Entries by Abbot David

Easter Sunday– 2026

13 April 2026in /by

5th April 2026 – 

The Resurrection is the foundation of the Christian’s faith. Yet what does it mean? The Resurrection did not mean that Jesus’ mortal life had been prolonged. His life after Resurrection was different from the life he had lived before. The Gospels make it clear that Jesus was no longer subject to the limitations that this life places upon us – and indeed placed on him, too, before his resurrection. The Gospels, however, very definitely emphasise the physical character of his appearances. His disciples recognised his voice, they touched him, they shared meals with him. Equally the Gospels do not shy away from telling us that Jesus could enter rooms where the doors were shut. He could appear suddenly and just as suddenly disappear. They knew, as much as we do, that knowledge of the workings of this world meant that this was implausible. Yet they did not shy away from recording what they experienced.

When reflecting on the various appearances of Jesus, it is worth asking the question, to whom did the risen Jesus appear? Or to put the question another way, to whom might we expect him to appear? Certainly he had a wonderful opportunity to dispel all doubts about the truth of his resurrection. Jesus might have turned up at a meeting of the Jewish Temple authorities and forced them by the pure evidence of his presence to accept the fact that a man whom they knew for certain had died was now, beyond any shadow of a doubt, alive. An even better idea, why didn’t he appear to the Emperor Tiberius Caesar in Rome? He could have ordered the emperor to proclaim the gospel throughout the empire. Think of how much easier things would have been, if Jesus had done this. All those bloody martyrdoms would have been spared. Peter would not have had to die upside down on a cross. Paul would not have had his head chopped off outside the city of Rome. And so many others would not have been thrown to wild beasts in the Roman Coliseum or been burnt alive for the outlandish amusement of the crowd.

Non-believers would have been overwhelmed by the evidence. They would be compelled to become believers. Yet these are precisely the kinds of things that Jesus did not do. He appeared only to his chosen disciples. We read in the Acts of the Apostles an intriguing statement that calls for serious reflection, if we are to understand the meaning of the Resurrection. Peter goes to Caesarea, to the home of the Roman centurion Cornelius, who was interested in hearing more about Jesus. Peter preaches what was clearly the proclamation of the early disciples of Jesus. He says: “Now I, and those with me, can witness to everything he did throughout the countryside of Judea and in Jerusalem itself: and also to the fact that they killed him by handing him on a tree, yet three days afterwards God raised him to life to be seen, not by the whole people but only by certain witnesses God had chosen beforehand. Now we are those witnesses, we have eaten and drunk with him after his resurrection from the dead.” (Acts 10:38-41).

The key point is that Jesus appeared, not to all the people, but to those who were chosen by God as witnesses and who ate with him after he rose from the dead. Evidently the risen Jesus was seen only by those who were linked to him by some bond of love and friendship. Those who did not know him and those who opposed him during his mortal life never got to see him as the Risen Lord.

St. Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologica III, q. 55, art. 2, ad 1) says that Jesus’ disciples Were able to see him because of the eyes of faith.” The disciples may have lost hope after Jesus he died, but they never lost their love and friendship for him. And it was this loving friendship, which is at the core of faith, which gave them the ability to recognise him, when others could not.

The mortal Jesus, the Jesus before his death, could have been experienced as a fact of physical, scientific data; the risen Jesus, however, could only be experienced by faith. For resurrection is not returning from the dead. It is something beyond death to an entirely different kind of existence. Such a leap cannot be verified by ordinary experience. There is always that element of the Resurrection that cannot be explained: Jesus is no longer as he was, he is still who he was. He is the same Jesus. he even carries the wounds of his passion on his body, yet he is somehow different. This means that the Resurrection cannot be proved. It is a matter of faith.

Because Jesus, as a man, entered into an entirely new kind of existence, an immortal existence, the human story is no longer birth, life, death, corruption. It has become birth, life, death and eternal life. The message of the Resurrection is that the body matters. These bodies of ours, with weak hearts, poor eyesight and hearing, arthritic joints and all the other illnesses we endure, are going to be transformed. They’re going to be glorified. For CHRIST HAS RISEN! Easter is not just a happy ending to Jesus’ story. It is a radical new beginning for the human race. Easter means that what is mortal becomes what is eternal. Easter is the gateway into the Divine Life -the hall marks of this life are justice and mercy, truth and joy, peace and kindness, summed up by Saint John in one word – love.

