Fr Derek Darby
Diocese of Meath

If this year has taught us anything in our towns and country, it has taught us of the 
importance of love in our lives, and above all else that we need God, to love and to be 
loved, in order to trust in him.  We often need to feel the embrace of a loving environment, 
the support of family and friends, which enables us to cope with the difficult realities of 
a sometimes harsh world.  All of this is reflected in the love of family, in the love of 
Mary and Joseph for their little infant lying in the manger.  Their love, so evident and 
powerful, that not a word is spoken – they adoringly watch their son.  Since September 11th 
2001 we have lived a life of uncertainty and fear for tomorrow – the loss of jobs, the fear 
of travel.  Everyone has their own memories of that tragic day:  the sequence of destruction 
beamed into our televisions, but there was one memory I have of that tragic day which brings 
to life the kernel of the Gospels - There were people trapped on those planes, who rose to 
saying “ I love you” to their spouses and partners before they died.  Those loving phone calls 
bring home the reason why so many people invest so much in their relationships, who recommit 
themselves everyday of their lives to each other, why they work to make a shelter within 
which to rear and protect those they love – the importance of family – we have it in the 
manger – all because they were grounded in love and the source of all love is God. 
 
Over the last year many have married, and many will marry next year.  Many have had babies, 
and many others are praying to have a baby this year. Many have lost loved ones, and Christmas 
is a time to be strong for the rest of the family, but there is a silent, painful hurt buried 
inside, eyes heavy with tears.  We have to recognise that our lives are forever changed, like
those who got married, like those who have a new baby, like Joseph and Mary in the manger, 
those in the Bali bombing, the victims of the Washington Sniper, the families of the two 
little girls kidnapped and murdered in England, the many lives and homes destroyed through 
violence, drugs, alcohol or addiction; the many for whom there will be no Christmas: the 
homeless, the starving.  Maybe we are the lucky ones.  Maybe our lives have changed all for 
the better for having loved or for being loved.  

Loving when we least feel like it and when people least deserve it, is when we love like 
God.  That kind of love can actually transform others in the same way that Christ’s love 
transforms us, simply because love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does 
not boast, it is not proud.  It is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps 
no record of wrongs.

Thanks to this special and holy Christmas night when Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds see 
the baby Jesus in the manger, we know the answer to the question:  Is God real and does 
he love us?  God is right there in the ruins of the many world disasters, in the birth of 
a new baby, in the marriage of a couple, in the frail moments of our lives, in the sharing 
of a family on Christmas morning, in the loss of a loved one.  

This Christmas, let us give thanks to God for our families, and pray that the love of God 
which united Joseph and Mary will unite us all and bring peace to the world.

 
Ends
13 December 2002