As I draft my Christmas Message my time with the Diocese of Broome has drawn to a close, and I find myself reflecting on the landscape of this timeless land and the people who call it home.

In my three years in the Kimberley, it was noticeable how everyone waits anxiously for the coming of the first rains of the wet season. This period is known as the ‘build-up’, or in Broome’s Yawuru language, “Laja” time! For Aboriginal People, with their keen eye, a lot is happening throughout God’s creation as it moves through this uncomfortable time with the weather. Tensions build, not only in the atmosphere, waiting for the heavens to deliver!

For the past three years the Kimberley people of Faith have been waiting patiently for a new Bishop for their Diocese! Wondering if it was ever, ever going to happen! Their long wait has ended and their hopes have finally been realised with the installation of Bishop Tim Norton.

Similarly, the people of the Old Testament, waited a long time, longing for the promised Messiah. A promise Jeremiah heralded in the 1st Sunday of Advent readings, “See, the days are coming, it is the Lord who speaks, when I am going to fulfil the promise, I made...I will make a virtuous Branch grow…who shall practise honesty and integrity in the land. In those days Judah will be saved”. [Jer 33:14-16]

The arrival of Advent sees a similar ‘build-up’ before Christmas. A lot is happening around us, with everyone having much to do and organise, and a happy season easily slips into a tense season, as we wait eagerly for heaven to deliver the Christ child on Christmas Night!

St Francis of Assisi 800 years ago built the first Crib reminding us of the simplicity of God coming among us in a stable. People of all walks of life love the Christmas Crib. Mysteriously it speaks to our deepest needs for connection with God, family and community. Yet somewhere we often let all that ‘buildup’ cloud our thinking, and feeling overpowered by tension, allow it to affect our relationship with others.  

St John believed Jesus, born in a stable, was “a light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness could not overpower”[Jn1:5]. For people of Faith, that Jesus is our Saviour. He went through the same experiences and feelings, and He now sits with each one of us, listening, and is present with us through everything as a light shining through our darkness. This sitting with humanity didn’t just end with the Shepherds and Magi 2000 years ago, it occurs here and now in your life. Allow the peace his presence brings to overpower the darkness.

This sitting with humanity didn’t just end with the Shepherds and Magi 2000 years ago, it occurs here and now in your life. Allow the peace his presence brings to overpower the darkness.

As we wait throughout Advent remember how Jesus came into our world revealing, “the kindness and love of God our Saviour” [Titus 3:4] and ponder the wisdom of Br Damien Price cfc, “Let us not busy ourselves looking for gold, frankincense and myrrh but ready our hearts through prayer so that our eyes and hearts change. Then, when we gather to celebrate Christmas…we shall see Emmanuel, God with us, all around us”.

After our waiting has ended and we gather for Christmas 2024, let us never tire of praying for peace in our heart and spirit, in our relationships and friendships in our communities and among nations. That peace that is eternally present among us in Jesus Christ. May you be truly blessed with a Happy Christmas with family and friends and a new year full of faith filled hope for all. 

The Most Rev. Michael H. Morrissey

Bishop of Geraldton