Dear Sister and Brothers in the world wide ecumenical fellowship,
Dear friends,
In this Year the number of refugees and other displaced persons in our world is greater than ever before. In Germany by the end of the year we received around one million refugees mainly from Syria, Afghanistan and parts of Africa – thousands of women like Mary, men like Joseph and children like the infant Jesus.
We are proud of all the many volunteers not only in our congregations who welcome them. I’m sure all have much to offer one another, including the qualities of dignity, compassion, hope and love. As the General Secretary of the WCC said: „This is a critical moment in the lives of churches and societies on every continent and in every region.“
In a recent communiqué on the refugee crisis, church leaders in Europe made the following statement:
“As Christians we share the belief that we see in the other the image of Christ himself (Matthew 25:31-46) … The experience of migration and crossing of borders is known to the Church of Christ. The Holy Family were refugees; the very Incarnation of Our Lord is a crossing of the border between the Human and the Divine.” And they concluded:no “As churches this is an opportunity to share more widely experience and expertise in offering spiritual and pastoral support, ecumenical and interfaith cooperation and building bridges between diverse communities.”
In the evening of Christmas Eve while listening to the story what happened in Bethlehem more than 2000 years back we remember God’s great love for the world in the gift of his son Jesus Christ.
May all the blessings of Christmas be with you all, and let us share this blessings with all the human beings around us!
