptist, speaking about Jesus, said that “He who comes from above is above all others; he who is born of the earth is earthly himself and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven bears witness to the things he has seen and heard.” In coming from Heaven, Christ opens up the reality and possibilities of Heaven to us. He has come to lead us home.

Often, our daily responsibilities, tasks and chores can so often distract us from the life to which we are called. The Celtic Saints of Wales, who are remembered in so many place names, knew how to meet God in the ordinary and every day, in the familiar and seemingly mundane. They discovered God’s presence in the natural world and in the fabric of their lives. They discovered him in places of seclusion and isolation, but they also had a deep awareness of his presence in community. We are called to the life of Heaven, but God is never far from us as we make our journey through his world. As the psalmist prayed, “The Lord is close to the broken-hearted; those whose spirit is crushed he will save.”

MAKING CONNECTIONS

MINISTRY AREA MASS

Mass today (Wednesday 19 April, 2023) is celebrated at Ss Dyfrig and Samson, Grangetown at 9.30am, S Mary’s Church, Butetown at 10am, and St Saviour’s Church Splott at 5.45pm If you would like to send a prayer request then click on the ‘REQUEST PRAYER’ Button