Christmas is a feast of the interior light, a rekindling of the spiritual spark within us, amid the bleak cold, damp and dark of winter.
This year, as every year, we shall hear the Christmas carols inviting us to ‘behold our king’, not in a palace, but in an outhouse. Though the words sound well worn, let us try to set aside their familiarity and hear them anew! They are an invitation to travel back and behold the birth of our saviour with amazement and awe. What a wonder that a small baby born in the backwater town of Bethlehem is in fact our King of Kings.
Our God comes to us as a tiny baby lying in a manger; but we know too, of course, that the little child one day becomes the man hanging on the cross. From crib to cross, Jesus is the vulnerable one who will stop at nothing to speak to us of God’s desire for our friendship and our love. The feast of the Nativity is therefore a time to let go of the year’s past hurts, bitterness, and disappointments that tempt our hearts to stay closed and guarded. Christmas, in turn, is the time to believe again that love is possible.
Christmas is love come down to Earth, a gift to the world of infinite worth!
Now, perhaps more than ever, living in times that are troubled, facing a future that is uncertain, we need such hope. We need it for ourselves, and we need to give it to others. This Christmastide let each of us strive to do just that.
A special thanks to all our wonderful parish volunteers those who provide hospitality for us throughout the year every Sunday without fail and who give of their time and energy and their own resources to give us tea and coffee and loads of goodies. To our readers, counters, website and communications volunteers our picnic and barbecue organisers and all our parishioners: ‘Míle buíochas agus is mian liom go bhfuil Nollag shonasach agus Athbliain shuaimneach ar fad agaibh go léir.
Je souhaite un très bon Noël à tous.