“ Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:10,11

The message of the angel is a message of good news of great joy for all the people. And so at this Holy Season, we celebrate in crowded carol services and at thronged altars. The table in many a home will be crowded too. At some tables though there will be gaps for the first time this Christmas, and our thoughts and prayers must be extended for those who are bereaved at this time.

The message of the angel which is indeed for all the people has a way of focussing in a much more personal way. It moves from all the people to come closer as it continues, “To you is born this day….a Saviour”. What seems merely a style of address reflects the way that Jesus himself encountered people – as he addressed multitudes, he noticed the individual again and again. When the disciples tried to divert him from the children playing around in the crowd, he focussed right on those children. When he was being jostled in a busy street, he noticed, and indeed engaged with, a woman who was seeking healing and had merely touched him.

The incarnation of the Son of God as a baby in Bethlehem – in a specific place, at a specific time, in one human person, born of one human mother points yet again to the value that God places on each individual.

Think of that crowd some years later milling around Jesus in Jericho, and the blind Bartimaeus crying out for attention, hardly expecting to be heard. Indeed he expected to be told to shut up, and that is what people yelled at him, until suddenly somebody comes to him saying: “Take heart, get up, he is calling you”. Beyond the crowd, the Christ comes to the individual in need.

Christmas can be a very personal time in spite of the noise, the excitement and the crowds that we have endured or enjoyed everywhere for the last few weeks. But there are some who feel utterly lost in these crowds, whom the excitement passes over, and feel quite literally shut out from it all. One of the worst times of the year for some is this prolonged public holiday. Spare them a thought this Christmas.

A feeling of exclusion is sharpened at Christmas, but it is not created at Christmas. I remind you of blind Bartimaeus. Though he was calling out to Jesus for help, he did not hear Jesus calling to him – others had to come and tell him that he was no longer excluded, but rather included – “Take heart, get up, he is calling you”. The message of the angels, that timeless good news, may not be heard by those who feel utterly excluded and lost in today’s crowded world unless we include them in, telling them that they are wanted, and making them feel thoroughly wanted.

It is very easy to get lost in today’s Ireland – it may be the exclusion that poverty produces; it may be the isolation of belonging to an ethnic group not yet fully established in Irish Society; it may be the fact of being an immigrant who for one reason or another is not allowed to work; it may be the break-up of a family, of a marriage, that leaves a person without any real home; it may be the isolation of a prison, or of a refuge for the homeless. There is no good news for people who feel so excluded unless others reach out to them. Thank God for those who are fulfilling such a ministry. Support them, pray for them, and see how you can share with them.

We have serious questions to address in our society concerning the way in which so many are excluded and shut away in the most inadequate prison accommodation. Prisoners are mentioned several times in the Gospels. Some people are indeed working hard to address the plight of prisoners, but one wonders if there really is sufficient determination about to effect real change. Good news is for all the people, and for each person, including the prisoners. We have a long way to go to reflect this fully.

In the midst of the crowd, thoroughly accepted by all and apparently valued too, it is possible to be very alone. Indeed it may be remaining part of the crowd that is covering up a deeper loneliness. The message of the angel began with those words that we quickly pass over: “Do not be afraid”. Fear itself cannot be quickly passed over. The angel however gives a reason for not being afraid, it is very simply that in Jesus, God is reaching out to each and every one – the message is for all – and for each one – that he is reaching out as Saviour and as Lord for “to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”

At this Christmas Eucharist, you are invited to receive the Body of Christ given for you and the Blood of Christ shed for you. In this way you accept that the Baby of Bethlehem was given to us by a loving God to make a difference for each and every one of us. The challenge of Christmas is to share that Good News far and wide in the most practical ways – because in Christmas God speaks to us in more than words – He comes as the “Word made flesh”.