Yesterday was the winter solstice and the shortest day of the year. Already there is a little stretch in the evenings. I had to collect some sand and grit for my hens from Garrvoe beach which is part of their diet. Along with getting some of their feed to keep them going over the Christmas holidays, grit was on the menu too. I also went for a walk on the beach. Even at 5pm the skyline was visibly bright. Apparently since Dec 14th the evenings are stretching a little but the mornings will continue to get darker for another week or so and then the mornings will also get brighter.
It is just 3 days to go before Christmas Day. The week is busy for everyone. There is a good busy and an exhausting busy. I hope your busy these few days is good. I hope the coming days are of blessings for you. I hope you can enjoy beautiful connections with your family and friends. Whatever your plans are remember the beautiful message of Christmas, that God is with you, that God loves you and that you are precious and special.
I have just shared my short Christmas Message with a new video below
Video for the Week🎥
The video for this coming week is called ‘Celebrating Light and Good News this Christmas’ The video is updated each Wednesday
Here is my Thought for the Week:
“Everyone has inside of them a piece of good news.” ~Anne Frank
I have great respect for Fr. Tom Clancy who is now a retired priest living in Dennehy’s Cross. He was a dean of formation in Maynooth when I was training for the priesthood many years ago. His beautiful Cork accent always made up for any homesickness I may have felt. Tom always translated scripture into beautiful and simple language. I have always tried to follow his example and translate the message of scripture into simpler language, that people can relate to and connect with.
Fr.Tom always told us that when you are preparing your Sunday homily, have the scriptures in one hand and the newspaper in the other hand. Again his advice was so important for me, to make it relevant and connect it to people’s lives. I always try to follow Tom’s advice every Sunday. Thankfully this newspaper The Echo, always connects us to local stories and local news. Yes some of these stories can be sad sometimes but there is also a lovely balance with good news stories too from all our communities.
On Sunday we celebrated the third Sunday of Advent which is called ‘Joyful Sunday’. We celebrate good news and good news only. But as we know so well it’s bad news that always makes the headlines. It simply has quicker and faster legs than those of good news. We need to bring the balance back in. That is why ‘Joyful Sunday’ is one of those days that is so important. There are good news stories all around us but they often get squashed and pushed to one side. These good news stories do not have to make the headlines. It is often the small and insignificant good news stories that really are the best of all.
Christmas can rightly be called a ‘Celebration of Good News’ but especially a celebration of your good news. The message of ‘Joyful Sunday’ is that you are special and always worth celebrating. If we cannot do that, then there is no point having Christmas. Christmas celebrates you and celebrates the something special you bring to each day.
(Thought For The Week is updated each Monday)
