Advent Reflection 15 December

Love came down at Christmas

 

Pause for a moment

 

Who do you love, and how do you show them your love?

 

Listen to the music

Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine,
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and Angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,
Love Incarnate, Love Divine,
Worship we our Jesus,
But wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token,

Love shall be yours and love be mine,

Love to God and all men,

Love for prayer and gift and sign.

Learn about the carol

‘Love came down at Christmas’ is far less famous than ‘In the bleak midwinter’,  but the lyrics were written by the same poet, Christina Rossetti. They are a simple but beautiful meditation on the most central attribute of the Christmas story—love.

Many of our favourite carols include the word ‘love’ more in passing. ‘Love came down at Christmas’ is unique in focusing so exclusively on it. Its final verse has much in common with how ‘In the bleak midwinter’ closes though, leading us to a devotional response.

 

Time for reflection

 

Jesus himself taught us that love is at the heart of everything. In Luke 10: 27, he said: ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself’. He explained who our neighbours are with the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 30-37). This parable is very familiar and yet we always need to hear it again. It is just too easy to walk on by; to be too busy or too full to make time and space for others: even—or perhaps especially—at Christmas.

 

Time for Action

 

Find a practical way to show love to your neighbours.