Courtney McGrailDear Editor, In a culture of ignorance or indifference to the mystery of Jesus Christ may I suggest some reflections inspired by God’s communication with us, beginning with the call of Abraham to become the father of the Jewish chosen people, God’s inspiration of messengers/prophets to go among the people and to begin writing the Bible, the first book, Genesis, describing creation in the simplest language suited to the the people of the time.
This led in time to the extraordinary assumption by God of our human flesh and blood 2,000 years ago in the person of Jesus Christ. Through him, we learned that we are to share for all eternity in the divine Trinitarian community of persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in the one God, if during our earthly sojourn we use our minds and free wills for the flourishing of our families and communities and thus of ourselves. We are all included in God’s people.
The abuse of free will at the beginning and down the ages has disfigured the world and God could not ignore this and so Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Redeemer and Saviour, accepted death by crucifixion, but rose from the dead three days later. At the last Supper on the night before he died he gave his Apostles and his Church the Eucharist, his Body and Blood, with the command “do this in memory of me”.
Hence all of us under the guidance of the Church are to gather in our communities every Resurrection Day, every Sunday, for this Eucharistic liturgy. As we gather this Christmas our special prayer will surely be that all Christians may be one, and that the divisions of 500 years ago in the Protestant division of 1517 and the earlier Easter Church one of 1054 will shortly be brought to an end under the grace and enlightenment of God.
Yours etc.,
Fr Tom Kelleher,
Kinsale, Co. Cork.