It was a pleasure to welcome the boys of 42 Cdo to S. Mary the Virgin, Bickleigh today. 400 Royal Marines into a small church does go!
Mortar Boys were the Choir.
The singing was… lusty. The chorus to O Come gtting progressively more shouty. The Silent Night far from peaceful, but it was all in great humour and much fun.
The Padre, Fr David Wylie told of Christmas Cracker jokes ending with “Santa Claus had to go to the Psychiatrist because he had ceased to believe in himself”. Yet God believes in you, so much so that he came into this world. Jesus spent all of his time with the poor, the outsider and reaching out to those on the edge of society: he had only kind words and generous gestures for them, but for the supposedly religious who looked down upon them he had nothing but criticism. Christ spent so much time with individuals because individuals are worth it, and because God believes in you. Even when Santa no longer believes in himself, God does…