Christmas In the Life of Father Richard Harrison Rector, Shill Valley, Oxon

Christmas begins with three celebrations of Midnight Mass in the Benefice - so from the start some of the themes of Christmas in the country come across: dependence upon the incredible goodwill of retired clergy to take services; prayers for ice- and fog-free weather conditions and an awareness of the stillness and darkness of the countryside - we can certainly see the stars more clearly here! But does that mean that what the stars point to can be seen more clearly too? There is definitely a strange quality to Midnight Mass in a small country church, where everybody knows everybody else, even if, as elsewhere, most of the people in church come at no other time. Still, we are all family. I am the Vicar of eleven parishes, so in the morning it is a matter of three down and eight to go: three celebration of Holy Communion for me and two for my  colleague, a wonderful retired (NSM) priest who takes several services just about every Sunday throughout the year and is known and trusted by my parishioners in a way that I still working towards: this is after all only my second Christmas as a Vicar. Up until now I have been a curate and then a School Chaplain: a steep learning curve! This year weare blessed by having a Ugandan priest to take two of the services. He is living in the empty Vicarage in Filkins, where we are still waiting for a successor to my House-for-Duty colleague cruelly taken from us in March in a road accident. Two other retired clergy will also help. I am not married - just as well, as no family time would be possible. I will be celebrating at Shilton at 9, then 10.15 at Black Bourton and then 11.30 at Kencot. The pastoral nature of my Benefice will be all too clear as I drive between these parishes, remembering the shepherds called, with the cattle, to adore the Infant Jesus in the stall. I will also appreciate that for the farmers this is a day like any other with all its attendant duties. My day will end by escaping to eat Christmas dinner and stay with clergy friends in Oxford: Christmas communions can wait for the rest of the octave!

Father Richard Harrison Rector, Shill Valley, Oxon