A Christmas message from the Dean of Norwich

The Dean of Norwich, the Very Revd Dr Andrew Braddock, shares a message for Christmas.

Watch the video message above and read the full text below.

"In the weeks before Christmas, Norwich Cathedral is delighted to welcome many thousands of people to share in the various carol services here, many of which are arranged for local community groups and local schools.

What is it that draws people to share in our carol services in such numbers?

I think for many it is that sense of coming together as a community to celebrate Christmas together.

For others, no doubt, it's the sense of tradition, of stepping into a celebration of Christmas that has happened here across the generations for over 900 years.

For others again, it will be that sense of the message of peace and hope that Christmas brings as we echo again the message of the angels to the shepherds, of peace on earth and goodwill to all.

One of the things I'm struck by in the carol services here at Norwich Cathedral is the way in which those who come do so with a real sense of expectation. They come not simply as audiences at an event but participants in a celebration.

So it was at that first Christmas when the shepherds heard the angels tell of the Babe born in Bethlehem. The shepherds were then invited to go themselves even unto Bethlehem, and to see this thing that has happened, and so they went with great haste, eager themselves to become part of this unfolding story.

At that first Christmas, a door was opened between heaven and earth in the Christ Child, Jesus the Babe of Bethlehem.

Every Christmas we are invited ourselves to step through that door into the story of what God is doing in the world to reconcile us one to another and to God.

In a world which so often seems divided, which is so often riven by war and conflict, not least in the land where Jesus himself was born, Christmas invites us again to hear that message of peace to all and to be participants in that story ourselves.

I wish you a joyous and peaceful Christmas."