Easter Vigil – 2026

13 April 2026in /by

3rd April 2026 – 

This is the night. The night that reveals the foundation of our faith. The Paschal candle, the sign of Christ’s resurrection, burns steady, passing its flame of faith from hand to hand.

We have listened to the old stories – creation out of chaos, Abraham’s knife held back, Pharaoh’s army swallowed by the sea. Each one tells us the same thing: God doesn’t leave us in the murky depths. He parts waters, stops the hand raised to kill, speaks light into the dark void. And tonight, all that history points to one tomb. In Matthew’s forceful telling, two women come at first light – Mary Magdalene and the other Mary – carrying spices, hearts heavy. They expect a heavy stone sealing the tomb. They expect silence. But instead, an earthquake, and an angel who tells them: “Do not be afraid.”

The stone is rolled away. Not by human, but divine power. The guards shake like dead men. And the angel? He sits calmly on that stone, saying, “He is not here. He has risen, as he said.” As he said. Remember? He told us. Now it’s real.

And those women? They run – fear and great joy mixed together. Jesus meets them on the road. Not a ghost. Not a vision. Flesh and blood, saying their names. “Greetings!” He says, as if it were so ordinary, as if death was just a bad dream. They grab his feet. Worship. And he sends them: “Go tell my brothers.” That is us. We who sat in the dark tonight, renewing vows, feeling the water splashed over our heads – buried with him, raised with him, just as St Paul told us in his letter to the Romans. “We were buried with him by baptism into death… so we too might walk in newness of life.” The truth is: our old self – our fear and doubt, is buried tonight.

The candles we hold are lit from the one flame. One light, many lives. One resurrection, shared. And if fear and doubt creep back into our lives, let us remember this night. The stone rolled away, and angels greeting to the women ‘Do not be afraid.’ Christ is risen.

Good Friday – 2026

13 April 2026in /by

3rd April 2026 – 

Listening to the account of Jesus’ suffering and death or reading it privately surely opens a window of understanding concerning some common elements in the sufferings of the human race. First Christ prays in the garden of Gethsemane that his expected torture and painful death will be taken from him – the prayer of anguish; it is not granted. Then He turns to His friends – they are asleep – just as in so many ways our friends can be, or we can be, or busy, or away, or preoccupied – not understanding the real need of the one seeking help. Then Jesus faces the priests, the Church of His time – that institution brought into existence by His Father – and it condemns Him. This is also characteristic, for in all religions, in every institution, there is something which sooner or later may work against the very purpose for which it was established. But as the story unfolds there seems to be another chance. Perhaps there is hope in the State; in this case the Roman Empire. Its claim to importance were far lower than those of the Jewish religion and it might properly have been free from local fanaticisms. Indeed that was true – but as it was then so it is now, such freedom is governed by political expediency and the keeping of power. Individuals become mere pieces on the board of a complicated game. Perhaps an appeal could be made to the people. And so they are asked what is to be done with the man Jesus, who is called the Christ. But the poor and simple whom He had blessed, whom he had healed and fed and taught, to whose race He belongs, have become overnight a murderous rabble shouting for His blood. What is left, where is He to turn? He will turn to God. And to God, the Son of God’s last words are “Why have you forsaken me?”

As each part of the Passion story unfolds they are representative of the human situation. These are among the things it means to be human. It seems there is no where to go, every door is slammed just as it is reached, every thread of hope breaks when it is seized. We do not have to look very far to see and hear of tragedies, of mental and bodily sufferings, of cruelties and anguish. Events in Ukraine and Iran have shown how evil, pain and suffering can touch all our lives in some way.

What then is the Christian to think, to say and do if even Jesus cries out to God “Why have you forsaken me?” If the crucifixion was the end we would not be here in any case so this particular problem would be removed – for there would be no Christians. Our hope is in what follows – our faith is belief in the disciples testimony. We pass from Good Friday to Easter Sunday – never forgetting that every man and woman has to live some form of Good Friday. No human being can escape a measure of anxiety, pain or suffering – how each person faces this depends, like everything else, on the preparations made beforehand. The world throws its hands up in horror and seeks someone to blame; and the worldly way often seeks escape in passing pleasures in a desperate effort to avoid depression and the consequences of any real change of heart. The Christian will undergo these temptations, but we hear the voice of Christ saying to us, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me’. The key must surely lie in those words – ‘follow me’. We are asked to follow Christ and so to die to sin – to the immaturity of egotism, to the wilful denial of truth, to the wastefulness of time and resources and to greed. In following Christ we die as we live – we move from the darkness of sin to the light of Truth – and so to a share in the glory and light of the resurrection.

