Christmas Message – the Bishop of St Asaph, Rt Revd Gregory Cameron
Is it time to pack up the celebration of Christmas? In 1647, Parliament abolished Christmas – the celebration, they argued, was too centred on pleasure and waste. The ban lasted until King Charles II brought back a more indulgent society in 1660. Today, similar pressures are building up: Christmas, say some, is too commercial, too expensive, too exclusive. What would we lose by banning Christmas? (I’m assuming of course that we could still have a Yuletide, so the presents and the drinks parties could continue!)
Christians make the claim that at the first Christmas, heaven and earth were joined– that God entered the world as a human being; the Creator became part of creation. A lot of Christian values flow from that claim – affirming creation as good and blessed by God, stressing the value and dignity of human life, offering a view of the universe in which love is woven into creation. You may feel that such abstract ideas can be taken or left, but these ideas lay foundations for practical attitudes that do make a difference. Christmas is a time to think of others because God thought of us. Every human being has dignity and value because every person shares humanity with God. We should work for peace and justice because God blazed the trail in Jesus’ birth.
Christmas gives more than an excuse for a couple of days feasting, it gives significance to the whole of life – and that’s why I hope we will celebrate it forever.
