Celebrating the meaning of the Nativity
HOME in Queanbeyan manager Anne Pratt and Zoe Ryan with the hand-carved nativity.
Every year, the parishioners of Sacred Heart in Cootamundra eagerly await the appearance of their beloved nativity scene.
“It really brings the spirit of Christmas,” parish volunteer Sr Kathy said.
“I think it is something that resonates with many people, all of the Christian faiths and beyond. It represents what Christmas is all about – God coming among us as man incarnate, as a little child growing up among us.”
Sr Kathy said the nativity set had been in the parish for a “long, long time.”
“Some parishioners remember it being part of our Christmas service when they were little children,” she said.
“There is a lot of history and nostalgia, but it also reminds us of the simplicity, beauty and theological meaning of the presence of God among us.”
The beloved nativity set of Sacred Heart Parish in Cootamundra.
In Queanbeyan, a beautiful, handcrafted nativity scene graces the lawn outside HOME in Queanbeyan.
Founder Fr Peter Day said the scene was made by friend Nev Clarke, who spent over six months designing, drawing, hand carving and painting it.
“Inspired by the Gospel imperative to be merciful, HOME seeks to humbly and lovingly walk alongside each other, recognising that our dignity and our freedom are caught up in the dignity and freedom of those we serve and love,” he said.
The nativity in place at St Patrick’s parish in Boorowa.
“This is why the Christmas event is so profound and so relevant to us. An event in which the eternal pattern of Truth and Love manifested as a tiny, vulnerable, and utterly dependent infant: the infant whose name we daren’t mention and an ever-increasing secular marketplace lest we offend.”
Fr Peter said it is the baby Jesus who gives voice to the longings of those who cannot compete in a world that says, keep up, or else.
“Beneath the din of unrelenting superficiality, the child persists in whispering gently, assuredly, ‘I am with you: lying at your feet longing to be loved and cuddled and fed,’” he said.
“It is a whisper that alerts us to the beauty and majesty of our humanity, exhorting us to delight in each other, especially the forgotten people who cannot keep up.”
This year marks the inaugural Archbishop’s Christmas CRIB award, celebrating the significance of the nativity in the Christmas story.
For more information and to submit your nativity, go to https://www.catholicvoice.org.au/share/
