Christmas- Celebrating Christ With Us

Christmas - Celebrating Christ With Us

By TOM DENNEHY

The birth of Christ is the most significant event in the history of the world.

The birth of Christ was not the ordinary birth of an ordinary man. It was the birth of the most unique person in history. The birth of Jesus Christ was the incarnation of God himself, in other words God himself became Man and became one of us. The significance of this is profound and it will take eternity for us to appreciate. The conception and birth of Jesus Christ was the promised redeemer sent to die on the cross for us and God’s faithful promise fulfilled.

About 700 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah prophesied concerning the birth of Jesus, “The Lord Himself will give you a sign; behold The Virgin will conceive and bear a son and she will name him Emmanuel which means God with us.” Isaiah 7;14.

The first to receive the good news of the birth of Jesus were the shepherds, who had no standing in the community but were chosen by God to tell the world about the birth of Jesus. The shepherds were alone in the fields.

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared to them with the glory of the Lord shining around them. As they were terrified, the angel said to them, “don’t be afraid; I am here to give you good news, great joy for all the people. Today, a Saviour has been born to you in the town of David. He is The Messiah and the Lord. Let this be a sign for you; you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger”.

Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God and saying,” Glory to God in the highest and Peace on earth to whom God loves”. When the angels had left them and gone back to Heaven the shepherds said to one another, “let us go as far as Bethlehem and see what the Lord has made known to us”. So they came hurriedly and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. On seeing Him they related what they had been told about the child and all were astonished on hearing the shepherds. Luke 2.9-18

Jesus came in to our world as a little baby. He could have come as a great king but he chose to come as a humble little child, needing love and affection.

During Christmas let us reach out to Jesus and hand over to Him everything that is weighing us down; all our anxieties, our disappointments, and all our troubles.

He tells us, “come to me all who labour and are overburdened and I will give you rest, rest for your soul”. Matt.11.28.

When we attend Holy Mass, we encounter the very same Jesus born in a stable in Bethlehem. The very same baby Jesus is even humbler still as He is present in the Sacred Host in Body, Soul and Divinity and has kept His promise to be with us always until the end of time.

He came among us to show us how to love and how to forgive. In His missionary life, He healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, restored sight to the blind, and raised the dead. He calmed the raging storms and fed the multitudes. He spoke with authority and treated everyone with respect, especially the poor and downcast.

He chose twelve apostles to proclaim the good news of God’s Kingdom to the ends of the earth.

We read in John 3;16, ”God so loved the world that He gave his only Son that whoever believes in Him may not be lost, but may have eternal life”. This is the reason why Jesus was born in to our world on Christmas Day. By His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, He has conquered death and given us eternal life.

He is with us today, as He has sent His Holy Spirit to be with us and wants to live in our hearts. Most especially He wants us to respond to His great sacrifice for us by spending time with Him in prayer, Holy Mass and in Adoration. He wishes us to have a personal relationship with Him and He will change our lives forever. Let us celebrate Christmas with Joy and Thanksgiving to a God who loves us beyond human understanding. Let us reach out to all around us this Christmas and share that love and peace He freely gives to us.

Memories of the Visit of the Relics of St Bernadette of Lourdes

A message from Fr Toby Bluitt, Parish Priest of Kanturk & Lismire, Director of the Annual Cloyne Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes

We were truly blessed with the visit of the relics of St. Bernadette to St. Mary’s Church, Mallow and Holy Rosary Church, Midleton during a number of days in September. Thousands of people from Duhallow and the wider county came to pray, reflect, and give thanks and to venerate the relics. Those who came included people of all ages - from children brought by parents, to children from National Schools and students from Secondary Schools - to adults of all ages, healthy and sick, mobile and wheelchair bound The experience was difficult to put into words, it had to be experienced. Lourdes has often been described as a little bit of Heaven here on earth. The visit of the relics of St Bernadette brought some of that experience to the thousands who attended, many people noting that what they experienced during the visit could not be put into words. For this to have happened, gratitude and thanks are due to so many people who volunteered their time and talents and gave freely so that all would have this wonderful experience. Thank you to all those who left petitions in both Mallow and Midleton during the visitation of the relics of St Bernadette. They were been placed at the Grotto of Our Lady in Lourdes by volunteers who travelled to the shrine Having travelled throughout the country, the relics eventually returned to Lourdes.

On 5 November, Bishop Kevin Doran of Elphin celebrated Mass to mark the conclusion of the visit of the relics of Saint Bernadette to Ireland. “In her gentle and humble way, Mary asked Bernadette, ‘Please do me the honour of coming here for two weeks.’ Saint Bernadette has done us the honour of coming here to Ireland for two months. Her presence among us has been such a blessing for the many thousands of people in every Diocese, who came to pray. Bishop Doran concluded, “On behalf of all the Bishops, as we come to the end of this wonderful time of grace… I take this opportunity to thank all our pilgrimage directors who work so hard during the year to facilitate our pilgrimages to Lourdes. In the words of Our Lady, I encourage many of you who have prayed with the Relics…. to come on pilgrimage to Lourdes in the future if you can. In a particular way, I invite many young people to join us and to participate in the Diocesan teams which support the liturgy and care for the assisted pilgrims. God bless you all.”We were truly blessed with the visit of the relics of St. Bernadette to St. Mary’s Church, Mallow and Holy Rosary Church, Midleton during a number of days in September. Thousands of people from Duhallow and the wider county came to pray, reflect, and give thanks and to venerate the relics. Those who came included people of all ages - from children brought by parents, to children from National Schools and students from Secondary Schools - to adults of all ages, healthy and sick, mobile and wheelchair bound The experience was difficult to put into words, it had to be experienced. Lourdes has often been described as a little bit of Heaven here on earth. The visit of the relics of St Bernadette brought some of that experience to the thousands who attended, many people noting that what they experienced during the visit could not be put into words. For this to have happened, gratitude and thanks are due to so many people who volunteered their time and talents and gave freely so that all would have this wonderful experience. Thank you to all those who left petitions in both Mallow and Midleton during the visitation of the relics of St Bernadette. They were been placed at the Grotto of Our Lady in Lourdes by volunteers who travelled to the shrine Having travelled throughout the country, the relics eventually returned to Lourdes.