Maundy Thursday – 2026

13 April 2026in /by

2nd April 2026 – 

In the Garden of Gethsemane, after the Last Supper Jesus the man had to reconcile himself to his immediate future. Though He is the Word of God made flesh He still had to come to terms as a human being with what he knew the Jewish authorities wanted to do with him. “Father if you are willing, take this cup away from me.  Never-the-less, let your will be done, not mine.”  
 
Before this happened, however, He demonstrated the true nature of his Kingdom: that in his world the king was servant, and the one who served was master, because authority is given and exercised as service.  Jesus’ idea of greatness and power lay in serving others and so he washed the disciples feet. Each example that Jesus gave was a preparation for a fuller, deeper demonstration of the lengths he would go.  But we are told He had to insist, our sinful human nature rejects this way of thinking, it does not see a king as servant or a servant as master!  
 
Unless the disciples would allow him to serve them, unless they could serve in turn, then they could have nothing in common with him. Jesus resolved to serve by surrendering His will to that of the Father – in this way his life would become a real offering. Jesus gave himself away for his friends. He gave His body and blood in the form of food and drink, so that those who should follow him may be one with him.  What he offered them at table he would offer on the wood of the cross. This why priests must be servants of the baptised.
 
Thus if we are to follow Jesus we cannot separate the command to eat his body and drink his blood and his command to serve. Together they bear witness to what it means to be a Christian. Heed therefore the warning Christ gives us this evening – “If I … your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each others feet.”  This attitude of service towards each other is of utmost importance. We are to consider and behave towards each other as though each were the servant. Tomorrow Jesus shows us just how much it costs to carry out the Divine will, how much it costs to serve others – tomorrow the Suffering Servant is presented to us on the altar of the Cross.  Tonight though he asks us to watch and pray with Him,  that we may not be put to the test – for the spirit may indeed be willing but our flesh is weak.
 

Palm Sunday – 2026

13 April 2026in /by

29th March 2026 – 

When we listen to the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and when we look to the altar of this church, our minds cannot but consider the one image that overshadows all others during Holy Week, and that is Jesus Christ crucified. What does that image mean for us? What does it make us feel? Is it Sacrifice? Suffering? Mercy? Salvation? Is it sad indifference? I would think that the least obvious virtue to consider is obedience. The image of the crucified Christ is actually the sign of loving obedience to the Divine will.

Jesus spent his entire time on earth listening to the Divine voice. Throughout his time on earth, in other words Jesus was obedient. He obeyed his parents (Luke 2:51). He obeyed God’s call to public ministry (Matthew 3:14-15). He was obedient to God in times of trial and temptation (John 12:27- 28). He spent time with his Father in prayer so that he might know and obey the Father’s will (Luke 6:12- 13). Obedience was not always easy for the human nature of Jesus – just think about his struggle in the Garden of Gethsemane. His humanity struggled at times with what was asked of Him. But because Jesus constantly relied on the Holy Spirit’s power He won the victory of obedience. That victory was His resurrection.

A most important thing to say is that Christ’s way of obedience does not remove suffering, or the tragedies, or the sometimes incredible imperfections of this life, – it will not stop the weeping or the pain, but it does alter our understanding – Christ does help us to bear these burdens. Some will say: “Could not God have devised a different way – that didn’t involve so much grief and suffering.” The answer to that has to be yes. But we must also consider that this is the best way to share the Divine Life of love. Love requires freedom. Freedom involves choice. God has in fact given us the Holy Spirit to help us make good choices. So we have to ask ourselves ‘do I accustom myself, do I adjust my attitudes to this gift of the Holy Spirit?’ The Holy Spirit dwells with those who listen to the voice of the Lord. Listening is the key element. Proper and right action is the evidence of listing.

