Christmas and New Year message - Have the confidence to give of our hearts generously to one another

​I shared with the students, staff and families at a school Carol Service the other day, that one of the bits of text I most look forward to hearing during the festive season is Christina Rossetti’s In the Bleak Midwinter, first published in 1872, and probably best known to many through the tune written by Gustav Holst (although I prefer almost any of the other options!).

It may have fallen out of favour in recent years a little, not least because it’s a bit of a challenge to sing about ‘snow on snow’ in the ‘bleak midwinter’ when my weather forecast app tells me it is likely anything but over Christmas and New Year!

Putting aside this disconnect with the weather that we’re likely to experience, I love it because of its very simple retelling of Christian truths, so powerful at this time of year, and the constant challenge we need to take from this to live differently in the future. It speaks of the birth of Jesus, and of the God who created the universe reaching out, in the fragility of a baby, to us - his creatures, so that through the challenges of life we may never loose sight of just how precious we are to him.

Loving us so much that he comes amongst us, as one of us, to love us unconditionally, without limit or expectation, to save and release us from the chains of regrets and mistakes.

And to point us to an eternal destiny in heaven – something which cannot be bought or earned, but which is offered to us as pure gift. The poem ends with these words:

‘What can I give Him,

Poor as I am? —

If I were a Shepherd

I would bring a lamb;

If I were a Wise Man

I would do my part, —

Yet what I can I give Him, —

Give my heart.’

Rossetti’s own life wasn’t easy. She knew real financial difficulty, frailty and ill-health in her loved ones and ultimately in herself.

And she didn’t really achieve any fame in her lifetime, perhaps because of the repression of her gifts in a society that didn’t value her as much as it should, because of her gender.

But despite all that, she offers us in this well know carol, a model and pattern for us all, believers or not, where she shows that the simple response to love offered is to love in return.

And this doesn’t mean the kind of romantic love that fills the scripts of so many of the Christmas movies we will be watching over the Christmas period – it mean the kind of love that genuinely seeks the good of others and is self-giving.

We stand on the cusp of a new calendar year, looking back at what has been and forward to what might be.

Our world and nation, and indeed our city seems to face huge challenges. We may feel small in the face of them.

But here we are reminded that each of us has an immense power in offering our heart to our families and friends, our neighbours and communities. Christina Rossetti and her mother found the best expression of that love, even in their difficulties, in investing their hearts in the gift of education. Each of us has passion for something we believe will make the world better.

And as we look to local elections next year, we need to remind ourselves especially at this time of year that our politicians are, almost always, those motivated by love - a selfless desire to improve the quality of life for others.

This may be a year where passionate debates will be heard about what kind of policiescs will lead our city to the bright and flourishing future we all know is possible, but we can only do that together if we firstly ‘give our heart’, and remember that others are giving their hearts too. A city that overflows with love is a rich city indeed.

May you, and those you love, find new joy in giving your hearts to one another this Christmas, and may we all have the confidence to give of our hearts generously to one another in the year that lies ahead.

There are many churches offering special services through the festive period. Doncaster Minster has a traditional lessons and Carols at 3pm Christmas Eve, a traditional offering of Midnight Mass at 11.30pm on Christmas Eve, a simple said service at 8.30am Christmas morning and a festival Mass of Christmas Day at 11am – all welcome.