“One of my favourite things about the Christmas season is the decorations – in my opinion, more is more! I love loads of lights, tinsel, and the more glitter the better. However, my love of decorations combined with a certain laziness leads to real compromise when it comes to the festive appearance of the Rectory in Wicklow.
“Also, my wife has a much more refined palate when it comes to such matters, so the most garish of our decorations mostly end up in my office. But we don’t have to go far to see an abundance of (tasteful) Christmas lights. All of Wicklow and Rathnew and beyond have fabulous Christmas light displays, which help create a wonderful atmosphere.
“Christmas is a time when we often fall back on rituals developed in the past – gathering with certain people on certain days to do the same certain things, year after year. This repetition brings some comfort. However, the Christian season of Advent throughout the weeks leading up to Christmas Day reminds us of a certain fact: time only moves in one direction. However we seek to re-create the past, it can never be exactly the same as before, for the world is always changing.
“It was into a changing world that the Son of God was born, over 2000 years ago. God’s response to the needs of the world is seen in the baby Jesus, who was born into a community under the ruthless efficiency of the most powerful empire the world has ever seen. As we look around our world, we don’t have to look far to see where there is need for change for the better, and peace and goodwill for all people.
“We can easily feel helpless as we witness or hear about appalling atrocities committed by humans against their fellow humanity. And yet, it was through that helpless baby that change did come, and through the community established in his name change is still possible.
“May we all know the peace of the Christ child at Christmas time, and may we be inspired by his story: to seek to make a difference in our own lives, however limited we might feel our influence can be.”