Living in the Moment

Bore Da a Chroeso, Good morning and Welcome from Brecon Cathedral in the heart of the Bannau Brycheiniog, the Brecon Beacons.  Brecon Cathedral started life over nine hundred years ago as the Benedictine Priory of St John the Evangelist, built by the Normans on the site of an earlier Celtic church. At the dissolution of the monasteries, it became Brecon's Parish Church.  Now the Cathedral Church for the diocese of Swansea and Brecon, it is the mother church for our whole diocese, stretching from Beguildy in the North to the Gower Peninsula in the South, including the city of Swansea and most of the Brecon Beacons National Park.  My name’s Emma Whittick and I serve as one of the Priests at the Cathedral and Chaplain to Bishop John Lomas, who will be our preacher today.   

Our theme for today’s service is Living in the Moment and we’re going to be exploring that theme in the light of the 80th Anniversary of VE Day that we will mark as a nation later this week. Our service will take us on a journey that both looks back and looks forward as we seek to find what it means to live in the moment.  We will meet Warrant Officer Ben Brookman and VE Day veteran Mel Hughes. As we begin our journey, we leave the font and walk up the nave to the north west of the Cathedral and into the Harvard Chapel, we worship God in song.  Our first hymn is Christ is the World’s True Light, sung by the choir of Brecon Cathedral.   

Christ is the World’s True Light 

The Harvard Chapel is a place of remembrance not just for the Cathedral but for the whole of Brecon and it attracts pilgrims from all over the world.  On its walls are memorials to both World Wars as well as the Colours that were flown at the Battle of Rorke’s Drift in 1879.  As we stand in this place that very much points to our past, let’s invite the Lord into our present as we pray our collect for today: 

Almighty Father, who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples with the sight of the risen Lord: give us such knowledge of his presence with us, that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life and serve you continually in righteousness and truth; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen. 

Our next stop on our journey is a visit to the Royal Welsh Military Museum to speak with their Curator, Amanda Rosewarne who will show us some artefacts from World War II.   

Interview – we've come to a room in the museum. We see an active Service edition of the Holy Bible, carried by Captain Pope on the D Day landing and throughout the war. He donated it in the early 1950’s.  

Our first reading from Luke’s Gospel chapter two verses twenty-six to thirty-two: 

26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 

29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, 
    you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 
30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 
31     which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: 
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, 
    and the glory of your people Israel.” 

Our next hymn reminds us of the help that God has given us throughout the ages and challenges us to place our trust in him for the future.  O God Our Help in Ages Past, sung for us today by the choir of Brecon Cathedral.   

O God Our help in Ages Past 

The story of the Bible taken ashore at D-Day reminds me of another Bible and another time in my life. My name's John and the Bishop of Swansea and Brecon. Of course, I haven't always been a Bishop. My church life started as a young child. I was thrown out of the house on a Sunday morning across the road to the local church, and there I had to take part in the choir. I was the kind of lad that felt that I ought to commit to things, and so I didn’t get away until I was 16, but when I did leave, I thought that was church done for me.  

And I joined the Navy. I was in the Navy for 14 years as a weapons engineer. Later on, as a chaplain. But most of my life in the Navy was weapons engineer. I remember a time after the Falklands War. It was 1983. We've been away most of the year before in ‘82, which was, of course, the the year of the Falklands War. And then we came back. And we had to go away almost immediately. Again, on HMS Invincible on a nine month trip to the Far East and to Australia. I remember for the first time in my life I was homesick.  

I was married by then to Jan, a girl who had known nearly all my life, and we got a child and another child on the way. And we were in the Red Sea Transit in the Red Sea, and I'd never really felt homesick before. But I did this time, and so I went down to the Chapel, a place I hadn't been visiting very frequently at all. But I went down to the Chapel and I took a Bible from the Chapel and I took it back to my bunk space, and I sort of hid there under the blankets with this Bible, afraid of what my mates might say.  

