eChurch Blog

Midnight mass at our towns Anglican Church was absolutely wonderful and thankfully less eventful than the Pope’s by the sound of it:-

BBC

Woman knocks Pope down at Christmas Mass

The woman – who is said to be mentally unstable – jumped the security barriers as Benedict XVI entered the basilica, causing the pontiff to fall.

The Pope appeared to be unhurt and recovered to lead the Mass.

The midnight service started two hours early because officials do not want the 82-year-old pontiff to get tired.

Thousands of pilgrims also gathered in Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas Mass.

Latin Patriarch Foud Twal, the most senior Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, said the region’s aspiration of peace remained out of reach.

“The wish that we most want, we most hope for, is not coming,” he said after passing into Bethlehem in a traditional holiday procession from nearby Jerusalem.

“We want peace.”

Woman arrested

The security incident involving the woman at St Peter’s Basilica lasted only a few seconds.

The woman – who was reportedly wearing a red jumper – tried to jump the barrier and the Pope was thrown off balance and fell, prompting shocked gasps among the crowd.

Security officials rushed down the main aisle to detain the woman.

The Pope had to be helped up by the master of ceremonies at his side, the BBC’s David Willey in Rome says.

However, he quickly recovered his poise and passed into the basilica preceded by senior Vatican cardinals, our correspondent says.

Benedict then delivered the Christmas homily in a firm voice. The theme was selfishness which, he said, “makes us prisoners of our interests and our desires”.

The woman who pushed the Pope also knocked down Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, who was taken to hospital for a check-up, Vatican spokesman Ciro Bedettini said.

The woman – whose name was not immediately known – was later arrested by police.

During last year’s Mass, a woman also jumped the barriers and got close to the Pope but was quickly restrained by security officials.

It was not immediately known if it was the same woman who pushed Benedict on Thursday.

The Vatican said earlier that the decision to move the midnight Mass to 2200 (2100 GMT) was “to make Christmas a little less tiring for the Pope, who has many engagements”.

The pontiff earlier appeared briefly at nightfall at the window of his studio to light a candle in a sign of peace.

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Whilst we wait to go to midnight mass here in the West, news just in from Iraq:-

Fox News

The deadly Christmas Eve ambush of a Christian bus driver in Iraq Thursday and a bombing earlier this week targeting a 1,200-year-old church are driving Iraq’s few remaining Christians quietly underground in the hours before the holy day begins.

Christmas has bumped into Shiite Islam’s most mournful ceremony this year, forcing Iraqi Christians to shutter their homes and hide the signs of their celebration.

Midnight Mass will again be observed in daylight across Baghdad, and security around churches is heavier for a community that’s been threatened by sectarian violence since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Unidentified gunmen ambushed a Christian man in Mosul on Thursday, shooting him after pulling him from the bus he was driving, police said. It was not clear if the attack was religiously based but it has put residents of the city on high alert.

That shooting came on the heels of a deadlier attack Wednesday, when a bomb hidden in sacks of flour exploded outside a historic church in Mosul, killing two people and wounding five.

“Instead of performing Christmas Mass in this church, we will be busy removing rubble and debris,” said Hazim Ragheed, a priest at the Mar Toma Church.

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And

Azzaman

More attacks on Iraqi Christians reported on Christmas eve

There has been a notable increase in attacks targeting Iraqi Christians, particularly in the northern restive city of Mosul.

Mosul, the capital of Nineveh Province, used to be a main center of Christianity in Iraq prior to the 2003-U.S. invasion.

Christianity came to Mosul and the adjacent Nineveh Plain in the 1^st century A.D. and reached its zenith in the 7^th century.

There are probably more monasteries and churches in the city and its suburbs than mosques – but unfortunately most are abandoned today.

A bomb placed close to a church went off on Wednesday, killing one Iraqi Christian and damaging part of the church.

Other churches and a monastery were attacked this month, causing material damage but no casualties.

However, several Iraqi Christian have been killed in the city this month, some of them originally living there and others on business trips.

On Thursday, the Christmas eve, one Iraqi Christian youth was killed as he left his home in al-Tahrir district, according to www.ankawa.com, a social and news website specialized mainly in Iraqi Christian affairs.

