Bishop Michael of Gloucester's Christmas message WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE CAROL?

There can't be many people who don't have a favourite Christmas carol or, if not that, then a short-list of two or three and a difficulty in making the final choice. Surveys reveal that for the majority the best-loved is probably "O come all ye faithful" or "Hark! The herald angels", with "O little town of Bethlehem" a close third. I like all three of those and I have sung them so many times that I know them off by heart. Vicars, let alone bishops, do seem to have as many carol services in the run up to Christmas as other people have Christmas dinners and parties! So perhaps it's not surprising that my very favourites are not these, but ones I sing just a little less often.

My runner-up carol is "It came upon the midnight clear", simply because it has a realism about it that engages with the fact that, despite the coming of the Prince of Peace, this is still a world of sadnesses and pains, and it holds out hope to those for whom Christmas is a difficult time.

But my favourite is another 19th century carol, Edward Caswall's "See, amid the winter's snow", with its gentle tune and its recurring chorus, "Hail, thou ever blessed morn, hail, redemption's happy dawn". It tells the story of the shepherds coming to the new-born Jesus, but for me it also reveals the true meaning of the story more than many carols. For the heart of the Christmas message, it's difficult to beat Lo, within a manger lies he who built the starry skies, he who, throned in height sublime, sits amid the cherubim!

Sacred Infant, all divine, what a tender love was thine, thus to come from highest bliss down to such a world as this.

And it is the meaning, as much as the story, that matters at Christmas, the truth that in Jesus God came among his people in a unique way, Emmanuel - God with us. Have a happy Christmas, sing the story in your favourite carols and don't miss the meaning!