Dear friends

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When my nieces were young they always enjoyed having stories read to them; to this day I can remember the names of all the farmyard animals who, having been consumed by Foxy Loxy,  “never did get to tell the King the sky was falling in”!   One of their favourite books began with the words “Once upon a time in a land far far away there lived a beautiful princess.”  The opening words draw the listener into a different almost magical realm – the events happen “ once upon a time” they are not given a time or date; the place is far away – unidentified – away from and inaccessible to the child’s experience; the key character, the Princess, is someone the child longs to be but never will be and whose story is far removed from present or future real life experiences.

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There is much about Christmas celebrations that is “magical” : the shop window displays; street lights; office parties; visits to Santa (who then brings presents from afar).  Most of that is harmless fun but at the heart of Christmas lies a different story – not a fairy tale but truth.  It never ceases to amaze me how St Luke, in the early chapters of his gospel, goes to great lengths to root the incarnation in human history.  There is nothing “once upon a time”  about the Incarnation, it happens in real time: Herod is on the throne, Augustus is the emperor, Quirinius is governor of Syria.  The places are real – Nazareth and Bethlehem.  God takes our human nature – Jesus is not removed from human experience but identifies with it: And he feeleth in our sadness and he shareth in our gladness.

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Those fundamental truths which St Luke sets before us are truths we need to hold on to as we celebrate Christmas.   Not as kill-joys: there is nothing wrong with all the tinsel and trimmings.  But the reality of our celebration is that there has been born a Saviour, Emmanuel, God With Us.  It is Jesus who comes to live and die and rise for us; to do so in our flesh, in human history in order to release us from the confines of temporality and open for us the gates of eternity.

The World needs to hear this truth – myths and legends – crossed fingers and wishes – wealth or credit card debt – do not bring salvation.  But God has acted, the Word became flesh annd dwelt among us; in the womb of the Virgin Mary he took our humanity and he has raised it now to the glory of Heaven.

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Be assured of my prayers as we journey through Advent and come to celebrate Christmas; may this Christmas rekindle in us joy that God has been born among us and that thereby hope can never be a distant thing like a fairytale but is immediate, life transforming, the pledge of immortality.

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With blessings this Advent and Christmas

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+ David