Christmas

This day Christ the King is born, this day the Savior has appeared.

My Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

No mind can fathom and no words can adequately describe the great mystery of the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us. The Eternal One enters time; the Uncontainable One is wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger; the All-Encompassing One is held in the arms of His pure and virgin Mother. 

And still there is more…When God saw man fallen from the divine life of grace and perishing in the corruption and decay of sin, He “bowed the heavens and came down” to restore man to the glory of paradise. When the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption. (Galatians 4:4) 

Such is the superabundance of Our Lord’s divine love for us. All other loves we can ever possibly know are but mere echoes of this awesome and wondrous love. Indeed, in the face of such a wondrous love, we can but join with the Shepherds and the Magi and bow down in humble adoration before our Divine Savior, the babe lying in the manger, who comes to save us. 

This strange and wonderful mystery of the Incarnation stands as the pivot of human history. It is the Light of Truth that shines with brilliance upon the human generations that dwell in darkness. We wait in darkness, fearing that the light will never come. We wait in silence, fearing that there will be no Good News. We wait alone, fearing the isolation and separation that darkness brings. We attempt to illumine our own path, but find neither the way nor the truth.

However, Sacred Scripture brings words of promise to all of us:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it...The true light which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world…And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1,3-5,9,14).

The song of the angels and the glory of the heavens pierce our darkness and fill our silence. Joy overcomes our fear, and we believe the wondrous Good News that Jesus has been born. Therefore, we are called to shout out, in song, in pageantry, in acts of kindness and courage, in the middle of the night, in the middle of the world's night, in the middle of our heart's night, in the middle of our hope's night, that, against all the evidence, God's love, God's light, God's hope, God's peace, are being born amongst us.

My dear friends, Christmas is not simply a quaint remembrance of an event that occurred over two thousand years ago. Christmas is rather a sublime mystery into which, by faith, we enter and participate. Christ is being born for the world today; this awesome mystery of Love Himself becoming man is occurring right now, at this present moment. Thus, each one of us is called to live the reality of Christmas everyday in a world that at once hungers for it and is hostile to it. The Birth of Christ gives life a new meaning. Jesus came down from Heaven that we might have life and have it to the full. This Christmas gift of the fullness of life gives us profound joy, confident hope, and abiding peace. It is precisely the medicine our ailing world and our recovering economy require. For, "the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone" (Is. 9:1).

As we approach Christmas Day, I wish you and your loved ones all the blessings of Christ’s Holy Nativity. I give thanks to God for each of you and for the many ways that you have faithfully served our parish family. The many ministries and services of outreach that you have provided year-round, and your faithful commitment to transform human lives has made the spirit of this Christmas season truly meaningful in the lives of so many people throughout our parish. I am so very proud of the good people of Divine Mercy Parish and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School! Thank you for your faithfulness and for your commitment to work even harder to bring healing, hope, and a renewed sense of joy to the most needy and marginalized among us. In this spirit, please accept my good wishes, and the good wishes of the parish and school staff, for a blessed Christmas and a bountiful New Year.

The joyous song of the angels, which echoed over the skies of Bethlehem on that first Christmas, rings ever more assuredly over the skies of our city and within our hearts this Christmas. "Do not be afraid, for behold I proclaim to you good news of great joy. For today a savior has been born for you who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10-11). May the joy that covered the earth on the day of Christ’s birth overflow in our hearts, in our homes, and in our community during this holy season of Christmas and every day of the year.

I avail myself of the opportunity to express my sentiments of profound fatherly affection and with every best wish during the Christmas Season, I remain

Yours sincerely in Christ,
 
Reverend Father Robert T. Cooper
Pastor