Reflection: First Sunday of Christmas
Welcome to our series of Advent and Christmas reflections. We hope you enjoy reading or watching the full reflection.
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Bible passage
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
‘See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.’
And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.’
Reflection
The passing of the year is not itself a religious festival. The 1st January is traditionally either the Feast of the Circumcision or Naming of Jesus, or a Feast in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. No matter how many little ceremonies we assemble around New Year, from first-footing to Auld Lang Syne, from fireworks to New Year’s resolutions, there is no intrinsic connection to the Christian Calendar in the passing of the year.
But beginnings and endings are important to human beings, marking out the time with particular rhythms and moments. The dawn of a new year, 2024 years after the traditional date of the birth of Jesus, this 2024th year of our salvation, prompts us to look forward and back. We take stock, reflect, wonder how we might have done things differently. There will be losses, sadnesses, to mark, as well as celebrations and success. But with all this, we look forward, confident in Christ who is the beginning and the end of all things; the Firstborn of All Creation and also the One who will come to be our judge. The One who is the beginning and the end of all things.
The writer of the Book of Revelation has a vision of God’s ultimate future – the new creation – which is more beautiful and lustrous than we can imagine. It might inspire us to ask what kind of world we want to live in? How can 2024 in your life, in my life, draw from that vision? A vision where God’s love, forgiveness and peace is the centre of all things, the ultimate reality. The Christian martyrs knew this was a vision worth dying for. It is also a vision worth living for.
Prayer
O heavenly Father,
whose blessed angels proclaimed peace on the earth and goodwill to all men as the victorious fanfare at the birth of thine only-begotten Son;
pour into thy world afresh the gift of thy peace.
Turn the hearts of those who would make war to the ways of peace; calm the afflictions of the distressed with the insistent whisper of thy peace,
and build up the hearts of thy people with the confidence of thy peace.
Through the same Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.
Amen.
