My dear friends
On Friday we celebrate Christmas Day which has largely lost its true meaning in the secular society of today. We need to recover our sense of wonder. I want to take us back many years to a time when my sons were still young and eagerly waited for the presents Father Christmas might bring. I recall one particular Christmas Day when the boys had many presents. My elder son said “he’s come” and I shall never forget, all these years later, the look of open-mouthed wonder as he looked around at the bulging stockings for his brother and himself. That is how we should respond, with a sense of wonder that God deigned to come to earth as a tiny baby, having emptied himself of his Godhead. There will be more on that emptying when, God willing, I am with you on the next Sunday.
We need also recall that when Jesus died he remained with us as God, for it was only his earthly body that died and then rose. The word “Emmanuel” is worth thinking about for, as you know, it means God with us. Our response must be one of total thanksgiving. It will be a strange Christmas as I greet those same sons, now in their forties with families of their own. It will be on zoom or Facetime but at least I shall be able to see them all.
A holy and blessed Christmas to you all.
With my love, Fr David