Christmas – an event that will “rock the world”

Bishop Stephen Conway

Christmas Message 2011 from the Bishop of Ely

The Christmas story is still being told and from “quiet, simple humble beginnings” the truth of the word made flesh will ultimately “rock the world,” the Bishop of Ely, Rt Revd Stephen Conway, said in his 2011 Christmas address.

Preaching in Ely Cathedral at Midnight Mass , Bishop Conway recognised changing communication methods and expectations amongst the population at large, in the media and in the expectations surrounding international leaders: “Our story is not over, not complete, not fulfilled. That’s true at the level of the Christmas story, which began with the Annunciation. The Christmas story has slogged through morning sickness, and hormonal changes, and nine months of pregnancy, without benefit of midwife or basic hygiene – pretty ordinary stuff, hardly festive.

He added: “Then, one day, the story bursts forth into joy. That’s Christmas: out of quiet, humble, simple beginnings comes an event that will rock the world.”

The Bishop said that despite hurdles which many people had to overcome through a variety of circumstances, the emphasis via faith was on people flourishing with dignity: “We can make a personal resolution this Christmas to commit ourselves to a more serious desire not to narrow our sympathies but to have them enlarged. The one currency not affected by inflation is love. And this is not a silly or passing passion, but a deep-seated and serious desire to see everyone flourish in dignity and in the contribution they can make, however weak they are and however easily attacked in sound bites, like the unemployed or runaway children or the mentally ill.”

Acknowledging that there was violence in many parts of the world, the Bishop said: “As we labour under the weight of violence in the world, he comes with love and peace to show us that the world does not have to be predictably bad, but could be remarkably fruitful in company with him, the Prince of Peace.”

Bishop Conway talked about different places in which Christmas is celebrated. Whether in the glory of Ely Cathedral or in the prison he would be visiting on Christmas morning, he said: “In either setting, we acknowledge that we feel small and anxious about the way the world is and our own responsibilities and relationships. A sentence of hope is that we are not up to it, but God is down to it in Jesus Christ.”

Click here to read the Bishop of Ely's full sermon at MIdnight Mass.