An Attitude of Gratitude Christmas Carol Service 2017 - St. Dominic's Ballyfermot

You’ve heard the phrase ‘an attitude of gratitude’. Being grateful. We’re very good at complaining, aren’t we, but how about gratitude? What are you grateful for? You’re probably grateful that tomorrow you are on your Christmas holidays? Or maybe you are sad that you won’t see your teachers and school staff for two whole weeks. I’m sure they are all sad too! 

Gratitude is an emotion that we choose to feel at any time. It’s like tapping in to this FREE happy energy source. You actually make a decision to focus your mind on feeling grateful and you decide to make time for it. As an emotion, gratitude is good for the soul. Much research has been carried out on the links between gratitude and wellbeing. Psychologists have found that cultivating an attitude of gratitude brings about an increase in happiness and can reduce anxiety and feelings of depression. They have found that gratitude impacts positively on physical health as it lowers blood pressure, strengthens a person’s immune system & promotes a healthy heart. It can decrease stress & helps us sleep better – so if you’re having trouble sleeping instead of counting sheep, count your blessings. There are many health benefits to gratitude – it’s actually physical good for you!

Gratitude also promotes a healthy mind; it changes our perspective by clearing away most of the petty, day-to-day things that annoy us and that we give so much of our time to: the “small stuff”. Think of situations that bring up feelings of impatience or anger. Gratitude can help calm all of those things and make us aware that we are part of something bigger, something beyond ourselves, a connection to others, as well as to the world. Gratitude strengthens our relationships and encourages us to pay it forward. It helps us to be more generous and compassionate towards others. So, what’s not to like about gratitude?

Another reason to try to cultivate an attitude of gratitude during this Advent season is the story that we are about to celebrate in a few days: the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is an extraordinary story, a simple yet bizarre story; a story which gives hope to billions of people 2,017 years later all over the world. The story which we celebrate this Christmas and every Christmas is a story where we are told that God is with us – summed up, that is the message of Christmas – God is with us. God is involved in the messiness of this world. Where is God born? Not in a fancy palace surrounded by royalty and people who were considered important. God, Jesus Christ, is born in a stable! It’s mad, but it happened. Jesus is born into a situation that is totally dangerous; Jesus is born into a homeless family, a homeless family that would soon afterwards become a refugee family. Jesus is not born into a fancy mansion with all the trimmings, Jesus, God on earth, is born into a dangerous mess. And the message of this story is that God is with us in the mess. It’s not Princesses or politicians who come to welcome Jesus into this world, there were shepherds, people who were considered ‘not worthy’, outcasts, the poor and the ‘unimportant’. God is especially born for them. The message of the Gospel begins at the crib: God is on the side of the poor, the lonely, the homeless, the refugee, the outcast. And throughout Jesus’ life on this earth, he continued to live that message, always siding with those that society did not want to know about. His message was peace, hope & love. So this year when I think of gratitude – I think about how grateful I am to hear that message, that God is with us in the mess of this world, in the mess of our own lives, God is with us in our broken friendships, in our family problems, in the homeless person on the street, with the homeless family. 

You might ask – where? I don’t see God! But I invite you to look around at the goodness of those who are working tirelessly to help others in need, look at the generosity of people, the love that is shared by people especially during this season. I know your own school does so much charity work and here also we have had so many generous donations to foodbanks, Vincent de Paul, Crosscare – people are so so generous. For that, this year, I am very grateful and it also says to me - God is with us in those generous people.

I invite you this Christmas to write a list – not a wishlist for presents or whatever, but a list of things you are grateful for. Look back over your year, try to write a list of ten things you are grateful for – not presents or gadgets, go deeper than that. You might even hang your list on your Christmas tree or put your list in the crib if you have one at home. Write a letter to someone telling them how grateful you are for them, because let’s face it – these are the real gifts, the real blessings. And on Christmas day, in the middle of the madness, take a few minutes, pause, thank God for all that you have, pray for those who don’t have anything, if you don’t do it for God,  think of all the health benefits I mentioned at the beginning – it’s actually good for you, for your mind, body and spirit. You might visit our crib – say a prayer of thanks – tell someone you love how grateful you are for them in your life.

