Everyone’s
talking about ‘Twitter’ nowadays,
but nothing beats the ‘twittering’
in our front garden this winter,
every evening at dusk. Like clockwork,
about half an hour before sundown,
thousands of twittering starlings
gather from miles around, wheeling
and swooping down in a great aerobatic
display. And what a racket their
chattering makes!
Of
course the starlings aren’t the
only ones coming home to roost
these days! The trains and boats
and planes are filled with our
loved ones coming and going for
Christmas. And it’s great to see
them! There’s no time like it
for families and friends to catch
up and renew their love. The door
is always open, but even if they
cannot be with us in person, we
gather them in by ‘Twitter’ and
Skype, or by good old-fashioned
phone calls, letters and Christmas
cards - all in the name of the
Holy Family and the Christ-child,
our Saviour who came to bring
hope, comfort and joy to the world.
The
song of the angels in Bethlehem
promised ‘peace to people of goodwill’.
I pray that, as our families gather
around this Christmas, the peace
of Christ shall descend into our
hearts, and that same peace shall
reach out from our gatherings
across the airways to all our
loved ones, wherever they are
this year.
I know that for some
families Christmas can be a painful
time of year - a reminder of bereavement,
illness, hurts or separation.
I think especially of families
who have lost someone they love
this year, and of those who are
experiencing hardship or no longer
have anywhere to call home; I
remember those who’ll be spending
Christmas time in hospital or
in prison. It’s consoling to know
that Christ came to bring peace
even to the most troubled hearts.
In
this busy world, it is good to
pause now and again to allow Christ’s
peace to enter in. What better
way to do that, than to be with
those we love, to remember where
we’ve come from, the people at
home who first loved us, and the
values which shaped us and helped
make us who we are! Being at home
for a while can bring us back
down to earth!
To
everyone who has come home this
year we say, ‘Welcome back!’ There
are plenty more reasons and opportunities
to come home again during 2013,
with the ‘Year of Culture’ and
the Fleadh Cheoil in the city,
and all ‘The Gathering’ events
that will be taking place around
the country.
2013
is also an important year in our
Church – it has been declared
as a ‘Year of Faith’, a year to
rekindle and renew our friendship
with Jesus.
So I invite you to
come home to God and to your Church
this Christmas and in the coming
year, especially if you’ve become
lukewarm in the practice of your
faith, or perhaps even drifted
away from faith altogether.
‘The
door of faith is always open for
us’.
God
bless you and your family over
Christmas and in the New Year.