A fair summary of all the readings for today – and indeed of the whole message of the gospel is this: Obedience to God, listening and acting appropriately, always brings the joy of sharing the Divine Life. Jesus passed through death to new life because of his obedience. His way is a death-to-life transformation. If we listen, learn and so change, we will pass through the Passion to that eternal Easter which is the promised share in the Divine life as adopted children.

Ash Wednesday – 2026

13 April 2026in /by

18th February 2026 – 

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the essential belief of the Christian Church, therefore today we begin our preparations to celebrate Easter. Without Easter there would be no gift of grace and thus no salvation in Christ. Lent is a time to reflect on why we are Christian and what being Christian means.

To help us we are encouraged to use these few weeks as a time of penance – of making an effort to do things that perhaps we would not ordinarily do, such as giving more time to prayer – making an effort to be kindly in thought, work and deed, striving to be patient especially towards people we do not really get on with. Lent is designed to help us concentrate the mind – to loosen the chains that bind us to this world’s ways. In a moment ashes will be placed on our heads to remind us that of ourselves we have nothing to boast about – in a sense we are cut down to size, reminded of our imperfections – reminded of our weak and sinful natures.

The use of ashes at the start of Lent remind us of the story of creation which tells us that God took the dust of the earth and shaped it into an image of himself. That when that image was disfigured by sin – God sent His Son to repair the damage and enable us to come truly alive with the Holy Spirit. All the things of this world that we consider important will come to nothing – will become like these ashes – will become like dust blown in the wind. But we rejoice in the fact that if we allow our nature be transformed by the Holy Spirit – defeating our obsession with ourselves, then we will share in the Risen Life of Jesus, and so share in His divinity.

Lent should be regarded as a time to examine our lives to see if we are thinking – saying – and doing those things which indicate that we are really followers of Christ and strive to love as Jesus does – to offer our gifts and our time in the service of others. Remember you can take life seriously without being sour or miserable! People who connect penance with a glum face have a false idea of the life God wants us to live. Jesus says, “I came that you may have life, and have it in all its fullness.” Jesus never says, “I came to make you miserable.” Rather, the Way of Life Jesus offers brings the only real happiness. So as Easter is at the end of Lent, so may the Risen Life of Christ be at the end of our time on earth.

The Presentation of Our Blessed Lord in the Temple – 2026

3 February 2026in /by

1st February 2026 – 

In our Lord’s life we find a mixture of joy and sacrifice – so in today’s celebration we encounter that same mixture – joy at entering the Temple, the Temple that represented the presence of God among his Chosen people; and sacrifice, because Jesus is brought by his holy Mother to be offered as the first-born male; for among the people of Israel the first-born belongs to the Lord.

In the Temple, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Christ is recognised by Simeon and Anna. There in the Temple – the place of divine presence for the Chosen People – the Word made flesh is known for what he really is – the Saviour of all. His life is the Light to guide all people and indeed, all creation. His life is paid for by the sacrifice of two turtle doves – the humble offering of the poor. In a little while the humble gifts of bread and wine will become by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Body and Blood of that same Christ who was offered in the Temple. Jesus offered his life – out of love – to the Father and for humanity. This offering was realised in his passion and by his death on the cross. That loving sacrifice is made present to us in our time at every altar where Mass is celebrated. Through the Mass we share in that offering.

In this temple – this church, we come in faith to meet Christ at Communion, the offering of Himself to us. And by the power of the Spirit we become that which we are offered. We put on Christ, and with Him as our head we are the Body of Christ on earth. As that Body we share in the Lord’s mission – as Light to the Gentiles – we bring Christ’s Light and Life to the world. The Light that we bring to others, is Christ’s light of love and service, particularly those in need. It means being people who challenge the anti-life and immoral values in society. It means being a people who hope and who trust in the Lord and who fearlessly seek his kingdom by promoting and defending justice and truth, in our own personal lives, and in our societies. Our faith does not rest on a set of opinions, it rests on the faith of the Apostles, and after them the martyrs and saints throughout the centuries who give witness to us by their lives.

As things stand these days we may feel hopelessly overwhelmed by the forces that are encouraging so many to abandon the faith and virtues that once united us and gave our society a certain strength. Now many have faith in opinions which they choose to call their personal truth – surely this is like building on shifting sands. Never the less, we would be right to consider ourselves inadequate to carry out this work. Alone we can do nothing – but with the gift of the Holy Spirit working in the Body of Christ we can, together, be the Light of Christ in the world. It is therefore important to let the Spirit guide us to do something, no matter how small it may seem. For though we may think our efforts are no more than a drop in the ocean – the ocean is made of many drops. Let us then shine as a sign of hope in a world so prone to wander in a darkness of its own making.

