Glory to God in the Highest,

and peace to his people on earth

This is the message which the Christ Child came to bring and to teach and demonstrate in his adult life and it is the message we have sung over and over again in our Christmas carols in the past couple of weeks.

But looking back on this past year, this message seems a long way off and world events might seem to have taken a turn for the worse: continuing wars and casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq, deteriorating conditions in Zimbabwe, terrorist bombing in India and across the globe... The list seems particularly long this year.

In our hearts we know that war, terrorism, fundamentalism, persecution, aggression, reprisals, cannot possibly be the will of an all-loving God. Each tragedy has involved individual families, individual people. So together we pray for a New Year of Peace.

Mary had nowhere to give birth except in a stable. The Holy Family became refugees, no doubt suffering further rejections and indignities. Recent estimates from National Geographic suggest that there are currently over 35 million refugees in the world. This New Year, please remember refugees: each one is a child of God, and as such, has the right to dignity. Pray especially for all refugees – and for all strangers who come among us, for whatever reason.

And the refrain ends with ‘Peace to his people on earth.’ We’ve got a long way to go to bring about the peace that Christ came to share with us. It can feel a long way out of our sphere of influence to effect change in our world but we can start at the local level – looking for the good in each human being and seeking opportunities to share goodwill and care in our community.

So pray, too, for peace and harmony within our own families, within our own circle of acquaintances through work, pleasure and proximity of living, and within our village.

The angels’ hymn, ‘Glory to God in the highest’, is reflected in the Golden Rule given to us by Jesus – love God with all your heart, soul, mind and spirit. God is at work in the world and evil will be defeated.

As we give glory to God during this season, I encourage you to put God at our centre in this coming year. I hope that this coming twelve months will be filled with new found peace and blessings in our world, in your lives, and in the lives of all who are special to you.

Happy New Year !

Will