By Sarah Mac Donald - 22 December, 2013
Bishop Leo O’Reilly
Bishop Leo O’Reilly has said that though Christmas is about receiving, it is much more about giving, and most of all it is a time to say thank you to God.
In his Christmas message, the Bishop of Kilmore regretted that two thousands years after the birth of Christ, there is “still a lot of darkness in our world.”
He said that for too many of us, Christmas is marked by “over indulgence, extravagance and selfishness.”
Christmas is a time for rejoicing but not forgetting Bishop O’Reilly said and underlined that by keeping Christ at the heart of Christmas, we will remember the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the bereaved, the lonely, the sick and the suffering.
“We remember people in places like Syria and the Philippines who are suffering.”
He also remembered those who are away from home at Christmas including Irish soldiers serving abroad and those working in the caring professions
“As a child, I loved Christmas and I still look forward to it. I still feel a bit of a thrill of joy when I hear the first Christmas carol,” Bishop O’Reilly recalled.
He added, “Christmas is a magical time but it is even more than that – it is a time of miracle and mystery.”
“We celebrate the birth of a child that happened more than two thousand years ago – a very human, helpless child. But this is not just any child, this child is the Son of God, Emmanuel – God with us. God has entered our world as one of us.”
