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A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Canon Ann Easter

Good morning and Merry Christmas!

Across the world today there will be millions of people attending church services, and getting together for meals and parties, all to celebrate the birth of a baby to a very young mother.

We hear how the young couple had to travel a long way, how they ended up round the back of an inn, in the stable where the animals were kept, and their baby was born there. They had some unusual visitors – shepherds and royalty – it must have all been very strange.

But what I notice about the Christmas story is the angels – it’s an angel who tells Mary that she’s pregnant; another angel who tells her fiancé, Joseph, that it’s all part of God’s plan, not to worry it’s all going to be ok; angels tell the shepherds to come and see the special baby, and it’s another angel who then tells Joseph they’ve got to move on to Egypt, because Herod and his troops are after them.

I don’t believe that I have actually seen an angel but I do think that they’re somehow woven into Creation and that they hover around us both to protect us and to point to things God wants us to notice. Sometimes I’ve caught the whiff of a perfume that’s somehow familiar and it reminds me very vividly of something or someone; or I’ve caught a light in the corner of my eye as if someone’s fleetingly there – and I think they are signs of the angels’ presence.

Dear God, on this day long ago, your angels sang of peace and love at your birth. I pray that we may be aware of your angels today and be comforted and inspired by them.

Amen.