Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat, please put a penny in the old man’s hat. If you have not a penny a halfpenny will do. If you have not a halfpenny, well God bless you.
I just realised that in nearly seventy years I had not heard or said this rhyme coming up to Christmas. When growing up as a child it was part of Christmas. This Christmas is so different in many ways, but its reality is much more important. For us to realise that salvation is coming into our world, and all the children’s plays at Christmas are about this most important message. “A Saviour is born, this day in Bethlehem”. The Gospel with its message is what should never be lost. Reality the world over, from the reaction to the American Presidential Election, to the advice that is given on how to respond to the virus, the human response remains the same. Jesus addressed this by “their fruits you shall know them”.
Family is a great blessing to life. I have a nephew who is returning from Japan and a niece returning from France for Christmas. Obviously they have taken into consideration the requirements to isolate and parents and family are happy with it. The outcome will be the key factor when the final verdict is in place. Certainly the challenge that the virus has presented, with the benefit of what hindsight will bring through the validation of decisions will give greater guidance for our future. How to be more prepared, how to give appropriate value to human dignity. How to care for those most vulnerable, the care for children, and the different needs of the young, people with mental issues and the importance of health and wellbeing are all very important factors in life.
What about us in the life of the church? Please God, this has presented us with a learning curve. The challenge for us is great, confronted with our age profile, many would say it is impossible. With the age requirements that were needed to facilitate the use of our churches for prayer, masses and sacraments, we were very short of volunteers. Exposing a failure which is ours. What can we do about it is our only hope. What I see as a two fold failure of those in authority in the church. First, the importance of baptism with its meaning for our lives, without it, it is like trying to build houses without foundations. The second is ministry within the church. What the ministry of the eucharist, readers, cantors and other ministries can bring. How a body made of many parts working together, is the key to our future in the life of our church.