Christmas Message From Fr. Richard

Happy Christmas Everyone!

“Yes but…. why?” is a common question for enquiring minds, especially children – “Why is the sky blue? Why is grass green? Why won’t you answer my questions?!” depending which parent surrenders first, they usually say their other half has all the answers, “go (plague)…go ask your mother/father!”

Why did God become one of us? The answer is to save us from our sins, which I know you knew! But … still… why? God becoming one of us in the incarnation, the birth of a child shows us that we are not alone. It shows us that we are loved intimately by God, and He wants a relationship with us. God wishes us to know that directly and personally, so He became as we are. One theologian (St Athanasius) put it – “He became what we are so that He might make us what He is.”

In a year that started out with high hopes of a sunny post pandemic world, we were cast down by war and a resultant energy and cost of living crises. Yet we do not despair. The child Jesus was born into crisis – no proper accommodation for His birth with His family having to flee later to Egypt, not an ideal entry into the world! As people of faith, whatever we face in life does not go unnoticed by God and ultimately our destiny is to be with the Lord. In the here and now, however, we look out for one another. We love as He loves us, that is the answer to every Christmas.

Wishing you and yours every blessing this Christmas

Fr Richard