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Dear Sisters and Brothers When we are young and sit down with a bunch of crayons to draw a picture of our family, mum might be purple, dad orange, and grandma blue with a green Mohican. They may look a little garish, but they exude love, compassion, inter-dependence, dignity and security. The sun is shining, flowers are blooming; perhaps there’s a rainbow in the sky. This is the human family, God’s family; God carriers made for goodness – all of us. As we grow and are exposed to prejudice, pride, greed and envy, the picture changes. We disavow our inter-dependence and common humanity, and become increasingly conscious of perceived differences, superiorities and inferiorities. In this distorted context discrimination becomes justifiable, and the irrational becomes rational. We become fearful and mistrustful of members of our family who don't look like us, dress like us, worship like us… Prejudice and hatred become defensible, to some. In the Book of Matthew, Jesus is asked which of the commandments is the most important of all. Jesus responds that the first and greatest commandment is to love God, and the second is to love your neighbour as you love yourself. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is challenged to identify this “neighbour” whom we are exhorted to love. Jesus replies with the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is a story about a traveller responding humanly, at some risk to himself, to a distressed sibling from an unloved branch of the family. I have always been enchanted by this story because it is an antidote to discrimination and insecurity. It tells us that the essence of our humanity is more powerful than prejudice. Although framed in the politics and prejudices of the Holy Land many centuries ago, it speaks with great clarity to many of the greatest human challenges today: · to the people who seek to build higher walls to keep “other” members of the family out… · to the legions of predatory men preying on women and girls… · to the consumptiveness of the rich at the expense of the poor… When we invest in loving our neighbours, in hearing their voices and upholding their dignity, we are investing in God and in a secure co-existence for us all. I’d like to wish my fellow Christians a peaceful and blessed Christmas. Please lay an extra place at the table, and invite a neighbour in. God bless you all.