Bishops share their Christmas goodwill

Archbishop of Birmingham Bernard Longley

At the first Christmas God left what we might call his comfort-zone to enter a world of uncertainty and strife – the reality of our world.

God loves the world and would not simply leave us on our own with no-one to guide us through our mistakes and failures.

So he chose to share our experience and to allow us to glimpse his glory through the helplessness of his Son born in a stable because there was no room at the inn.

Pope Francis asks us this Christmas us to look at our cities with a contemplative gaze, a gaze of faith which sees God dwelling in their homes, in their streets and squares. He urges us to identify what he describes as the non-citizens…half citizens and urban remnants. When Christians are confronted by those looked upon as outcasts or leftovers we can never say there is no room.

Every Christmas the story of Jesus' birth urges us to be people and communities that welcome others, especially the stranger who is in need, and to keep in mind those who are far from their homes and their loved ones. In this season we pray especially for refugees and economic migrants. They are often anxious and fearful about the future and feel they have no one to turn to – many find friendship and support in their local Christian community.

We also remember the members of our armed forces and armed forces personnel whose duty keeps them in Afghanistan or other troubled parts of the world. They are far from their loved ones at home and will be feeling the distance particularly at Christmas. Nearer to home we remember those who feel there is no room for them because their lives have gone astray through the influence of drugs or criminal behaviour.

We must be welcoming to those who have been the victims of crime as well as those who are separated from their families because they are now in prison.

We recognise that the problems of the world are many and complex but nothing of this can separate us from God's love, which is forever revealed in the child of Bethlehem. He came to benefit all mankind and to offer light to those who live in darkness and uncertainty.

May there always be room for Christ in the inn of our innermost selves so that he may make a welcome there for others. May the new-born Christ bring his blessings now and in the year to come to you and all those who are dear to you. A blessed and happy Christmas to all the Express & Star readers.

Bishop of Lichfield Jonathan Gledhill

Looking for the ideal Christmas gift? Call off the search. Two thousand years ago, God sent a baby, his son Jesus, into our world "not to condemn, but that the world might be saved through him." It was the greatest gift ever given.

For most of us, December is a frenetic, stressful period of time, pressure and financial strain, followed by a sprint for the line to get ready. It is important to strip all that away, and take time to marvel at what we are celebrating. God's presence came to live among us, and he will come again.

Christmas is a time for children. The child Jesus, celebrated in Nativity plays, helpless and lying in grime, is the ruler of heaven and earth. The church makes great efforts to reach new generations with the love and message of God. There are 6,000 baptisms in the Diocese each year, 200 church schools, and 100 Messy Churches, teaching children that God loves them, they matter, that each of them is precious.

Christmas is also a time for generosity and goodwill. This Christmas, followers of Jesus are running food banks, helping credit unions, organising meals for refugees, in a thousand ways remembering those among us who are lonely, heartbroken, sick, or struggling. Jesus calls his followers to give abundantly, to love giving as much as we love receiving.

God's love makes us want to give. Why is Christmas special? Because Christmas starts with Christ. It starts with a newborn baby who grew up to give his life for us all. It is the greatest gift ever given. Jesus said "he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but have the light of life". You are warmly invited to come to church this Christmas and share in that light.

Bishop of Worcester Dr John Inge

It's often said that there's something magical about Christmas, that it has a fairy tale quality to it.

Christmas lights and other decorations certainly enliven this darkest time of the year. They all help to produce a festive atmosphere which can lift the spirits. However, the greatest thing about Christmas is that it is celebrating a real event, not an imaginary one. And that event should lift the spirits more than anything else.

Why? Because behind the birth of Jesus which we celebrate at Christmas lies the greatest truth we shall ever encounter – that the God who made us, the God who flung stars in to space and created the whole universe out of nothing – that this same God loves you and me more than we can possibly imagine. That's what he sent Jesus to tell us by his birth, tell us by his life and teaching, tell us by his death and tell us by his resurrection. It's a simple truth but it's a profound one: you are loved. You are part not of a cosmic accident, nor of a fairy tale nor of a magic show but of the greatest love story ever.

So, if amidst the festivities of Christmas this year you are weighed down by doubts, worries, pain or anxiety let the profound message of Christmas reach deep into your heart. You are loved – infinitely, gloriously, wonderfully and eternally loved. And nothing, but nothing, will be able to come between you and that love if you choose to receive it.

Being embraced by Divine Love is the most glorious thing which can lift the spirits more than anything. It can do more than that, though: it can give us the will and the determination to share that love with others. There are many in our community who are in desperate need of human care and compassion this Christmas. The number of people and families being fed by the Worcester and Black Country Foodbanks, run by the Church, has more than doubled in the last year. In Worcester round 40-50 people/families are being fed each day at present.

About 20,000 people will have been fed by the Black Country Food Bank by the end of the year.

Those who started these Foodbanks, like others, are people who have been gripped by God's love and have responded to it wholeheartedly. They are grateful for how much they have been given and are impelled, as a result, to reach out to others. May we all be touched by God's great love in Jesus this Christmas and, as a result, be enabled to show that same love to those who most need it.

God bless you this Christmas.