“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling amongst us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth).”
Matthew 1: 20-23
 
Psalm 98
 
     MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! May the blessings of this morning fill your hearts with joy as you consider Jesus, full of grace and truth and as you remember that our receipt of and belief in Him, gives us the right to become Children of God (John 1: 12)! As these truths set our hearts alight with God’s love let’s consider Psalm 98 to enable us to Sing a New Song of praise to our God and Saviour:
 
     Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvellous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God, (vs. 1-3). The subject of this Psalm is the Praise of our God, these first verses show why we are to praise Him: God has done a marvellous thing in Jesus, making His righteousness known and available to us in His proffered salvation. God is so faithful in His love. Reasons indeed to praise God on this day of celebration.
 
     Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;  make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing,  with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn – shout for joy before the Lord, the King, (vs. 4-6). If the first verses show why we are to praise God these show us how to praise Him. Quite simply if we grasp the depth of the ‘why,’ we will shout, sing, dance and triumphantly proclaim His glory and praise Him for His salvation. Play the songs at the end of the blog and sing along…don’t hold back, this is a day of thanksgiving!
 
Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity, (vs. 7-9). Why, how and now who; who is to praise God? Everyone and everything; His whole creation, the universe, the seas, rivers and mountains and EVERYONE who lives in His creation. God is supremely worthy of this praise. The Psalm ends on a truth that is worthy of praise but which is also a reminder and motivator. Christ will return as judge; justice will reign and eternity continues. We must be ready and right with our Lord – He has provided the means of Grace, so let us receive Jesus.
 
Ponder: Where do we stand before God; have we received the Lord Jesus? If we have, do we truly grasp His Grace and do we live in His love, joy and peace? Our hearts will surely leap to praise our Father if we know the depths of His truth
 
Pray: Almighty God, you have given us your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin: grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
 
Praise:  Salvation belongs to our God
O Come Let Us Adore Him by Jacob and Bruce Moore
Receive Him by Eliza King
This is the Child by Lauren Lehmen
Nine Lessons and Carols by St. Aidan's

N.B.
The Pastor’s Blog will resume on the 1st January 2021 as the Bible Blog as we begin our journey through the Bible in one year.
 
I pray for a very special blessing upon you all this Christmastide and for the New Year
Pastor Dave

The prophet Isaiah’s ministry was one of comfort. To the people of Judah who were living in a time of moral and spiritual darkness, Isaiah brought a promise that assured them that comfort was coming. But it would come in an unexpected form – comfort would arrive in the form of a child, a son: “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us” (Isaiah 9:6).

God’s answer to everything that had troubled his people was a child. Even though this child would be mighty God and bear the weight of the world on his shoulders, he did not take the throne in power the first time he came. Instead, he came in weakness, in smallness, in humility, as a baby.

In his human nature, Jesus entered this world just like every other human – by being born as a baby. Yet, in his deity, he was not born, but given, from the heart and presence of the Father. “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3: 16-17).

Jesus was born to us in full humanity, given to us in full deity, sent to us with a magnificent and holy purpose.

Even the place of his birth was one that displayed humility yet fulfilled divine prophecies. “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5: 2). Jesus was born in the agricultural fields just a roman mile from Bethlehem in which the Passover lambs were bred and chosen each year for the atonement of the nation. Jesus, being the ultimate and final Passover sacrifice, was born and clothed in this very same field. He lay in a manger in the very same way the lambs would have laid as they were taken care of to avoid blemish.

As we remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus, let us open our hearts to the incredible gift that has been given to us in God’s one and only Son.

Prayer – Mighty God, I open my arms and my heart to receive this incredible gift.

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WisMfuTZva0

(BONUS VIDEO) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5R4wOymh5Q

“‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel] (which means ‘God with us’).”
Matthew 1: 20-23
 
