Reflecting on a time for hope over fear after a difficult year
Religious leaders across the Advertiser area have delivered Christmas messages to our readers:
There have been plenty of suggestions about cancelling 2020 and maybe there are a fair few who would like to skip Christmas this year. But we need Christmas because we need hope over fear, writes the Right Rev Paul Williams, Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham.
On many occasions in the Christmas story people are told not to be afraid — Mary first, then Joseph, as well as shepherds on a hillside near Bethlehem.
Fear can be the silent destroyer of dreams.
Worse still, fear replaces the dream with a preoccupation with ourselves.
Most grown-ups have a life-time of experience learning to let go of their dreams, adjusting expectations and managing disappointments.
Yes, we all need hope.
At the centre of the Christmas story is the birth of a baby who came to be the light of the world and the hope of every nation.
Jesus doesn’t belittle people’s fears. He trans-forms them.
He demonstrates once and for all that there is no life, however frail, and no heart, however broken, that God’s light cannot touch and transform.
So let’s celebrate Christ-mas 2020 like never before, whether we spend it alone or are able to meet safely with a few others.
Each time we turn on our Christmas lights we can say a simple prayer: ‘Dear God, shine your light in my heart, my home and across the world this Christmas.’
With hope over fear, it really can be a truly happy Christmas.
The Rev Gill Page, retired priest attached to the churches of St Mary Magdalene and St Leonard, Newark, writes: Last February I told a friend how contented I was. Family members were thriving, we were enjoying retirement and socialising more, and even Forest were making good progress!
How quickly things changed. Things didn’t work out as hoped for Forest, our new social life was severely curtailed by the lockdown and a close family member was diagnosed with a severe life-threatening illness.
Things had been going so well.
It has been a difficult year for us all.
As we approach Christ-mas I draw comfort from the fact that Emmanuel, another name for Jesus means ‘God with us’.
God came down to us at Christmas in Jesus.
Jesus isn’t distant from human suffering but shares the pains of life with us.
His coming brings hope that light can overcome darkness and good can triumph over evil.
May we find him to be truly with us as we face the future together.
The year of the mask, lockdown and furlough will go down in history, writes Rev Canon Michael O’Donoghue, Priest of Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church, Newark.
I watched a child recently admiring the wearing of its mask in front of a mirror and I wondered, is the mask here to stay?
There are so many designer masks on show; it has almost become a fashion item.
One of the great learnings from covid-19 has been the NHS mantra of ‘catch it — kill it — bin it’.
Another by-product will surely be a consciousness that infection of all kinds is passed on by coughing and sneezing.
2020 has given people permission to protect others in a novel way.
As we prepare to celebrate the joyful feast of Christmas we are thankful for many people.
A spiritual spin off from the pandemic has been the live-streaming of church services.
The digital age has come to the rescue and many are enjoying the service provided in their own home.
At Christmas, we remem-ber that God sent His son to live among us, to breathe the air we breathe and to know intimately the pain of human suffering.
To each and every reader, a very happy Christmas and a blessed new year.
What a year it has been. This time last year we had absolutely no idea how the year would unfold and what challenges we would face, writes Nathan Falla, Superintendent Minister of Newark and Southwell Methodist Circuit.
Life has felt like a roller coaster and sometimes I have wanted to scream. It has been difficult for everyone and the challenges and uncertainty will continue past Christmas.
Life is difficult, but as the lights on houses and streets brighten the winter night so I believe the light of Christ shines in the darkness, bringing hope, peace, and comfort.
The message of Christmas is God is with us in Jesus, and this has and continues to give me hope.
I don’t know what the future will bring, there seems to be lots of uncertainty, but one thing that I am certain about is whether we recognise it or not, God is with you, with me, with us this Christmas and into 2021.
Have a safe Christmas and a peaceful new year.
A special exhibition called The HOPE Wall has arrived in Southwell Minster, writes the Dean of Southwell, the Very Rev Nicola Sullivan.
This stunning inspira-tional prayer installation is 4ft by 6ft letters.
Come and see — it is with us until the early new year.
If ever a word spoke for what we all most want on our Christmas wish list it is surely hope.
After a very difficult year for each one of us, we all need a big boost of hope for the future.
While this Christmas will be reduced in many ways — I cannot begin to imagine a Christmas without singing heartily well-loved carols but thankfully our wonderful Cathedral choir is permitted to sing for us — yet the heart of the message is the same every year, no matter how hard or tough.
God comes to share our life in the gift to the world of his son Jesus, whose name is ‘Emmanuel: God with us’ inspiring us to build a better, kinder and hope-filled future together.
Southwell Minster is open to everyone.
Check www.southwell minster.org to see opening times, services and details of online services.
Captain of Newark Salvation Army Matt Elsey writes: I, like so many, are missing the traditions, the family time, the food and the opportunity to join with others in some festive cheer this Christmas.
I have heard people suggest that Christmas is cancelled!
Despite the restrictions and guidance, nothing could be further from the truth.
Christmas encourages us to enjoy all the things I mentioned but at the heart of it all is the most profound moment our world has witnessed and still talks about today.
This of course is the revelation of God’s love in the person of Jesus.
We may be tired of isolation and social distancing, but that first Christmas was even quieter than ours will be this year and I pray we take some time to ponder the precious and purposeful gift that God gave to us on that night.
May God be with you and bring you peace.
