Archbishop Dr Peter Jensen has delivered his 2008 Christmas message, stressing that commitment, compassion and ‘generous care’ will be needed in the year ahead.

Dr Jensen spoke of Jesus being born into a human family, showing us that “human nurturing depends on trusting each other and taking responsibility for each other.”

The Archbishop said “Without profound commitment to each other, we live less than a human life.”

Commenting on whether society was able to deal with the challenging economic conditions, Dr Jensen referred to what he called ‘casual and transient relationships, personal independence, frantic work practices’ which had left people ill-equipped to handle rough periods of life.

“What do we need? We need to connect with God in 09 through Jesus. That's called faith. Out of faith comes hope, the confidence that there is a future no matter how black the present appears. God is in charge of our present and our future. And from faith and hope come love, the sort of love which Jesus had when he entered the world to save it.”

The Christmas message has been issued to newspapers, TV and radio stations, and is available in video, audio and text on sydneyanglicans.net.

Archbishop Jensen referred to the ‘isolating’ effects of the economic crisis which he said had already led, in some cases, to tragedy.

“Our community is going to need love " compassionate and generous care for each other, looking out for each other when things are hard. Families are pretty good with that " that's God's normal method for us to help each other. But in today's world not everyone has access to the help which comes from family. We are seeing the tragic effects of that isolation already. That is why the challenge is to our whole community to turn back to God and then act like a family, living out the faith, hope and love which will help us to be compassionate and generous Australians.”