Bishops share their messages of goodwill this Christmas

The Bishop of Lichfield Dr Michael Ipgrave

Lichfield Cathedral this Christmas is full of selfies.

Thousands of children from across the diocese have drawn simple images of themselves, and these are displayed in a stunning installation suspended beneath the great central spire, the ever-moving faces swaying gently in the ever-changing light.

This beautiful artwork is called ‘Image and Likeness’, and it demonstrates very powerfully the enormous variety of our people in this part of England.

Over the last few weeks we saw lots of images of politicians, as they courted our votes for

the General Election on Thursday 12 December.

On the morning of Friday, December 13, I wrote to the 24 of them returned to Parliament as MPs for constituencies across our diocese.

I wanted to assure them of my prayers, and the prayers of churches across our communities, knowing as we do the heavy responsibility that now falls to them in their public life.

As I wrote, I reflected that they had been chosen to represent not just those who had voted for them, and not just those who were like them, but all of us, however different we may be and however much we may disagree with one another.

The divine image which we trace in one other takes endlessly different shapes. If we are to build together a society that reflects the richness of all our people, we need to learn how to build bridges across difference, to meet and greet one another in all this bewildering variety.

That is a big challenge, particularly after a bruising and divisive election campaign.

But it is vitally important for each of us to reach out to the people most different from us, to the people with whom we most passionately disagree, to the people whose lifestyles, viewpoints and cultures are most dramatically unlike our own, to spend time with them, and to see how together we can enrich one another’s lives and the lives of our society.

The thousands of selfies in the Cathedral are for me a sign of the hope that is given us at Christmas.

They are hopeful because they are images of children, belonging to a generation who should be able to teach us how to live together in friendship and respect.

They belong to Christmas, because this is when we see God coming among us to take up the wonderfully varied life of our humanity.

At Jesus’ crib, kings and shepherds gather together to worship, bridging divides of class, wealth, education, culture and nationality.

Each of us can find ourselves in that scene, a child of God made in his image and likeness; and each of us can see that same pattern in those most different from us.

And at the centre of it all is the little infant in whom ‘God has spoken to us by his Son, the express image of his person’.

The Bishop of Wolverhampton Clive Gregory

My favourite Christmas Advert this year features an elderly man who is alone, except for his memories of happier times.

We see him put on a Santa outfit, throw a sack over his shoulder and head for the local hospital.

There on the children’s ward, he brings joy to the children and their families as he delivers his unexpected gifts. He returns home, the doorbell rings and on his doorstep is one of the children and three nurses from the hospital who have brought him a gift. The delight on his face mirrors that of the children’s earlier in the day.

At the end, the advert reminds us of the work of the charities Make a Wish and Age UK which do so much for seriously ill children

and those in later life who are in need of friendship or support.

The advert is also a reminder that the true meaning of Christmas is reflected in thoughtful acts of generosity from people such as you or I, or groups we may be part of such as the Wolverhampton Bikers who delivered more than 600 presents to local hospitals last Saturday. Christmas may be a commercial bonanza but the best part for many will be the experience of giving or receiving loving, generous, thoughtful acts, on which no price can be put. In the advert, the faces of both the children and the old man lit up when they realised they had been given an unexpected gift, not after they had opened it.

For Christians, our amazing human capacity for kindness and love is due to being made in the image of our loving Creator. God’s gift of Jesus shows the extent of that love and Jesus’ life was the perfect template for how a human life could be lived. After a year when there has been much talk in our country of fear and division, it is all the more important that, this Christmas and beyond, each of us tries to find

practical ways to demonstrate that best version of ourselves, which cares more for giving than receiving, and which seeks to reach out to those in greatest need.

The Bishop of Shrewsbury Sarah Bullock

‘We three kings of orient are,

Bearing gifts we traverse afar

Field and fountain

Moor and mountain,

Following yonder star’

As part of the message of the first Christmas we hear that the wise men came to worship and to bring offerings of gold, frankincense and myrrh - gifts often given to honour a king or a god in the ancient world. The Bible tells us that when they saw Jesus ‘..they bowed down and worshipped him.’

They hadn’t worshipped at the feet of King Herod when they had visited him, but they understand that now they are on holy ground - here is the kingdom of heaven, revealed to them in a child.

