A Christmas 2022 message from Bishop Mark Calder

Posted on December 14, 2022 
Filed under Australian dioceses, Good News

Bishop of Bathurst, Mark Calder, has written this Christmas op-ed:

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Christmas is the sure sign that God is real and that he loves us.

That he’s real? We know that because he turned up. Jesus is none other than God in person. That’s extraordinary. And he turned up not in a palace, but in a food trough among farm animals. Such was his humility!

That he loves us? Only love would motivate the God of the universe to step into the world he created and be therefore vulnerable to humanity which had already turned its back on him!

Why did he do it?

Because he loves us so much that he didn’t want to leave us in the mess we’d made of things by shutting him out. Through his teaching, his life, and his death and resurrection, he makes it possible for anyone who wants to welcome him back into their life, to be forgiven, and reconciled to him for a great life now, and all eternity.

2022 has been another very tough year. Our only hope is not that things will get better, or that next year will be free of sadnesses and challenges (though I hope it is!); our only hope and help is to welcome the love, strength, and new life that God turned up 2,000 years ago to make possible.

Have a great Christmas!

Mark Calder
Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Bathurst – covering central and western NSW.