成人快手

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with The Right Reverend John Arnold, Bishop of Salford

Good morning.

It's Christmas Day. We tend to have a rather frantic build up to Christmas, don鈥檛 we? There are usually the office parties, the carol concerts, and the school Nativity plays. All that shopping and decorating. They all happen in the days approaching the Feast, although it is very unlikely that we have experienced any of those sorts of gatherings in these days. Then we actually get to the day, today, with all the presents and Christmas meal with all the trimmings and then, suddenly, Christmas seems over and finished. But we need to remind ourselves of the enduring meaning of Christmas. For Christians we are celebrating the birth of Jesus, the beginning of His life among us. He is born into our world to bring us hope and to guide us by his mission and teaching. He said to us 鈥淚 am the Way, the Truth and the Life鈥�. He remains present with us to show us the way.

At Christmas we are renewing that sense of the presence of Christ among us and our hope in the future. Nothing is finishing today 鈥� it is just getting started. I am speaking to you early on Christmas morning and I hope that the day ahead promises some celebrations for you 鈥� even if it has to be without all the family gatherings and usual freedom to celebrate but we can pray that this year our Christmas is a time of renewed hope.

Lord Jesus, we celebrate your coming among us. In these coming days, when decorations are packed away and we look to a new calendar year, may we remind ourselves that you are walking with us 鈥� every step of the way.

Amen.