Let’s not forget we are living through a pandemic– Covid 19 is affecting the whole world, Bishop Sithembele Anton Sipuka of Mthatha and President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference reminds us in an article from today’s Vatican News. 

“God is our life, God is our fulfilment, in Christ God comes to give us life and life to the full. Yet as we look forward to Christmas of 2020 we are not that hopeful because the coronavirus dragon is waiting to make use of our Christmas celebration to swallow-up that joy.

Covid-19 has wreaked havoc in the whole world leaving a trail of pain and suffering, completely disrupting our way of life, bringing about isolation and loneliness, making the situation of the poor and the destitute worse, and prematurely ending hundreds of thousands of lives. As it has made our lives miserable in the last nine months, it is waiting to make our joyful feast of Christmas an occasion of sorrow.

This coronavirus is symbolised by Herod who tried to change the joyful mood of the birth of Christ, expressed in the song of Angels and shepherds, by seeking to kill the child Jesus. Similarly, the coronavirus is bent on making this season of joy a sorrowful season by destroying lives and making it hard for people to earn a living.

Yet, as the God of life did not allow Herod to destroy Jesus, He will not allow covid-19 to snatch away our joy of Christmas. As he directed the wise men to elude Herod in his plan of killing Jesus, and in a dream instructed Joseph and Mary to escape to Egypt to save the child Jesus, God is guiding us and making provision for us to celebrate this Christmas in a life-giving manner.”