I remembered the time that I spent in church as a child. And I remembered the even songs that had gone to and at the even song. There's a piece of scripture from Luke Chapter 2 called the Nunc Dimittis. And I remembered that it was somewhere in the New Testament because it talked about the baby Jesus. And I remember the story as well of an old man that had waited all his life to see Christ. And he held him in his hands. And that's the words of the limitless Lord. Now, let us thou, thy servant, depart in peace according to thy word. I found those words and for the first time in many years, I found a peace that was beyond the kind of peace that I knew. It wasn't just about feeling good. It wasn't about feeling happy in the moment, but it was about a peace that seemed to transcend all of that. And I suppose that was the time when my living faith came into being, where God, who had knocked these words, the words of the nunc dimittis into my head week after week after week, year after year after year, finally paid dividends in my life. I never looked back. From that moment, I remember saying the Lord's Prayer. I remember being thankful for the peace that I'd found, and it was from that moment on that that my life changed, and then I began to look in a completely different direction that brought me to this one. 

Nunc Dimittis 

Composed by Herbert Howells and sung by the Cardiff polyphonic Choir. We're now in the officers mess of the 160th Welsh Brigade in the barracks at Brecon. It's some 30 years ago that I was last here. I was a Padre with the third battalion of the Royal Welsh. I'm speaking now to Warrant Officer Benjamin Brookman. So, Ben, what? What is your actual role in the army? 

So I'm the regional engagement officer. That sounds quite a grand title, but fundamentally I basically got a team of soldiers which basically covered the whole of Wales. 

VE Day is looming quite large and it's taking up some of your time. What are the opportunities you're finding to be able to speak with people about VE Day and what does it mean to you? 

Yeah, great question. So we're really we're quite current in 2025 within the regional engagement team. So basically we do virtual delivery. So VE day for me is basically remembering those who have basically sacrificed family members and also serving soldiers and we were going to this year deliver on the day on the 8th of May a live teams presentation. We've got a couple of guest speakers as well. So this year we're very privileged to have a VA veteran called Mel Hughes and you use his story as part of the school's presentation across Wales. So yeah, it's a massive time to get involved and also ensure that it's not forgotten about. 

We went to meet Mel Hughes, the VE Day veteran, who shared his recollections of joining the Army VE Day, and turning 100. 

Well, my name is David Melvin Hughes. It was just my 100th birthday. And I was there serving the army on VE Day. And then I have been a member of the British Legion for years, yes. I remember that in the morning when my father went to collect the mailing and porch. This one's on Her Majesty service. I had to report to Richmond, Yorks. On the 1st of July 1947. I remember my father on the platform in Abergavenny. Him sending me off was. I left home. Because you never know if you were coming back or not. 100,000 just got away. And I appreciated that. I remember VE Day. Everybody was happy. Because when they declared the peace, it was alive. Everybody was jumping for joy. I think everybody was 100% happy. 

VE Day veteran Mel Hughes, who turned 100 this year. We went back to the mess where Bishop John Lomas and Warrant officer Ben Brookman, continued their conversation. 

I think in the armed forces, Ben, there's always that sense of belonging, no matter what age you are. And with VE day there's there's very much a then and now what it meant to people. Then you've just spoken about somebody in particular. What does it mean to you now as a person, as a serving person in the in the armed forces? 

Yeah. So V Day's a massive day to remember, and it's an opportunity to reflect, to digest and also get involved in paying our respects on the day, so yeah, it's it's a big, big thing for us and for fellow serving soldiers within the British. 

So we were we were talking about living in the moment, and you've created a moment for people to reflect and do you think that moment you've created will also bring, bring change, bring thoughtfulness as people move forward in their lives? 

I hope it does. Yeah, you know, hopefully it will give people an opportunity to reflect. And also just remember the fallen who have fallen before us all for today, really. And also when it comes to remembrance and things like that, pay their respects during remembrance in November. 

For the fallen 

We're also joined in the officers mess by Padre Nicola Frail. She's the senior chaplain to the 160th Welsh Brigade. So what does a Padre do today? Nicola in the armed forces? 

Chaplains find themselves in a variety of contexts and the matter what that might be, whether it's in barracks, at a headquarters, on exercise or operations, the the heart of the rule remains the same. And that is to care for the Army's people to offer pastoral care. Virtual support and moral guidance, and we do that and we offer that for people, whether it's a person that shares our own faith, perhaps of a different faith or or holds a variety of worldviews. 

We we spoke about a Bible that's been carried from D-Day, right the way through to victory in Europe Day. I just wondered, what part does the Bible play in in your life today and in your work, Nicola? 

As a Church of Scotland minister, the Bible remains central to my ongoing spiritual life and to my relationship with. With good having the ability, no matter where I am in the world, no matter what life is like to be able to turn to the scriptures and to find relevance for day-to-day life is hugely important and part of what helps to sustain me day by day. 

