Many reasons are been
aired currently which
could take the happiness
out of our Christmas
celebrations. New
expressions such as
‘credit crunch’ and ones
with frightening
overtones like
redundancies and
unemployment are
dominating our
headlines. Regardless of
these, one thing is
certain, Christmas will
come around on December
25th.
In Reality times are
getting tougher, and we
are all endeavouring to
make what we have, go a
little further. For
those at the centre of
the first Christmas
times were also tough. A
young woman found
herself almost jilted by
her fiancé; in the final
stages of pregnancy a
couple set out on a
precarious journey;
amidst crowds they
become weak and
vulnerable unable to
secure necessary privacy
and medical help; and so
it was that in the midst
of strangers and in a
borrowed out-building
God’s Son came to birth.
His first visitors not
the most desirable of
characters.
Wherever we find
ourselves this
Christmastime with
regard to the recession,
let us recall the gift
given so freely on the
first Christmas night –
Christ the Lord. Without
material wealth we all
have something to offer
those who share our
life-journey. With time
on our hands we can make
a long-overdue call on a
neighbour; value the
difference that an offer
to look after a friends
children could make to
them; rediscover the
natural beauty of our
locality by walking in
it as a family or with
friends, turning down
the opportunity to spend
money in shopping malls.
God’s gift to the world
was the gift of Love,
revealed in human form
like our own, except for
sin. This gift is a
never-ending gift. In
darkness it offers
light, in despair hope,
and in conflict peace.
In uncertainty it gives
confidence and hope.
Facing a festive season
devoid of the glow and
trimmings of past
Christmases, may we be
inspired by the true
message of Christmas
that a child has been
born for us. His name,
Emmanuel, echoes out to
all people in every
circumstance of life the
fact that truly “God is
with us.”
By Revd. Fr. Nicholas
Hird, Our Lady & St.
Paulinus Church.
On behalf of the
Churches Together in
Dewsbury.
