A Christmas message from the cardinal

GUEST CHRISTMAS EDITORIAL BY CARDINAL WILFRID NAPIER OFM

For us, a people battered as we are by a crime rate that is out of control and the utter brutality of many acts of violence, in particular against children, Christmas must of necessity take on a special meaning, namely, the very real need that we have of a saviour.But the way to such a saviour does not go via the feeble attempts of government or of civil society to turn back the tidal wave of social ills. Rather we need a far-reaching renewal of faith in a saviour who will address the root of the evil among us, sin; and by removing it from our minds and hearts, lead us to a new way of living.

This is the extent of God’s love and care for us, that he sent his only Son to save us from sin and death. This is why Christmas is a time for rejoicing and celebration: God has visited his people. A Son has been given to us.

Therefore let us, the followers of Christ, allow the Light of the Nations to shine on our lives in order to work in us a change of heart that brings about an alternative way of living to the present one.

It is my wish and prayer that all in our nation will accept and respond at this time of grace to God’s dream and invitation:

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.

“I will take out of you the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

“I will teach you my laws and observances. Then you will be my people and I will be your God” (Ez 36).

May this be the Christmas present that God gives to our nation and world.