Madam, - In the lives of ordinary Christians Christmas is the most important feast of the year. Most people love Christmas; others dislike it because of stress, lack of money and other reasons. Christmas evokes many memories. There must be many empty chairs this Christmas season because of the many people who have passed on.
Why should the birth of a child 2000 years ago affect us all so deeply? He was born in a stable in an obscure village. He worked as a carpenter until he was 30. He then became an itinerant preacher. He never held an office, nor did he go to college. He had no credentials but Himself.
Two thousand years have come and gone, and today, He is the central figure of the human race. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat and all the Kings that ever reigned have not affected the life of man on earth as much as that solitary life - the life of Jesus Christ. - Yours, etc.,
Father PAT GRIFFIN, Waterville, Co Kerry.