“Are these the Christmas presents we get?” Said Fr. Faiz Wadia of the Orthodox Christian church that was attacked last week.

“Is this the way they want to congratulate us on Christmas and the New Year?” Fr. Wadia added.

At least five Mosul churches have been targeted in the past few weeks.

Late 2008 at least 40 Christians were killed and more than 12,000 forced to flee the city.

Analysts say if the anti-Christian attacks continue, Mosul will soon lose its Christian identity and standing as a center for tolerance and co-existence in the Middle East.

Please do remember our persecuted Christian brothers & sisters this Christmas, as this is a particularly difficult time for them, especially with Islamic extremists threatening churches and Christians with violence over this period.

Could Jesus Live Safely In Bethlehem Today?

by Phyllis Chesler – Pajamas media

It is Christmas 2009, and instead of peace on earth and good will towards all, Muslims are busily blowing up churches and Christians all over the Islamic world.

This is an awful reality but it is neither recent nor unexpected. Perhaps what is even more awful is the world’s silence and seeming passivity. We in the West who believe in religious tolerance have not stopped the persecution of Christians in Muslim countries. In the name of political correctness, we have also “tolerated” the often aggressive demands for mosques, public prayer, minarets, and loudspeakers on our own soil even though there is absolutely no reciprocity towards Christianity (or any other non-Muslim religion) in most Arab and Muslim countries.

For example, this year, in a church in Bellinzona (Ticino), in Switzerland, a Nativity scene displays Jesus surrounded by minarets! “The unusual scene is supposed to make people reflect about brotherhood and human rights, after 57% of the Swiss (and 68% in Ticino) recently voted against minarets on mosques. On the crib are verses from the Bible and the Koran on the topic of water.”

First they came for the Jews … and indeed, most Jews, all 800,000 of us, fled the Arab and Muslim world in the 1940s and 1950s. No one stopped this “silent exodus” or really cared that it had happened. Individual Muslims and the Muslim governments happily, greedily, confiscated Jewish homes, factories, and farms; those Jews who were not slaughtered were allowed to leave with ten dollars in their pocket. Unlike the Palestinian refugees, the Jews and Israel took care of their own. Unfortunately, the Muslim world turned parasitically to the United Nations and to the world to fund the very Palestinians whom they would not allow to remain in their countries as refugees or citizens.

As to our Christian brothers and sisters:

Two days ago, in Mosul, Iraq, the Syrian Orthodox Church of St. Thomas, founded in 770 AD, was bombed — killing two civilians and wounding five others. This was the “sixth attack on Christians there in less than a month.” Ironically, according to their identity cards, the two murder victims were actually Muslims. However, according to Father Abdul Massih Dalmay of this church, “Christians are being targeted during Christmas time.” Father Dalmay feels that the government has not provided enough security for churches at this time and views this as “negligence on their part.”

The Syrian Orthodox Parish of the Immaculate Virgin was attacked a week ago. An infant girl was killed and forty people were wounded. Father Faez Wadiha, of this church, says, with irony: “This is certainly a Christmas present for Mosul, a message of congratulations why we are celebrating a feast of love and peace. But we will pray in the streets, in homes, in shops. God is everywhere, not just in churches.” The Syrian Catholic Church of the Annunciation , the (Chaldean) Church of St Ephrem, and the St. Theresa Church were all bombed in Mosul in the last month. According to another Christian Father: “These attacks are aimed at forcing Christians to leave the country.”

Some might say: There is an unwanted (and perceived as) Christian-American military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. These bombings are in retaliation …well, not so fast. There are other Muslim countries where there is no (unwanted) American military presence and where both Jews and Christians have lived long before Islam even came into being — countries in which Christians are now under siege. Let’s look at what’s happening to Christians who live in some Muslim countries today.

Egypt

For years now, Islamist “gangs” have been forcibly converting Christian children to Islam by drugging, kidnapping, gang-raping, photographing the rapes, blackmailing, and “marrying” the female child, as young as twelve, to Muslim men. The Egyptian police have been unwilling to stop this criminal activity. Recently, a Christian television channel broadcast a program about this in Arabic. Many Egyptians were shocked. Here is one of the kidnappers’ tactics:

“The latest fraud mentioned on the TV program is that Muslim gangs who dress as Coptic priests, offer a car lift to Christian girls and then abduct them. ‘The Coptic Church has warned its congregation against letting any unknown person dressed as a priest into their homes or accepting a lift.’” (My thanks to John Peter Maher for this information).

