Bishop Declan's Christmas Message
Throughout Advent two people have been very much in my mind. Both have
been motivated by their Christian faith and both have received comments
which have been favourable and negatively critical.
Gee Walker, the mother of Anthony Walker, the young many brutally killed in Huyton, Merseyside has made a powerful impact on many people across the country. The Walker family take their Christian faith seriously. Gee said she had to forgive the killers of her son because forgiveness is part of the Gospel message in which she believes and by which she tries to live. Moreover she is now planning to challenge racism in her community by educating young people of different cultures and nationalities through social activities. Gee has won the admiration of many who have met her or heard her speak through the media, but she has been called foolish by people who cannot understand why she seeks to forgive.
While I write this article, Norman Kember is still being held hostage in Iraq. He believes in the Gospel as a way of peace and reconciliation. Having demonstrated in London against the war in Iraq, he felt compelled to do more. He went to Iraq as a gesture of solidarity with the Christian Peacemaker team, to show that Christians and Moslems can live together peacefully. Some people admire his courage; others say he was foolish to do such a thing. All of us can understand the pain and anxiety his family must be feeling.
Gee and Norman, in different ways, show the foolishness of the Gospel. The Feast of Christmas does the same. Why does God in seeking to change people and reconcile them to one another choose to be born powerless and in a place of poverty? Why not choose to be born into a powerful and influential family? God chooses what the world thinks unsuitable and unlikely because this is the way to make people think in an entirely different way about themselves and others. Christmas calls for a reassessment of values that enable all people to come together. It is the foolishness of God in contrast to the wisdom of the strong. One seeks to reconcile; the other to dominate.
Gee Walker, the mother of Anthony Walker, the young many brutally killed in Huyton, Merseyside has made a powerful impact on many people across the country. The Walker family take their Christian faith seriously. Gee said she had to forgive the killers of her son because forgiveness is part of the Gospel message in which she believes and by which she tries to live. Moreover she is now planning to challenge racism in her community by educating young people of different cultures and nationalities through social activities. Gee has won the admiration of many who have met her or heard her speak through the media, but she has been called foolish by people who cannot understand why she seeks to forgive.
While I write this article, Norman Kember is still being held hostage in Iraq. He believes in the Gospel as a way of peace and reconciliation. Having demonstrated in London against the war in Iraq, he felt compelled to do more. He went to Iraq as a gesture of solidarity with the Christian Peacemaker team, to show that Christians and Moslems can live together peacefully. Some people admire his courage; others say he was foolish to do such a thing. All of us can understand the pain and anxiety his family must be feeling.
Gee and Norman, in different ways, show the foolishness of the Gospel. The Feast of Christmas does the same. Why does God in seeking to change people and reconcile them to one another choose to be born powerless and in a place of poverty? Why not choose to be born into a powerful and influential family? God chooses what the world thinks unsuitable and unlikely because this is the way to make people think in an entirely different way about themselves and others. Christmas calls for a reassessment of values that enable all people to come together. It is the foolishness of God in contrast to the wisdom of the strong. One seeks to reconcile; the other to dominate.
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