Hearing those conversations, and the importance of pastoral care and community reminds us of a passage in the Bible on how Christians should treat one another. Let's listen to these familiar words from 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Read to us by Padre Nicola Frail, senior chaplain to the 160th Welsh Brigade. 

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 

There are certain things in life that we may feel we know an awful lot about. Looking back 80 years, for instance, to VE Day. I'm of the generation who lived alongside those who had lived through the Second World. War. We were brought up on the stories of those times, the tumultuous events that turned the world upside down. But as we acquired this knowledge, as it became part of the framework of our lives, it was so easy to forget that however close we came to it through friends and family and society. We did not acquire with it the lived experience of those times. Only those who lived through it experienced. Living in the moment is where we are only truly alive. We can write as many books about the past as we like.  

In retrospect, we can write books about the future with insight and consideration based on lessons learned. This is how we grow. But we need to remember that in the great moments in history that we like to think we know so much about in the moment, nothing was a done deal. That's what makes these people we remember an honour this coming VE Day, so special and worthy of our gratitude. They lived in the moment, not knowing what the future would bring. Like Paul says, they were seeing through a glass darkly. And it's in this place we see faith, hope and love in their true form as powers that can move mountains, fight and overcome any hardship, strength and the fearful encourage the faint hearted. Change the world.  

Truly living in the moment with God, we can see the very best and the very worst of our humanity. But for all people of all times, regardless of our circumstances, whoever we are, whatever trials we are going through to live well requires courage. As people made in the image of God and for his purpose, we're called to love each other. Have faith in each other, but our trust in plans we hope will see us through. And it's in these moments, we're probably closest to God than we will ever be.  

For me, this is what makes the remembering of VE Day so important. I knew and grew up around the very people, family and friends who lived moment to moment until victory happened and knew from a young age of their sacrifice, their courage and love for each other. And as children, we were blessed in that they passed on to us all of this in bucket loads. Faith, hope, love. It's all part of the journey that God calls us on so that we may know that despite all, nothing can ever separate us from him. And we can only truly find that out in the moment. The present, the place where he dwells and the place that he calls us to. The Morriston Orpheus Choir will now sing. Guide me O Thou Great Jehovah. 

Cwm Rhondda 

As we finish our journey we return to Brecon Cathedral for our prayers.  Let us pray: 

God of peace, 
who raised Christ Jesus 
to victory over death, 
keep us ever mindful 
of the cost of making peace, 
of the call to be peacemakers, 
and of the carefulness needed 
to keep the peace, 
in our lives, in our land 
and in our world. 
Amen 

God of sadness and celebration, 
you share our pain at loss 
as well as our joy in reunion. 
We remember with gratitude 
the mixed emotions of VE Day, 
in people’s hearts, and on the streets. 
Comfort those who still grieve, 
and challenge us who live on 
to value what was won 
and to build on the legacy of lives sacrificed. 
For your name’s sake. Amen 

God of light, 
set our lives alight today in a time of peace, 
so that we shine as lamplights, 
keeping the darkness at bay 
and holding onto that precious peace 
that was won for us in history, 
and supremely on the cross for eternity. 
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen 

God of the present moment, 

as we remember the past, teach us the ways of peace. 

As we treasure memories, teach us to hope. 

As we give thanks for the sacrifices of the past, 

help us to live in the moment and make you known in this world, 

until your kingdom come. 

Amen. 

We join our prayers together with the words that Jesus taught us: 

Our Father who art in heaven,  

hallowed be thy name, 

thy kingdom come,  

thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 

Give us this day our daily bread. 

And forgive us our trespasses  

as we forgive those who trespass against us. 

And lead us not into temptation,  

but deliver us from evil. 

For thine is the kingdom,  

the power and the glory,  

for ever and ever. Amen. 

Thank you for joining us on our journey of reflection and remembrance.  As we’ve travelled between our different destinations, we’ve seen how things from the past can inspire us to live in the moment and make Christ known afresh to today’s generation.  Our closing hymn encourages us to do just that: Take My Life and Let it Be. 

Take My Life and Let it Be 

God grant to the living, grace; to the departed, rest; 

to the Church, the King, the Commonwealth, and all people, 

peace and concord; and to us and all his servants, life everlasting; 

and the blessing of God almighty,  

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,  

be among you and remain with you always. Amen.