A substantial Christian population has always lived in Egypt. They have increasingly been bombed, tortured and murdered. For example, the Monastery of Abu Fana in Upper Egypt has existed since the 5th century — which clearly predates Islam by two centuries. Last year, Bedouin Muslims attacked the monastery, “destroying a small church and burning the monastery’s farm. Nine monks and monastery employees were wounded and four others were abducted.” Jeff Jacoby writes:

“One of the [abducted] monks had his arm and legs broken,” the Egyptian lawyer and human-rights activist Nagib Gabriel later testified. “The other two were tied together with ropes, suspended from a tree, and severely beaten with hoses and sticks. Afterwards, they were placed — upside down and still tied together — on the back of a donkey and shoved off. The monks were further commanded to spit on the cross and proclaim the shahada [the Muslim credo that "there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet"], beaten every time they refused, and even threatened with death.”

Pakistan

For a long time now, Christians have been persecuted in Pakistan. Their female children have been kidnapped, forced to convert and forcibly married to Muslims; both priests and believers have been attacked, and often murdered. Earlier this month, in Sargodha, Pakistan (in or near the Punjab), a mob of Muslim villagers, armed with clubs, spades, and axes attacked a showing of a film on Jesus, injuring three part-time evangelists very seriously as well as four Christians in attendance. The mob destroyed their appliances and absconded with funds. The mob also turned on Christian villagers who tried to intervene. Apparently, the mob climbed “trees to get a clearer view of the screen. The eyewitnesses said that as soon as the Muslim attackers watched the resurrection and ascension of Christ, they became enraged because their version of Islam forbids portraying an image of a living thing and especially that of a prophet. ” As usual, the police refused to register a complaint.

Turkey

Last month, Turkish authorities uncovered a detailed plot by Turkish naval officers to commit violence against their country’s non-Muslims in an effort to unseat Turkey’s Islamist government. “Entitled the ‘Operation Cage Action Plan,’ the plot outlines a plethora of planned threat campaigns, bomb attacks, kidnappings and assassinations targeting the nation’s tiny religious minority communities.  …The scheme ultimately called for bombings of homes and buildings owned by non-Muslims, setting fire to homes, vehicles and businesses of Christian and Jewish citizens, and murdering prominent leaders among the religious minorities.” Nine hundred and thirty nine Turkish non-Muslims were specifically marked as targets.

And, on December 15, 2009, in Istanbul, in response to a Swiss vote banning the construction of new mosque minarets, a group of Muslims went into a church building in eastern Turkey and threatened to kill a priest unless he tore down its bell tower. Specifically, on December 4, 2009, three Muslims entered the Meryem Ana Church, a Syriac Orthodox church in Diyarbakir, and confronted the Rev. Yusuf Akbulut. They told him that unless the bell tower was destroyed in one week, they would kill him. … Akbulut has been the target of threats, harassment before.”

Indonesia

In the rapidly Islamifying Indonesia, in Jakarta, “hundreds of Muslims celebrated the eve of the Islamic New Year last Thursday (Dec. 17) by attacking a Catholic church building under construction in Bekasi, West Java. A crowd of approximately 1,000 men, women and children from the Bebalan and Taruma Jaha areas of Bekasi walking in a New Year’s Eve procession stopped at the 60 percent-completed Santo Albertus Catholic Church building, where many ransacked and set fires to it, church leaders said. Damage was said to be extensive, but no one was injured.”

Somalia

“Islamic extremists controlling part of the Somali capital of Mogadishu this month executed a young Christian whom they accused of trying to convert a 15-year-old Muslim to Christianity. Members of the Islamic extremist group al Shabaab had taken 23-year-old Mumin Abdikarim Yusuf into custody on Oct. 28 after the 15-year-old boy reported him to the militants. Yusuf’s body was found on Nov. 14 on an empty residential street in Mogadishu, with sources saying the convert from Islam was shot to death, probably some hours before dawn.”

