Bishop Alan has sent a pastoral letter to all parishes in the Diocese for the Feast of the Holy Family. In it, he talks about the early life of Jesus as told in the gospel of Luke, and reiterates the words of Pope Francis about fraternity between people of different cultures and nationalities.
Bishop Alan quotes directly from the Holy Father’s Christmas Day address: “What is the universal message of Christmas? It is that God is a good Father and we are all brothers and sisters…For this reason, my wish for a happy Christmas is a wish for fraternity – fraternity among individuals of every nation and culture; fraternity among people with different ideas, yet capable of respecting and listening to one another.”
Bishop Alan himself concludes: “The perfect, self-giving love of Jesus throughout His life and on the cross encourages his disciples to be generous and loving to God and our fellow human beings.
“The giving of gifts is a wonderful custom at Christmas – at Bethlehem, God gives his Son to the world, Mary and Joseph give Jesus their love, the shepherds give Jesus their homage. In that same spirit I pray that we will share with each other our greatest gift – faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Word made Flesh who dwelt among us.”
Read the full letter here: Pastoral Letter for the Feast of the Holy Family 2019.