IT'S Christmas Day and the Rt Rev Jonathan Frost, Bishop of Southampton, delivers his own festive message:

"I wonder if you’ve had time to catch Rev on the BBC? For me it more than lived up to expectation with moments of humour, warmth and humanity.

"In the final part, Adam, the vicar, is overwhelmed by the run-in to Christmas. He becomes the victim of unexpected violence.

"In what follows, the combination of strains in his family, too much on his plate, an impossible father-in-law and a dying friend bring Adam to the brink of despair. Perhaps this sounds all too familiar to you in the run up to Christmas!

"I found the part about the dying friend particularly moving. Most people appreciate a visit when they’re unwell, lonely or afraid.

"A visit can bring light, and sometimes laughter, into the darkest of situations (incidentally, the idea of visiting is a good way of thinking about faith at Christmas: for in the humility and gentleness of Jesus, God visits humanity to bring light to our darkness).

"Adam intends to visit his friend. But busyness gets in the way. He’d promised to visit but, in the end, his words fail to make flesh. By the time he visits it’s too late: Adam’s friend has already died, her room empty and swept clean.

"I found Rev came close to home on this occasion. My father, Peter, has Alzheimer’s disease. He lives in a care home. He’s a lovely man and as gentle as he is confused (and he is entirely confused).

"He’s never far from my thoughts or prayers. But I’m well aware that Dad needs more than my thoughts and prayers. He needs words and thoughts made flesh in a good old-fashioned visit.

"I guess I’m not alone in wrestling with a sense of guilt at not visiting my father enough. Yes, I’m busy (I tell myself); and busyness can get in the way of a visit. I understood Adam’s situation.

"But I have to admit to myself how distressing I find it to see my father so confused. So being a busy bishop can easily become an excuse for not making the visit, and not bearing the risk or cost of love.

"The Christmas story encourages us to learn from an unexpectedly humble vision of God and, for love’s sake, to take some risks. Why not, with me, pray for new courage and love to make some down-to-earth journeys of our own? Is there a visit you’ve been putting off?

"What about that phone call that you’ve meant to make for a while? Or is it time, after all, to mend some fences? May you know the sustaining love of the Christ-child in all your visits this Christmas, and in the year that is to come, the joy of his |humble presence.

"With my prayers, blessing and respect at Christmas."

The Rt Rev Jonathan Frost, Bishop of Southampton