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A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop John Inge

Good morning.

Another Christmas come and gone. Is that a source of regret or of relief? Either way, it’s surely remarkable that Christmas remains such a big deal in our society. Many, perhaps most, even from a Christian family background, have dropped the habit of attending midnight mass or a Christmas morning service – but still find it’s just not possible to forget about Christmas or banish it from consciousness completely. In the run-up, we’re reminded of it at every street corner and on every screen.

The relationship between commerce and religion has always been a complicated one. Jesus warns that you cannot serve two masters, you cannot serve God and money but it’s clear that none of us would choose to live in grinding poverty – it’s dehumanising. The Book of Proverbs suggests that we should ask for neither poverty nor riches.

I suspect most people accept, deep down, that money can’t make us happy and to be too concerned about it is a recipe for unhappiness – for ourselves and others. That’s maybe what Jesus was getting at. As the bright lights of Christmas fade maybe it would be good for us to reflect a little on whether we have the balance right, and have put money in its proper place. And let’s spare a heartfelt prayer too for those who find themselves knee deep in debt at this time of year, and for whom that necessary big Christmas spend has left a pit in the stomach.

Loving God, give us grace to realise that all that we have is gift and be thankful for it. Deliver us from poverty or riches and let us not be enslaved to money. Set us free from worry about making money or losing it. Enable us to use what we have for the common good.

Amen.