Thus, Christians and other non-Muslims have been continuously attacked and persecuted in Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, and Somalia.

Christmas approaches. What about the Holy Land? What kind of Christmas may we expect there?

The Jewish King David was born in Bethlehem, as was Jesus. Nevertheless, fewer and fewer Christians (and no Jews) live there year-round; pilgrims come to visit at this time of year but that’s about it. According to Benny Avni, writing in the New York Post, “fifty years ago, Christians made up 70 percent of Bethlehem’s population; today, about 15 percent…Practically the only place where the Christian population is growing is in Israel.”

As to the Church of the Nativity, it was treated abominably by Palestinian terrorists who, in 2002, held priests hostage there and treated it as a combination garbage dump and toilet. Israeli forces had to rescue the priests and arrange a cease-fire and surrender.

In the West Bank, churches, Christian cemeteries, and Christian-owned businesses have been attacked and defaced. Christians have been leaving in droves. According to Benny Avni, the current “West Bank Christian population (not counting Jerusalem)…is now less than 8 percent of the population.”

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Daniel Schwammenthal focuses on the persecution of Arab Christians in Bethlehem and especially on how the Western media has refused to cover this fact. When we read about the persecution of Palestinians it is only ascribed to Israel, never to Hamas, Hezbollah, or to the Palestinian Authority. The firebombing of Christian homes and of the only Christian bookstore in Bethlehem, the mass Islamic prayers in Manger Square, the intimidation of students at a Christian Bible college by Muslims who stand outside and loudly chant from the Qu’ran — are all daily realities for Christians in Bethlehem. A Christian spokesman in Bethlehem says: “We have never suffered as we are now suffering.”

Only the Jewish government of Israel guards and cherishes the holy places of all religions over which it has sovereignty. Only the Jewish Israeli government has offered permanent asylum to the Baha’i who fled Iran and temporary asylum to the black African Muslims and Christians who fled persecution and genocide at the hands of ethnic Arab Muslims in Sudan.

What in God’s name, are we to conclude from all this? Nina Shea, in National Review, draws some of the necessary conclusions:

“The disappearance of living Christian communities would signal the disappearance of religious pluralism and a moderating influence from the heart of the Muslim world. Within our lifetime, the Middle East could be wholly Islamicized for the first time in history. Without the experience of living alongside Christians and other non-Muslims at home, what would prepare it to peacefully coexist with the West? This religious polarization would undoubtedly have geopolitical significance. So far, official Washington has not taken this under consideration.”

As I’ve said: What happens to the Jews, at least under Islam, is bound to happen to Christians next. And so it has.

Of course, Muslims persecuted, colonized, and genocidally exterminated other non-Muslim groups too. Let’s not forget the Hindus in India who were under genocidal attack for 700 years; the Zoroastrians and Baha’i who were under attack in Iran; and the Armenians who were genocidally exterminated by Turkish Muslims. Armenians are a Christian ethnic group whose members belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church. To this day, the Turks still refuse to admit their responsibility.

So, on the one hand we have a relatively passive Christian West which has chosen not to actively stop the persecution of Christians in Muslim lands. On the other hand, we have allegedly “peaceful” Muslims who look the other way as Christians are persecuted and who are, understandably, also unwilling to … die to save Christians. For that matter, they are simply trying to live their lives and they are also unwilling to risk their lives to save other Muslims as well. “Peaceful” Muslims do not necessarily feel responsible for what is happening. Culturally and psychologically, they have been well trained to blame others, never themselves and to never act alone, as individuals, and/or against the family, clan, tribe, or ummah.

For example, the other day, I engaged my taxi driver in conversation. He was a young man from Turkey. He told me that he was a religious Muslim, that his wife wore hijab — and that he was committed to peace.

“Do you understand the Islamic jihadists who massacre innocent civilians in the name of Islam”?

Calmly, he answered. “Madame, they are not real Muslims. No real Muslim would do anything like that. I don’t know any Muslims like that.” He was very definite about this.

Said I: “But don’t you want to stop such criminals from committing atrocities in the name of your religion?”

