A Christmas Message from Fr. Richard Gibbons

Happy Christmas!

Another year of world-weary craziness is passing away before us – still there are wars, countless lives destroyed, the wretchedness of homelessness, climate crisis etc… etc…, countless problems almost too many to get our heads around.

And still!

Still there is the possibility for good and hope – out of our celebration of the birth of the Christ Child at Christmas we draw hope, why? Because God never abandons us to despair. He became one of His own creatures, one of us, to show us the way home to Him. We are not alone nor abandoned nor unloved. We are cherished in His eyes even when we perpetrate awfulness on ourselves as human beings such as war, violence and destruction.

God became one of us at Christmas over 2,000 years ago in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. We have no idea of God’s mind as to why He decided to do this in the manner He did but, as a people of faith, we believe He did. By doing so God, through His Son Jesus, transformed the world forever, a revolution of the heart, mind and soul, to be better people, charitable, understanding, kinder and more generous. Christmas always offers us the hope of a better future, to be the people God wishes us to be – let that be our prayer for the world in the year ahead.

A very happy Christmas and better 2024 to you all

Fr Richard