Holy Trinity Cathedral: Christmas Expectations And Reality

The Dean of Auckland’s Holy Trinity Cathedral says the expectations of a festive Christmas are not the reality for everyone and the Christmas story demands a response.

Auckland’s Holy Trinity Cathedral has about 30,000 people mark Christmas from schools and concerts to services on Christmas Day. The carols tell of peace, hope, joy and love in the birth of Christ.

Dean Jo Kelly-Moore says the relevance of Christmas to society means hard topics cannot be ignored amongst the carols. “I love the sense of excitement that is part of Christmas, especially the joy of children waking with presents, but I also believe we need to be mindful of traditions that are growing that are anything but festive.”

“We have a record demand for food parcels and a report from the Children’s Commissioner that nearly one third of our children live in poverty – no food on a table is anything but festive - it highlights the gap between expectations and the reality we live in.”

Dean Jo Kelly-Moore says the reality cannot be ignored on any day of the year and by responding then the church and the community is being true to the meaning of Christmas and bringing hope.

“The Christ child was born into a world where there also was a gap between expectations and reality. There were the hungry, and the children were on the margins to whom Christ responded to by bringing hope. To live out Christmas today the church, our communities, and political parties, must respond together to bring about transformation.”

ENDS

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