He remained silent. Perhaps my question embarrassed him or made him sad; perhaps he was angry and could not afford to show it. Perhaps my question even threatened him because it assumed, even demanded, that he should be “doing” something. However, this soft-spoken man expressed no sorrow, no sense of responsibility, no guilt. His practice of Islam rendered him superior to it all; thus, evil had nothing to do with him, he had disassociated himself from it entirely.

As the world celebrates the birth of the Prince of Peace — originally a Jewish rabbi from Bethlehem–let’s be clear: In these times, Jesus would not be safe in the city where he was born, neither as a Jew nor as a Christian.

I hope that all Christians who live in a Muslim country are allowed to celebrate this day safely, in tranquility and joy. Merry Christmas.

(Thanks again to Esther for bringing some of this information to my attention.)

This one made me smile darkly, the BBC have published a guide to attending church this Christmas for those who find the whole experience of church rather alien. The irony of course, is that many of us Christians find the whole experience of church rather alien, even if we are regulars.

BBC

For many people, Christmas is the only time they enter a church, and the service can appear unfamiliar. So what can they expect, asks former vicar Mark Vernon.

Some 12 million people in the UK are thinking of going to church on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day according to a survey this week. That’s about four times as many people as on an average Sunday.

Even if many of those who are considering stepping over the threshold eventually decide not to, Christmas is far and away the busiest time of the year for churches up and down the country.

For many in the congregations, Christmas is an important time to reflect on spiritual matters and church-going is a key part of this. But many others will be walking into a building that looks strange, for a service that’s not familiar. So what will happen and what should they watch out for?

First, a warning. Contemporary churches can differ vastly from one another. Long gone are the days when every parish church had a heavy door at one end, a wooden altar at the other, and stained glass and stone arches spanning the distance in between. Don’t be surprised if the building you enter looks, to the untrained eye, more like a conference centre hall than something out of Four Weddings and a Funeral.

That said, what you see will tell you much about what to expect – and what might be expected of you. Look around. The fixtures and fittings are clues.

If you see crucifixes and statues, a decorated altar and candles, and you catch the tang of incense on the air, then you’re in a high church. It might be Roman Catholic. Of if it’s Church of England with smells and bells then it could be so-called Anglo-Catholic.

In both cases, the climax of the Christmas service is Holy Communion. Also known as the Eucharist or the Mass, you’ll be invited to receive the bread and wine in an “Anglo-Catholic” church, so long as you count yourself Christian; and you may receive in the Roman Catholic church, so long as you are a Catholic.

Otherwise, feel free to go forward, bow your head, and receive the priest’s blessing.

Choose a high church if you enjoy colour, music and liturgical action. The sermon will be short too: 15 minutes is generally thought excessive. Also, go here if you want a bit of anonymity, because you’ll probably be able to come and go without having to negotiate more than a smile in welcome.

There will be a cross, though the figure of Jesus won’t be on it. At the front is a pulpit or lectern. There will probably be a small church organ, though there may also be a drum kit and microphones assembled centre stage too.

There’ll be no exotic smells and the room will tend to be evenly and brightly lit.

You’re in a building at the conference centre end of the ecclesiastical spectrum. A low church like this may be Church of England or it may be another denomination, perhaps Methodist or Baptist. If you can see a drum kit, it could be Pentecostal, which means modern music and the raising of hands in praise.

Don’t be alarmed. You don’t have to be so moved yourself, though the heartfelt melodies are designed to be irresistible.

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This is some good news for Christmas Eve. Previous post:-

Christian book and bible charity IBS-STL UK is looking for a buyer for its commercial operations after a “succession of financial problems”.

The Cumberland News

EXCLUSIVE By Elizabeth Broughton

The future of 150 staff at a Carlisle-based book operation has been secured after the company was successfully taken over in time for Christmas.

Bible charity IBS-STL UK put its UK operations, which included Kingstown-based STL Distribution, up for sale last month, plunging the future of the Carlisle staff into uncertainty.

But, in what is a major jobs boost for the city, the 150 staff were told over the weekend that their jobs were safe after John Ritchie Ltd, a Kilmarnock-based book publisher and distributor, agreed to buy the Carlisle business.

