The Bishop of Manchester has praised the generosity of Mancunians after yet another tumultuous year. In his Christmas message the Rt Rev David Walker gives thanks to those who came to the aid of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine and the foodbanks, churches and charities helping the needy during the cost-of-living crisis.
And in these tough times the Bishop also reminds us of the value of kindness, writing that it 'benefits both the recipient and the giver'.
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"The old carol tells the story of Wenceslas, a kind and pious king," he writes. "One snowy Boxing Day, he spots a peasant, out collecting sticks with which to kindle a meagre fire.
"The monarch doesn't just pity the man, he resolves to take practical action, carrying food, fuel and something nice to drink, to the pauper's cottage. Unusually for a carol, it makes no mention of Jesus, the one whose birth gives the reason for Christmas. It's simply a tale of charity.
"One individual sees another's need, knows they have the power to do something about it, and acts. I see a lot of what might be called the Wenceslas spirit in and around Manchester.
"I see it in food banks, and debt advice services; in the offering of homes to Ukrainians, fleeing their land's invaders, and in the opening up of churches, among other buildings, to provide warm spaces for those who fear winter heating bills.
"I see it in the generosity through which many local charities - providing everything from hospice care to homelessness support - are furnished with the money and the volunteers with which to do their work. Offering kindness, especially the kindness of strangers, is not the exclusive prerogative of people of faith.
"Yet faith provides the motivation for many, be their beliefs nurtured in church, temple, synagogue or mosque. For me as a Christian, it is nurtured especially by the image of the God whose loving kindness runs so deep that he came, born in a stable, that very first Christmas, to dwell on Earth among us.
"My faith, and my experience, unite to tell me that such kindness benefits both the recipient and the giver. Or, as the words with which the Wenceslas carol concludes so succinctly put it 'Ye who now do bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing'.
"Merry Christmas!"
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