CHAPLAINS CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

So once again we enter the Christmas Season. Although truth be told, most of the major retailers have been in Christmas mode since October, and our cities and town councils have followed this haste or should I say heist, by early November with their Christmas Markets and their Christmas lights switch on. Certainly, in most places long before the First Sunday of Advent “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” even if it’s not. And there lies the problem. In rushing into the Christmas Season, we anesthetize ourselves of its powerful and true message long before it is retold to an often disbelieving and cynical world. Sadly, by the time Christmas arrives, many are already suffering Christmas fatigue or overload.

But for Christians, the Christmas Season must not just be two days of “Seasonal Holidays” but a season that will continue until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which this liturgical year, will be celebrated on Sunday 11^th January. So, my fellow pilgrims, buckle up and stay in Christmas mode long after your neighbours and colleagues have carefully packed away the decorations and tree lights for yet another year and have taken down and recycled the shedding wilted Christmas tree, and those Christmas cards received. For us, Christmas must truly remain “the Season to be jolly”, not in anticipation of what we will find under the Christmas tree this Christmas day, but what we have already received in abundance through the Incarnation of God made man and through the wonderful gift of the Sacrament of Baptism. These are gifts that truly last, and not just for our lifetime on earth, but for all eternity in the presence of God.     

On Behalf of the Catholic Police Guild may I wish you and your family a Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year.

Fr. Barry Lomax

National Chaplain & Fellow of the Catholic Police Guild of England & Wales.