St Ambrose wrote: ‘I have found a Physician who dwells in heaven, but who distributes his medicine on earth. He alone can cure my wounds because He does not suffer from them; He alone can take all sorrow away from my heart and all fear from my soul, because He knows me in the depths of my being’.

As we approach this very different Christmas, let us not forget the Divine Physician, who is always there to heal us and who knows our needs better than we ourselves know them. May St Ambrose pray for us and watch over us this day, and may God bless you.