THIS “IS a dark time of the year, and we live in dark times”, Church of Ireland Bishop Michael Burrows of Cashel and Ossory has said.
“The mood music of the land is gloomy, the economic situation seems to get worse and worse, things have got so much more complicated even since we last celebrated Christmas,” he said in a Christmas message.
“Watching the unfolding story of Ireland just now is indeed like watching one of those movies where everything seems murky and the light seems unable to break through,” he said.
“But, in the atmosphere of Ireland in 2011, perhaps we may realise afresh just what a dark narrative the story of Christmas in fact is.
“The sun never really shines as Joseph and Mary, weary travellers in need of shelter and care, search for somewhere to spend the night. Mary’s baby is born in wretched conditions, perhaps with the assistance of some miserable lanterns . . . references to a single star in fact emphasise the overall darkness of the whole scenario,” he said.
Yet “the amazing fact about Christmas, then and now, is that no story ever told has had more capacity to bring light to dark places. Out of all the shadows mysteriously and wonderfully emerges a source of light that will never be equalled or overwhelmed,” he said. “Even when the Christmas narrative is retold in the most gloomy and depressing of environments, it brings hope and joy as nothing else can.
“Christmas 2011 in this land is a good and salutary time to hear the old story again and to reflect upon its magnetism for us . . . When life itself seems almost like a scary movie where the sun never comes out and the shadows are long and overpowering, the drama of Christmas is simply the best story of light ever told to humankind.”