STL Distribution’s general manager, David Young, told The Cumberland News that there was a “tremendous sense of relief” among all the staff in Carlisle.

About 100 people work in the firm’s warehousing department, which distributes Christian books to independent religious book shops as well as national firms WH Smith and Waterstones. They also supply books to IBS-STL UK’s 40 outlets, Wesley Owen Books and Film, 14 of which have also been saved. The remaining Carlisle staff work in marketing, accounts and finance, IT, customer service and a call centre.

Mr Young said: “There’s a tremendous sense of relief felt by staff in Carlisle to know their jobs are safe. I’m really, really pleased that we’ve been able to secure as many jobs as we have but sad for those sites where we’ve not been able to secure the jobs.”

Carlisle was the head office of IBS-STL UK – which is now in administration – and the rest of the charity’s staff were spread across the 40 Wesley Owen stores in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland and a small publishing operation in Milton Keynes.

Among the 26 Wesley Owen shops still facing an uncertain future is the one in Fisher Street, Carlisle, which employs five people. The charity’s administrators are selling remaining stock while continuing to look for a buyer.

John Ritchie Ltd has taken over the Kingstown operation with immediate effect, and will keep the STL Distribution brand.

Ken Munro, chief executive, said: “Our immediate goal is to quickly return the business to the levels of service and stability that customers have enjoyed over many years. We will achieve this by building on the existing team and infrastructure as the foundation of future success.”

Keith Danby, IBS-STL UK’s Carlisle-based chief executive, said: “I am delighted with the developments. I could not have imagined five weeks ago such a positive outcome.

“It has been a very difficult year for everyone and the uncertainty of the last month has created extraordinary anxiety for people with families, financial commitments and obligations, yet they have continued to fight for the survival of the company and done their very best to keep going.”

Authentic Music, in Milton Keynes, has been bought by Eastbourne-based Kingsway Communications, Authentic Book Publishing and eight of the Wesley Owen stores have been sold to Australian family-firm Koorong, while a further six Wesley Owen stores have been sold to CLC International (UK).

Isaiah 9

The Government of the Promised Son

Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,
As when at first He lightly esteemed
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
And afterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.

The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.

You have multiplied the nation
And increased its joy;
They rejoice before You
According to the joy of harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

For You have broken the yoke of his burden
And the staff of his shoulder,
The rod of his oppressor,
As in the day of Midian.

For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle,
And garments rolled in blood,
Will be used for burning and fuel of fire.

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Yeah, tell me about it:-

Telegraph

Sorry about this post, I had just been forced to go shopping again.

I made the mistake of popping out for a few bits at my local Tesco’s store today. I won’t bore you with all of the gruesome details, but it took 20 minutes to find somewhere to park and I was barged with trolleys and baskets more times than I like to recount. There was something certainly missing today in the Christmas shopping mania, which is the so called ‘Christmas Spirit’. I’m not entirely sure what this, but judging by the amount of booze bought by the folks in the queue, it must be something to do with Whiskey.

Anyway, take my advice and don’t go shopping today, especially if you are prone to grumpiness like me and check out this apt and lovely cross-post from Paul at the CyberBrethren Blog:-

When There is Little “Merry” About Your Christmas

I am thinking a lot this Christmas about the fact that for many, more than would ever be willing to admit openly, there is very little, from a human point of view, that the world would consider “Merry” about Christmas for them. They are caught up in personal troubles and situations that are causing them intense pain and anguish of heart and mind, soul and spirit. They see all the decorations, and hear the music, receive the cheerful, bright and wonderful greeting cards from friends and family, and it yet these things are another pointed reminder to them of a long-felt grief, or hurt, or sorrow.

Our cultural celebration of Christmas contributes in large measure to this problem, for many people. Christmas is a time for family, so we are told. But what happens when your family is missing a beloved father, or mother, grandma or grandpa, son or daughter? What happens when Christmas for you is a reminder that you have lost a dear one to death? What about other problems that might be hurting a family at this time? What about the sickness that has you or a loved one in its grip? Christmas can often be a reminder of the miserable failings of the past year  that haunt thoughts and minds, a reminder of all your personal faults and the trouble that you may have brought on yourself, with your own sinful choices and actions. Oh, how sharp that pain is, and particular so at a time of “happiness,” when you are feeling anything but happy.

