Countless acts of selfless love casting light amid dark times
Few of us would have imagined that we would once again be facing a period of uncertainty as we try to be rid of the pandemic which has gripped the whole world. Another year has passed and once more we are considering what kind of changes may be required of us as we face another so-called ‘new normal’. Many of us will look back and think of opportunities denied us, loved ones gone and occasions missed which we are unlikely to have again.
And yet, to quote wisdom from a previous age, it has also been the best of times as well as the worst of times.
Throughout this period we have seen extraordinary acts of kindness displayed in our communities and the kind of dogged resolve which is unglamorous but presents something of the transforming love of God seen in action.
I have witnessed personally the joy of faces greeting each other on Zoom services, the warm glow of voices glad to encounter friends and neighbours even if down the digital lines.
The message of Christmas resonates strongly with my own experience this year: light has shone brightly in dark times and hope has sprung up when least expected. So it was when Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem.
Few could have guessed this marked the beginning of something new and different.
Christians believe and celebrate the coming of God into our midst, the moment when God stepped into the affairs of humanity and showed what transforming love looks like.
When we recall that this happened through the birth of a child to a family in a Roman outpost, it is as remarkable as the message of hope itself.
I want to thank again those who have shown that selfless love which has touched our everyday lives – those working in the NHS and other frontline services.
I want to thank the countless individuals who ensure that friends and neighbours do not feel isolated or forgotten.
Above all I want to thank those myriads of unassuming folk who have shown what love in action can achieve.
It seems to me that they are among those who have drawn closest to the light of the Christ child and understood that love has a human face. The Most Revd Andrew John
Archbishop of Wales
Pwy a feddyliai y byddem ni, unwaith eto, yn wynebu cyfnod o ansicrwydd wrth geisio cael gwared ar y pandemig y mae’r byd i gyd yn ei afael? Aeth blwyddyn arall heibio, ac unwaith eto rydym yn ystyried pa fath o newidiadau a allai fod o’n blaenau wrth i ni wynebu ‘normal newydd’ arall. Bydd llawer ohonom yn edrych yn ôl ac yn meddwl am y cyfleoedd nad ydym ni wedi’u cael, anwyliaid wedi’u colli ac achlysuron aeth heibio am byth.
Ac eto, i ddyfynnu doethineb o oes o’r blaen, mae hefyd wedi bod yn un o’r amseroedd gorau yn ogystal â’r gwaethaf. Gydol y cyfnod hwn rydym wedi gweld gweithredoedd anhygoel o garedigrwydd yn ein cymunedau a’r math o benderfyniad ystyfnig, tawel, ond sy’n dangos rhywfaint o gariad gweddnewidiol Duw mewn gweithred. Rwyf i’n dyst personol i lawenydd wynebau’n cyfarch ei gilydd ar wasanaethau Zoom, llewyrch cynnes lleisiau’n falch o gyfarfod ffrindiau a chymdogion, hyd yn oed i lawr llinellau digidol.
Mae neges y Nadolig yn atseinio’n gryf yn fy mhrofiad i fy hunan eleni: mae golau wedi disgleirio’n ddisglair mewn amseroedd tywyll ac mae gobaith wedi gafael ar yr adegau mwyaf annisgwyl. Felly yr oedd hi pan gyrhaeddodd Mair a Joseff Bethlehem. Ychydig fyddai wedi dyfalu bod hyn yn ddechrau rhywbeth newydd a gwahanol. Mae Cristnogion yn credu ac yn dathlu dyfodiad Duw i’n plith, dyma’r funud pan gamodd Duw i faterion dynol ryw a dangos beth yn union yw cariad gweddnewidiol. Pan fyddwn yn cofio fod hyn wedi digwydd trwy enedigaeth plentyn i deulu mewn rhagorsaf Rufeinig, mae mor anhygoel â’r neges o obaith ei hunan.
Rwyf eisiau diolch unwaith eto i’r rhai sydd wedi dangos y cariad anhunanol hwnnw sydd wedi cyffwrdd â bywydau pob dydd – y rhai’n gweithio yn y Gwasanaeth Iechyd a gwasanaethau rheng flaen eraill. Rwyf eisiau diolch i’r unigolion dirifedi sy’n sicrhau nad yw ffrindiau a chymdogion yn teimlo’n ynysig nac yn cael eu hanghofio. Yn fwy na dim, rwyf eisiau diolch i’r llu o bobl ddiymhongar sydd wedi dangos beth mae cariad ymarferol yn gallu ei wneud. Mae’n ymddangos i mi eu bod nhw ymysg y rhai sydd wedi dod agosaf at oleuni’r plentyn Crist ac wedi deall fod gan gariad wyneb dynol.
Y Gwir Barchedig Andrew John
Archesgob Cymru