Archbishop of Sydney

Christmas Message 2003

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
24 December 2003

It is not difficult to miss the message of Christmas. Many of the clues in our decorations and Christmas cards point in another direction. The popular hymns are better.

Christ, by his birth in a stable at Bethlehem, jars our ordinary everyday ways of thinking. The Christ child did not grow into a fierce prophet like Elijah. Neither was he a warrior, nor a King, a political agitator, not a rich man.

The helplessness of the Christ child, his poverty, did not deter King Herod from the slaughter of the innocents. This reminds us of the importance of joining the struggle between good and evil, that human actions cannot be adequately explained just by illumination, superior knowledge, and ignorance.

The Christ child is the Son of God; son of the transcendent God who is the lord of history and the creator of the universe. We are not devotees of a non-person, of the forces of nature, of Mother Earth.

At Bethlehem Jesus and his mother were greeted by different types of people. He calls us all to organized community living, to the regular service of others, not to a vague spirituality which leaves selfishness in place. We are called to wisdom and compassion, practising our own forms of self denial to help others.

And the Christ child calls us to peace at home and abroad. Peace at home between different ethnic and religious traditions, mutual respect, not violence and bloodshed.

My prayer is that at this Christmas the Christ child will bring peace to our hearts and homes; to those sick or disturbed, those in detention centres or jails, those with little or no hope.

The Christ child brings good tidings to all, especially the suffering, from our living God.

Listen to the Cardinal's Message: Real Audio (streaming file: 220k)