2 Peter 1: 3-8
 
     On Monday, one of the questions I asked you to ‘Ponder’ was what it meant for us to be glorified in Jesus as He is glorified in us (2 Thessalonians 1: 12). What did you come up with? To some extent the message of Christmas answers this question. Jesus became one of us in His incarnational ministry. We know that this amazing sacrifice paves the way for us to be reconciled with God, to have an incredible, incomparable eternal relationship with our Creator (Matthew 1: 20-22); but there’s more, there are deeper truths. Jesus shared in our humanity that we may share in His divinity! Augustine states this truth well, “He was made sharer in our mortality that we might also be made partakers in His divinity.” Remember also the amazing truth in 2 Corinthians 5: 21, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” This incredible exchange, His righteousness for our sin, our humanity for His divinity! So how does this play out?
     The Apostle Peter helps us in this area (and I would encourage you to read the passage). Firstly, we are told that God’s Divine power gives us all we need to live this godly life through our knowledge of Him; He has called us to this life because of His own Glory and goodness (vs. 3). As we get to know God and His written Word we know and believe His promises which enable us to participate in His Divine nature and escape our old nature and failings (vs 4). As we make every effort to walk in the way of Jesus and His Divine nature we tread on amazing stepping stones, going from one to the next, increasing our Christlikeness. From: faith to: goodness, to; knowledge, to self-control, to; perseverance, to; godliness, to; mutual affection, and to; love (vs. 5-7). If we grow in these attributes of Christ our knowledge of Him grows as will our participation in His Divine nature. You can see though the importance of knowing His Word (another reason for the Bible in a Year Project in 2021!).
     At Christmas we have the tradition of giving and receiving presents. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can compare with the great exchange that is possible between the Lord and us. He became one of us that we might become one in Him; our sin for His righteousness, our humanity for His Divinity….how utterly incredible is that!! Whatever gifts you give and receive this year I pray that you give your heart to the Lord that you may receive the most absurdly generous gift ever!
   
Ponder: 1. Meditate on the ‘stepping stones’ of Christ’s attributes (faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection and love). Which ones does the Holy Spirit highlight in your heart; how might you grow in this area and the knowledge of Christ? 
2. Pray great exchanges, give to Christ and receive from Christ. For example: give sin, receive forgiveness; give your heart receive life; give anxiety and receive peace; give sadness and receive joy. Sit comfortably with an open posture and give what the Holy Spirit prompts and receive the opposite blessing from God!
 
Pray: Almighty and most wonderful Father, we give you our hearts and in gratitude receive the new life you graciously bestow. As our faith in you matures help us in your divine power through your promises to add to our faith; goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection and love. All to your glory. Amen
 
Praise:  A Beautiful Exchange by Hillsong
In a bleak midwinter sung by Keith & Kristyn Getty (give our hearts)

Bible Verse: See, I am doing a new thing!
                        Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?                                                                                   I am making a way in the wilderness                                                                                           and streams in the wasteland.
                                                            Isaiah 43:19

Like most people, I will be pleased to see the year 2020 in my hindsight.  It has certainly been a year with its challenges and dark times.  People of my generation and younger had not experienced the worldwide crises that we saw this year.  Pandemic, economic hardship, racial unrest, and an erosion in the trust of the rule of law and democracy all took their toll on our collective sense of security, community, and even civility.  All these challenges are with us year after year in one form or another, but this year they came together in the perfect storm of distress.  But, unlike the many who have not the hope of Jesus in their hearts, I see the year just gone by as the darkness in which the hope of Christ shone most brightly.

We all arrived at today via vastly different paths, each with our own share of sorrows and joys, defeats and triumphs, but at the end of each day, with a hope for the future.  It’s that hope for our future that makes us get up in the morning and face the challenges that we know lie ahead.  It’s that hope that enables us to fight through the tears and sadness and hurt because we hope there will be better days ahead.  And if today happens to be one of those better days, we can even have hope that our best todays will be less than our worst tomorrows.  It’s hope that lies at the center of our story; my story, your story, everyone’s story.  As Christians, our greatest hope is found in the salvation bought for us by Jesus Christ, the Ever-Living God, the Word made Flesh.  And we have this hope of salvation through Christ because someone, sometime, somewhere told us His story, the Gospel story.

In Romans Ch. 10, Paul expresses his desire to see all people saved by their faith in the Lord Jesus because all who call on His name will be saved.  In verse 14 he asks the most basic questions, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” 

How indeed, can someone hear the Gospel unless someone else tells them?  These verses fairly shout for us to tell the Gospel story.  As disciples of Christ, we are called to take the story of the Gospel to the world beyond the church walls and bring the stories of the people we find out there back to the church.  Christians are called to share the Good News of the Gospel with the world, to take it to the people who have not heard it, to remind the people who have forgotten it, and to revive it in the people who have abandoned it.  It is a foundational truth that Christians are called to engage with the world.

