The Parish Church of St George the Martyr, Waterlooville
“Christmas is for families”, we’re told by TV advertisers, or more particularly, “Christmas is for children”.
Both those statements may help the advertisers sell their products, but Christmas isn’t ONLY for families and children. Christmas is for everyone regardless of their age, their gender, their religion or their colour. At the first Christmas Jesus was born into the world not to gather around him a particular class or age of people but as the Messiah of the whole world - for all people. There are lots of different ways of celebrating Christmas, many of them depending on different cultures, but at the heart of these celebrations is the birth of a baby. It’s not the birth which is especially important though, nor indeed is Bethlehem where Jesus was born, or even Mary his mother. The really important and life changing event of Christmas is that God himself became man and lived among us. He chose to come to earth in human form, to be born as a human baby, to live with a human family and to surround himself with human friends. God humbled himself to be like us. That is the miracle of Christmas, and despite what we see and hear on television, God’s gift of Jesus is for everyone - he is the Messiah of all people and of all time. “Unto us a Son is born! King of all creation, the Lord of every nation.”
I wish you a very happy and blessed Christmas.
Fr. Mike, Parish Priest