First broadcast on the first Sunday after Christmas 2026.

We hear the story of the ‘Slaughter of the Innocents’ in Matthew’s Gospel; a reality check, just in case everything was getting too sentimental too saccharine – we are reminded of the kind of world into which Jesus, and countless millions of children have been born.

And tragically, we don’t have to look very far or to a different time for the slaughter of the innocents. It is happening today.

In Gaza, over 20,000 children killed, another 42,000 wounded. In Ukraine child casualties, according to UN figures, stand at over 3000, with around 750 killed and 2300 injured. And around 20,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted to areas under Russian control and Russia – who knows if they will ever return? In Sudan 1.4 million children at imminent risk of famine.

As we look to an uncertain future for the Christian faith we might reflect ‘what is the core business of our church and our faith’. For a church that merely looks inward can never truly be called a church.

In much the same way as the dead partner of Ebenezer Scrooge, Jacob Marley, reflects on the business of his life in Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’:

“Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business.

The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business! "