How important it is then to let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly at this time, a Word that was made flesh and dwelt among us, a Word through Whom all things were made, that have been made. It was this Word, sent from the Father, who came among us, to be our great Savior, from sin, from death, from the power of hell, to pour out his lifeblood as the perfect atoning sacrificial ransom for the sins of the world.

The best advice I can give to those who are feeling lonely and sad at this time of the year is: reach out to people whom you know and share your love with them. Dive deeply into the Word of God. Take advantage of every opportunity provided to gather with your fellow saints in Gods’ House for worship and to receive the true and lasting gifts of Christmas: forgiveness, life and salvation. These are the gifts that are truly what make for a Merry Christmas. In spite of the loneliness, and in spite of the pain, and there is no denying either, there always stands Christ, with arms open wide, saying to you, “Fear not. I have overcome the world.” He says to you, “Let not your heart be troubled” and “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest.” This is not some kind of “magic formula” for you to recite that will just magically make all the pain go away, but you can, and you must, continue to pray the Lord’s Prayer, and pray the Psalms. These are the words Jesus has for you, for you to use and to pray. You can think those things that you ought, to set your minds on things above, and not dwell on those below. The “things above” are the beautiful and powerful truths that Christ reveals, in His Word.

Here are some powerfully comforting words for you from the Lutheran Confessions, that you should read very carefully and hold them close. Read these words out loud and then return to praying the Psalms. Recite them daily or as often as necessary when you feel a bout of gloom come over you at this time of the year:

“The doctrine that God in His counsel, before the time of the world, determined and decreed that He would assist us in all distresses,anxieties and perplexities, grant patience under the cross, give consolation, nourish and encourage hope, and produce such an outcome as would contribute to our salvation affords glorious consolation under the cross and amid temptations. Also, as Paul in a very consolatory way treats this, Rom. 8:28- 29, 35, 38, 39, that God in His purpose has ordained before the time of the world by what crosses and sufferings He would conform every one of His elect to the image of His Son, and that to every one His cross shall and must work together for good, because they are called according to the purpose, whence Paul has concluded that it is certain and indubitable that neither tribulation, nor distress, nor death, nor life, etc., shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” Solid Declaration, Article XI.48-49.

So, indeed, in no matter what situation you find yourself in, you can, and you will, have a “merry” Christmas, with Christ at the center, and by your side. You can say with the blessed Apostle: “I have learned the secret of being content.”I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:10-13).

Centuries ago, a Lutheran pastor wrote a beautiful Christmas hymn full of joy and comfort. And he was preaching to himself, for he was a man who had suffered the loss of a dear wife and the death of several children. He would be, during his career, removed from his office for remaining faithful to God’s Word, when he was persecuted and pressure to compromise. Pastor Paul Gerhardt wrote All This Night, My Heart Rejoices:

1. All my heart this night rejoices, as I hear far and near sweetest angel voices. “Christ is born,” their choirs are singing, till the air everywhere now with joy is ringing.

2. Forth today the conqueror goeth, who the Foe, sin and woe, Death and hell, o’erthroweth. God is man, man to deliver. His dear Son now is one With our blood forever.

3. Shall we still dread God’s displeasure, who, to save, freely gave His most cherished Treasure? To redeem us, He hath given His own Son from the throne of His might in heaven.

4. Should He who Himself imparted aught withhold from the fold, leave us broken-hearted? Should the Son of God not love us, Who, to cheer sufferers here, left His throne above us?

5. If our blessed Lord and Maker hated men, would He then be of flesh partaker? If He in our woe delighted, would He bear all the care of our race benighted?

6. He becomes the Lamb that taketh sin away and for aye full atonement maketh. For our life His own He tenders and our race, by His grace, meet for glory renders.

7. Hark! a voice from yonder manger, Soft and sweet, doth entreat: “Flee from woe and danger. Brethren, from all ills that grieve you you are feed; All you need I will surely give you.”

8. Come, then, banish all your sadness, one and all, great and small, come with songs of gladness. Love Him who with love is glowing. Hail the star, near and far light and joy bestowing.

