CHRISTMAS WISHES FROM BISHOP MICHAEL DUIGNAN
“In a world where you can be anything, be kind”
A few days ago, I was delighted to see that Woodies have re-run their 2020 Christmas advertisement.
I was also pleased that a recent poll confirmed that, after five years, it remains Ireland’s favourite Christmas advertisement.
It features “Mrs Higgins”, an elderly lady with her little dog and a badly broken gate. Nearby, hoodie-clad young lads gather. As the advertisement concludes, Mrs Higgins returns from the shops to find that her gate has a new hinge.
The final frame moves to capture the smiling face of one of the young lads with a screwdriver. Under his breath he says, “Happy Christmas, Mrs Higgins.”
I do not know about you, but this small act of unexpected kindness leaves me with a lump in my throat.
It shows the power of Christmas to bring out the best in everyone. Christmas is that time when Christians throughout the world retell the story of the birth of a tiny child two thousand and twenty-five years ago, when we recall how, in that unexpected event, God himself entered our world to hold up to us the value of love and the ways of kindness.
Perhaps this Christmas, more than many others, we need not only to hear that message, but truly to heed it. Our world is struggling to love. Kindness is in short supply. I pray that I, and perhaps all of us, might take a leaf out of that hoodie-clad young lad’s book.
As the popular saying goes, “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”
I pray that, in the true spirit of Christmas, each of us might kindle that spark of kindness in our own lives.
Guím Nollaig naofa, beannachtaí Íosa, agus Nollaig chroíúil ort féin, ar do mhuintir agus ar do chairde.
I wish you all God’s blessings this Christmas, and a healthy, happy, and kinder New Year, full of that spirit of “Happy Christmas, Mrs Higgins!”
+ Michael Duignan, Bishop of Clonfert
Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh
Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora
24th December 2025