What are you most grateful for over the last 12 months of your life? God is with us also in those moments of joy.

I wish you all a very happy Christmas, I hope it is full of joy, time with family and friends, and I hope it cultivates in you an attitude of gratitude.

God is not welcome (Feast of the Holy Family Sunday Dec. 30th 2016)

God-with-us (Emmanuel) has to flee from the terror of Herod’s brutal regime. Joseph, his protector, guides this Holy Family into exile. At the beginning of the Jesus story, as with the end, God is not welcome. Millions and millions of people are today caught up in the bitter experience of exile, fleeing war and insane violence in Syria and other parts of the world. Like Joseph, Mary and Jesus, they too are running for their lives. Their fate is at the mercy of the rest of the world, which keeps saying ‘never again’, but appears to not really mean it. We welcome Jesus into our world at Christmas; we must continue to welcome Him in the refugee. 

Lord, help us to remember those who tonight will go to sleep unfed and unwelcome, strangers in foreign lands, people who have fled for their lives and are far from their homes. We lift up to you millions in our world who are escaping persecution and conflict, who have fled death, torture or exploitation. So many have suffered so much. Lord Jesus, soften our hearts to their situation, and help us follow your lead in seeking justice and mercy. We pray for an end to the wars, poverty and human rights abuses that drive desperate people to become refugees in the first place. We thank You that you are Lord of all the earth and all its people are loved by you. We pray these things in the name of your son who was himself born into the troubled life of a refugee. Amen (Tearfund). 

Christmas Day (Lk 2:1-14)

If you were to put together a guest list for the birth of the Messiah 2000 years ago one might expect political leaders like Caesar Augustus, religious leaders such as the Chief Priests and the Pharisees to be included. Yet for Luke, the shepherds are some of the first to welcome Jesus into this world and are the first ‘preachers’ of the Good News. Many would find it completely shocking that Shepherds would be included. It was a disreputable trade and shepherds were considered ‘unclean’ because of their profession. At first they were terrified, but the angels reassured them: ‘do not be afraid’. The response of the shepherds was immediate: ‘let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing which has taken place’.

The poor, the marginalised, the outcast will be the first to experience the abundance of God’s hospitality through Jesus and the shepherds come in their name. We are told that people were amazed by the shepherds and their words. Their journey didn’t end in Bethlehem, for them it was perhaps only the beginning as they returned ‘glorifying and praising God’. We are invited to Bethlehem today, to open up our hearts to the One who has come to bring hope and joy. And we return, like the shepherds ‘glorifying and praising God for all they have seen and heard’. We must allow that Love to penetrate our hearts and celebrate with our family and friends the Joy that lives amongst us. And when we have finished celebrating we remember that the real work of Christmas begins once again: 

“When the song of the angels is stilled. When the star in the sky is gone. When the kings and princes are home. When the shepherds are back with their flocks. The work of Christmas begins; to find the lost; to heal the broken; to feed the hungry; to release the prisoner; to rebuild the nations; to bring peace among people; to make music in the heart.” Howard Thurman

Happy Christmas

The X Factor

Some people may not acknowledge today as Christ’s Day, that He is the X – Factor of the X-mass scene. This world is crying out for Light, for Hope, for Joy, for Love and today we celebrate that God is present with us in this world: EMMANUEL. We must allow that Love to penetrate our hearts and celebrate with our family and friends the Joy that lives amongst us. And when we have finished celebrating the X Factor of Christmas, remember that then the real work of Christmas begins:

“When the song of the angels is stilled.

When the star in the sky is gone.
When the kings and princes are home.
When the shepherds are back with their flocks.
The work of Christmas begins;
to find the lost;
to heal the broken;
to feed the hungry;
to release the prisoner;
to rebuild the nations;
to bring peace among people;
to make music in the heart.” Howard Thurman

Jane Mellett ~ Intercom 2011