Diocesan News23 Dec 10

A Joint Christmas Message from the Bishops of Dromore

‘He could not have come at a worse moment’

‘He could not have come at a worse moment’ … A writer imagines this as the reaction of Mary to the circumstances of the birth of Jesus. The birth of Jesus far from home when there was no room at the inn brings home to us that from the first moment of his incarnation the Son of God identified himself with the dreadful vulnerability of the poor. In our own province many find themselves in poverty this Christmas we think of:

• Those who are new to our shores and who easily fall into need

• The homeless

• Those who struggle with mental illness

• Lone parents living in income poverty

• Victims of abuse and their families

• Those who mourn for ‘the disappeared’ and who live in hope that one day the bodies of their loved ones will be found

• The ‘working poor’ whose income is just enough to deprive them of benefits and tax credits

• Older people living in poverty, surviving on the state pension

• The lonely who sit at home all day with no one to talk to

• Those who have lost jobs over the past year and who now find themselves sliding towards the trauma of repossession and homelessness

The baby in the manger reveals to us what God is like. He reaches out to the poverty and need in every human heart. At Christmas we carry in our prayers and thoughts the poor at home and abroad; we call on all our people to reach out with generosity and respect to those who need our help.

+ Right Reverend Harold Miller, Bishop of Down and Dromore, Church of Ireland

+ Most Reverend John McAreavey – Bishop of Dromore

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