Remembering the child who was born into his own restricted conditions

WHAT a year it has been as we come to celebrate Christmas. We have been living with many restrictions on our liberty and more to take affect from St Stephen’s Day.  

So much has happened and changed within the last year.  We will celebrate Christmas 2020 very differently to previous years; no in person carol services, no Christmas dinners or parties. And yet how often have we said in the past that Christmas had become so commercialised.  

In some ways, our celebrations will be stripped back and maybe, just maybe this might help us recover what Christmas is all about which is recalling how Divine love for humanity expressed itself in a tiny baby born into very restricted conditions in Bethlehem. 

At the heart of the Christmas message is God’s desire to be reconciled to his people. In Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus, we read these words:  “She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) 

So with those words in mind and accepting that this year’s celebrations will be different, I ask how do we make the most of this Christmas? If we have learned anything from this year, it has reminded us how fragile our world is and indeed how we have had to live with uncertainty and still do.  

Inevitably the last year will have taken its toll on all of us to some degree with all its difficulties coming especially from Covid 19, the ensuing deaths, illnesses, unemployment, impact on our personal finances, damage to the economy, disrupted education of children and young people, that list goes on and on.

It’s highly likely we will have had run-ins, disagreements and fall-outs with others over these months. So my suggestion/plea would be to use this Christmas time as an ideal opportunity to let bygones be bygones and to let go of the hurts or offences we may have experienced in 2020. By drawing a line under the past and with the grace of God, I pray we may find the strength to forgive those who have hurt us particularly during lockdown. 

As we face into all the uncertainty of the rest of this year and the next number of months in 2021, we would do so lighter if we were to leave behind the unpleasant inter-personal baggage of 2020 or previous years. 

Nollaig shona agus athbhliain faoi mhaise duit!