Fr. Aidan Writes:
Christmas is here, and the whole parish team sends you greetings and blessings for the Feast. We hope you all have a Happy New Year.
Sometimes we have to search carefully for the true meaning of Christmas that becomes obscured by the commercialism and the hype. Christmas is about an encounter with the God who, out of his unfathomable love, decided to walk amongst his creation sharing all of life’s experiences from birth to death. The Christ child is a challenge to respond in kind to that gift of love. Babies draw out of us a profound loving response too. Perhaps we should reflect upon that by expanding that loving response to all whom we meet, for everyone is an image and likeness of God if we deign to look deep enough.
I am going to suggest perhaps a radical path for us next year. In all our encounters with others, let us not start with a defensive and thus judgmental posture that stops us from really encountering, learning and growing. Let’s stop the approach that starts with, “your politics are different from mine so I cannot be your friend” or, “your views on women, religion, race, sexuality, society, etc. are different from mine, so I cannot listen or associate with you”. The Christ child challenges us to see truth, justice, hope and humanity in the most unusual places. Who would have thought that the source of our salvation could come from a baby born in a st ble? If we can wrap our heads around that, then surely we can start to open our minds and hearts to grow in the knowledge and understanding of our fellow human beings and society in general.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Fr Aidan-Peter CJ and all the parish team
May God bless you, your families, and the week ahead,
Fr Aidan Peter