If the Christmas season is to mean anything it must be about God and us. The wonder of life and the dignity that Christ brought to that life, by becoming one of us. I’m often a little disappointed when I hear people say that ‘Christmas is for Children’. ‘Not true’, I want to shout out. Jesus as a child is there for all of us, from his birth he was surrounded by human warmth and blessing. Those who received him into the world recognised in this tiny baby, that he was a gift from God. Maybe we have lost our sense of wonder, we’ve discovered so much, we know so much, and yet when all is said and done, we know so little. We have learned so little since the birth of that beautiful baby over two thousand years ago. The deep amazement at the birth of Christ for the most part is lost. I say that because it’s loss is reflected in the lack of dignity afforded to every human being in our world today. Life today is cheap, murders are two-a-penny, domestic violence is the great ‘silence’ of our day and those who can, continue to run on the ever revolving treadmill of life; those who can’t choose to end their life, seeing it of little value. If the birth of the Christ-Child is to mean anything, it must mean restoring the dignity and value of every human being. A document recently issued by the Irish Bishops tackles man of these issues. Called ‘The Wonder of Life’. It talks of the Pope pointing to an underlying sense of dread in our world, an atmosphere of emptiness and a loss of meaning, a feeling of loneliness. For many people this season brings to the surface these feelings of emptiness and dread. Pope John Paul sees these as ‘Marks of a continent that seems to be loosing its Christian memory’, the result of an attempt ‘to see human life apart from Christ’. The birth of Christ is the birth of new hope, but it must grow out of love given and received. God’s love, which is the foundation of hope, is also a command: ‘Just as I have loved you, you should also love one another’. The best present you could give someone this Christmas is a little love. Fr Rory O'Sullivan Director of Communications Diocese of Kerry December 2003 |