The Archbishops’ 2024 Christmas Message

"Sa Nona na Kalou na vakarokoroko ena veiyasana e cake sara, me veivinakati o vuravura vei ira sa lomana o koya!

 स्वर्गमें परमेश्वर की जय हो और धरती पर उन लोगों को शांति मिले जिनसे वह प्रसन्न है।”

 “Ko e kolōlia ki he ‘Otua ‘i langi taupotu, pea ko e melino ki māmani, ki he kakai kuo hōifua ki ai.

 “O le viiga i le Atua i mea aupitoaluga; ma le manuia i le lalolagi; o le finagalo alofa i tagata.

 “Kia whai korōria te Atua i runga rawa, kia mau te rongo ki runga ki te whenua, me te whakaaro pai ki ngā tāngata.

 “Glory to God in the highest, peace to all the earth, and goodwill toward all people!”

 Luke 2:14, The song of the angels.

At the heart of the story of the birth of Jesus lies a simple message. That message is hope.

Hope is often misunderstood. Some think of it as mere optimism, or luck, or wishful thinking. We say “we hope so” when really, we have no idea if things will work out at all.

That’s not the kind of hope that we see in this story.

The birth of Jesus was an answer to prayer, but not the whole answer immediately. Jesus was not born an adult Saviour. He was born a helpless child. Jesus was an infant that needed to be fed and clothed, and nurtured and raised.

God showed them what hope was all about: the people prayed for a mighty tree, and God replied by giving them a tiny seed.

Hope, real hope, is about taking what blessings you have today and growing them. It takes courage to hope, because hope requires action. It requires us to stand up for what we hope for, and to do the work to make it real.

Hope looks towards tomorrow. The birth of Jesus, like the birth of any of our beloved children, had the profound effect of reorienting his whānau and his people towards the future. His birth reminded them that they had a future.

Hope changes the way we think. When we hope we believe.

This year, in Aotearoa New Zealand, Oceania, and around the world, we see what others call ‘the lethal absence of hope.’ We see war and genocide, storm and famine, and people suffering on a scale like never before.

We need hope now more than ever.

We can find that hope in the story of Jesus and in each other. We find hope when we love our neighbour, to stand up for justice and for what is right, and to remind each other that tomorrow is worth fighting for.

We hīkoi to Parliament because we hope. We stand up for Te Tiriti and all that it promises to be, because we hope. We give to our neighbours in their time of need because we hope.

We hope for a world where culture and diversity are honoured, where women and children are safe, where human lives are held sacred, and minorities are protected and uplifted. As stewards of God’s creation, we hope for a world that cares more for this gift God has given to us: our world.

We speak out against war crimes in the Ukraine, in Gaza, and elsewhere in the world, because we hope. We hope for peace, and for a world where war will be waged no more.

We have much more work to do.

This Christmas season we pray that you will find the hope that you and your whānau need. More than that, we pray that like the Christ-child you can help turn the faces of your whānau and community towards a better world and a better future. We pray that you inspire hope in each other. We pray that you could even be the hope that your neighbours need.

Kia tau te ia o te wā Kirihimete ki a koutou. May the blessings of Christmas be made real in your lives.

Archbishop Don Tamihere     Archbishop Justin Duckworth     Archbishop Sione Ulu’ilakepa
Primate & Archbishop                Primate & Archbishop                     Primate & Archbishop