Abbot Mark Press Christmas Message

 

East Lothian Courier, 21 December, 2012-12-25

Christmas Messages.  

Pass on the message of friendship this Christmas.

By Fr Mark Caira, Abbot at the Sancta Maria Abbey, Nunraw

Advent in the early Christian tradition was a time of waiting.  The first sense of waiting was for the return of their Lord who had risen from the dead.  The first Christians expected the world to end quite soon.  As time went on they naturally began to look back to the roots of their faith.  Their reflections led them not just to the promise of the messiah contained in the Hebrew Scriptures but also to the actual physical birth and circumstances of Christ.

Even today in the prayer of Christians these two dimensions of waiting are present.  Some can be too concerned and unhappy about the final coming of the Lord.  That time will come some day but probably will be many generations away, whatever the many dangerous and volatile situations in the world today.  In this latter part of Advent, as we get so much nearer the historical birthday of Jesus we look more to his birth and the joy it gave his parents and those who were waiting for the One who was promised.

I’m sure most of us are caught up in the rush to catch the last posting dates for our Christmas mail and planning how we should prepare for things like our Christmas meal and other celebrations with family and friends, especially for the children.  That is good and right.  We ought to celebrate such a birth and use it to build up family bonds and friendships.  That, as we know, is not always easy.  Some ruptures in our relationships in the past are not easily mended.  Perhaps being civil with those we are not happy being with at Christmas can be a beginning to something better in the near future. 

Christmas is not only a remembering of a past birth or the concern of the final coming of Christ at the end of time.  Remembering a birth is a celebration of someone who has grown from a baby to something greater.  Christmas can be, and should be, an awareness of what Christ became.  For us he is now still a living person who knew how to conquer not only death but to face up to cruel powers that hounded him in his life.  He lives now to help us to live for others.  That life and that love lies at the heart of Christmas. 

Our greetings of happiness and joy to others this Christmas can be messages of friendship which hopefully will lead to better relations with all our neighbours whatever their social position or beliefs.

A Happy Christmas to everyone.  May peace and happiness fill your lives in the year that lies ahead.