This year, St. Aidan’s did church differently.  We weren’t able to join physically in worship, but that doesn’t mean that church was cancelled.  The Lord God Almighty didn’t allow the pandemic to get the way of the work He was doing.  “See, I am doing a new thing!”  The Lord has been shaking the foundations of the world this year, and people have noticed.  This year, St. Aidan’s church has been doing new things to continue the good work He has started in us, and we are reaching farther beyond our walls than ever before.  Our livestreams, recorded messages, blogs, and other online content have been viewed by people from all over the world.  We have had responses from Australia, England, Brazil, and California. We’ve had encouragements from people in Ontario and Alberta.  The Lord is enabling us to spread the Good News of the Gospel far beyond our church building.

In our own congregation, we have not just maintained our community, but strengthened it by making many morel pastoral care phone calls, engaging small groups on Zoom, continuing our outreach to Leaf Rapids and to our Companion Diocese and Parish in Uganda.  And through it all, you, our dear parish family members have stayed connected with each other and with our church.

As we await Christmas in just a couple of days, we remember the hope that was born into the world in the person of the baby Lord Jesus.  His birth was full of the promise of joy, peace, and love.  That is the hope that we followers of Christ base our lives upon.    It gives us the courage to try new things; it builds the strength to persevere in the face of adversity; and it inspires us to dream new dreams.

​So let us link arms as the Body of Christ, and march together with Him into the light of the Hope of Salvation through Him who was born to us in the city of David, Jesus Christ, the Lord.  I wish you all a joyful and blessed Christmas and New Year!  Praise be the Creator and Preserver of all Creation, the Lord God Almighty!

The prophet Isaiah’s ministry was one of comfort. To the people of Judah who were living in a time of moral and spiritual darkness, Isaiah brought a promise that assured them that comfort was coming. But it would come in an unexpected form – comfort would arrive in the form of a child, a son: “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us” (Isaiah 9:6).

God’s answer to everything that had troubled his people was a child. Even though this child would be mighty God and bear the weight of the world on his shoulders, he did not take the throne in power the first time he came. Instead, he came in weakness, in smallness, in humility, as a baby.

In his human nature, Jesus entered this world just like every other human – by being born as a baby. Yet, in his deity, he was not born, but given, from the heart and presence of the Father. “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3: 16-17).

Jesus was born to us in full humanity, given to us in full deity, sent to us with a magnificent and holy purpose.

Even the place of his birth was one that displayed humility yet fulfilled divine prophecies. “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5: 2). Jesus was born in the agricultural fields just a roman mile from Bethlehem in which the Passover lambs were bred and chosen each year for the atonement of the nation. Jesus, being the ultimate and final Passover sacrifice, was born and clothed in this very same field. He lay in a manger in the very same way the lambs would have laid as they were taken care of to avoid blemish.

As we remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus, let us open our hearts to the incredible gift that has been given to us in God’s one and only Son.

Prayer – Mighty God, I open my arms and my heart to receive this incredible gift.

Song: Away In A Manger (Martina McBride)

(BONUS VIDEO) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5R4wOymh5Q

“We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.”
2 Thessalonians 1: 3-4
 
2 Thessalonians 1: 3-12

     In the Artic, under extreme conditions, flowers and trees survive and indeed grow. They, in season, are nourished by the sun and water runoff from glaziers. They develop close to the ground due to the searing winds. The willow tree lives here but it looks more like a flower due to its diminutive appearance; its roots grow horizontally rather than down due to the conditions. Proof that growth can occur in difficult conditions.
     Today we continue in the letters of Thessalonians; passages often referred to during advent. Today we read how in persecution and trials the early Church flourished; their faith increased as did their visible love, one for another. They surely grew because the Son fed them with the waters of life. Their roots unlike the willow were rooted down in Jesus (Colossians 1: 6-7), however like the willow their roots also grew horizontally, outwardly into the Body, their brothers and sisters in Christ (Ephesians 4: 15-16). This is indeed how we could react and grow in this time; perseverance in trials binds a group together and helps them grow. We see examples of this in the persecuted Church in our present day and in history. However, the opposite can occur, separation and bitterness can result at such times especially if we focus on the difficulty itself or ourselves.
     The Thessalonians were encouraged to look to Christ’s return and His role in judgement; the truth that we will all have to give account for our lives (a key focus during Advent) (vs. 5-10). The words may well seem harsh to us but I believe the underlying message is one of recognition. Recognition: that judgement lies in the hands of God, not ours; recognition that God is ultimately sovereign; recognition that there is a purpose and plan; and recognition that in Jesus Christ and His teaching, all makes sense.
     In the closing verses we see these truths connecting in a prayer for the Thessalonians (vs. 11-12). The prayer asks that God will make them worthy of their calling and by His power fulfil their good plans and acts prompted by faith. Their lives will then bring glory to Jesus Christ and they will be glorified in Him. So let us, by God’s grace, pray this prayer one for another. May God’s power in us fulfil our good intentions and acts of faith. May we grow into Jesus and one another in this season of challenge assured that Jesus will return in accordance with our Father’s plan of salvation and reconciliation.

