From Rev’d Caroline – 01285 712467 – carolinesymcox@googlemail.com
Readings for Sunday: Genesis 50.15-21; Romans 14.1-12; Matthew 18.21-35
To hear the Gospel reading and Caroline’s sermon click on the arrow below
The following is taken from the Parish Newsletter for Sunday 13th September 2026
One of the loveliest parts of my ministry here at St Mary’s has always been my work with our wonderful Fairford Church of England Primary School. There are so many opportunities to speak with the children, to meet with staff and subject leaders, and to spend time in discussion with our powerhouse Headteacher, Julie Fellows. It’s always a joy to walk up Leafield Road and discover what awaits, be it a classroom full of children interested to ask about the relationship between science and religion, or an opportunity to lead Collective Worship. One of my secret pleasures in planning Collective Worship is choosing the music. I like to have a gentle piece to settle and focus the gathered children to come in to, and then something as they leave that will pick up the theme of the worship, and hopefully get everyone leaving with those thoughts ringing in their ears.
The thing is, our clear theme for this Sunday, and one of the school’s core Christian Values, is forgiveness, and I don’t know about you, but finding popular songs (hymns are cheating) that speak usefully about forgiveness I find to be an almost impossible task. No one seems to be interested in forgiving others! There’s lots of entreating forgiveness, or reflecting on how hard it can be to ask for forgiveness (‘Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word’), but very little on actually finding it in your heart to offer forgiveness fully and freely. Perhaps you have some suggestions? I would love to hear them! Email me!
But in the meantime… I’m drawing a blank. And I think that’s very much reflective of the human heart. Forgiveness is a hard topic to write a song about because it can be so deep, so complicated, and honestly, so painful. Of all the things Jesus tells us to do, forgiving others is the one I’m certain is the hardest for the majority of people. Sometimes I think we can experience the thought of forgiving someone who has hurt us almost as another wound. Another blow to hurt our hearts. We risk reliving the damage done, and that feels intolerable. Sometimes we want to hold onto our anger and bitterness, perhaps out of a strange sense of justice – we deserve to feel angry! But in the long run, whether we hold onto that wound out of fear or out of anger, we need to recognise that holding non to it hurts only us.
Reconciliation is always the final goal – that’s the ideal that we strive for. A process of repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation that allows healing for all. But practically, that’s not always how it works. Those who hurt us may never feel repentance. There may never be a possibility for coming together in peace ever again. But we can choose what we carry. Forgiveness is a way of healing that wound, of letting the hurt move into the past rather than being a constant and present pain. Of course it’s a hard and complicated thing to do. We know it! But it is a good one, and one to which Jesus points us again and again. May we have the courage to let forgiveness begin to heal our hearts today.
Rev’d Caroline
Updated 21st September 2026