Cathal BarryChristians in Ireland have been urged to unite and take up the challenge of bringing fresh hope to society this Christmas.
Primate of All-Ireland Archbishop Eamon Martin says that hope is needed now more than ever to counter the doom and gloom in the news in recent months.
In a joint Christmas message with his Anglican counterpart Dr Richard Clarke due to be broadcast tomorrow (Christmas Day) the Churchmen insist that hope “is something we are called to bring into the world in the name of Christ”.
Remarking that people “now seem to find it difficult to feel real hope for the future, for the world, and even for themselves”, the archbishops say hope “is indeed a rare commodity and people are sometimes cautious about wishing for too much hope, lest they be disappointed”.
“In the world around us, with all the violence and destruction that we have seen in recent weeks and months, there seems to be little interest in any scenario of hope,” they say.
Noting that hope is a “fundamental Christian quality”, the archbishops warn that “it is never an individualistic thing”.
“Hope is the opposite of despair and yet it is more than simply a desire for something better.
“When we follow the call of Christ and seek to bring hope into the lives of others – material as well as spiritual hope – we then have grounds for real hope. What we do for others – in simple ways, or sometimes demanding ways – is sowing hope for the future,” the Churchmen say.