To Ponder: A few thoughts to consider today:

• What good plans and acts of faith do you need God’s power for today?
• We may understand how Jesus can be glorified in us but what does it mean for us to be glorified in Him?
• How might we grow outwards into the Body of Christ and show our love for each other (Small Groups, Cords, Online presence and Blogs, Phone calls and letters, acts of simple love and kindness, prayer etc. etc)
• What does Christ’s return and role as Judge mean for you?

 
Pray: O Lord Jesus Christ, who at your first coming sent your messenger to prepare your way before you: grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready your way by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at your second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in your sight; for you are alive and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
 
Praise: Noel by Lauren Daigle
From the Squalor of a Borrowed Stable (Immanuel) by Stuart Townend

“May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. ‘
1 Thessalonians 5: 23-24
 
1 Thessalonians 5: 12-24
 
     Henny Youngman, an English-American comedian, was often called the ‘King of One Liners:’ “I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places;” “If at first you don't succeed... so much for skydiving.” Perhaps Jimmy Carr has now taken that mantel. Today’s full reading though blows them out the water for one liners. Just look how many there are: acknowledge those who work hard among you; live in peace with each other; warn those who are idle and disruptive; encourage the disheartened; help the weak; be patient with everyone; make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong; always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else; rejoice always;  pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances; do not quench the Spirit; do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good; and reject every kind of evil.
     The temptation when reading such noble instructions is to feel woefully inadequate and to almost give up before trying to follow them. Wonderfully next comes truth and hope; it is God who sanctifies us, enables us to live this way and prepares us for Christ’s coming (vs. 23-24). This promise is concluded by the ultimate one liner, “The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.” Absolute certainty, great grace and our essential hope.
     When we read backwards from this awesome truth, we see the process of sanctification detailed. God calls us and sanctifies us within our inner most being (vs. 23-24); He gives us His Spirit to enable us to live this new life and His truth to follow (vs. 19-23); we are part of Jesus Christ’s Body, the Church, with the gifts of prayer and praise (vs. 16-18); we are given His peace and live within the Body under the leadership He places, each member of the body with ministries and roles. Through this process we see a golden thread of obedience that is required of us coming from our faith in the Lord and our love for Him.
     Comedians may be the kings of humorous ‘one liners’ but as Christ’s Body He clearly calls us to be the Royal Priesthood of His ‘one liners’ that we are to live out in His Spirit. As we celebrate Advent, remembering Christ’s incarnation and anticipating His return these are incredible directions for us to follow as God delivers His work of Grace in each of us. What a beacon of the light the Church could be if indeed we reflected these truths….and we can because the One who calls us is faithful, and He will do it!
 
To Ponder: Meditate on all these ‘one liners,’ which does the Holy Spirit highlight to you? In His power and Grace live by that one liner this day. Consider following a different ‘one liner’ each day of the week ahead and see what difference the Lord makes!
 
