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A Leeds parish priest has used his Christmas sermon to challenge drug dealers, loan sharks and those who prey on vulnerable people or defy the law to kneel at the Crib, listen to God and respond to the hurt that they are causing to people in the East Leeds communities that he serves.
The Revd Darren Percival, Parish Priest of St. Hilda’s Church, Cross Green and St. Saviour’s Church, Richmond Hill, said: “The reality is so prevalent here in our communities with anti social behaviour from teenagers who think it’s big to ride a bike without a helmet or no number plates; loan sharks who prey on the vulnerable; mothers who turn to vice to pay for drugs from dealers; drug dealers who prey on teenagers who for their fix offer drugs for favours. Yes this is paedophilia and yes it’s happening here in our communities.
In his address he added, “Food banks, what food banks? As your Parish Priest I can sign off a food bank voucher and this should be a sign of hope. What hope? I added insult to injury only last week when I signed a voucher for a family who have no means of transport to get to a food bank, so it becomes an eight mile walk to one in Osmondthorpe or Lincoln Green”.
To emphasise his point, Fr Darren placed in the crib in St Hilda’s Church, which serves one of the poorest parishes in the country, a food bank voucher, a syringe, a broken soft toy for the children who would not get any presents, and a cross for the many suicides which there had been in the parish in 2018.
He told the congregation, “I challenge every drug dealer and loan shark to kneel at the Crib, listen to God and take action and respond to the hurt that they are causing in our communities of Cross Green and Richmond Hill.
“Christmas then is not a dream; a time of escapism. Christmas is the reality that shows up the rest of reality.”