From the Parish Priest

Every year at Christmas, Christians struggle by being pulled in two different directions. On one side is the commercial and family pull which both demand decorations going up in early December, with the tree alight and on show. Pressure is applied to go to parties, attend concerts, sing carols, buy presents, send cards and all before the Christian Church has got into Advent. Against all that is the traditional Christian understanding that Christmas doesn’t really start until after Midnight Mass, and parties, concerts and even decorations should wait until December 25th itself.

Some chance! I was amazed last year, just a couple of days after Christmas, to take a car load of friends to view some particularly attractive lights. As we turned into the road, we had a shock - they’d all gone. The street, having been awash with coloured lights, trees and snowy scenes for a whole month, now stood in complete darkness. Christmas was apparently over, with the decorations stowed away even before the New Year was in sight. Whatever happened to the traditional Twelfth Night, let alone the Church calendar when Christmas officially ends with Candlemass?

The clock cannot be turned back however, and the Church looks remarkably foolish when it tries to stop the early Christmas celebrations. If we’re not careful the Church will be left out of Christmas altogether, so we must try really hard to keep a balance. It’s quite right to join in the family parties, the school concerts and the carol singing, however early they may appear, but none of these can replace the celebration of Jesus on Christmas Day. Whatever the pressure to attend family dinners, December 25th is Christ’s Day, and as a member of his Church, we all have a responsibility to worship him before we do anything else.

Fr. Mike