Pray: Saviour eternal, life of the world unfailing, light everlasting and our true redemption. Taking our humanity in your loving freedom, you rescued our lost earth and filled the world with joy. By your first advent justify us, by your second, set us free: that when the great light dawns and you come as judge of all, we may be robed in immortality and ready, Lord, to follow in your footsteps blest, wherever they may lead. Amen
Salus Aeterna – Saviour Eternal
 
Praise: Counting every Blessings by Rend Collective
Rejoice by Chris Tomlin

In the book of Isaiah, we read about kings making war against Judah and against the house of David. During this time, Isaiah went up to the King of Judah (Ahaz) to prophesy that these kings would not succeed in their attempt to defeat Judah. Isaiah followed with a message of confirmation for King Ahaz:

All right then, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel. By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yogurt and honey. For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted. (Isaiah 7: 14-16)

Isaiah was clearly talking about a child who would be born during Ahaz’s lifetime, a child who would be alive when the kings of the enemies were defeated. Yet when Matthew wrote his Gospel, he cited this verse as a prophecy that Jesus fulfilled:

This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit …… All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means “God is with us.”(Matthew 1: 18, 22-23)

This is one of several places in Matthew’s Gospel in which he cites an Old Testament passage that is clearly about something or someone else, and says that Christ fulfilled it. Matthew wanted his readers to know that ultimately all the Scriptures are about Christ and find their ultimate fulfillment in him.

Indeed Isaiah’s prophecy had a prior partial fulfillment in a child born as a sign to Ahaz. But the true, final, and ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy is in Christ alone. This is what we remember and celebrate at Christmas, that God came to live amongst us that night in Bethlehem.

Prayer – Immanuel, all my joy comes from knowing you are with me. Help me to focus on you during this wonderful season. Fill me with your presence so I may experience the greatest joy of all and so I may then share this joy with the world.

Song: O Come, O Come Emmanuel 

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
Hebrews 12: 11
 
Hebrews 12: 7-13

     Whenever this pandemic is over and we transition back to normal or a new normal, there will be legacies, both positive and negative. Personally I believe things will not be the same, perhaps cannot be. Health Services, Government and community relations, society and individuals will all be changed. We will undoubtedly learn and improve but if history teaches us anything we will not heed our lessons sufficiently. The question then is how do we come out the other side of this situation for the better?
     At St. Aidan’s Church we often rightly quote Hebrews 12: 1-3 where we are called to throw off our sin and fix our eyes on Jesus Christ the Author and Perfector of our faith. We are to consider Him who endured rejection, humiliation and crucifixion for the joy set before Him. What was that joy? The pleasure and glory of God the Father, the overcoming of sin and death and the reconciliation between God and His creation. As Jesus entered Jerusalem, knowing His future, we read that He steadfastly set His face and went forward; He set His face like flint (Luke 9: 51; Isaiah 50: 7). Knowing the immensity of His goal He endured much, overcame and is now sat in His rightful place of Glory.
     Today’s passage starts with the instruction to ‘endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.’ The principal of how loving parents discipline their children is then illustrated. In short God will use this time to discipline us and bring us closer to Him, to be the people we were created to be. How do we endure? We set our faces like flint as the Lord Jesus did facing our goal, the one for which we have been called heavenward (Philippians 3: 14). This goal is our sanctification and our ultimate eternal life with God our Father. I have used before the illustration of certain waterfowl that I have witnessed in a storm. They simply stay on the water and turn to face the storm. They do not fight against it, nor turn sideways or turn back; danger lies in all those options. They keep their position and wait it out, perhaps inching forward. As we live in this ‘storm of life’ it would be good to simply face it, not fight it or run away but hold our position. In that place we keep or eyes fixed on Jesus and our eternal goal. We are encouraged in certain practices as we hold our position. We are to: keep on loving each other; practice hospitality; care for those who are suffering; be sexually pure; not love money, support and obey our Church leaders and not be carried away by false teaching (Hebrews 13: 1 – 7, 9, 17).
     If we endure in this way our legacy, our harvest, will be that of righteousness and peace; a truly beautiful harvest. So in the Words of the Scripture before us let us strengthen our feeble arms and weak knees and ask the Lord to make straight our paths so that we may walk the way of Christ.
 
To Ponder: Meditate on the suffering of Christ that achieved salvation and reconciliation. Remember that He has suffered greatly as one of us so understands us and is able to help (Hebrews 2: 18; 4: 15). Find peace and comfort in this assurance.
 
Pray: Lord Jesus help us to approach the throne of Grace with confidence because of your life, death and resurrection. At your feet may we receive mercy and find grace in this our time of need. Glory to God the Father. Amen
(From Hebrews 4: 16)
 
Praise: He is Worthy by Chris Tomlin
Be Thou my Vision sung by St. Aidan's