9. Ye whose anguish knew no measure, weep no more, see the door to celestial pleasure. Cling to Him, for He will guide you where no cross, pain, or loss can again betide you.

10. Hither come, ye heavy-hearted, who for sin, deep within, long and sore have smarted. For the poisoned wound you’re feeling help is near, One is here Mighty for their healing.

11. Hither come, ye poor and wretched. Know His will is to fill every hand outstretched. Here are riches without measure. Here forget all regret, fill your hearts with treasure.

12. Let me in my arms receive Thee; On Thy breast Let me rest, Savior, ne’er to leave Thee. Since Thou hast Thyself presented now to me, I shall be evermore contented.

13. Guilt no longer can distress me; Son of God, Thou my load Bearest to release me. Stain in me Thou findest never; I am clean, All my sin is removed forever.

14. I am pure, in Thee believing, From Thy store evermore, righteous robes receiving. In my heart I will enfold Thee, treasure rare, let me there, loving, ever hold Thee.

15. Dearest Lord, Thee will I cherish. though my breath fail in death, Yet I shall not perish, But with Thee abide forever there on high, in that joy which can vanish never.

Notes: Hymn #77 from The Handbook to The Lutheran Hymnal Text: Luke 2:11 Author: Paul Gerhardt, 1653; Translated by: Catherine Winkworth, 1858, altered.

Titled: Froehlich soll mein Herze springen

Composer: Johann Crueger, 1653 Tune: Froehlich soll mein Herze

Rightly so in my humble opinion. Previous post:-

Pope Benedict on Saturday put his wartime predecessor Pope Pius XII, accused by Jews of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust, back on the road to Roman Catholic sainthood.

ROME (JTA) — Responding to widespread Jewish criticism, the Vatican said controversial wartime Pope Pius XII would not be beatified at the same time as Pope John Paul II.

“There is no reason to forecast a dual beatification,” Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said in a statement Wednesday.

Pope John Paul II made fostering Catholic-Jewish relations a priority.

On Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI signed a decree that recognized the religiously defined “heroic virtues” of both late pontiffs, moving each a step closer to beatification.

The green-lighting of Pius XII’s advance toward sainthood drew widespread criticism from Jewish bodies. Critics accuse Pius of not having done enough to save Jews in World War II and have called for the opening of the Vatican secret archives to clarify the issue.

Lombardi said that Benedict’s move should not be seen as being hostile against Jews and said he hoped that Pius’s progress towards sainthood “will not be considered an obstacle on the path of dialogue between Judaism and the Catholic Church.”

He said that the recognized “heroic virtues” concerned Pius’s “relationship with God and his Faith” and did not constitute “an assessment of the political scope of all his operational choices.”

Benedict is due to make a historic visit to Rome’s main synagogue on Jan. 17.

Telegraph

The Rt Rev John Goddard, the Bishop of Burnley, suggested it would be more sensitive for the Islamic charity behind the project to consider a location in another part of the country.

His greatest fear is that the presence of the all girls’ school – which hopes to take 1,500 teenage boarders from around the world – might inflame Right-wing extremists and therefore “skew” the progress being made in integrating local communities.

The bishop also pointed out that both the Church of England hierarchy, and that of the Roman Catholic Church, deliberately held back from establishing their own new faith schools in the aftermath of the 2001 riots.

Bishop Goddard’s comments follow a warning by Gordon Prentice, Labour MP for Pendle, that the school, described as a Muslim ‘Eton’ for girls, would both damage existing schools and colleges in the area and stoke community tensions.

“The last thing we need is single-sex, single faith schools for girls,” he said. “It pulls against community cohesion.

“It makes me weep to think so much time, energy and effort has gone into the community to get people to mix together. [This] goes against all public policy.”

The Mohiuddin Trust, based in Birmingham, insists that its college would actually strengthen ethnic and cultural relationships within the community.

It was formerly known as the Al Ehya Trust, says on its website that it seeks to promote cohesion by “strengthening inter-community relationships”.

It was founded by Hazrat Pir Alauddin Siddiqui, an Islamic scholar based in Pakistan.

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