Epiphany – 2026

3 February 2026in /by

6th January 2026 – 

Some of you may have seen the film ‘The Time Bandits’. In it the Supreme Being allows a map of time holes in creation to fall into the hands of his dwarf helpers. Their adventures become the various episodes depicted in the film. For most of the film the Supreme Being is depicted as a large bright head with a booming voice, but near the end he is seen as a kindly, elderly headmaster figure. Evil is also shown in human form as a capricious, self-centred individual who wants the map for his own corrupt and ungodly ends. Powerful beings belonging outside our usual existence, inhabiting the realm of our imagination, have been, throughout human history, portrayed as being present in our time and space; and there are, of course, many examples from classical literature.

The New Testament also tells of God, the Supreme Being, made visible in the person of Jesus Christ. The Birth of Jesus is declared to be the Word made flesh. In Him the Wisdom of God made man is seen and heard in history. Christianity, however, may be regarded by some as just another version of the ancient myths, a set of awesome stories that tell us a lot about the human condition, but still untrue for all that.

The author and spiritual writer C.S. Lewis, in an essay called ‘Myth Became Fact’ opens up an entirely different possibility based on two insights: First, all the myths of primitive religions were expressions of a deep yearning … that the mysterious God would come into intimate contact with mankind, and do so in such a way that He would repair the damages made by our sinfulness, and would grant to mankind a safe homeland that would last forever. And secondly, that Christianity, rather than being one myth alongside many others, is the fulfillment of all previous mythological religions. It is a myth, like the others, but this time a myth that is also a fact.

The Magi were seekers after wisdom and truth – of a myth that was also a fact. We are all a bit like them, we all want answers to fundamental questions. The Magi however, followed a star because it signified to them the birth of a significant person, and with such thinking they expected the birth of a king. Their search for wisdom is dignified and noble. King Herod, the other major character in the story, was only interested in the possibility of the birth of a likely rival. He plots and deceives and murders innocent children. His vision of life and truth is focused on himself, and he is fearful.

It is inspiring to consider the humility of the Magi, these wise and learned men, before the child Jesus; they offer gifts and pay homage but it does not diminish their eminence. Those who choose to follow Christ seek true wisdom, they search for the truth that is at the heart of faith and reason. When the Christ-child is found, even in the most unlikely of places, He is worshiped – for he embodies what is true. We seek to become what we worship.

Like the Magi we bring gifts – we offer ourselves to Christ and in doing so are not diminished but in fact we are made whole. Through our worship we are united to Christ who gives Himself to us and fills us with the Holy Spirit – the Lord and Giver of Life. Through Christ we see, hear and speak differently. Our life and our death gives praise to God even as the gold, frankincense and myrrh symbolised two thousand years ago.

Christmas Midnight – 2025

3 February 2026in /by

24th December 2025 – 

I think it is a reasonable thing to say that all of humanity yearns for something better. It is not important that this yearning sometimes looks back to the past – the desire for apparently better times – or whether it is projected into the future – for hoped-for better times. It is part of our human condition. At its simplest it is an individuals desire to be satisfied, to feel fulfilled. At a more complex level societies organize themselves in such a way that, at least for some, life will seem to be improved. Politics is an expression of this yearning. So also is education, and religion, and so too is the adoption of ’causes’ of one sort or another. Look at any of the situations in which we find ourselves – is there not an element of this yearning. Often it is the peaceful dreams of contentment – and yet when one looks at the troubles in the world – are not all of them the violent expression of these same dreams – a group, a nation, a race, a religion – wanting to improve their lot and seeing no other way than at the expense of others? Human beings seem to have a longing to be fulfilled, made whole – complete if you like. We want a situation or somewhere full of joy, where justice, truth, mercy – and peace are the reality.

We who are gathered here tonight recognise that just over two thousand years ago, and as a fulfilment of many prophecies, a gift was given to us by the Creator, the Lord and Giver of Life. That gift was and is in the words of the carol – the hope of all the years. On the hills outside Bethlehem a birth was announced – in somewhat unusual circumstances. Shepherds hearing heavenly voices in the night would not necessarily be regarded as reliable. They did not know it was Christmas Day – nor could they have appreciated the real significance of the child they visited in some sort of animal shelter.

