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After a challenging year, church leaders have called for Melburnians to pause and rejoice in the hope of Christmas.
The Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Peter Comensoli, said Christmas was never about the festivities.
Worshippers at a Christmas service at St Patrick s Cathedral on Friday.
Credit:Simon Schluter There has been much said about what a ‘COVID Christmas’ will be like, but is that the question we need to be asking? This year has challenged us in ways that have been unimaginable; it has turned our levels of comfort and security on their head, he said. And whilst we’ve sought creative ways to engage in our worship and our connections, it’s never been about reinventing something.
Churches Focus on Christmas Joy After Hard 2020
Religious leaders are urging the faithful to recognise the joy in their lives this Christmas after a “harrowing” year marked by the coronavirus crisis.
“It’s been a year like no other. A year of anxieties. A year of isolation,” the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher said. “In such dark times, celebrating Christmas can seem out of place.”
But Christmas, which falls on Friday, is a time of hope and celebration and could be the circut breaker people need after a harrowing year, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Glenn Davies said.
“For most of us, we will just make it to the finish line and will be glad to see the back of 2020,” said Dr Davies, who heads Australia’s largest Anglican diocese. “We desperately need the joy of Christmas and the deeper meaning of this festival.