APPOINTED TO BE READ AT ALLPUBLIC MASSES IN ALL CHURCHES AND CHAPELS IN THE DIOCESE OF LANCASTER ON THE WEEKEND OF 27th/28th DECEMBER 2025
My dear people,
we should be slow to ‘pack Christmas away’, and we should be slow to ‘pack the Holy Year away’.
The Feast of the Holy Family is given to us as a gift of encouragement and hope for the time we still have. Let us consider this gift, what is it that you and I have received? The Holy Year of Hope was a season of many blessings and Graces. Those blessings draw us more confidently into the life and love of the Holy Family. Through Baptism we become adopted children of God. Through imitating Christ in charity, He recognizes us as His brothers and sisters. Through our veneration of Mary as Mother of the Faithful, we live as her own children, given to her by Jesus as He was dying on the Cross.
We are marking the conclusion of the Holy Year of Hope. Each of us has been prayed for. Our prayers have been heard and answered by the Lord. We have received blessings and Graces because the Lord wants us to be grafted onto and into the Holy Family. He wants us to carry His light into the new year, to chase away the darkness of fear and failure not just in our own lives, but also in the lives of others.
In due time, the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds went back to their flocks, the Magi returned to their homes, and the little Holy Family left the little town of Bethlehem, making for Egypt. They have become exiles, refugees fleeing persecution. Fear is a constant feature in the Gospels. Mary and Joseph are told there are people who want to destroy this child. It sounds far-fetched, but remember, we live in a world where infanticide exists. We know that children can be targeted in war with the intention of destroying an adversary’s future. The Christmas story has a dark side. With the coming of Jesus into the world sin reacts with threats and violence. A sleeping dog has been woken.
It won’t be long before we begin to see all the lights disappearing from the streets and houses around us. They went on in a flurry of excitement for the coming festivities Soon we will see Christmas packed away, as life returns to normal. But our family is different. We live by different beliefs and rules that will often put us out of step with our neighbours. That is not to say we are better than others – God alone will be our judge. If we are to serve His purpose we must accept living differently, and being known as families who do so.
May God continue to bless your homes and families as we carry His light into 2026.
With my blessing,
Rt Rev Paul Swarbrick
Bishop of Lancaster
