Christmas message from the bishops
The passage (below) is taken from the Gospel of Christmas day. The line about the Son, Jesus ‘who is nearest to the Father’s heart’ is significant.
No one has
ever seen God;
We get in touch with God through others, via creation and especially at Christmas as we celebrate how God came among us as one of us – it is what we call the Incarnation (in means “in” and caro means “flesh”),
the Word became flesh, God came among us as a human being, indeed, as a vulnerable little baby.
No one has ever seen God;
We live in a world that demands proof of everything including God. We ask to see God, as we see everything around us.
At Christmas, we celebrate the birthday of Jesus, the little baby, the Son of God, gifted to us by God, the Father.
No one has ever seen God; it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart,
who has made him known.
– Taken from the Gospel
of Christmas Day
The story of our salvation can be told as follows:
God the Father and His Son had conversations in which they acknowledged that there was a great love, comradeship, friendship between them. Then God the Father asked His Son to share that spirit with the people of the Earth as they seemed to be struggling and so...
Jesus did come among us and made God the Father known, made God’s love/care for us known to us through Jesus. We respond to a baby. Christmas is that special time, which brings out the best in us. You see God has gifted us with his Son, Jesus, and so it is a time of giving gifts at Christmas.
As we celebrate Christmas we think of the Holy Land and the terror of war, turmoil and forced migration. We think of the people of all faiths; Jewish, Christian, and Moslem. We pray for peace. We remember that Jesus came among us to be with us in our vulnerability and brokenness.
Later, as an adult, Jesus suffered and was broken on the Cross so as to carry us in our brokenness. We know that Jesus is with all those who are suffering and is sustaining those working to alleviate such suffering.
As we prepare to celebrate Christmas during this Advent, prepare for the Birthday of Jesus, we are renewed with joy, hope and peace for the future. May we wish you, your families and especially those who are abroad this Christmas a happy and peaceful Christmas.