CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM OUR NEW BISHOP OF MEATH
TOM DEENIHAN (extract)
As Christmas approaches, I pray God's blessing on the people of the Diocese of Meath for the forthcoming joyful season and the New Year ahead. Let us celebrate Christmas this year!! Christmas cannot be reduced to a 'Happy Holiday' or a celebration devoid of Christ. The feast of Christmas is the most inclusive of all feasts, God made Man to lead us to God! This year, let us try to keep Christ at the centre of our Christmas and let us try to imitate, as best we can, the generosity of the God who became man for us.
Those who are recently bereaved also find Christmas a difficult time as do those who are ill. May Christ be present to all who are suffering or alone this Christmas and to those who are bereaved and who are ill. They are and must be very much in our prayers at this time. The message of Christmas is one of love, hope, joy and peace. Christ came as a child for each one of us, to lead us to God. Christmas is the great family feast and, as such, it offers a time to resolve family differences.
This year was memorable in that it witnessed the visit of Pope Francis and the World Meeting of Families. The Diocese of Meath was well represented in terms of the Choir, Volunteers and at Croke Park. I pray that the joy, hope and peace of the first Christmas may be present in our Dioceses this Christmas. Let us never forget that the coming of Christ means for each one of us that we have a future, even when this life is ended, and that we are loved, uniquely, by God. May God bless you and yours this Christmas and may 2019 be a year of blessing for us all.
