Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas Message 2011 - Bishop Leo O'Reilly (RC)

Christmas Message 2011 

Bishop Leo O'Reilly
Kilmore 

I got a card recently from an old friend. Inside, the usual good wishes were printed, including “ a merry Christmas”. 

My friend, who is pretty fussy about words, had crossed out the word ‘merry’ and wrote in ‘happy’ instead. I could see his point. There is a difference. For me merry is something fairly superficial, often associated with having a few drinks. It’s a fairly transient feeling and doesn’t go very deep.  

Christmas should be more than just merry. Happy Christmas suggests something deeper, more lasting. It comes from a different place. It’s rooted in reality – the reality of Christ’s birth at Bethlehem. It celebrates Good News, the news that God has entered our world, Christ is one of us. He is Emmanuel, God-with-us.

So you don’t have to feel merry to take part in the celebration of Christmas. If you’re struggling to make ends meet and you can’t afford the things your children would like for Christmas, you mightn’t feel merry. 

If you’re missing a son or a daughter who has emigrated, Christmas may not seem much fun. 

If you’re grieving the death of a loved one, or weighed down by worry and sickness, Christmas might not be something to look forward to with great enthusiasm.

But even if Christmas is not very merry for you, I hope it will be happy. I hope you will experience the quiet joy and peace that come from hearing once again the simple story of Mary and Joseph, the angels and the shepherds, and Jesus surrounded by ox and ass and lying in the manger. 

The Christmas story is the incredible tale of God stooping down to share our weakness and poverty in order to raise us up to share in his glory. It is summed up in the words of the first reading of the Mass of Christmas night: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; on those who live in a land of deep shadow a light has shone.”  

It is not those who bask in the sunshine who need the light. It is those who live in darkness. It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but those who are sick. It is not those who are safe and satisfied who need salvation, but sinners. 

The happiness of Christmas is not the merriment of the tipsy, but the joy of those who know their need of God and who know that God has come. He has taken on our human flesh and become one of us. 

The happiness of Christmas is knowing, not only that he has come, but that he remains with us and brings light to the darkness of our lives. 

He is our Saviour. He is Emmanuel, God-with-us. 

That is truly something to celebrate.

I wish you all a truly happy Christmas.