The Christmas Hope

“Jesus, Jesus, Oh what a wonderful child Jesus, Jesus (Jesus). So lowly meek and mild

New life, new hope, new joy he brings, won’t you listen to the angels sing

Glory, glory, glory to the newborn King” – Maria Carey

Every day of our life, Christ brings a newness: new hope, new joy. During this season of the year, we remember, we celebrate this joy, this hope the Christ Child brings to this world. In time past, the season was filled with so many uncertainties and expectations. A time in which people then were looking for hope and joy that would move them from their immediate desperate situations.

We, two thousand years later, are still hoping, anxious and desperate for some miracle, some divine intervention, to bring us joy. But Joy is here! He is here! The Christ came. The Angels sang, “Glory, glory to the newborn King!”

This season of joy brings us our hope. We are faced with trials on every side: “we are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Cor 4:8-9). The pandemic we are now experiencing has come with its challenges and its attendant ripple effects. So many of our friends, family and acquaintances have died, lost their jobs, are depressed and are even disillusioned. Yet, this is why, more than ever, we need to keep hope alive. A hope that nothing or no one will steal our joy. A hope that reminds us that, while we are not where we ought to be, God is still with us.

May the joy of our Lord continue to be our strength and our hope. May we, with the help of God, family and friends proclaim with every ounce of energy, “Come Emmanuel, Come O Christ we pray, come and do not delay!”

May this season of hope and joy find us at peace with God, with each other and ourselves.

REV FR RICHARD BROWN

Editor