Christmas Message

There is, I think you’ll agree, something traditional and timeless about Christmas.

It is a time when we are visited by what Dickens would call the Ghost of Christmas Past and we remember and reflect on Christmases long ago. Unfortunately, as time goes on and as we grow older, we remember those who are no longer with us, what has changed and we permit ourselves a nostalgic thought and a prayer. We tend to look on Christmases past through rose tinted glasses. That is particularly true this year.

Indeed, I think, most of us who send Christmas Cards will have noticed the names on the list of family, friends and relations who died during the year. COVID has impacted on all aspects of life, on every family and on Christmas too.

Last Christmas was an unwelcome interruption in that traditional Christmas cycle. Social distance, tickets for Mass, the fear of contracting or passing the virus and a post-Christmas surge in infection shattered our rose tinted glasses and made that ghost of Christmas past a painful tormentor.

Last week we learnt that due to Omicron, the traditional Christmas whose return we all longed for, would not be coming this year either. The last week has dampened moods, instilled fear once again and threatens the Christmas we expected. It could be a gloomy picture!

In the midst of all that, it is important to remember what Christmas commemorates.
Christ was born in a stable, not by choice but of necessity. He was born at a time of political difficulty, during a census ordered by the Roman occupiers. There was no comfort or prosperity. The birth on one level made no difference, on another level another mouth to feed. But the Christmas story, our faith in Christ and the Carols that we are familiar with tell of another perspective.

A star shone, angels sang and to those who were gifted with recognition, there was a sense of joy and hope.
In the midst of that dark night, God had somehow intervened. There was joy and hope that God was fulfilling his promise, that He had not forgotten his people and that the salvation that we all long for was on its way. Circumstances, be they social, personal, economic or political, were unable to dampen the joy and hope of that night in a Bethlehem stable that we commemorate once again this year.

May our Christmas this year also bring us that sense of joy, hope and the confidence that comes from faith in God’s nearness, compassion and care. That is the cause of our Christmas joy.

Many, particularly the elderly, those who look after others and those who have underlying medical conditions will be slow to join their community for Christmas Mass this year. That is understandable. But do try to visit the crib in your local church during Christmas and as you look on the figures there, allow yourself to be reassured, consoled and made happy by the reality of the God made man.

As John Bateman put it in his poem Christmas,
And is it true,
This most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained glass window hue,
A baby in an ox’s stall,
The maker of the stars and sea
Became a child on earth for me.

As the birth of Christ brought hope and confidence, we too face the new year with apprehension certainly – the next few weeks will be difficult- but with hope and confidence also and with gratitude to those who worked hard to protect health, flatten the curve, save lives and develop vaccines and treatments. Somewhere, in the midst of that huge effort, in those who used their skills and talents, there is the presence of God. Perhaps like the first Christmas, there is, for ourselves, the challenge of recognition!

The Traditional Irish celebration of Christmas centered around the Christmas Candle, a light to beckon the Holy Family to shelter.

Irish Spirituality believed very much in the Incarnation, a God made man and in the nearness of God.

There is, I think, a need for all of us to believe once again in the nearness of God, the fruit of that first Christmas. We are not left alone, we are not abandoned but we are known and loved by God.

May your Christmas be holy and joyful and may the new year bring hope, happiness, a renewal of friendships and social contacts and, above all, may the Jesus bless you and your household this Christmas.