Luke 1: 51-53

And so we celebrate Christmas.

We give each other presents, decorate our houses and Christmas trees, go to parties and sing carols.

For many, it’s the only day in the year when they go to church.

If you put Christmas in the perspective of what Jesus taught, such celebration falls far short of what he expects.

Christmas is about everything.

It’s about the realisation of God's reign in this world.

Christmas is a step on the way to the new world, where we will all be together, in God's and each other's company.

Christmas is about justice and peace and a new world order, human rights and real equality of opportunity for all; it’s about the eradication of hunger, thirst, discrimination and violence, and renewed respect for our human environment.

To many it might seem odd to raise these issues during a Christmas celebration.

And yet, they are the very issues that prompted Mary to agree to begin the first ever Christmas preparations.

Luke tells us she said: ‘He has shown the might of his arm, he has routed the proud and all their schemes; he has brought down monarchs from their thrones, and raised on high the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.’