One of the highlights of the year gone by
in Cavan was Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann in August.
It gave a great lift
to the town and the county and was widely acknowledged as a great
success.
It was so successful in fact that Cavan was asked to host the
Fleadh again next year.
But now, as the end of the year approaches, the
Fleadh is a memory and I suspect many are anticipating Christmas with
some foreboding.
The crisis in banking and in the public finances has dominated the
news for months.
The hair shirt measures in the budget are still fresh
in our minds, and we’re told to expect more of the same in years to
come.
Businesses are struggling, unemployment and emigration are back
with a bang, and many are threatened with losing even their homes
because they can’t meet their mortgage payments.
Add to that the harsh
weather and the disillusionment with politicians and Church leaders and
we really have a winter of discontent.
Faced with these challenges it is tempting to give in to a sense of
helplessness, to resort to cynicism or even despair.
That is a
temptation we have to resist.
St Paul’s recipe for his congregation in
Thessalonia when they faced difficult times was to appeal for a spirit
of mutual support and hope, rooted in their faith in God and in Christ:
“Encourage one another and build one another up...For this is the will
of God for you in Christ Jesus.” In this situation faith is fundamental.
On a recent visit to Ireland, sponsored by Trócaire and Christian
Aid, a group of Christians who live in Gaza spoke of their terrible
suffering and desolation. They said how easy it would be to give up, to
believe that the situation there would never change.
Yet, in a joint
statement they went on to say: ‘Despite the lack of even a glimmer of
positive expectation, our hope remains strong, because it is from God’.
For us as Christians, hope is the ability to see God in the midst of all
our troubles. It is based on our faith that God is with us especially
in the difficult times.
As St Paul again says: “If God is for us, who
can be against us?”
From this conviction that God-is-with-us comes the
strength to have a positive outlook and to work with determination to
change the reality in which we find ourselves.
Christmas is the celebration of ‘God with us’. St Matthew saw the
birth of Jesus as fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah: “The virgin will
conceive and give birth to a Son, and they will call him Emmanuel, a
name which means ‘God-is-with-us’.”
So despite the doom and gloom we
have hope. Christ promised to be with us always, to the end of the age.
As we celebrate the feast of Christmas Christ is born again into our
hearts and lives.
He brought hope and healing to the people he lived
among in Israel.
He still brings hope and healing to us today. He came
that we might have life and have it to the full.
The Fleadh was a success because of the spirit of generosity and
co-operation of a great number of people.
It involved a lot of planning,
hard work and a willingness to go the extra mile.
That same generosity
and co-operation will ensure that the Fleadh will be equally successful
next year.
It may take longer for our country to recover and be
successful economically once more, but again, generosity and
co-operation, solidarity and a sense of hope will help us to surmount or
present difficulties and build a new and even better future.
I wish you all a happy Christmas.
SIC: DK/IE