Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

25 December 2020
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"For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (Jn.3/16).

The gift of that first Christmas, more than 2000 years ago, was the gift of God’s unending Love incarnated through the birth of a child, Jesus, the Word made flesh! Each Christmas WE are invited to turn the memory of that gift into Love, given and received once again!

Commemorating this Gift of our God, we become acutely aware of our world wilting under the scourge of Covid-19 with no sign of respite. Nations are struggling to cope with the impact of this tiny unwelcome guest that has wreaked havoc on all fronts.

We have all had to cancel events and make significant changes to our calendars. As of now, we cannot plan too far ahead and we have to accept that the future will be written as it occurs. On the positive side, we have had time to do things we’ve wanted to do but have never had the time or taken the time to do them. We have had time to pause, reassess, and hopefully re-invent so that we can emerge stronger from the pandemic.

In the words of Pope Francis, “The pain, uncertainty and fear, and the realization of our own limitations, brought on by the pandemic have only made it all the more urgent that we rethink our lifestyle, our relationships, the organization of our societies and, above all the meaning of our existence”. How might we cope with this ‘pain, uncertainty, fear, and the realization of our own limitations’ in a world rocked on all sides?

As we grope in the darkness of uncertainty, unable to see the road ahead, may the truth of God’s everlasting Love shine upon us, bringing peace, happiness and good will; giving us a firm trust that all things are made beautiful in God’s own time!

Let us look beyond the masks we wear; beyond the hidden faces and muffled voices we are experiencing and take Brother Michael Herry’s poem to heart:
If I may paraphrase it:

May God’s love and light shine in and through us today
in a way that no mask can hide.
May our eyes dance with the laughter and joy
replacing our hidden smiles.
May our actions of care and concern
speak louder than our muffled voices ever could.
And may the generosity of our hearts
radiate out through who we are and how we respond to the world around us
So that others may not see our masks
but your image shining out, moving in and through us today.
Amen Br Michael Herry fms

As we celebrate the ‘Word made Flesh’ dwelling amongst us, may we be able to look beyond the chaos, to focus on what is possible and to see the hope of God’s Love dwelling amongst us, gifting us with the dawn of a new day!