From the Chaplains
Christmas Love, Actually.
Whether you gather to celebrate the lighting of the Menorah for Hanukkah, the joy and wonder of Christmas, or any other seasonal tradition… our focus naturally turns to gifts this time of year.
We wrap presents, prepare feasts, and anticipate the joy of giving and receiving. But amidst the commercial bustle, it is vital to remember the true, enduring gift at the heart of the celebration: Love, actually.
There are many ways to say, ‘I love you.’ One of the most moving ways I’ve seen, is the reunion of families with their girls at Vision Valley, after their 4-week residential program. I was at the Honouring Ceremony last week, when 60 of our girls were reunited with their families. If you have been a part of this ceremony, you will know how moving they are. If not, picture the opening airport scene of ‘Love, actually.’
Having been away from home, away from warm family hugs and chats around the dinner table, the family is together again– with lots of tears of joy- just like at the arrivals hall in the airport.
Did you know that that is what advent means- ‘arrival,’ God’s arrival in Jesus’ birth. Christmas is not merely the remembrance of a historical event; it is the celebration of God’s perfect, unconditional, love made tangible among us.
The family is together again, because God has become one of us.
The Apostle John articulated it best:
9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
(1 John 4:9-12)
The baby in the manger, seemingly small and vulnerable, was the ultimate expression of divine love. God did not send wealth, power, or judgment. He sent God’ self, wrapped in the humility of humanity, to be with us. God became one of us, so we could be one with God.
May we each know God’s presence among us, as we celebrate this Christmas season.
Xx Rev Cass
Let us join our hearts in prayer:
God of Love, Giver of the greatest gifts,
As the academic year concludes and the Christmas season begins, we lift up our community at Pymble into Your loving hands.
We thank You for the gifts You have bestowed upon our students: their talent and creativity, their true friendships, their learnings from hard lessons, and their strength of character. We pray that the essence of Christmas—Your unconditional Love, sent to us in the Christ Child—will illuminate their hearts and give us true, and enduring joy.
Lord, We Pray for our Holiday Journeys. For Rest and Renewal. For Safety and Protection. For Family Connection. For Reflection and Purpose.
We ask that you protect our Pymble community, all staff, students and their families.
May their homes be filled with light, laughter, and the warmth of your love.
Let us return next year with renewed faith, hope, and, most importantly, love.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, the true source of all Christmas Love.
Amen.
Rev. Cass Blake
College Chaplain
