Faith leaders of Manchester have come together to send a message of hope to the people of Manchester after another tumultuous year.
With the country now being in the grips of the global pandemic for two years, The Bishop of Manchester Rt Rev David Walker and co-chair of Faith Network for Manchester Rabbi Warren Elf have stressed the importance of hope, empathy and belief in God as we head into the next year.
Rt Rev David Walker has highlighted the ‘apathy, frustration and cynicism’ that we have slipped into during the pandemic, urging people not to lose hope and work towards creating a better world post-Covid.
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"Bethlehem, the city of Jesus’s birth was, like the rest of Israel at that time, under Roman occupation," he said.
"St Luke, tells us that Augustus was Emperor, and a man called Quirinius his principle governor for that part of his widespread territories. It had already been a long occupation, and there were further decades to come.
"At one level life under Rome had become normalised, people had got used to it and adjusted their lives accordingly. There were few outbreaks of serious violence.
"Instead, the cumulative oppression of living under foreign rule had chipped away at all aspects of society, not least the mental and spiritual dimensions of life.
"Human beings have long been far better at responding to sudden, dramatic shocks than to smaller but persistent pressures.
Few of us could have anticipated, at the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, that we would be facing a second Christmas with its shadow hanging over us.
"The mass volunteering and imaginative reconfiguring of work that characterised the early months have long been replaced by a weariness that slips easily between apathy, frustration and cynicism.
"We shrug our shoulders at scandals which, in better times, might spur us into action. We struggle to sustain interest in the wellbeing of others, especially those for whom the pandemic is not the greatest threat they face.
"St John describes the birth of Jesus as a light entering into the darkness. And whether that darkness is occupied and inhospitable Bethlehem or Covid weary Britain, the Christmas message remains the same. God is with us. His strength can keep us going when ours fails.
"Do not lose hope. Do not diminish the power of your love to bring joy to others. Do not stop striving to let your own light shine in the world. May this Christmastide afford each one of us space and time to be refreshed and renewed for the year to come.
"And may 2022 be a year when kindness and care are not further crushed, but provide the foundations for the better, post Covid, world we can create together."
'I hope and pray for a happy, peaceful future'
Rabbi Warren Elf has noted the difficulty people have had in celebrating religious festivals and holidays thanks to restrictions brought about by Covid but once again, stressed the message of hope for the coming year.
His message reads: "We have all been missing the opportunity to meet together for the last 21 months.
"There have been many occasions where we have not been able to celebrate, commemorate or just gather together in ways that we expect and want to.
"Yet again this Christmas, various festivities, parties, gatherings and even religious services will be affected.
"Various religious festivals and holy days and come and gone, nearly two years’ worth for every faith.
"More often than not these have had to be celebrated or observed in different ways because of the pandemic and a range of restrictions placed on gathering together.
"The Jewish community had the opportunity to celebrate the festival of Chanukah at the start of this month with greater flexibility than last year but we were still aware of the need to protect ourselves and each other – and that was before we had heard of the Omicron Covid-19 variant!
"As with the Hindu festival of Diwali that had been celebrated a few weeks earlier, Chanukah was a festival of light and hope. This has also been reflected throughout Advent in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
"So, the message for all of us, as we try to cope with yet another virulent strain of this coronavirus, is that we look to the light and we hope, rededicate and commit ourselves to get through this together.
"This Christmas, I hope and pray for a happy, healthy and peaceful future for all of us.
"Merry Christmas to one and all, from everyone at the Faith Network for Manchester."
