United Dioceses of Dublin & Glendalough

23.12.2008

We Need a Wake Up Call - Archbishop of Dublin's Chirstmas Sermon

Delivering his Christmas Sermon in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin the Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr John Neill took as his theme "Grace and Truth" from the Prologue to John's Gospel: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth” St.  John 1:14

On the theme of Grace, the Archbishop asserted that "we live on reports of bad news" but the "good news stories are seldom told." The Archbishop said that Irish society needs "a wake up call - we need to discover something more of the goodness that is still out there, the people who are there for others, the people who are working hard not just for themselves but to keep others at work, the acts of love and kindness that actually tell a real story and a human story.  Christmas is not just a festival of tinsel; it is a festival of the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ."

On truth the Archbishop said that "Only a few weeks ago, we discovered in quick succession the amazing tales first of the scandalous opulence and spending of those entrusted with public responsibilities, and then within days,  we learnt of the desperate exploitation of many of our immigrant workers.   The truth was remarkably hard to face, but each of these stories are symptomatic of a loss of both grace and truth."

Concluding the Archbishop said, "Today I tell you good news, that at the centre of it all is that which we celebrate, the grace and truth that is at the heart of God’s way for the world, the grace and truth which were lived in  the child of Bethlehem, lived in his life on this earth, and which triumphed through his death and resurrection.  As we come to receive him in this Eucharistic Feast, I pray that we may be open to that grace and that truth in our own lives in a powerful and real way."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth” St. John 1:14

Sometimes it is the simple stories of Bethlehem told by St.Matthew and St.Luke that catch the imagination, at others it is the profound prologue to the Gospel of St.John.  But whether it is through the expression of the story-teller or that of the mystical poet, the fact remains that we are at Christmas faced by a profound mystery.

It is nigh impossible in words to express the astounding experience that in Jesus of Nazareth, God is present in a unique way.   God has given in Jesus an opening to the divine that changes everything.  Christmas is special not only as a mere glimpse of the divine in a human birth, but also as the beginning of a life that transformed all who encountered it, a life that went all the way to death, a cruel death and even beyond. 

The eternal and the historical – the heavenly and the earthly – God and humankind - met together that night two thousand years ago, and in a real sense for us never to part. “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth”
Grace and Truth are at the heart of the Incarnation and are the two words that I want to leave with you this Christmas morning. 

Grace conjures up for us ideas of beauty and refinement, of goodness and of worth.  As we go deeper, grace is about something very valuable, something costly in a very real way, but yet something freely given and shared.  To act gracefully is to act unselfishly, to share goodness and warmth, even if the opposite is shoved at us.  Grace is the most divine of characteristics which reaches out towards others in self-giving and even love.   Grace is not earned, it is joyfully received. It is little wonder that the New Testament speaks of the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ – the one that though he was rich, for our sakes became poor, so that by his poverty we might be rich.  Grace is shown in that life above all others. 

Is this grace that we see in Jesus seldom found in today’s Ireland?  It may well be, but I suspect it is found far more often than we realise.  What do I mean?  I mean that we live on reports that are bad news – of the evil that people do to one another, what hurt is afforded and what hurt is received by person after person.  Such makes news – even though it is bad news. Such keeps our newspapers and television screens filled.  Of course the media must always tell it as it is, but sometimes we must hear the good as it is too.  It is the “Good News” stories that are all too seldom told – space is not there for them – the commercial pressures on the media are so great that stories that tell of people reaching out to others in generosity, in caring, with imagination, with compassion and with love – stories like this, stories of grace are simply not news.

We have been through weeks of bad news on the economic front, we have managed to induce a national depression, and the prophets of doom have now become the purveyors of this depression.    We need a wake-up call – we need to discover something more of the goodness that is still out there, the people who are there for others, the people who are working hard not just for themselves but to keep others at work, the acts of love and kindness that actually tell a real story and a human story.  Christmas is not just a festival of tinsel; it is a festival of the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The Incarnate Lord is described in the Prologue to St.John’s Gospel as “full of grace and truth”.   Grace and truth are linked in this description, but also in reality.  Grace can never be sham, it can never be a mere front, or it is quickly exposed.  Grace is something transparent, and based in reality.  If we have difficulty at the present time in relation to realising the grace that is at the heart of lives open to God, we have also had a bad history in relation to truth in this land.  Perhaps all the tribunals and public enquiries have inoculated us against the fact that so much else has been covered up in Irish Society.   Only a few weeks ago, we discovered in quick succession the amazing tales first of the scandalous opulence and spending of those entrusted with public responsibilities, and then within days, we learnt of the desperate exploitation of many of our immigrant workers.   The truth was remarkably hard to face, but each of these stories are symptomatic of a loss of both grace and truth.  Christmas, which is the story of God’s glory perceived in the Christ, full of grace and truth, stands in stark contrast to the Ireland that we know only too well.

“The Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth” Today I tell you good news, that at the centre of it all is that which we celebrate, the grace and truth that is at the heart of God’s way for the world, the grace and truth which were lived in the child of Bethlehem, lived in his life on this earth, and which triumphed through his death and resurrection.  As we come to receive him in this Eucharistic Feast, I pray that we may be open to that grace and that truth in our own lives in a powerful and real way.  Such a prayer can lie behind the greeting which we share as we say to one another “Happy Christmas”