From The Most Reverend Dr. W.N.F. Empey
Archbishop of Dublin, Bishop of Glendalough,
Primate of Ireland and Metropolitan

Christmas means so many different things to so many people. To some it is a time of great loneliness as they remember loved ones parted from them either by death or absent in a distant land far away from home. Yet again there are those who wait with great excitement at ports and airports for the return of loved ones, with tears of joy in their eyes and lumps in their throats. To others it is a time of sheer weariness after the frenetic preparations for the day, which so often turns out to be quiet and ordinary.

But it is not an ordinary day is it? It is in fact a quite extraordinary day which has a message not only for the lonely, the bereaved, and the weary but for all of us who believe in Jesus. The message is that "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son". Think of that. He loves you, He loves me, and He loves us so much that He emptied Himself of His heavenly glory to pitch His tent among us. It is a love of extraordinary extravagance. He comes to bring life, and light and joy to all that believe in His Name.

"The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it", writes St. John. The world is still a dark place but the light has never been quenched and is seen in a myriad of circumstances, a kindness, an act of faith, an act of compassion and yes, an act of pure love. As long as such things and many, many other similar things happen that light will never be quenched.

And such things will always happen because Emmanuel ‘God with us’ has come and will never leave us. An ordinary day? Never! May God grant us all that peace and joy and life which his Son came to bring us.