This week our Wednesday Word of Witness if from Catherine Hanley, a young person who offers us food for thought this Christmastime.
In fact, it is
my opinion that by sending down His only Son to earth, God the Father gave a
three-fold gift. The first was the sacrificial gift of His only Son, so that He
might enter human history and be among us and ultimately save us from our sins. Secondly, His
son gave us His Church on earth, providing the world with a new
community – the Christian family who are united together as one body through
Him.
Catherine has been helping the team of catechists welcoming primary pupils on pilgrimage from around the diocese during this year of faith. As she prepares to move away, and the rest of the team take a well earned break for Christmas, we offer our thanks for all their hard work and willingness to share their faith with young people and their teachers.
As a young Catholic, “The commercialisation of Christmas” is a phrase
that is very familiar to me. During my childhood I have often been tempted to
allow Christmas to become clouded by a preoccupation with gift-giving, and so
to forget the “True Meaning” of Christmas. But now that I am slightly older, it
seems to me that despite the distortions of consumerism, there is still a
richer, and more valuable concept of “Gift-Giving” that Christmas should not be
deprived of.
Christmas, of course, began with a gift – the most fundamental gift of all – a life.
In fact, it is
my opinion that by sending down His only Son to earth, God the Father gave a
three-fold gift. The first was the sacrificial gift of His only Son, so that He
might enter human history and be among us and ultimately save us from our sins. Secondly, His
son gave us His Church on earth, providing the world with a new
community – the Christian family who are united together as one body through
Him.
And thirdly, He
gave us a personal example of how best to organise our human relationships and
societies. We hear the word “lowly” used in carols to describe the setting of
Jesus’s birth, and it is on this humble level that Mary and Joseph were blessed
with a family of their own.
For me, the
time spent with my own family this Christmas will be of particular significance
as I am about to move away from home, but I am encouraged by this season’s reminder of how strong the bonds we build as
family are. In Luke 2 we
hear that the Shepherds
“spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”For me, the Nativity is first and foremost a story about family, the relationships we give each other. This core meaning of Christmas comes home to us intimately, in all our warmest well-wishing, at this time.
Catherine has been helping the team of catechists welcoming primary pupils on pilgrimage from around the diocese during this year of faith. As she prepares to move away, and the rest of the team take a well earned break for Christmas, we offer our thanks for all their hard work and willingness to share their faith with young people and their teachers.