Feast of the Holy Family 2009

26 December 2009

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ

I would like to wish you, your family and friends the joy and peace of Christmas.  I hope this season is a time for renewing and strengthening family life and friendships.  As I do so I am mindful of the people in Cumbria whose homes were damaged and destroyed by the recent floods.  For them this Christmas is not what they would have planned or wanted.  I also remember families and friends who have lost people close to them during this past year, especially through the conflict in Afghanistan.  Please remember them all in your prayers as well as those who have been injured in war.

There is something very important about creating a home.  It is more than just the building in which we live.  A home is a place where we belong; where we can be ourselves; where we find healing if we are hurt and refreshment when we feel tired.  Home is especially important for family life because the majority of us first learn to love, forgive and be patient with one another within the family.  The home is also the place where we learn and live our Catholic Faith; where we understand the meaning of what it is to belong to the Church.

However, family life is not always easy.  Families don’t just happen; family life is created by all who belong to the family.  All members have a responsibility towards each other.  We know this can be challenging and sometimes it is in the family where we can feel most hurt and lonely.

Family life requires us to make sacrifices – to give way out of love to the other family members.  It is our willingness to be selfless in love that contributes to making the home a holy place.

When we were putting together our diocesan pastoral guidelines “Called to be a People of Hope” one request that was frequently mentioned was the need to support families.  I have recently asked Anne-Marie Sparrow to be the coordinator for Marriage and Family Life.  Anne-Marie has accepted this position.  She has already contacted all our parishes to see what we are currently doing to support families and to identify areas to which we need to give more attention.

Family life is tremendously varied and the needs of people differ greatly, often depending for instance on age, health, birth, death, employment, finance, housing and migration.  During 2010 we will look at how we can be “A People of Hope” within our homes.

Today, St Paul invites us to allow the message of Christ to find a home within us in all its richness.  Part of the Christmas story is the refusal to give the Holy Family a home in which Mary could give birth to her child.  That story continues, in the sense that we have a choice to give Christ a welcome or refuse him entry.  To welcome him is to live in the light; to refuse him hospitality is to continue to live in darkness.  The word of God became flesh in Jesus.  Only if we welcome him will we understand the significance of his coming and be able to live as “A People of Hope”.

My best wishes and prayers for the year ahead
Bishop of Clifton

To be read and / or made available in all Churches and Chapels in the Clifton Diocese on the Feast of the Holy Family 26 and 27 December

You can listen to Bishop Declan read you his pastoral letter in the multimedia panel on the right.

You can watch Bishop Declan in the Cathedral read you his pastoral letter in the cliftondiocese.com cliplayer below.