WelCom December 2024/January 2025
Archbishop Paul Martin sm, Archbishop of Wellington
So often we come to this point of the year and we find it hard to believe that another year is coming to an end. We can look back on all that has happened and marvel at the moments of joy and delight and recognise the moments of struggle, sadness and challenge. All of this makes up the tapestry of our own lives and our life as a Church community.
Yet we know we are part of a life that is so much more than any particular year. This Christian life, lived in relationship with Jesus Christ, and as members of his body, the Church, means we join with all those who have gone before and with our brothers and sisters now in trying to fulfil our baptism as followers of the Lord. This is the work of our whole lives and isn’t captured in the course of just one year, but over all the years of our life.
This is why we take the time to give thanks for what has been happened this year and been graced by God, why we take time to ask forgiveness for the moments or occasions when we missed the mark, or when we did something that was actually against our calling as Christ’s disciples. In all of this God has been with us, walking beside us, carrying us, giving us his grace and strength, especially through the Sacraments. We are never alone.
We are reminded of this again as we enter into this time of Advent, of waiting for the coming of the Christ child. We take these four weeks to prepare our hearts to celebrate again the wonder and mystery of God becoming man. Of the willingness of Mary to answer the call to be the mother of God, of Joseph’s openness to trusting in God’s plan to be the foster father of the Jesus. We see God speak through the prophets, through angels, through those who listen and pass on the message to others. We remember and delight in the fact that we are all part of this wonderful work of God as well in our time.
May this time of Advent be one of blessing and grace for you and your family. May Christmas be a time for rejoicing in God’s presence and work in our world. May we remember and care for those for whom this is a time of sadness or difficulty or struggle. May our hearts be open and grateful to the Christ child, God who is with us, whose birth we celebrate again as 2024 comes to a conclusion.
May you and all who you love be blessed in this Christmas season.
Ngā mihi nui