Nativity Dear Parishioners,
The Christmas Season is fast approaching and it is a time of mixed emotions. Somehow, every Christmas brings into focus both the joys and the sorrows of the human experience.

For many, it is one of the most enjoyable times of the year. Children and young people look forward to Christmas with great excitement. It is a time for family reunions, and there is always great joy when the Irish diaspora, living and working abroad, return home to celebrate the feast. It is a time for friends to re-connect and spend some quality time together. It is a season when we can show our appreciation of one another through cards, gifts and little acts of kindness. In the depths of winter, we can offer hospitality to others and enjoy the hospitality which is offered to us in return.

But there are those who find it hard to enjoy Christmas. It can be a sad time of memories and nostalgia which can reinforce a feeling of loneliness. In some families there are tensions and pressures which come to the surface to make the days around Christmas difficult and stressful. For the bereaved, Christmas can be a particularly poignant time. And the present economic recession means that many families struggle to cope financially with the ritual demands of the Christmas season.

Whatever our personal feelings around Christmas, there is one thing we can all celebrate at Christmas: the birth of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who is for ever the Light of the World. In good times and in bad, He reassures us that the light will ultimately conquer the darkness in our world. His is a message of hope for the future no matter how difficult life may seem at present.

So this Christmas season, let us be sensitive to the struggles and feelings of those around us and let us rejoice at the birth of Emmanuel – a name which means God is with us!

I take this opportunity to wish you all the blessings of Christmas and a happy New
Year.
Fr Martin Clarke PP