AT Christmas we remember the coming of Jesus into the world as a vulnerable baby. Right now, there are babies laughing and crying in our world, and there are parents listening for those cries and understanding them. This is a language without words, but a language nonetheless!
Christmas is a story about all of us receiving that which we most need: love. Christmas is not just a story about Joseph and Mary being entrusted with the awesome responsibility of caring for His son. The Christmas story is about how God loves us and that He asks us to join Him in loving the world.
God asks us, like Joseph and Mary, to learn to hear and understand the cries of others.
We are invited to listen and learn to understand the unspoken cries of all who need our care: children; families; older people; those who are ill, poor and needy. And once we hear those cries, we are asked to respond in love.
Christmas asks us to remember the presence of Jesus entrusted to us, by caring for each other and for ourselves.
Christmas asks us to listen to the cries and laughter of others, and love as we have been loved.
May Christmas remind us to love and be loved, just as God does in His Son, Jesus Christ, born to bring us love, hope for the future and peace in the world this day and always.
A happy and joyful Christmas to you all.
The Rev Preb Matthew Tregenza
Holy Cross Church, Crediton