Christmas is a time for generosity. The gifts we give do not have to be expensive or extravagant - sometimes the gift of time spent with a neighbour, a smile at someone we see on the street or a kind word can be just as meaningful.

As we look forward to Christmas, why not consider ways in which you can share the joy with others in your community; why not undertake a ‘random act of kindness’? I was recently very blessed to be on the receiving end of such an act of kindness when a friend delivered some delicious mince pies to my door - completely unexpected and very welcome!

I was delighted to see these suggestions shared recently: ‘Pay it forward’ by paying for a coffee for someone at a coffee shop, leave a bunch of flowers on a neighbour’s doorstep, make a meal for someone - your thoughtfulness could be just what they need on a stressful day - donate to a local Food Bank.

Just as we give, we should also be open to accepting the gifts of others. In Jesus, God gives us the most precious gift of all and invites us to know and follow his only son.

Whatever your Christmas looks like, everyone is invited to the birth of Jesus. You too are welcome to follow the star this Christmas.

Wishing you a blessed Christmas and New Year.

The Bishop of Worcester Dr John Inge

'Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth’

That’s the message of the angels; that’s the message of Christmas.

There doesn’t seem to be a great deal of peace around at the moment.

The world is full of conflict and, after a divisive General Election, we desperately need to move forward in unity and peace. What can be done?

When the shepherds heard the message of the angels they were filled with awe and wonder as they realised that heaven had come down to earth. Maybe we need to recover their sense of awe and wonder if we are to get things in proper proportion and find the peace the angels heralded.

In the psalms we read: ‘The heavens declared the glory of God’. They do, if we will but see it. Our universe is vast and beautiful; the shepherds would have been able to marvel at the night sky without light pollution. This world in all its beauty fills me with a sense of wonder. And perhaps the most wonderful thing of all are human beings. A new-born baby instils a sense of awe – and so it should, for we are all made in the image of God.

‘Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth.’ Appreciating the glory of God in both the highest heaven and the new-born baby can bring peace in our hearts. I pray it may also lead to peace in our communities, our country and the world.

May you be filled with a sense of awe and wonder this Christmas as you contemplate the glory of the creation into which Christ was born. And may you be filled with his peace and his love.

God bless you and a very Merry Christmas to you.

The Catholic Bishop of Shrewsbury Mark Davies

After a General Election marked by entrenched divisions and angry voices, the Christmas celebration brings families, communities and, indeed, all generations together.

Christmas literally brings us around the same table, never allowing us to forget those who might otherwise be forgotten or abandoned.

At Christmas we see everyone in a new light, the Light which first shone in Bethlehem.

For in a tiny child, we recognise God made visible and in this clear light the value and dignity of every human being.

At the end of a tumultuous year, the celebration of Christ’s birth takes us far beyond contentious opinions, to the vision of faith which from the beginning held our nation together.

This is news of great joy, first heard in the hill country of Judea was soon echoed in this land allowing us to see how in Christ “All things are held together”.

This Christmas faith can be grasped by everyone, even the smallest child in a Nativity Play. God who had spoken to us in many ways finally spoke in “a child born for us, a son given to us”.

A new-born child takes our attention and our hearts and this was how God chose to speak to us, for “The eternal word became small, small enough to fit in a manger, He became a child, so that the word could be grasped by us … the word has a face, one which we can see: that of Jesus of

Nazareth”. In the powerful words with which Saint John’s Gospel begins, we can say, “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory”.

Christianity is not then an idea nor merely an ethical path, it is an invitation to encounter an event, a Person who gives our lives a new horizon and sure direction. On that first Christmas, this invitation was given to shepherds who literally sat at the margins of society, “Here is a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger”. When, seven centuries ago, the Brothers of Saint Francis of Assisi arrived in Shropshire they assembled the first Nativity Scenes, to bring before all eyes what had first been seen in the cave of Bethlehem.

At Shrewsbury Cathedral, this Franciscan custom continues and is shared by many churches across the county. Pope Francis tells us that in this simple way we are led to glimpse the God who came among us as a child. “It seems impossible, yet it is true,” writes Pope Francis, “in Jesus, God was a child, and in this way wished to reveal the greatness of his love: by smiling and opening his arms to us”.

May Christmas bring us together in the wonderful Light that has guided our path through history and will surely guide us in the New Year ahead.