Stop and think  …

 Dear Friends

Each year, as Christmas approaches, the lights grow brighter, the queues longer, and the advertising louder. What was once a season centred on the quiet wonder of the Incarnation increasingly risks being overshadowed by consumption. The secular worship of commodities, where happiness is measured in purchases and fulfilment in the size or cost of gifts, can dilute the spiritual heart of Christmas for those who believe. Instead of preparing room in our lives for Christ, we can end up preparing only shopping lists and delivery schedules.

When the value of Christmas is reduced to economic activity, believers may feel pressured to equate love with spending and celebration with material excess. The sacred story, a God who becomes small, vulnerable, and poor so that humanity might know divine love, is easily lost beneath commercial expectations. The season becomes rushed instead of reflective, stressful instead of hope-filled, outwardly busy rather than inwardly open to grace.

Yet this drift is not unavoidable. Believers can reclaim the meaning of Christmas by choosing practices that reflect the Gospel rather than consumerism. One helpful step is intentional simplicity: setting realistic expectations around gifts and prioritising symbolic gestures, homemade offerings, or shared experiences over expensive commodities. Reclaiming Advent as a period of spiritual preparation, lighting candles, praying together, or spending time with scripture, helps keep Christ at the centre.

Restoring the season’s meaning also involves recovering a spirit of generosity that mirrors God’s self-giving love. This might include supporting charities, offering time to those who are lonely or struggling, or directing part of our spending to people in need. Such acts shift our focus from accumulating to giving, from buying to blessing.

Finally, shaping family and community traditions that emphasise presence over presents, shared meals, worship, carol singing, or simple moments of togetherness, anchors the season in relationship rather than consumption.
Mary Greaves 

Our Christmas Fair is fast approaching. Please take time to bur raffle tickets on sale at the back of Church. Today we have a Special Collection for the local Charity Survive Miva, which helps supply medical transport for the Missions . We welcome a short visit from Fr Przemek whom many of you will remember.

God Bless  

Fr Herbert and Fr Bryan