The celebration of this event over the past centuries has often been a time when usual values may be reversed. A time when strangers may even smile in the street, when prisoners may receive little extra privileges, when people give a little more attention and care to the lonely, the poor, the homeless, the fearful, and when children are especially cherished. Of course some will regard the angels’ promise of peace and goodwill as being fantasy! There was no more good will in first century Palestine, no more peace, than in our own world; indeed the baby born that day had to be smuggled out of the country, and became a refugee, so as to save its life. But the angelic message is our hope, our vision of a better and kindlier life. Recalling it every year is surely a sign of how we need and yearn for that hope.

It is difficult to escape the conclusion that had the angels attached their message to any other event – we would long since have forgotten it. The genius of the Christmas story is that it is centred upon the birth of a child – an experience so universal and so universally wonderful, that nobody is excluded from it. The new born baby is innocence itself, it commands no armies, levies no taxes, knows nothing of fame, wealth or cleverness, crime or virtue. At the manger all men and women are equal, all humbled by the recollection of their own origins. But merely by being born Jesus did not achieve what the angels had promised. The story moves on from his birth. There was also a death, no less awesome and no less central to the meaning of God’s gift. For our yearnings to be satisfied there has to be a death and a resurrection. In fact there needs to be an Easter in each of our lives.

1st Sunday of Advent (A) – 2025

1 December 2025in /by

30th November 2025 – 

Every year we read about supermarkets, Local Councils or Primary Schools calling Christmas a Winter Festival or some such name and seeing that most Christmas Cards have lost their Nativity themed scenes. Some object to all this as they recognise that Christianity is the basis of our culture and laws, and that something is deliberately or otherwise being undermined or lost, of course others are sad because they are genuinely people of faith. However, it’s not up to me or any other Christian to make people celebrate in a particular way – that would rather defeat the purpose of celebration – such as trying to force a person like someone else! But celebrations really should have some sort of purpose and meaning if they are not to slip into self-indulgence and excess. I wonder how many people feel there is a lot of expense and preparation for relatively little celebratory return. Everything rather centres on one day, the 25th December. All this is largely due to this countries post Reformation attitudes and especially a particularly puritanical approach by religious zealots! Spiritually and other Christmas celebrations should extend beyond the day itself.

I think it would be true to say that many people would not think of Christmas Day as a starting point of celebrations and even fewer that Christmas has a significance for every moment of their lives. But what others do is one thing, what we, as Christian do is quite another. You and I can enjoy what is on offer at this time of year, or at least much of it, but we should have a Christian purpose and meaning for our celebration. I firmly believe that if we adopt a proper Christian approach to Christmas then we will be happier, less out of pocket and will also not experience a sense of anti-climax on December 26th.

Today we have been told to be ready, because the Son of Man is coming – coming at a time we do not expect. So at this start of Advent our thoughts are clearly drawn away from the birth of Jesus. We have to think about our destiny and this helps to put Jesus’ birth into a proper context. Advent is a time for us to prepare for the day when we will fully understand what our destiny is, on what sacred scripture calls the Day of the Lord. When that Day comes we shall see and know the full meaning of our faith in Jesus Christ. But how are we to prepare for something that is not only in the future but seems so remote from us? During Advent it is important to recapture the truth that our God is Emmanuel – a name which means – God is with us. He is with us now for our future. We celebrate His human birth because it means He is with us as one like us.

It may help at this time to reflect on Mary. Think of her, over 2000 years ago, coming to the end of her pregnancy, preparing to show the world it’s Saviour. But remember that Mary’s Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit comes to birth in us, is incarnated in us. Thus the world sees its Saviour once again because of our faith. Through us He is seen praying, caring for the sick and helpless, being a good wife and husband, a loving mother and father, being an honest person going about their everyday work, or someone accompanying the suffering and the dying. So the question is ‘does Christ come to birth in us?’ Or do we terminate His life in us by our selfishness? Let us be alert, not made spiritually sleepy by the ways of this world, being open to the divine life which is with us, our Lord Emmanuel. Now that is something worth celebrating on more than one day!