We should leave aside materialism this Christmas and focus on the
“precious gift of life”, the Catholic and Church of Ireland Bishops of
Clogher have said in a joint message for Christmas.Reflecting on the pressure that parents are under at Christmas in the current economic climate, Bishop Liam McDaid and Bishop John McDowell said that the original events that inspired the Christmas story were not reflected in the “sanitised and decorated” scenes we see around us at Christmas.
They said Jesus Christ came into human existence in a “raw setting” but he had a “mother’s love, a father’s care and God’s protection”.
“It was hardly an accident that God came in this way into our brokenness, our flaws, and our limitations,” they said. “He wanted to be with us as we are. He had come to heal our brokenness, not to disguise it or paint over it; to feed our hunger, not to deny it. It was not a piece of stage drama, the Word was truly and authentically to live among us. We were to be shown how love could survive on a cross and forgiveness overcome the pain of thorns and betrayal.”
In their annual joint message issued this week the two bishops said that “all who are troubled” or “feeling burdened or broken by life’s daily challenges” should leave aside the cards, the presents and the extras for a few days and “instead talk and listen to the one whose birth we are planning to celebrate”.
“He has things to say to us that could change our perspective, lessen our worries as we count our blessings and he could show us how celebrating the simpler, long-lasting and more precious gifts of life and living can make for a different but ultimately more satisfying experience of Christmas joy and togetherness,” they said.