THE FINAL COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS – THE CHILDREN’S FEAST:

I have now attended eight nativity and carol services and I know of at least seven more that I am due to share in the coming week. The moment of truth for me came when one of our reception children stood centre-stage and, with huge confidence and unaided by a microphone, declared that she was AN ANGEL SENT BY GOD.

It gave me the perfect lead into the blessing at the end. It seemed to me that on the occasion we had received a special blessing from 60 angels sent by God. Both St Mark and St Luke tell us about the occasion when people brought little children to Jesus and the disciples tried to shoo them away, but Jesus seized the moment and said:

“Let the children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs. I tell you solemnly, anyone who does not welcome the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Of course, Jesus is not telling us to be childish all our lives, but childlike; in other words to have the trust of the little child that knows he or she is loved and treasured. In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus gave the same response to the apostles when they asked him who was the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. And in Luke, it is at the Last Supper that the dispute arose about who should be reckoned the greatest and again Jesus seized the moment:

“Among the pagans it is the kings who lord it over them… This must not happen with you. No; the greatest among you must behave as if he were the youngest, the leader as if he were the one who serves.”

As a commentary on the state of the world today, do I need to say more? This Christmas may our children inspire us to redouble our efforts to prepare a world of hope, of love, of peace, of reconciliation, fit for them to inherit.