The Very Revd Mark Bonney, Dean of Ely, shares his Christmas message

If I had a pound for every time folk said to me, in the kindest way, ‘oh, this is your busy time of the year isn’t it?’, I would be a very rich man!

And yes, it is a busy time of the year for me, and particularly busy in the life of the cathedral as we host several carol services for schools and a number of voluntary organisations, as well as our ever popular Hark concert and our own carol services on December 23 and 24.

It’s made especially busy this year because Christmas Day is a Monday and the normal Sunday services happen the day before – the choristers are worked hard!

But then it strikes me we’re all very busy at Christmas time – rushing to get everything done at work so the desk is tidy before we have take leave, madly packing the presents to put around the tree or charging off to see family and friends... sometimes it might feel that returning to work for the New Year is something of a rest.

I hope that is something of a caricature of what Christmas is for you. I also hope that you find time to do two very important things, both of which require a little stepping back from any rushing around

The first is to appreciate the stillness of not rushing around and in that stillness that at the centre of the Christmas story is a tiny baby, born in Bethlehem, who Christians call the Prince of Peace.

And secondly in that same stillness remember that that peace is something desperately needed in Bethlehem, in Gaza, in Israel, in Ukraine... that innocent children and people continue to be killed, we need peace this Christmas and New Year more than anything else.

Pray and work for peace!