Two Christmas messages, one from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the other from The Most Rev’d Martín Barahona, Bishop of the Episcopal Anglican Church of El Salvador and Primate of the Anglican Church of the Region of Central America:
Lambeth Palace has issued this press release:
In his Christmas sermon at Canterbury Cathedral, the Archbishop of Canterbury says that one of the lessons of the coming of Christ is that people shouldn’t waste time waiting for larger-than-life heroes to bring comprehensive and total solutions to the ills of the world. Christ came in an unexpected way and did not meet the expectations that he would usher in a golden age.
“The gospel tells us something hard to hear – that there is not going to be a single charismatic leader or a dedicated political campaign or a war to end all wars that will bring the golden age; it tells us that history will end when God decides, not when we think we have sorted all our problems out; that we cannot turn the kingdoms of this world into the kingdom of God and his anointed; that we cannot reverse what has happened and restore a golden age.”
This, he says, should prompt us to think hard about the meaning of salvation and our response to it:
” what can be done to show his glory? So often the answer to this lies in the small and local gestures, the unique difference made in some particular corner of the world, the way in which we witness to the fact that history not only goes on but is also capable of being shifted towards compassion and hope.”
Dr Williams praises two small-scale projects he’s encountered over the last year, one in the Holy Land brings together families of the victims of violence:
“..a network of people from both communities in the Holy Land who have lost children or relatives in the continuing conflict; people who expose themselves to the risk of meeting the family of someone who killed their son or daughter, the risk of being asked to sympathise with someone whose son or daughter was killed by activists promoting what you regard as a just cause. The Parents Circle and Families Forum organised by this network are labouring to bring hope into a situation of terrible struggle simply by making the issues ‘flesh’, making them about individuals with faces and stories.”
And also a project in Zimbabwe bringing hope and building confidence in small communities in the middle of destitution:
“last week I spoke with someone helping to run a small community theatre project in Bulawayo, supported by local churches, working to deepen the confidence and the hope of those living in the middle of some of the worst destitution even Zimbabwe can show. Signs of salvation; not a magical restoration of the golden age, but the stubborn insistence that there is another order, another reality, at work in the midst of moral and political chaos”
Nearer home, Dr Williams says that the coming of Christ at Christmas should prompt people to become aware of the difference they can make in the middle of economic recession:
“To follow him is to take the risks of working at these small and stubborn outposts of newness, taking our responsibility and authority. In the months ahead it will mean in our own country asking repeatedly what is asked of us locally to care for those who bear the heaviest burdens in the wake of our economic crisis without waiting for the magical solution, let alone the return of the good times.”
The Most Rev’d Martín Barahona, Bishop of the Episcopal Anglican Church of El Salvador and Primate of the Anglican Church of the Region of Central America writes:
The Most Rev’d Martín Barahona Bishop of the Episcopal Anglican Church of El Salvador Primate of the Anglican Church of the Region of Central America (IARCA) Vice President of Foundation Cristosal Moderator for Mesoamerica of the World Conference of Religions for Peace
“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men and women of good will.” (Luke 2:14)
My friends and members of the Episcopal Anglican Church of El Salvador, of the Province of the Anglican Church of the Region of Central America, of the Anglican Communion and, in general, to all who enjoy good will, peace and love in all their dimensions and consequences:
For us Christians, the birth of Jesus or the Incarnation of God in humanity signifies the deepest human expression and, at the same time, the divine expression that God has in God’s infinite will of love and accompaniment to God’s creation. The human being is especially the central axis of creation.
It is for this reality that, at the knowledge of this event in this moment of history, the Holy Scriptures mention there is great joy and the Angels sing, “ Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men and women of good will.” This message is not only true for Christians; it is also valid for all, because in one form or another all people need to give glory to God.
All religions have expressions of praise and glory to the Holy as each one conceives it. We respect profoundly the ways and expressions of prayer of other religions. We know and are convinced that we are surely giving glory to the same God or the same Divinity that has infinite ways of self- expression with God’s sons and daughters. We invite all to fulfill the most sincere expressions of glory to God, especially in these times when we are about to begin a new year, with new decisions and new intentions, that our future plans will be guided by the Holy Spirit.
The text that we have cited says, “and on earth peace to men and women of good will.” This is precisely what we have needed for the past several thousands of years – people of good will, governors, rich and poor… for all people in the world are asking with urgency that we make an effort to be people of good will, that there not be natural disasters, because all disasters are the consequences of the lack of men and women’s good will. Unfortunately, we have created a mentality and structures that destroy God’s creation.
It is for this reason that in this message, I respectfully invite us to begin to be people of good will. In this way, we will be able to change the injustices and inequalities that there are in the world. If one of these days we decide to give glory to God with the firm will to construct justice, we will have a world where there will be peace, unity and love between all human beings.
May this same God of life bless us and give us the strength to fulfill God’s Holy Will, that “ we love one another as ourselves.”
The Most Rev’d Martín Barahona, San Salvador, 22 December 2008