'The Christmas light can never be extinguished'

Christmas time brings a "light that can never be extinguished" and offers hope to those who may be having a difficult time, the Isle of Man's bishop has said.

Bishop Tricia Hillas said while on a personal level it had been the "toughest of years" with the loss of her husband, Andrew, from cancer in June, there was "still light in the darkness".

Bishop Hillas, who was installed as the 88th Bishop of Sodor and Man in late 2024, said it was important to look for the positives in the season and not get hung up on things being perfect.

"It really doesn't matter if the veg is overcooked or the present doesn't arrive in time to be given - those are not the make-or-break things of Christmas," she said.

Looking back on the "huge challenges and huge changes" of the year across the world, she said the backdrop of conflicts - including those in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan - could sometimes overshadow environmental successes and advances in medical science.

"It's easy to see only the darkness when we look back, but there are people getting on with caring for friends and for strangers, people making huge differences through their research and their work and their practical action," she said.

Bishop Hillas said two of her most striking experiences of the year were presenting an Easter Day radio programme on Radio 4 allowing her to "celebrate Manx life, faith and culture", and visiting sites in Poland, including Auschwitz, accompanied by Jewish Holocaust survivors as part of an inter-faith group from the UK.

It was "so significant to see and hear directly from people about that," she said, "and the ongoing repercussions of what happened in the continent of Europe those decades ago but that still have impact."

Reflecting on the personal challenges the year brought she said "one of the realities" of 2025 for her was the "great personal tragedy" of the death of her husband after a "very, very short illness".

"His first real medical appointment was on the 1 May, and he died on the 10 June," she said, meaning there was "a great deal of sudden adjustment and shock".

"It's been the toughest of years, and yet there is still light in the darkness, and some of that light has come through the kindness of many people on the island - I'm hugely grateful for that – and the kindness of long-standing friends."

Turning to the Christmas season, she said it was "always an ever-changing feast".

"I have always adored the colour and the light and the social partying of Christmas.

"I think when you've got something really good to celebrate, then it's wonderful to do it in a way that really sparks and speaks of all that joy.

"And I don't dismiss it, I don't just say it, it's only tinsel.

"But the depth of Christmas means that sometimes things don't go to plan, and actually there's a lightness of Christmas - it doesn't have to be done in a particular way."

She added: "There are times we might have Christmas with a house full of people, and in a few years' time those people may be different people. Family may have moved and children may have grown up and moved out."

Bishop Hillas said this year she would be "keeping Christmas in a much quieter way".

"There will be times when I will be on my own, and actually that's OK," she said, "I'm choosing that in order to spend time remembering."

"For me, the heart of Christmas is the message of God coming among us in Jesus, coming close to us to dwell with us, to give us hope and to bring light in the darkness.

"So no matter what the darkness in the world, or even in our own lives might be, it's joined by the light that will never be extinguished and will bring hope.

"And for Christians that's the light of the world, Jesus Christ, and that's why actually all the other lights that we see around, all the tinsel that reflects the light, for me all point to that whether we recognise it or not."

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