Region's church leaders offer message of hope at end of dark year

Bishops attempted to offer reassurance as they also remembered those who have been lost to the pandemic.

It comes as many prepare to spend Christmas alone, or away from extended family they have not seen for months.

There is also the prospect of further lockdown measures as uncertainty over the future course of the crisis continues.

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Bishop of Lichfield, whose diocese covers Shropshire, spoke of the joy of hearing carol singers, saying Christmas “brings light to our sad world”.

In his Christmas message he said: “The festive season will feel very different for most of us this year, and many of the familiar ways of marking it will be taken away – but maybe the message at its heart will stand out even more clearly.”

The Right Reverend Mark Davies, the Catholic Bishop of Shrewsbury, said it had been a year “marked by so much anxiety, isolation and loss”. He added: “At the end of 2020, we might pause to ask ourselves, what is the happiness that Christmas promises?”

He urged people to seek inspiration from the Christmas story and the joy that came from “some of the harshest imaginable circumstances” experienced by Mary and Joseph.

He said we are experiencing the “strangest of Christmas holidays” but added: “In the familiar story of Christmas, we can glimpse the true shape of human happiness from which no one can ever be excluded.”

The Bishop of Worcester, Dr John Inge, spoke of the vaccine as “real light at the end of the tunnel”.

He added: “My prayer is that we can all look forward to better times ahead.”

Comfort to be found in the story of Christmas

The Right Reverend Mark Davies, the Catholic Bishop of Shrewsbury, speaks of the difficulty this Christmas is bringing to us all.

In his festive message, he reflects on a tough year, but also speaks of the happiness of the Christmas story.

He says: “’Happy Christmas’ is something we readily say and wish each other. At the end of 2020, a year marked by so much anxiety, isolation and loss, we might pause to ask ourselves, what is the happiness that Christmas promises?

“What makes for a happy Christmas and a happy New Year? The whole human race is perhaps agreed upon only one thing: we want to be happy and we want our children to be happy. Yet the great question is, what can bring us happiness?

“The Christmas story tells of some of the harshest imaginable circumstances of a difficult journey to Bethlehem; of a couple in near-destitution; of the discomforts of a cattle shelter in time of childbirth; the threats of a homicidal ruler and of a young family sharing the plight of refugees, homeless and displaced in a strange land. The Gospel tells us that this is how Jesus Christ came to be born, how lasting joy came into the world.

“We see that the happiness Christmas promises is not dependent on the ease of personal circumstances, still less on everything going as we might hope or plan for our families and loved ones.

“The Christmas Gospel shows that it was amid hardship, loss and disappointment, that Mary and Joseph found a happiness that nothing could ever take from them.

“That lasting happiness flowed from welcoming the Child who was born for us; it was found in seeking God’s will with trust in confused and threatening times; and in discovering a new relationship with those on the fringes of human society as represented by the shepherds and with people once considered foreigners and outsiders, as represented by the wise men who came searching for this same Child.

“In the familiar story of Christmas, we can glimpse the true shape of human happiness from which no one can ever be excluded.

“In this strangest of Christmas holidays of 2020, and anticipating the many and formidable challenges of the year ahead, may we know the joy of welcoming a Saviour born for us; may we experience the peace of seeking God’s will for us in sharing the life of a community in which there are no strangers.”

In our despair there is always hope to be found

Bishop of Lichfield Dr Michael Ipgrave today stressed that hope remains despite the challenging times of the coronavirus crisis.

In his Christmas message, he speaks of the joy a socially-distanced carol service brought him as our difficult winter continues.

He says: “What I shall remember is a crowd of people, of all ages and backgrounds, gathered outside Lichfield Cathedral, just in front of our house, cheerfully singing carols in the pouring rain as the darkness fell.

“It was a real celebration, and outdoor events like that are happening every day around now. People are gathering outside churches to sing of the joy which Christmas brings to our sad world, of light shining in our darkness.

“The festive season will feel very different for most of us this year, and many of the familiar ways of marking it will be taken away – but maybe the message at its heart will stand out even more clearly.

“There is hope for us all in this simple story of a baby’s birth in a draughty stable, and the cold and the darkness around us underline how much that hope means to us.

“Whatever comforts we miss this Christmas, I pray we may know a deep joy.”

Light at end of tunnel

The Bishop of Worcester Dr John Inge speaks of “light at the end of the tunnel” that brings hope to us all.

He urges people to be strong and value their loved ones as we go into the festive period.

In his message, he says: “Life remains very trying for so many because of the pandemic and for those who have lost loved ones, this Christmas will be a particularly difficult time.

“My prayer is that we can all look forward to better times ahead with the wider roll out of vaccines hopefully enabling the removal of restrictions during next year.

“At Christmas we look back to the birth of the Christ Child 2000 years ago, a unique event in human history at which the angels sang. I pray that this Christmas you might experience the deep sense of joy and hope that the birth of Jesus brings.

“May your hearts sing with the angels: ‘Glory to God in the Highest and peace to his people on earth.’ I pray that you are able to draw close to the Lord Jesus and be reassured by God’s eternal love for you.

“May that everlasting hope for the future bring great joy to your heart.”